International Women's Day: Women-Owned Businesses

The United States recognizes March as Women’s History Month. But, globally, March 8th is recognized as International Women’s Day. It’s a day dedicated to bringing awareness to the continuing issues surrounding gender equality and women’s rights, while also acknowledging and honoring the contributions to our society brought by women. So, for this International Women’s Day, we’d like to honor some incredible woman-founded companies and organizations, and the women who created them. 

Beauty

Glossier (Emily Weiss) – Beauty & Skincare

Before creating one of the biggest beauty brands in the world, Emily Weiss had a blog titled “Into the Gloss” that gave women everywhere an up close look at the beauty secrets from their favorite celebrities. With her blog, Weiss discovered what women truly wanted from their beauty routines, and created Glossier to fill that need. 

UOMA (Sharon Chuter) – Beauty & Skincare

Sharon Chuter created UOMA in 2018 after noticing a lack of beauty products for women of color. UOMA offers a diverse shade range and colors that will pop on any skin tone. You can even find on their website that “beauty comes in every color, and we intend to wear them all”.

Megababe (Katie Sturino) – Personal Care

Megababe went viral for their anti-chafing “thigh rescue” stick. Since then, they’ve released products for the entire body including a foot spray and “bust dust”. Katie Sturino founded Megababe as a solution to the thigh chafing she (like most) experienced every summer. 

Juvia’s Place (Chichi Eburu) – Beauty & Skincare

Unable to find makeup that enhanced the beauty of her natural skin tone, Chichi Eburu created Juvia’s Place. A beauty company that offered world of makeup and skincare for all. Read more about Juvia’s Place origin and Chichi’s desire to create an inclusive beauty industry here. 

Technology & Wellness

Bumble (Whitney Wolfe Herd) – Social App

Herd became the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire at age 31 when she took Bumble public in 2021. After co-founding the popular dating app Tinder, Herd sought out to create her own that was designed specifically with women in mind. Whether you’re looking for a date, a BFF, or to network professionally, Bumble has you covered.

Clue (Ida Tin) – Women’s Health App

Without a simple way to track her own menstrual and fertility cycle, Ida Tin brainstormed the idea for the Clue app. A simple, one stop location for women to track and understand their body’s cycles. Today, Clue has over 11 million monthly users. 

The Riveter (Amy Nelson) – Membership Network

The Riveter, founded in 2017, is a national membership network of community, content, resources, and coworking spaces, built by women for everyone. Nelson sought a place where women could go to learn and share resources with one another, and that’s when The Riveter was created.

Tia (Carolyn Witte and Felicity Yost) – Women’s Health Platform

Tired of women’s voices being ignored in traditional healthcare offices, Witte and Yost created Tia: one location for every healthcare provider a woman could need including primary care doctor, gynecologist, therapist, and wellness practitioners. 

Non-Profit Organizations

The Malala Fund (Malala Yousafzai) – Advocacy for Girl’s Education

Co-founded by education activist and youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, The Malala Fund was created to advocate for girls’ education. Read more about Malala’s fight and her story here. 

Black Girls Code (Kimberly Bryant) – STEM Education for Girls of Color

Kimberly Bryant worked in the STEM field for 20 years when, after seeing the lack of representation of Black women in the industry, she decided to start this NGO. Black Girls Code introduces young girls of color to STEM fields. 

Women for Women International (Zainab Salbi) – Supports Female War Survivors

Driven by her own experiences and horror stories heard from her home country of Iraq, Zainab Salbi created Women for Women International in hopes of supporting female survivors of war. Her organization provides them with support, tools, and skills that help them to access a better life. Read more about Zainab Salbi here. 

Games for Change (Suzanne Seggerman) – Games for Good

CO-founded by Suzanne Seggerman, Games for Change is an organization that not only believes games can change the world, but also introduces and teaches youth game development and coding. 

The list above is just a small selection of modern women-found businesses and organizations. But, why does it matter to be aware of women-founded businesses? For one, it’s recognizing the impact and innovation of brilliant women across the globe. Too frequently, the achievements and successes of women get ignored. By supporting women-owned businesses, you can help to bridge the gender equality gap. Whether your support is a purchase, donation, or even a follow on their social media pages, it all adds up. So, for this International Women’s Day, we urge you to find your favorite women-owned business, and possibly a new one you didn’t know of before, and go show them some support!