I sat today in the Mamalode office. It is a small group of extraordinary people with talent, passion and a drive beyond any job description. Our objective is simple—we give space for true stories to be shared. There are thousands of stories that make up Mamalode. We exist because it is important, and because we are able to tell the truth, to speak freely.

I looked at the office. I watched the team of people. I thought about another magazine office, a world away. I imagined the people—like us who work hard, speak freely and in doing so create the ripples and dominoes that make change. I thought about what they were doing when the shots began. It probably looked a lot like us. Computers. Conversations. Strategizing. Post-it-notes. Sharpie pens. Laughing.

I sat in my magazine office today and my heart broke for the Charlie Hebdo magazine office. Stories are the heartbeat of what makes the human experience unique. And far too many heartbeats stopped this week.

From this magazine, to that one, and to all of the brave storytellers out there—we send our love and our words and our pens.

#JeSuisCharlie

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About the Author

Elke

Elke Govertsen is a entrepreneur and founder of Mamalode. She has been featured in Real Simple, Forbes, Where Women Create, Ad Tech, and listed as one of Origin Magazine's "Top 100 Creatives." She has been a speaker at The Girls Lounge, Adweek, C2Montreal, HATCH, TEDx and (her favorite) in classrooms. She speaks on a variety of topics from entrepreneurship to overcoming obstacles. She loves consulting in the areas of community design, storytelling and brand building. Her special skills include extreme bootstrapping, overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities. Of the many things she has learned by doing Mamalode, her ability to work with absolute chaos/kids/mess just might be the best. She is learning that slowing down creates more impact.