Nervy Girl! was first envisioned by Kristin Schuchman, while reading more typical women�s magazines. She thought, �There must be women who want more.�

In the summer of 2000 she placed a classified ad in the Portland alternative newspaper, The Willamette Week, looking for volunteers interested in working on a new women�s magazine. Several dozen women turned up for the first meeting and dozens more called. Slowly a team began to coalesce and the first issue took form. It was published in September 2000, a run of 5,000 issues.

Since then, Nervy Girl! has found an enthusiastic audience. In 2001, we won the Utne Reader Alternative Press Award for New Titles and the editor of Ms. Magazine subscribed. Circulation has grown by leaps and bounds, and a host of supportive advertisers make it financially feasible. Since the beginning, the magazine has been created and managed by a large team of volunteers and the editorial process has remained collaborative, incorporating a diversity of opinion and voices.

2003 will bring new changes and more open doors. Nervy Girl is planning to go monthly and reach outside the Portland area. We�re excited to find the same enthusiastic readers all over the country. We�re delighted and relieved to find that we were right; there are women who want more.