Celebrating Pictory’s first anniversary with advice worth repeating.

Best thing I ever learned from Scrabble: Apparently it’s considered bad manners to complain about your tiles at the National Scrabble Tournament, because everyone’s luck balances out in the long run.

Maybe that’s not always true. But the fact is, we don’t ever really know the hand someone else is playing with, or when their luck has changed for better or worse. Everyone, male or female, has a unique background of experiences and obstacles — if you want to know what they are, ask. Or start by reading these stories of strong and spirited women figuring out how to succeed in their own skin.

On another note, Pictory is celebrating. Tomorrow’s our first birthday, but today we take our first step towards being a sustainable business. I’m thrilled to share an ad model that I believe supports the photography and design communities, while creating a habitat for good advertising on the web. Read more about the thinking behind this at (!) the new Pictory blog on Tumblr — a companion reader to this site where I’ll share daily photo stories, outtakes, and more.