The Women’s Issue

It’s still not easy to be a woman in a “man’s world.” While many of you probably aren’t thrilled by our use of that phrase, it’s a simple fact that, for all women have accomplished, there are still jobs—entire industries even—that are dominated by men. In this year’s women’s issue, we’re taking the opportunity to […]

Central Oregon is packed with wonder women. Below are just a few of the kick-ass females who are thriving in roles traditionally associated with men. Not All Dudes How Sarah Robinson broke through the male majority to become an accomplished chemist Sarah Robinson has always been a science nerd. The Oregon native holds a Ph.D. […]

With this year’s Women’s Issue, we went in search of Central Oregon females who are breaking away from the societal conventions that somehow still exist in 2011. We found a premiere female motorcycle racer, a great-grandmother who has decided to chase down her musical dreams and a group of women making some of the best beer in the region, just to name a few. We’re proud of the ladies in our region, and after you take a look this section, you will be, too.

The day after being diagnosed last August with aggressive ovarian cancer at age 36, Jen Burgess Thompson gathered up her two young sons, some friends and her husband. They drove to Mt. Bachelor and made a movie.
In it, the stunning blond runs through a golden field of wildflowers with her sweet and handsome sons, Cohen and Cooper. She writes messages on a chalkboard like “We will not be defeated” and “Eff Cancer.” She tears pages from a small notebook after writing bits of her story. “I am Jen” “I am a mom” “I am an artist” “I am not cancer.” The pages blow away and snag in the flowers.
It is deeply moving and has been watched thousands of times. The video is the beginning of her very public and vivid chronicling of her battle with cancer. Thompson, who has her own photography studio in Redmond, documents every step of the journey, through her blog, on Facebook, and in the photography and videography of some of the most talented photographers and cinematographers in Bend who donated their time and effort to the Source's
2012 Woman of the Year.

Tara Reynvaan, Sport Climber
Age: 25
Day job: Social Media Coordinator at Ruff Wear
Hometown: Bend
Female Inspiration: Alizee Dufraisse. “She's totally fearless and definitely a proud climber.”
Most radical moment in your sport: The most extreme thing that's ever happened to me is when I fell upside on a sport climb. On my way down I clipped a bolt, kinda funny but extreme all at the same time. I also pocket dialed my ex-husband. Pretty funny.”

Name: Chris Telfer, 62
Day job: Certified public accountant and state senator
Areas of influence: Oregon State Senator for District 27-Bend, former Bend city councilor, former chair of Bend Urban Renewal Agency, former chair of the Bend-La Pine Schools budget committee, founding organizer of numerous Central Oregon nonprofits, chair of Oregon and national Episcopal Church committees
Leadership Philosophy: It is important to be inclusive and to listen to all perspectives.

Angela Kephart was 12-years-old, homeless and living on the Portland streets when she got her first tattoo – a small heart on her left index finger that was given to her by an amateur tattoo artist with a makeshift needle. Kephart recalls that she was standing on the balcony of the Kent Motel above a fish house restaurant at the time. The entire process took about ten minutes, but it made an impact that's resonated throughout her entire life.
Today, Kephart is a single mom, sober, and a successful small business owner as the sole proprietor of Mum's Tattoos on Galveston where she employs four other artists, including one other female tattoo artist, Holly McClintock. Kephart has done it working in a field that is typically dominated by men and that is known for its lack of hospitality toward newcomers breaking into the business.

When Lawnae Hunter moved to Bend, she wasn't expecting to challenge the status quo. A former waitress and single mother who attended community college in Aptos, Calif., Hunter worked her way up the real estate food chain and developed the largest real estate company in Central California, Hunter Prudential Realty. The company was eventually sold to a subsidiary of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway.
After the sale, Hunter was looking for a change of pace. In 2003, she bought a house on Awbrey Butte and in 2007 moved to Bend full time. She brought her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren and joined one daughter already living here.

Lindsey Elias is 24 and has been a rock drummer for a full decade. She has one hell of a stage presence and it all comes in one surprisingly small package.
Watching Elias and her 105-pound frame push out the power and speed of an enormous male drummer is really something to be seen when she's up on stage with her band, Empty Space Orchestra. Take a look at the audience at an ESO show and you will see people's necks craning just to get a better view of what she's doing. She has a magnetic, natural beauty on the drums as she pumps out incredibly fast, hard-hitting licks. There is something contagious about the joy, the passion and the pure rock n' roll in her facial expressions that radiates out to the crowd who watches with mouths agape or perhaps smiling in delight.
“She's so fun to watch. She just gets so into it. It's surprising to see so much noise, such loud and harsh noise, coming from such a small person,” says an ESO fan named Griffin after one of the band's packed Silver Moon residency shows in January.