This feature is all about the women behind the brands that we love.
Here, we're highlighting what inspired them, what keeps them going, their biggest Power Moves, and some insight into how they balance running a company. While there is no golden answer or guaranteed success, this community is all about learning, sharing, and growing. I am so honored to have these fierce female founders in the conversation!
KIRSTIE WANG, A Jar of Pickles
Kirstie is celebrating her 7th year running A Jar of Pickles, a company self-described as “minimal paper goods with small, whimsical pops of color” which has grown to now include pins, stickers, totes, letter sets and so much more. Unofficially, she runs the world’s greatest Instagram account (@ajarofpickles_) full of entrepreneurial lessons, a masterclass of customer interaction and the occasional dinner debate with her husband (Hi Jeff!).
1. What was the inspiration behind starting your own company?
I created a lot of graphics such as logos and flyers for student groups in college, and my roommates convinced me to start an Etsy (which was pretty new at the time!). I opened a shop for fun, thinking I’d sell maybe one or two cards. When I got my first couple orders, I’d print them on cardstock at Kinko’s! My true "aha" moment was when I was getting a consistent number of orders per week—the number wasn’t huge, but it made me realize people might actually like and want to buy my stuff! Since then, it’s been my side hustle while working full-time out of college.
2. Your favorite mantra that gets you through hard moments?
Just keep going. It is easy to have ideas and dreams and plans, but it's so hard to execute when the sales aren't coming in, when I'm not feeling motivated, when I'm feeling meh from my day job, but implementation is what makes my business grow steadily and surely.
3. Most recent Power Move?
Taking a break whenever I feel like it and not feeling the need to "maximize" my time as much as possible!
4. A favorite trick/hack/app to help manage your workload?
I use Trello to manage all my ideas, to-dos, even social media calendar. With plugins, it’s a very valuable tool.
SARA RODELL, Loop & Tie
The “accidental” entrepreneur, Sara is a woman so passionate about solving a need she designed it herself, Sara is ironically extremely intentional and thoughtful about every item she puts in the universe. Undeniably optimistic, she believes in the magic that is out there and a need to keep going even if we can't always see a clear path on how we end up the hero of our own stories. By starting Loop & Tie, she not only gives us the incredible gift of not having to decide what to buy for every present we give, but she also encourages the act of sharing and celebrating with those around us.
1. What was the inspiration behind starting your own company?
My inspiration was more to get an idea I had out into the world, and the means to do that just happened to be a company! When I’m inspired to create, I ask myself “what happens when that “thing” exists in the world? What’s the impact?” And if that answer is motivating enough to keep me going when things get tough, I do it. For Loop & Tie, the impact of our technology existing in the world is that more people can easily do nice things for each other, a diverse set of makers gets a shot at winning business from large corporations, and waste is reduced from unwanted gifts.
2. Your favorite mantra that gets you through hard moments?
When things get a little rough, I tell myself, everything is “for” you, even if you can’t yet see it. This is an invitation for me to keep space for a larger perspective, and view the “tough” thing as just information, not something that’s “against” me, rather something that’s giving me opportunity to reassess. This perspective helps me stay open-minded and curious versus angry at the “thing” or fearful of its impact. As I look back on the hard moments I’ve experienced, I can now see what gifts they were in helping me learn or see how they shifted my course in an ultimately positive way. One of my favorite thoughts around this is the idea that perhaps obstacles aren’t blocks, rather supports to push against.
3. Most recent Power Move?
I’ve been giving myself permission to do nothing. Like actually nothing. In the past when I’ve said that, “nothing” meant I’d be journaling, reading, working out...by “I’m doing nothing” I really meant not working, rather than doing nothing at all. But lately, if I feel like just sitting and staring out a window or laying in bed a little longer, I do it. I watch the tendency to feel “guilty” about this nothingness, and meet it with a hug.
4. A favorite trick/hack/app to help manage your workload?
A new trick I’ve been trying is five-minute activity breaks between tasks. I used to think give minutes was too short to really get anything done, but it’s not true. Five minutes of mountain climbers can feel like an eternity! It’s a fun pick me up that I’m noticing helps improve my focus.
EMMY & ALI, Oluna
An entire team of females focused on something uniquely female — the menstrual movement. For every pair of pants sold, Oluna donates a year’s supply of period products to an American in need and donates 1% of gross profits from select items to fund menstrual education and research — talk about putting their money where their mouth is! We all benefit from this conversation so we can stop hiding tampons up our sleeves as we walk/run to the bathroom hoping we don’t get stopped in a hallway conversation along the way.
1. What was the inspiration behind starting your own company?
In 2015, the menstrual movement catapulted onto the national stage. It was labeled “The Year of the Period.” News and social media launched the once hush-hush topic into the open. Emmy and Ali became particularly interested in the issue because we realized that it could be approached through many different lenses—be it from research, policy, education, environment, or access.
We were shocked that there was an UN-deemed public health crisis happening in our own backyards right here in the United States. After 2015, however, the news cycle surrounding menstruation seemed to ease up.
We realized that the best way to continue the conversation was to create a brand. By utilizing brand identity, we can reframe the ways in which we view and talk about periods, as well as make a meaningful impact in order to keep the conversation going. We are also able to open the conversation up to all demographics through a fashion line rather than limiting our audience through a one-for-one model that focused on period products.
The best way to tackle a serious issue is to make it fun. Oluna hopes to inspire a playful look at period taboos. No question is off-limits. No person should ever feel ashamed. Through empowering images and a playful tone, Oluna takes a unique approach to ending period poverty where everyone can feel comfortable asking questions.
With this in mind, we designed a piece of apparel that all women will feel comfortable and stylish in. The open-legged, soft style with colorful prints fits all body types and can be worn to either go out on the town or lounge around the house.
2. Your favorite mantra that gets you through hard moments?
No words - just laughter! Whenever we are hitting a wall, all it takes is for us to look at each other and we instantly burst out laughing. Oluna does not feel like work—because we make it fun. Incorporating a playful attitude in all things Oluna is the key to our success!
3. Most recent Power Move?
Learn from the best! There is just no need to recreate the wheel. We both previously worked in real estate with no prior experience in fashion or social impact. With this in mind, we have reached out to every successful alumni from our alma mater in any sector that might crossover with Oluna—whether it be retail, venture capital, impact, marketing, branding, DTC, or entrepreneurship. We were pleasantly surprised at the overwhelmingly positive support and time that these fellow alumni offered to us.
4. A favorite trick/hack/app to help manage your workload?
Asana has proven to be an extremely helpful platform to keep Emmy and Ali organized and aligned on all the projects we are working on and action items we need to complete. It helps us prioritize our workload for both the short and long term. Especially since we are working virtually, this online shared “to-do list” is so helpful. The social media scheduling app Later is also a great tool to help us plan out our content and posts ahead of time so that we make sure we are consistently engaging with our audience.
HEATHER & KARLA, Lark & Ives
A Collection favorite - this brand truly captures the essence of "for women, by women." Smart vegan-leather goods ranging from travel and business cards to the most well-organized purse, this brand is classic, high-quality and price-conscious. I appreciate the simplicity of every Lark & Ives design that lets every product be really amazing at what it’s meant to be.
1. What was the inspiration behind starting your own company?
Karla & I started off in the wedding industry where we could only create beauty for a handful of clients. We created Lark & Ives so that we can create beauty through meaningful and functional products for the rest of the world.
We picked Lark & Ives, two free birds to signify our passion to travel the world to create wonderful memories and also to perpetuate courage in this journey of life. We believe that sometimes the strength within you is not a big fiery flame for all to see. It may just be a tiny spark that whispers so ever softly to you that "Perseverance is like a bird against the wind.”
2. Your favorite mantra that gets you through hard moments?
The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually. - Eeyore from The Hundred Acre Wood
3. Most recent Power Move?
It's definitely saying "no" to some amazing opportunities with tight deadlines. The world is constantly changing in this pandemic time. Our small but mighty team of women has had to work long hours to pull through some really tight deadlines this has sometimes been done at the cost of our mental well-being. Lark & Ives has been growing tremendously for the past six months, but at the same time, Karla and I agreed on gifting ourselves and our minds some room to breathe instead of pushing us and our team to the edge.
4. A favorite trick/hack/app to help manage your workload?
Delegate, delegate, and delegate! Throughout the years, Karla and I have learned to focus on our strengths and to hire more talents to tackle our weaknesses. We are so much stronger as a team now, and delegating has been our secret sauce to fast growth.
AZORA ZOE PAKNAD, goldune
A founder so passionate about bringing this space to life that she started it in the midst of quarantine due to a Global Pandemic. A small but mighty team energized to make sustainable shopping more accessible, colorful, and diverse. She may not save the world by herself, but she is certainly set to change it.
1. What was the inspiration behind starting your own company?
I was into the sustainability world, personally and professionally, but I didn't see myself in any of the dominant narratives I saw on Instagram. On one side of the aisle, there were the waif-like thin white influencers with perfectly manicured beige homes and $400 hemp pants that we were supposed to believe were aspirational…yeah, not me!
On the other side, there was a really passionate zero waste community that felt pretty granola, and honestly, a little all-or-nothing. I really admire the zero waste movement, but it's inherently a huge privilege to shop sustainably (and when we leave out that part, we leave out *a lot* of marginalized or vulnerable communities who are actually way, way more likely to be impacted by climate catastrophes). For some reason, "sustainable living" is a privilege that looks and feels like a sacrifice.
When I looked at my friends, family, peers, and coworkers, I saw a lot of folks who didn't fit into either of those two extreme archetypes, but all wanted to do a bit better by the planet and be good people. They just hadn't found an entry point to shopping sustainably that spoke to them.
I wanted to create a space that was inclusive at its core (starting with an assortment that prioritizes women- and BIPOC-lead brands), warm, colorful, and joyful, that lead with a judgment- and shame-free approach—the welcome wagon for sustainability. Goldune was born in October 2020!
2. Your favorite mantra that gets you through hard moments?
I'm not a big mantra gal—when things go wrong, I usually just freak out about things going wrong. The older I get, the more suspicious I am of folks who imply they don't do this too—but there's one phrase that comes to mind that my dad hammered into my head growing up. He had this Lance Armstrong poster (a little ironic now) that said "Pain is temporary, quitting is forever."
There was a lot of that and "pain is just weakness leaving the body" energy in my household growing up. Those things stuck with me (for better or for worse; I'm sure my therapist thinks it's for worse) well into adulthood, and now I actually like a little friction or struggle. No accomplishment feels worthwhile without it, and giving up is literally never an option. (Pivoting? Maybe. But giving up? Never!!)
3. Most recent Power Move?
Starting a company in quarantine is probably my biggest power move of all time, so it's pretty hard to top. That said, running a startup in quarantine is its own beast. I put myself out there pitching strangers with much bigger or more successful businesses than mine, editors from enormous publishers I admire, or a sea of influential investors pretty much all day, every single day. (In fact, I'm craving a day or two where I get to take a break from power moves!)
4. A favorite trick/hack/app to help manage your workload?
The workload is Mount Everest and I'm eleven meters under an avalanche most days, so there is no magic sauce that makes it all work! I get up, fail a lot, sleep for a few hours and get up to fail a bit more the next day. (Don't believe anyone who makes entrepreneurship seem glamorous or glorious, it's a lot of this!)
I recently downloaded Superhuman, which has changed the game for my inbox— as a solo founder and operator, so much of the business just sort of exists and floats around in my brain. Having a more organized or operable archive of emails, drafts, and reminders at least keeps more from falling through the cracks. My other "hack" is having objectively amazing interns who make my days more fun! I lucked out with a tiny team of people I actually love to talk to every day. Running and starting a business alone in a pandemic has made me so appreciative of the interactions I do get to have and the ways they keep me sane.
