92% of brands listed on ethikaal.com are founded, or co-founded, by women! These are women who feel empowered to help create a world that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive. Better still, by creating brands that are committed to giving back to society and protecting the planet, these are women who are truly making a difference.
Tuesday 8 March 2022 is International Women’s Day; a day when we can imagine a gender equal world, free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. Whether consciously or not, bias in the workplace and in our community still exists. Without calling it out, it is difficult to move forward and we must collectively engage.
International Women's Day is also a chance to celebrate those wonderful women, all around us; our mothers, sisters, colleagues and friends, who demonstrate, every minute, why we should be celebrating women’s achievements.
ethikaal is using this moment to understand more about the commitment, drive and inspiration behind some of our incredible female founders; and their journey to success.
Christina Cheung, founder of Soaper Delights
Christina founded Soaper Delights with a mission to provide options for a low impact lifestyle, designing household items that are eco-friendly and plastic-free. Where possible, Christina partners with local community organisations to create work and training opportunities for the underprivileged. Christina shares her motivation for creating “stuff that we and the earth can feel great about!”
“I live in Hong Kong (one of the most densely populated cities in the world), people buy and people throw, convenience comes first and we are facing the issue of huge amounts of waste, wastage and plastic overuse (plastic is literally everywhere).
“I am trying to lead a more ‘zero waste’ lifestyle. Personally, I think living ‘zero waste’ and ‘plastic free’ is all about making sustainable choices and changes in your everyday life. This small business enables us to provide our customers with natural, sustainable, eco-friendly products that are good quality alternatives, replacing disposable/single use plastics. This is something my family and I are passionate about and we hope to influence more people to adopt a low impact lifestyle.”
Miyabi Holm, founder of Bahini
Bahini is a collection of scarves, traditionally woven in Nepal by women who receive a fair pay and good working conditions, designed with the main purpose of bringing a future of hope to girls who need it most. For every scarf sold, Bahini supports at-risk girls by donating all profits towards educational scholarships. Protecting Mother Earth at the same time, all materials and dyes are plant-based and sustainable.
“All people, regardless of gender or social status, deserve to live of freedom”, explains Miyabi. “Bahini was founded with a mission to empower women and girls who don’t have their own voice by giving them tools for independence to live a dignified life of freedom. Through Bahini, older survivors of sex-trafficking are employed at partnering fair trade certified suppliers. The profit from all products sold goes directly to supporting the younger survivors with educational scholarships. This creates a circular economy where the older sisters help themselves and the younger ones at the same time, offering them all a new and fresh start.”
Jhanvi Panjabi, founder of Anvi Candles
With a motto to bring joy to every home, Jhanvi’s Hong Kong business creates beautiful Crystal Healing soy wax candles, where the charged crystals aid healing from the inside and generating positive energy.
“Anvi literally means Goddess”, explains Jhanvi. “I started this brand to salute the Goddess in each of us by creating a line of organic healing products. I have always believed in the power of crystals as well as the Universe so the candles were a natural attraction. Each candle has been infused with specific charged crystals while also including powerful cleansing herbs like sage, palo santo, organic Himalayan pink salt and cinnamon. These are all consciously combined with the intention of growing spiritually together, as a community.”
Karina Chang, founder of Soap Yummy
Karina is on a zero-waste adventure, and has been able to combine her passion for food, with her passion for sustainable living! Soap Yummy is a range of eco-conscious hand-made skincare, inspired by different food cultures. Wake up to soap inspired by New York bagels!
“Soap Yummy is a combination of my passion and values. I hope to attract more people to start a plastic-free lifestyle with natural and yummy looking handmade soap and skincare!
“Most of my soap collections are inspired by food because I’m such a foodie! My first collection - Taste of HK - is inspired by traditional HK dessert and made with nutritious food ingredients, like soy milk, sesame and ginger.
“Making natural and plastic free skincare fun and great for skin are always my goals.”
We’re so proud of the strong women who have founded some of the amazing brands listed on ethikaal, inspired by a mutual passion to make the world a better place. You rock!
Remember, by supporting female businesses, we are all helping to #BreakTheBias.