If you haven't already heard, the era of women supporting women is officially here and now. Not only is it incredibly important to lift up the women closest to you (shoutout to your mom, sisters, BFFs, and fellow boss ladies), but it's also time to become more intentional about supporting female-founded companies to further promote equality across industries. When it comes to the latter, The Helm's new e-commerce platform is here to help — and in more ways than one.
On June 25, the comprehensive female founder-focused site The Helm unveiled a retooled website and with it, a totally new way to shop some of your favorite female-led brands. It's all part of The Helm's continuing mission to cultivate a strong community of woman-owned businesses and the consumers who support them — after all, everyone knows there's strength in numbers, and strength is certainly needed in the continuing movement towards gender equality.
"There’s a tremendous need to create a central and beautiful place that spotlights the products of incredible female-founded brands. We knew The Helm was the place for that platform to live," The Helm’s Style Director, Rachel Waldman, said in an official statement.
The inclusive and thoughtfully curated shopping site is helmed in part by Waldman, who sources the women-owned brands she believes show the most promise and will have major appeal for The Helm's consumer base. The e-comm offerings boast 80 notable brands that are new and seasoned alike, including Rosetta Getty, Mansur Gavriel, Nili Lotan, Paravel, Ashya, Anna Karlin, and Joanna Vargas, and spans the categories of fashion, beauty, home, and wellness.
Shopping the contextual e-commerce platform is one way you can invest in the future of these female-founded brands — but The Helm made sure your dollar stretches beyond just your purchase. That's because every time you spend at its online store, a portion of the profits will be re-invested into The Helm's new venture capital fund that provides up-and-coming female entrepreneurs with the vital funds they need to succeed. It's the first site of its kind to allow shoppers such a hands-on role in financing the next generation of female business leaders.
“For some people, investing in women means writing a five or six-figure check,” Lindsey Taylor Wood, founder and CEO of The Helm, said in the statement. “For others, a more achievable entry point may be being a thoughtful consumer and purchasing the products and services of women-built-and-led companies.”
The Helm sees its new shopping site as the clear next step in the mission to make it easier to invest in women; it's the followup to the brand's first VC fund, which invested almost $1.5 million in seed capital in 11 female-founded companies around the United States. The site allows The Helm to continue this vital work, while providing an additional access point for consumers to shop established female brands.
“The time is now to change the way we invest in equality,” said Wood. “We need to honor the women who have the courage to lead. We need to invest in them, make them visible, and provide them with the support they require to accomplish their goals.”
Don't waste another moment, and start supporting woman-run businesses by scoring some of The Helm's chic female-founded finds, below.
