Article By: Ericka Santos
Photographs By: Janae Jacobs

Beyond the curiosity with celebrity who’s who and the hottest in this season’s fashion trends, woman’s interests are defined by so much more. Set out to create just the place for women to engage in deeper-rooted issues, 27-year-old Rachel Wagoner established The Online Grapevine. Acting as Director of the site, Wagoner designed TOG to compliment the many facets of the female character. Since its summer debut, the site has quickly become a promising platform for woman to explore and expand those interests and opinions.

A culmination of Wagoner’s academics and simple girls’-nights-out became the basis of TOG’s creation. With a Masters degree in communication management and a specialization in online communities, the web was the perfect arena for Wagoner to manifest her vision. It was conversations with girlfriends which centered around education, current events, and news that left Wagoner hungry to present a new avenue for woman’s topics.

“I’d walk away from these conversations feeling more informed, inspired, and motivated,” said Wagoner. “We have so many entertainment, gossip, and guilty pleasure websites, but what about a space online to talk more about thought-provoking topics?”

Fully launched to the public in August 2009, TOG offers stories, blogs, and female perspectives on issues ranging from politics and world news to women’s body image and health. In Wagoner’s movement to empower women through TOG, she also created a weekly segment titled The Sorbate, pronounced “Sore-bait”. The segment stems from the combination of the words sorority (sor) and debate (bate). The Sorbate is comprised of five young women from various backgrounds including advocacy members, community leaders, adventure seekers, or educators who take to the web to discuss and share their thoughts on a variety of serious and fun ideas.

With friends providing part of Wagoner’s motivation, her family has been an essential piece of TOG’s conception as well. As Filipino immigrants, Wagoner’s parents came to the U.S. to live  the American dream. Managing to overcome their own set of challenges has been an influential force in Wagoner’s determination to succeed. Memories of her grandmother also serve as a tremendous source of encouragement.
“I’ll always remember a saying she passed down to my mom, who passed it down to me. ‘Education is your weapon in this world.’ I think it’s the reason I started The Online Grapevine to begin with,” said Wagoner, “to help spread ideas and views so we could educate ourselves and read about things beyond our little comfortable box or bubble. [I hope] that if we could discuss more worldly topics, we could become more knowledgeable and increase [our] tolerance.”

Building TOG’s foundation on sharing conversations, debates, and an open online community of constructive criticisms keeps Wagoner pushing to make TOG bigger and better. Being able to excite a sense of pride into female journalism has proven to be one of Wagoner’s greatest rewards.

“I would like people in general to see that as young women, we can look beyond the fashion bags and focus on more deeper issues,” said Wagoner. “Don’t get me wrong, fashion is great, but there are so many more layers to who a young woman is, and we want to showcase those other layers.”

If you’d like to comment, read, or write for TOG, just visit www.TheOnlineGrapevine.com, and find out more about how you can share your voice and become part of this online community.

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Spec Sheet:

Name/Nickname: Rae

Birthplace: San Francisco, CA

Height: 4-11′3/4″

Random/quirky facts: “I’ve swam in a shark cage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean”

Favorite things to do: “Work, workout, run, peruse the Internet, hang out with friends and family, design work in photoshop, watch football, eat!”

Most embarrassing life moment: “Confusing my brother-in-law for my husband in Disneyland.”

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Connect with TOG (The Online Grapevine):

Website