March. The month of the monumental woman.
With International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day falling just a few brief weeks apart, it’s got us talking about the women in our lives and on our radars doing incredible things.
It’s no great surprise we’re a big fan of the independent business (I mean, we do what we say on the tin), so we’ve combined passions and put together our fave female-led indies of the moment.
Rikke Rosenlund - BorrowMyDoggy
Bonding communities, encouraging people to get out outdoors, combating loneliness and pups. What more could you want? 🐶
After looking after her neighbour’s dog Aston and having a wonderful day spending time in the park, meeting new friends and saving Aston from a day indoors, Rikke got thinking. Knowing that so many people she knew would love to own a dog, but didn’t have the time, money or rental agreements that allowed pets and that there must be many people in her neighbour’s situation, her light bulb moment resulted in the founding of Borrow My Doggy way back in 2012.
A trusted website connecting dog owners with people who’d love to spend some more time with our four-legged friends, Borrow My Doggy has not only become a household name but resulted in countless friendships, extra tummy tickles (for the dogs!) and lots less loneliness for pet-owner and pet piners alike.
Saasha Celestial-One and Tessa Cook - Olio
Founded in 2014 by wonder duo Saasha Celestial-One and Tessa Cook, Olio is an app that connects neighbours and local businesses to each other to share food that would otherwise go to waste. Whether it’s food in the fridge you can’t finish before your holiday, or you just can’t eat another green bean from the glut of your garden this year, Olio aims to reduce the amount of food that is thrown away.
Saving miles food travels, reducing plastic wastage by encouraging consumers to buy less and connecting people within communities, Olio is a win, win, win in our book. In their own words; “we can build a more sustainable future where our most precious resources are shared, not thrown away.”
Caren Hartley - Hartley Cycles
We’ve got a not so secret little secret. We’re having a love affair with cycling.
Now, we must admit, that while the weather outside hasn’t exactly encouraged us to get on our bikes recently, the sheer beauty of the craftsmanship of Hartley Cycles makes it so totally worthwhile getting wet. And anyway, you’re in the wet much less time on a bicycle than if you’re walking, right?
As one of the first female bespoke bike builders, it’s no surprise that she’s bringing something a little extra to the table, making custom designs for both men and women, to make sure the, ahem, ride is a little comfier.
Jane Fellner - Loopster
According to Greenpeace UK’s award-winning journalism project ‘Unearthed’, ‘the UK is the epicentre of fast fashion in Europe, with each person buying an estimated 26.7kg of clothing every year’.
Jane Fellner founded Loopster in 2017 to tackle just that. An online platform designed to make the fashion industry more sustainable, she’s created an online world where it’s easy, quick and convenient to buy and sell kids’ second-hand clothing. As any mother, brother, aunt or nan knows, it’s frankly baffling how quickly kids grow at various points in their lives, so clothes can so often be passed on in near-mint condition.
As Jane says on her LinkedIn profile, ‘Extending the life of just one child's T-shirt will significantly reduce its environmental impact’.
Vicky Simmons - Mean Mail
We’ve all got that one friend, the one that’s a bit uncomfortable with compliments. The one who you know the meaner her words (in jest of course), the more she likes you.
Mean Mail was designed for that friend. In one of our favourite slogans ever, ‘beautiful cards, brutal words’ founder Vicky Simmons has made the perfect mix of caring thoughtfulness and dry humour, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s quote “true friends stab you in the front”.
If you ever get one of these from us, know it’s because we love you.
Lucy Greene – Anti-Agency
Lucy Greene is pushing the beauty standards boat out. Banishing the idea that to be a model you must be 6ft tall and thin, she started the Anti-Agency, a London based Modelling Agency putting cool over beautiful. Taking the statement beauty is only skin deep to the next level, she’s not content with her models just looking a certain way, they’ve got to behave a certain way too.
Pushing the idea that 'smart, passionate and interesting' shine through in their models, Lucy’s built up an impressive portfolio of beautiful people in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds, shunning traditional scouting techniques and instead looking for personality first.
We’re all for highlighting women doing incredible things in their field (hence this blog post!), but we feel it detracts from the message we’re trying to get across by saying anything is female-led. This is simply a selection of our favourite indie businesses right now (that happen to be led by women!).
Who’ve we missed? Let us know if there are any other outstanding indies we’d want to know about!
Further reading Looking for more incredible Indytute recommended independent businesses? Look no further.
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