"Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated."
This International Women's Day (IWD), strike the IWD #breakthebias pose — cross your arms to show solidarity, and collectively we can all break the bias.
Here at F&F we have a number of women founded brands. One of the many missions IWD strives to achieve, is forging inclusive work cultures, where women's careers thrive and their achievements are celebrated.
We are absolutelty FOR celebrating achievements! Get to know more about our women business leaders as we chat to the founders of Green + Kind, The Physic Garden, Sow n Sow, La Mav, Viva La Body, Hanami and The Jojoba Company and learn about their motivations for starting their business, the challenges they faced, as well as their tips and advice — read on!
Julie | Green + Kind
No you're not seeing double, Julie, Founder of Flora & Fauna is also the Founder of Green + Kind, which consists of ethical products that have minimal impact on the environment.
Julie started Green + Kind, with affordable and zero waste products, top of mind. The biggest challenge Julie faced was time. "I need 48 hours in a day to dedicate to this, and F&F." If you're looking to start your own business, Julie's question to you is, "can you, and do you want to commit to the time? If the answer is yes, her advice to you is "be really clear on your point of difference, know your purpose and values.
Julie has experienced discrimination and exclusion, due to gender in the workplace. She says, "we must call out poor behaviour. We can only #breakthebias by not accepting it."
Charelle | The Physic Garden
The Physic Garden is a Melbourne brand which produces Natural Balms & Deodorants from healing herbs & nourishing oils. Founder, Charelle was inspired to invent natural alterntives to products that were also vegan and Australian made, after many customer enquiries when she worked in a health food store. Charelle has since, loved seeing people learn and connect more with nature and natural medicine.
The biggest hurdle Charelle faced was having the confidence and self-belief to actually launch. "I find going back to the "why" always helps me. If you're looking to start your own business Charelle advises, "when inspiration strikes, nourish that first spark and allow it to grow. To break the bias "I think we all need to do our part to bring true equality and set an example to young people."
Michelle | Sow n Sow
Sow N Sow was founded in 2010 by green thumb Michelle Brady who was seeking a more creative outlet and had always dreamt of running her own business.
At the time, Michelle knew little about gardening, hardly anything about seeds and absolutely nothing about the gift industry. So it was all a steep learning curve! "Keeping production within Australia is certainly a challenge at times and significantly more expensive. Even just keeping up with the digital world is a challenge," says Michelle.
Michelle loves the saying, ‘feel the fear and do it anyway.’ If you want to start your own business, Michelle's advice is to not give up, learn from your experience and make sure you’re 100% clear on your mission.
Tarj | La Mav
La Mav is a wonderful Australian brand that designs and crafts skincare to work. "Looking back on my journey, I feel privileged to say that my motivation for launching La Mav happened very organically. Like many women, I had experienced first-hand how hormonal imbalances can affect the skin — and so I wanted to use my experience as a veterinarian, pathologist and research scientist to become a clean beauty pioneer and offer women a safe and effective solution to their skin issues.
If you're looking to start your own business, Tarj recommends you "be patient, be resilient and believe in yourself! My hope is that #breakthebias helps to shine a light on gender equality and encourage conversation around the importance of diversity."
Jo | Viva La Body
Viva La Body is an Australian brand, focused on making hair, body and skincare products kinder to the planet, people and animals. Jo's motivation for starting, was "to be independent of unethical, bureaucratic employers that were using my labour and skills to make themselves money."
"Everyday brings new challenges, even after 23 years! Initial challenges ranged from basic ingredients and packaging sourcing in a remote region to having no sounding boards for ideas, especially for revolutionary type products." If you're looking to start "be sure that your motivation is pure and be prepared to win and loose."
To #breakthebias Jo says, "maintain courage, conviction and persistence, measured with trust, love and compassion."
Hannah | Hanami
Hanami is a 100% Australian made and owned company specialising in non-toxic nail polish and natural plant based cosmetics. Hannah Jones founded the company in 2016, with her love for bright colours. At the time, being a vegan and following a cruelty-free lifestyle, meant that natural beauty products were plain and serious. So on that note, Hannah became inspired to bring on the fun and the bold vegan products.
A word of advice from Hannah, if you have a great idea, the odds are is someone else wants to see it too! Hanami went from just 6 colour shades in the beginning to a whooping 49 colours now — "turns out I’m not the only one who was keen to see bright and bold cosmetics that don’t compromise your ethics."
Vicki | The Jojoba Company
Vicki's motivation for starting The Jojoba Company was and still remains — to give people back control of their skin.
One of the biggest challenges Vicki faced was educating people about jojoba and explaining that it is not an oil but, a liquid wax ester — the closest botanical match to our own skin's oil. "13 years ago, people hadn't heard of jojoba, and weren't very educated about the power and benefits of natural ingredients — convincing them was the biggest challenge."
Want to start your own business? Vicki 's advice is, "know your passions and follow your gut. The life of a female entrepreneur is hard and there's lots of ups and downs but a strong passion helps to fuel you." To break the bias, Vicki believes in creating a gender equal workplace, where stereotypes don't exist.
Will you help break the bias this year? Cross your arms to show solidarity and use the hashtag #breakthebias on socials. Help spread awareness to equal rights and collectively we can all break the bias.
Read more about celebrating women in the blogs below:
Choose To Challenge This International Women's Day
