I have an awful habit of saying out loud that I’m “not the best researcher”, or that I’m “a bad PhD student”, because I’ve opted for research-driven social entrepreneurship rather than “real” research grants and the tenure track. Bless my sweet heart, how foolish. 

In 2011, we started CounterTobacco.org because we saw a need and were brave enough to try to fill it. We leapt into the void because retail-focused tobacco control and prevention was, and is, an emerging science, and people needed resources. Compelling images of toxic tobacco marketing at c-stores, research evidence to support local-level policy solutions, super helpful stories from the field*… with the help of dozens of partners and funding from the CDC Office of Smoking and Health, we built an information warehouse to help our fellow public health advocates make change. 

The few folks who read this entry may wonder why I bother writing. What is she doing with that new blog? 

Here’s what I’m doing: I’m asking you to join me, out here on this limb. It’s quite well supported, really, with hope and grit and science. Learn it with me, inch by inch, that we don’t have to be the best at anything, we just have to show up and try. 

*Ask me for the password for the stories from the field, at allison at countertools dot org.