mary going
This is my personal brand.
Where I reveal and exaggerate cool things about myself.
Selected Samples of Brilliance

Currently, I am the Founder/CEO of Bicycle Accounting. We exist to amplify the missions of nonprofits whose values align with ours… and to put food on my table, of course. Beyond the obvious work of helping nonprofits run more smoothly, efficiently, and profitably, our mission is to help nonprofits raise internal worker wages to a sustainable (living) wage. Below is a screenshot of our website. Click on it to see the real thing.

Saint Harridan

I also founded Saint Harridan, a clothing company designed to eliminate the two-choice-only (women/men) option when buying clothes. It operated between 2012 and 2016. Its 2013 Kickstarter campaign was the 7th highest fashion project ever. It stayed in the top 100 for years – out of almost 20,000 fashion projects. Top 100. Even now, it’s in the top 100 of apparel (leaving out shoes and sunglasses) and it’s the highest fashion project EVER with the LGBTQIA tag.

But, who’s counting?

I started Saint Harridan almost reluctantly. I wanted someone to start a business like Saint Harridan, but I wanted it to be someone else. Gradually, when no one else did it, I began to see that my whole life had led me to do it. Saint Harridan wasn’t just a business. It was a calling. (How does one reconcile the failing of her true calling?)

I used to think it failed because I couldn’t raise enough money. That’s true. But, it also suffered from me not thinking big enough. Still percolating on it all. Who knows? Maybe it will be me after all.

If you want to know more about Saint Harridan, the Gimlet media podcast is a good place to start, and also the podcast they did after we closed. plus the New York Times piece.

Other Stuff

I have a BA, and MBA – and a driver’s license. This is my LinkedIn.

I am adopted. I have two adoptive parents (my real parents), two birthparents (also real parents), and one stepfather (yep – real). I also have one adoptive sister (my real sister), plus two birth sisters (also my real sisters), and two birth brothers (real). Both of my kids are adopted. I am their real mother, and they each have two other real mothers, and one real father.

I am a serial hobbyist. I have been interested in cake-making, coding (nothing fancy), making pickles, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, laser cutting/etching, plants, Legos, fishing, and beach-combing. I have a similar relationship with exercise: I have enjoyed running, weight-lifting, kayaking (less exercise, more exploring), swimming, rowing, and pickle ball. I have never been great at any of these things. For me, it’s about the joy of it at the time. Once I get bored, I move on.

I live in Oakland, California, but am from South Carolina. I have lived in SC, NC, MA, ME, FL, and CA. 

Being married has been a great joy – and getting divorced has brought its own rewards. (!)

When I began to make this section, I noticed there were a lot of photos of me in this sweatshirt, so I set myself the goal of only including photos where I’m wearing it. 

My highest aspirations are to be a better parent, and to actively evolve as an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-heterocentric, anti-ableist, anti-fat-shaming person, and generally to live my best life.

Credits: Here are the photographers whose work I used in this site:

Cindy Fong (photos of me – only the good ones)

Family members, friends or selfies (the not-great photos of me)

From Unsplash: Elliot Englemann, Nio Milano, Kelly Searle, Christine Benton, Amy Humphries, Annie Spratt, Johannes Plenio, Rachel Cook, & Nick Hiller.