Hey You! — A Short Biography
Faith Kaminsky grew up in Syosset, New York and graduated from Syosset High School in 1985. She attended Cornell University in Ithaca, where she studied Industrial and Labor Relations, graduating in 1989, and went on to earn her J.D. from NYU School of Law in 1992, graduating cum laude. While at NYU, she served as Executive Research Editor of the Annual Survey of American Law and later served one term on the NYU Law Alumni Association Board of Directors.
In the fall of 1992, Kaminsky began practicing law at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, where she remained for seventeen years. Her practice included commercial litigation, union representation, arbitration, and mediation. Her clients included the United Federation of Teachers and the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association.
In 1997, Kaminsky founded Hey You! Productions, becoming one of the earliest web developers at a time when the internet was still taking shape. Hey You! Productions was the first web design company to advertise in the New York Law Journal. In March 1999, she launched one of the earliest personal blogs, writing under the Hey You! banner at a time when blogging as a form did not yet formally exist.
In conjunction with that work, she co-founded Digital Divas, an early online community for women working in digital and technology fields, where she served for many years in leadership roles related to membership and organization. She conceived of The Logo Collective, which was launched under the umbrella of Digital Divas, a collaborative project in which artists donated free logos to individuals creating personal websites.
During this period, Kaminsky helped lead a successful intellectual property challenge against Microsoft after the company improperly launched “Digital Diva” in connection with its women’s initiatives. The Digital Divas community responded with a widely visible “Diva vs. Goliath” internet campaign, ultimately forcing Microsoft to capitulate.
In 2005, Kaminsky was struck by a bus while crossing the street. Following her recovery, she relocated to Florida, eventually settling in Parkland. There, she served as a board member of the Cypress Head Homeowners Association. After her tenure ended, she was asked to serve as part of a tripartite panel convened to resolve a community-wide dispute regarding proposed amendments to the association’s bylaws. She spearheaded redesign of the association’s website.
While recovering, Kaminsky studied art, both online and at the Boca Raton Museum Art School. In 2014, she became a Certified Zentangle Teacher, teaching this meditative line-drawing method in nursing homes and as an afterschool activity. In 2017, she enrolled in the Boca Raton Museum’s abstract painting program. In her first term, her painting August Wind debuted in the Boca Raton Museum Art Show in the fall of 2017. Her work has since been exhibited in Las Cruces, New Mexico; Woodstock, New York; and Key West, Florida. Her work is held in collections around the world, including Toronto, New York City, and Australia.
Kaminsky currently resides in Key West, Florida, with her pug Natasha and her son, Harrison.