Hemalatha Sekar
Sashank RavindranathThough women comprise almost half the global workforce, the gender ratio gets skewed as we go up the hierarchy. Multiple reasons factor into this – starting from men being preferred over women in leadership roles, women themselves not taking the risk to climb up the ladder due to their preconceived biases, to external glass ceilings that women have to break every single day.
To help women break their barriers and find the light in them to aim for the stars, we at Lateshipment.com would like to highlight the stories of 10 women-owned sustainable businesses and inspire our readers to put on their entrepreneurial shoes as well as think eco-friendly starting this women’s day.
10 Women-owned Sustainable Businesses That You Need to Support
1. Nola Skinsentials
Founder Jane Ormon was one of the multiple women who constantly felt that it was challenging to find plant-based skincare products suitable for the needs of women of color. But the thing that makes her special is the willingness to take a step forward and create a brand of her own.
Nola Skinsentials is a skincare line that is not only for melanin-rich skin tones but has different products to suit all skin tones and skin types. Nola uses natural, plant-based ingredients to create handcrafted, cruelty-free, vegan-friendly, and skin-loving products.
Nola Skinsentials is also actively fighting the unattainable beauty standards through inclusivity through their 160k strong community. They believe in promoting ‘beauty in their own skin’ utilizing real models, untouched images, and real results.
So, if you’re battling hyperpigmentation, have acne-prone skin, or just need to indulge in self-care, Nola Skinsentials is just the brand for your skin concern. Also, when you shop with them, you can support a great cause and feel good about it.
2. Baraka Shea Butter
Baraka Shea Butter is a small Canadian/Ghanaian family-owned business located on Vancouver Island in Canada founded by Gifty Serbeh-Dunn and her husband Wayne Dunn.
Baraka took shape when women in Gifty’s home community in Wa, Ghana, wanted to work and earn income rather than just receive care packages. That’s when she came up with the idea of providing work for the women by selling their shea butter to the rest of the world.
“Baraka is designed to help women and communities to help themselves. They constantly tell me they want the dignity of income and not charity handouts.” – Gifty Serbeh-Dunn
Baraka Shea Butter offers handmade products using organic and ethically sourced Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Palm Oil, and Coconut Oil. Each nut is carefully gathered from the wild, uncontaminated by pesticides and herbicides. The butter is hand-processed using age-old traditional methods without any chemicals and additives.
Every product you buy through Baraka is good for you, good for the environment, and most importantly good for the women who are sourcing it as a community.
Shameless plug
Both Nola Skinsentials and Baraka Shea Butter use LateShipment.com to make the post-purchase phase customer-friendly via:
- Staying transparent about shipping updates and delays
- Proactively communicating with customers
- Curbing helpdesk ticket volume
And more. Here’s what they shared about their success stories (and something about us as well).
3. I’m With The Band
Kailee, the “gal” behind I’m With The Band, started her brand with the vision to combine all the things she loves (music, fashion, health and well-being) into one and make it something that works.
IWTB is all about doing what she is passionate about and getting good vibes while doing it. Her vision is to grow IWTB into a lifestyle brand with meaningful offerings that inspires people.
All IWTB goods are locally made in Los Angeles, California, by people who are paid fair wages and a part of the team and mission. The fabrics are carefully sourced with the focus of leaving the lightest carbon footprint. Many of the pieces are made from recycled, deadstock, and remnant materials, making them sustainable.
IWTB currently offers ‘free U.S shipping’ on orders above $75. Feel free to join the band by trying out their products.
4. Eadem
Pronounced ee-dem, in Latin, Eadem means the same or all. Marie Kouadio Amouzame and Alice Lin Glover chose this name because we share invisible bonds and stories that bind us together and define our daily existence.
Eadem is specifically made for the path-forging woman of color by other women of color. The brand looks to redefine beauty standards and challenge the industry to push beyond tokenism with its source ‘Smart Melanin’ that keeps the WOC’s skin needs and melanin in mind.
Eadem believes that health is the only beauty standard. It’s an ugly truth that WOC spend more on beauty products with parabens and sulfates, which are harmful. Eadem calls this the ‘beauty burden’ and is out to correct it.
Their formulas combine heritage botanicals and clean, clinically-tested ingredients to effectively, and safely care for skins of color. Their products are locally made in the U.S and are not tested on animals at any stage of product development.
5. La Boheme Collective
Founder Danielle Perea considers La Boheme Collective to be more than just a boutique. The 2021-born eco-fashion brand is just her dream coming true.
The jewelry, resort wear, and home goods selling brand is all about offering eco-friendly and sustainably-sourced pieces at an affordable price, i.e accessible to everyone.
Their bags are made of vegan leather, hats from vegan wool, straws from bamboo, etc.
When you shop with La Boheme Collective, you are helping to build a community that supports small-batch, eco-friendly vendors and artisans. Embody the #LaBohemeLife and support them.
They are currently offering an end-of-season sale on their ‘luxe essentials edit’ collection.
6. For Now
Founded by co-workers Kaity Cimo and Katharine Requa, For Now is an e-commerce marketplace that helps budding entrepreneurs sell apparel and accessories.
People have great ideas but might be unclear on where to start. That’s where For Now comes in to ‘invest’ in the up-and-coming brands and cover all their bases from marketing to funding.
Though For Now is a place for all, they take the extra effort to add a separate section in their website to help customers ‘shop by impact’. This section covers businesses that are BIPOC owned, female-founded, thoughtful materials made from recycled plastic bottles, made by local artisans, etc.
For Now calls themselves ‘a retail incubator’ that makes it easy to shop and support emerging entrepreneurs. The brands that they stand behind inspire them. And, they think they’ll inspire you too.
7. FW Beauty
FW Beauty is a UK-based brand created by sisters Fatiha and Yasmine with the belief of making natural and handmade beauty products that are highly effective as well as available to everyone.
They have a line of premium skin, hair, and body care products sourced from ingredients of the Earth. All the ingredients used in their products are plant-based and are not tested on animals.
They also believe in being ethical in different aspects of business, be it in work or sourcing their ingredients. Not just their products, even their packaging is sustainable as they make use of recyclable materials.
A part of FW Beauty’s proceedings is donated to a charity that provides educational and housing programs in rural Bangladesh. Kudos!
8. Fast Penny Spirits
Founded by Jamie Hunt and Holly Robinson, the mission of Fast Penny Spirits is to produce the highest-quality, sustainable, and desirable Amari that infuse joy and empower the community through consciously sourced ingredients from our region and around the world.
Apart from common interests in cookbooks, shellfish, and bitter joys in life, what strengthens their partnership is the desire to give back in their everyday work. Be it supporting sustainable and environmental practices, or empowering women.
The brand dedicates itself to sustainability. From recycled glass bottles, reclaimed corks, supporting local and sustainable farming practices, eco-friendly packaging, etc, everything is done with sustainability in mind.
That’s not all! They are also on the lookout to invest in female-led businesses. 3% of their revenue is directed towards supporting women in their communities, business, and industry.
9. Lola
Founded by Jordana Kier and Alexandra Friedman, women with sky-high standards, Lola is constantly reinventing feminine care. Starting with high-quality, natural ingredients that you can trust.
Lola makes period and sexual wellness products by using quality ingredients that are mentioned upfront and are made with their customers in mind. The brand uses no toxins, dyes, or mystery ingredients.
In order to make the product affordable across different social and economic structures, the brand has donated over 6 million products to those in need. They’re also dedicated to shining a light on the racial and social disparities that contribute to reproductive inequity.
Apart from providing access to basic feminine health products, Lola is also constantly spreading awareness about reproductive health and fighting to end the discriminatory tampon tax.
10. Copper Cow Coffee
Founded by Debbie Wei Mullin, Copper Cow Coffee brings you two things to your morning cup at a time — sustainability and Vietnamese flavor.
Copper Cow Coffee offers 100% naturally flavored coffees sourced from high-quality beans. These beans are grown in sustainable and organic farms in Vietnam, where the farmers are paid 2x the market rate to ensure a higher quality of life (and delicious coffee).
Copper Cow Coffee has been featured in leading magazines such as Forbes, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, WSJ, etc.
The best part is the ‘Create your own box’ that lets you perfect your brew. Get personalized recommendations from their team of coffee experts and choose your favorite coffees & creamers to enjoy the coffee that is actually made for you.
The Impact of Women-owned Sustainable Businesses
Businesses that are women-owned and sell sustainable products hit two birds with one stone.
First, the idea of gender equality brings more diversity and inclusiveness to the world of e-commerce. It fights the idea of a socially regressive structure and empowers women to take up leadership roles and build a better future for themselves and others, who are fighting similar battles.
Next, the idea of sustainable offerings and ethical practices shows that a lot of today’s e-commerce businesses are environmentally conscious and are focusing on the planet rather than just profits.
Therefore, we as a collective society need to recognize such businesses equally as the others and support them, so that more of them will follow suit in the future. Start encouraging women-owned sustainable businesses to support a better cause.
