GIrl power: 4 Female-owned businesses to support
- Corrinne H
- May 1, 2018
- 7 min read
1. Alex and Ani/Carolyn Rafaelian
BANGLE BILLIONAIRE
(photo taken from my Instagram @c_huber16)
a few of my favorites
Just a few years ago, the now-popular dangle charm bracelets, were just starting to really make waves in the jewelry and fashion industry. The brand grew organically, and now women all over the world are wearing Alex and Ani products. They have expanded and added necklaces, rings, earrings, and other products, as well as collaborations with brands like Disney, UNICEF, and Harry Potter. One of the aspects of the company that attracted me as well as many other people is the donation to charity that many of its bracelets feature.
In this Charity By Design feature, A&A pledges to donate up to 30% of proceeds from bracelets to a certain charity that the bracelet represents. A&A frequently donates to charities that support women and female-empowerment. They are always socially aware, and create their jewelry in a sustainable, typically earth-friendly way. There is truly something for everyone. For my law and politics buffs, they have even collaborated to bring bracelets bearing old copper from the Statue of Liberty (before its refurbishing). The link to that bracelet is above.
Carolyn is the definition of a true girl boss. In just six years, Rafaelian took the brand from profits of $5 million to over $500 million. She started small in her home state of Rhode Island, and eventually grew fairly organically through hard work as well as sticking to her values and principles. As Forbes put it, Carolyn and A&A aren't just selling a bracelet. They are selling positive energy and a mantra of optimism, the latter being displayed somehow in the jewelry. Carolyn is a big believer in all things spiritual, and that she has continued to allow that to shine in her jewelry.
In 2017, she scored herself a number 18 spot on the Forbes list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, given that she owns 80 percent of a company worth at least $1.2 billion. She is proud of her Armenian roots, consults planetary charts before making decisions, and uses her spirituality to push her business to new heights. She named the company after her two daughters, and hand-designed and created all of the jewelry before, during, and after her company took off. A true girl boss!
Read her story on Forbes here
Charity by Design bracelet benefiting Plan International (Girl-focused initiative)
2. Barefoot Blonde Hair/Amber Fillerup-Clark
Amber is someone that I have followed and admired for awhile. She is a fashion blogger turned mother turned business owner...and a boss one at that! I have always been in awe of how she balances her travels, children, blogging business, and now new hair company. She exudes a laid-back, free-spirit energy when it seems that she is right in the midst of stress. She is complete life goals, and someone very inspirational for me personally to follow.
Let's get real, one of the biggest reasons that I love her and follow her is her aesthetic. Her eye for photos, fashion, and gorgeous photography certainly draws me in. She always has the cutest ideas for her kids, for photos, for outfits, and for hair looks. I find myself drawn to her style, especially her hair style. She has created some of the most unique hair looks on Instagram over the years. I have followed her for 5+ years, and she is one of the people that I noticed very early on wearing hair extensions.
For this reason, her new business Barefoot Blonde Hair has completely taken off. Every detail of the company is perfection. She offers a multitude of hair colors, her website and Instagram are adorable and easy to use, her packaging design is stunning, and this introduced me to my new favorite artist. She employs the work of artist Riley Sheehey. I have referenced her in previous blog posts, but she designs the cutest prints for the Barefoot Blonde Hair boxes and is currently my favorite artist to follow on Instagram. Girl Power!
Follow Amber on Instagram here
Follow Barefoot Blonde Hair Instagram here
Barefoot Blonde Hair website here
3. The Shine Project/Ashley Lemieux
Ashley Lemieux is someone that I started following in the past few months. She is so inspirational to me in so many ways that I find it hard to put into words. She started a company to benefit and support women during college even though she was dirt poor. That company has blossomed into The Shine Project, which now has a brick and mortar store in Nashville. She talks about her strengths, weaknesses, highs, and lows, and is one of the most important, positive people to follow on Instagram. One of those extreme lows that she shares is losing her children. She also shares her journey with adoption and motherhood.
When Ashley started her company, The Shine Project, she said that she wanted to bridge a gap between the readers of her blog and the inner city youth at her school internship. She shares transformative life moments like her experience helping one of her students that carried the same backpack for 4 years of highschool and slept on a floor at home. This home visit to her student's house spoke to Ashley, and she knew she had to help buy this student back to school supplies even though her and her husband were dirt poor at the time. Through this experience, she felt called to start her company, which creates jewelry and employs the inner city youth and women.
Ashley's long-term goal was to employ these women and youth and give them scholarships in order to help them become first-generation college students. Several years later, that goal has been achieved through her company with many women. Her love of community combined with a passion for blogging and business mixed with a servant attitude is the reason that she is so inspirational to many women. For me, this is total life goals. However, her motherhood and adoption story really touches my heart the most. I cry every time I read her posts or listen to her talks about her children.
A few years after she started her company, her and her husband were asked to be legal guardians to her two children. Through some really intense court battles, a contested adoption, and much injustice, her two children were taken from her while she was away on a trip. Her husband could not talk to the children about their fate, and Ashley was not given time to fly back in time to say goodbye. Given that I have studied the legal system for my major in college, the reality of this situation really strikes a chord for me. I am extremely touched by Ashley's story and her ways of coping.
One of my favorite things about Ashley and following her is her raw Instagram messages to her children. Her and her husband leave little "love notes" as they call them on social media in hopes that one day their children will see them and know how much they love them. I legitimately cry at every single one as the raw emotion, pain, and grief felt by Ashley literally leaps from the page. I am always left in a puddle of tears. If you have an empathetic personality/heart like me and want to understand the plight of others, please follow Ashley.
Not only do I admire her for her business skills, but I also admire her for her servant heart and character. Ashley has a link on her Instagram stories and in her Instagram bio to a podcast where she details her experiences. She obviously speaks to her journey much better than I could, so I really encourage you to give it a listen.
Follow Ashley on Instagram here
The Shine Project website here
4. WeWoreWhat/Danielle Bernstein
Danielle is the definition of a true boss babe. It is hard to know where to begin with her list of accomplishments, as the list goes on forever! She was a college student that lived by her slogan "be a fearless networker," and turned her blog into a booming business. She boasts two assistants, runs several small companies, has landed on Forbes 30 under 30, and works with some of the largest fashion houses in the world. She has captured pretty much all of social media (besides Twitter), and boasts millions of followers on multiple platforms.
My favorite place to follow Danielle is Instagram. I was originally drawn to her several years ago, because she truly has amazing style. She is not just one of those typical, now-a-days bloggers that promote pretty photos to get likes. She genuinely knows fashion and the fashion industry, and her style is impeccable. While she has loads of high-end and luxury brand deals, she incorporates affordable styles just as often. The most unique thing about her is that she is, well, just that-- unique.
When I first started following her, I loved her unique style of point shoes and loafers, denim on denim, and overalls. She has since started her own line of overalls called second skin overalls. She knows big names in fashion and entertainment, and recalls that many of those relationships formed because of her "fearless networker" motto. One of my favorite things that Danielle recently started doing is her podcast. You can find it at WeHeardWhat on Apple Podcasts.
She brings on huge names in fashion and entertainment like DJ Cassidy, Brooklyn Decker from Finery, Jen Atkin from Ouai Hair and Mane Addicts, and Melissa Wood. The podcasts have offered some of the most helpful career, life, business, and motivational advice that I have personally ever heard. I am shocked at the amount of seemingly untouchable people that came from nothing. Her podcasts have not only proved to give helpful business advice, but they are quite inspirational in the sense that it gives hope to the underdog.
If you're looking for a mix of fashion, business, boss-ness, look no further than Danielle. She is truly one of the coolest, most hardworking people I have come across on social media and fashion.
Follow her on Instagram here
Second Skin Overalls here
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