“We add soul to everything we touch; we make things more personal, and we value creating connections.”
– Jodie King, Forbes Magazine
Through travel and technology, the ELYSIAN woman expands her range of experiences and therefore broadens perspective. By including women into new conversations, (whether the intersection of exploration and travel with our piece on Singapore . . . or involving women in technology with NFT and web3) ELYSIAN explores new horizons. Always with the intention of growing knowledge and understanding our mission is to create, connect and change.
TRAVEL
Travel has always been central to an ELYSIAN woman’s life. With an appetite for the unknown, our readers crave adventure, hunger exploring new places and encountering different cultures. As Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all.” We dare to travel to foreign parts to discover diverse people and their customs, mores, indigenous art, and commensurate architecture. The ELYSIAN woman is enthralled with wonder in nature’s mountains, oceans, and deserts. These things and more fuel our curiosity, tickle our intellect, repurpose our energy and center our focus. In this issue, we take you to the stars in a breathtaking photo-essay on astronomy. From Azerbaijan to the Italian Alps, Dubai to Delhi, you will be taken away by “Awe-Inspiring and Innovative Architecture.” Feast (visually, at least) on innovative cuisine served in the many restaurants at The Shard, London’s tallest building, which pierces the city’s skyline. Explore Singapore, the melting pot of many cultures, and the dynamic hub of the Far East.
TECHNOLOGY
With much anticipation, in Napa Valley on August 6, 2022, Elysian launches our first NFT featuring our magazine cover and Inspiring Woman Jan Zakin. If you have not heard of an NFT or are unsure what a Non-Fungible Token is, you are not alone. Women have accounted for only 4% of total NFT sales globally since 2020 and according to a report published by ArtTactic, purchased only 16% in the NFT art market. ELYSIAN engages in this untapped space with a goal to provide education and access to what many readers view as an exciting, cutting-edge space. Our NFTs will be experiential in nature, offering access to certain products and/or events. Used to purchase our quarterly NFTs, we are also launching our own cryptocurrency called the Elysian Token. This is an important step for us as proceeds will be allocated on a continuous basis to (women-, children-, and animal-focused) foundations. Philanthropy is core to ELYSIAN’s mission and to make this viable, we have enhanced our (ecosystem/mobile app) to include a digital wallet. Today you can download the ELYSIAN Connect app from the Apple App Store, where you will find step-by-step instructions to engage, locate, and store Elysian Tokens, as well as purchase our NFTs.
OUR WOMEN
As with every issue, we focus on two Inspiring Women whose lives reverberate in the travel and technology space. Our cover and first minted NFT is Jan Zakin. Both a physician and co-owner/proprietor of the Zakin Family Estate, her story of perseverance, self-discovery and philanthropy inspires us to do and be more. In a predominantly male-dominate profession, Barbara Melvin, our second Inspiring Woman, is one of the world’s few women to serve as CEO for a major port. Barbara’s path was both risky and steady, serving over two decades in multiple roles in the sixth largest container shipping port in the United States. When asked what she hoped was her legacy, she responded, “That I gave it everything I had. I left nothing on the table.”
And finally, it is only appropriate that we honor ICON feature and actress Hedy Lamarr for her contribution to technology. Called “the most beautiful woman in the world” she had a combination of beauty and brains. The only child of Jewish parents, born in Vienna in the first year of WWII, she was later discovered by Hollywood studio magnate Louis B. Mayer and became an overnight success in her first Hollywood film. With no recognition as an inventor, until recently, she conceived, developed and masterminded “frequency hopping,” a multiple band communication system serving as the foundation technology for GPS, secure Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and top-secret military satellite systems.
OUR “TAKE AWAY”
Traditionally more risk aware than their counterparts, dynamic women become empowered with education and knowledge. Equipped with adequate facts and accurate information, decision making is easier, no matter what the subject.
We believe that travel, technology and stories of Inspiring Women fuel the curious mind . . . and that every woman has her own story, value and ability to make a difference.
Thank you for taking the journey,
With much love,
Karen Floyd
Publisher
Read Past Letters from the Publisher