Gina Joyce (left) and Laura Muus (right) have teamed up to create She Does, a new book and podcast. Photo by Laura Muus 

By Brittany North - Boreal Community Media - May 1, 2026

What started as a casual coffee walk has turned into something much bigger: She Does, a coffee table book celebrating women, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and community in Cook County.

For Gina Joyce and Laura Muus, the collaboration didn’t begin with a grand plan. It began with a meeting that almost didn’t feel like one.

“We knew each other on Instagram, but we’d never met,” they said, recalling their first in-person encounter at a “shower.” A local creative retreat soon followed, where their connection quickly deepened— “pretty instant.”

About a year later, during a walk after grabbing coffee, the idea that would become She Does came out of nowhere. “We walked back to the car, and I said, ‘Do you want to make a book with me?’” Gina said. Laura was taken aback by the idea. “It was really wild because I didn’t see it coming. She had never mentioned she wanted to do something like that before,” Laura shared.

An Idea That Was Already There

While the question felt spontaneous, the idea had been sitting with Gina for years. “I had a note in my phone from three years ago with the idea,” she said. That note outlined a vision centered on “the power of community, family, friends, and female empowerment.” Coming from a corporate, male-dominated background, Gina had been struck by the number of women in Cook County running businesses. “I knew I wanted to do a coffee table book about the female entrepreneurs here,” she said. “Seeing all the women here being amazing, running these beloved businesses, raising families—I wanted to capture that.”

For Laura, saying yes wasn’t immediate. “I went home feeling weird because I didn’t have this on my bucket list,” she said. “How do I say no to this? Can I say no to this? Do I want to say no to this?” But after sitting with it, the answer became clear. “Why would I miss the opportunity to participate in something that can be so impactful?” Her decision—and her mindset—are reflected in her quote in the book: “She does it with fear, but she does it anyways.”

Building the Book

Once Laura said yes, the project moved quickly. “I’m a project manager by training,”  Gina said. “So the first thing I thought of is what’s our goal and how do we work backward from there?”

They started by reaching out to local women. Around 80 were contacted to be part of the book; 38 said yes. Each woman is featured in a two-page spread: one photo in her business setting, one in her family setting, paired with responses to a shared set of questions.

“We ask them questions like what inspires you, what are you most proud of,” Gina said. “And then… what’s your advice to other moms and business owners?” One answer came up again and again. “That was the only answer that they had in common,” Gina said. “Community.”

More Than Just a Book

As they conducted interviews and photo sessions over a six-month period, they realized the stories couldn’t be fully contained within the book’s format.

“There was so much more we could dig into than just being restricted to the two pages of the book,” Gina said. “So that’s kind of when we said we should do a podcast to go with it.”

She Does: The Podcast —launching late May—features longer conversations with the women in the book.

 The She Does podcast will launch later this month. Photo by Laura Muus

“Some of them are more serious, some of them are more emotional, others are quite lighthearted, fun,” Laura said. “Roasting the husbands.” 

Tune in to hear whose husband gets jokingly roasted. 

Rooted in Community

The project is intentionally local at every level—from the women featured to the collaborators involved in design and production. “We self-published, so it’s all very intentional, local, special,” Gina said before adding, “We want them to be the first to see it,” she said of the women featured in the book.

The book will be available through their website and at several North Shore retailers, with an official launch event scheduled for May 20 at Johnson Heritage Post. 

What They Hope Readers Take Away

For readers beyond Cook County, the message is simple but powerful. “Women can be a mom and they can pursue their dreams and have a career, have a business,” Laura said. She also hopes the book highlights something harder to define—but deeply felt. “I think that there’s a lot of value in creating community,” she said. “It’s very special to come to a place where people welcome you and support you and are happy to see you grow.”

Gina echoed that, especially for women considering a similar path. “You don’t have to choose between entrepreneurship and motherhood,” she said. “I think they actually coexist and fuel each other in a special way.”

Starting Small

When asked how others might build that kind of community where they live, both pointed to something simple: start somewhere. “Find someone to go on coffee walks with like we did,” Gina said. “I mean, look at where we’ve come after a coffee walk—you just might make a book.”

For Laura, it began with reaching out. “I reached out to a couple of photographers… ‘Would you be willing to walk with me?’” she said. “And that’s how I started finding myself again.” It doesn’t have to be big. 

“It can be simple,” Gina added. “Any way to just start a connection can grow into a bigger community opportunity.”

To follow along with upcoming events, including additional summer happenings and the launch of the She Does podcast, you can connect with Gina and Laura on Instagram and through their website, where they’ll be sharing updates, event details, and ways to get involved.