International Women's Day: Our Fave Female Founded Brands.

If you didn't know today is International Women’s Day, where have you been?! To celebrate this wonderful day, we have created a special shout out piece for some of our all time FAVE female-founded brands. As a girl boss-ran business, nuddy is super passionate about championing brands that have been created by wonderful women; in a world dominated by the patriarchy, it's so important to recognise the achievements of female-led businesses. The lovely founders of these brands have been kind enough to offer a piece of advice for all of the aspirational young woman in our community. So, sit back and get ready to be inspired..

HANX: @hanxofficial

Founded in 2017 by Farah Kabir and Dr. Sarah Welsh.

Hanx is a sexual wellness and intimate health company that specialises in creating products that are accessible and sex positive. From condoms with the cutest packaging, to online services for vaginal health issues, HANX owns their space in a market often designed for male consumers. We particularly love how they create important online conversations that tackle the taboos surrounding sexual health. Hanx, we love you.

Advice from the founders:

'Take risks. The worst that can happen is you learn from them and grow. Surround yourself with people who will support and champion what you’re doing.'-Sarah

‘Go with your gut, it always has your best interests at heart. And back yourself to succeed.'-Farah

Check out HANX here.

Raw Halo: @rawhalo

Founded in 2014 by Meg Chapman.

Inspired by Meg’s decision to reduce sugar in her diet, Raw Halo is a vegan, sustainably sourced chocolate brand that creates the most mouth-wateringly delicious treats. She now runs her brand with her partner Jonathan and they are a total cult favourite for those looking for plant based chocolate. Meg’s ethical minded brand is totally aligned with nuddy’s values and we LOVE Raw Halo for that.

Advice from Meg:

'Over the years of running Raw Halo, one of the biggest things I’ve come to appreciate is that things don’t always go to plan and not to get too disheartened when they don’t. Keep focused, be patient, celebrate the small wins, and know that things tend to have a way of working themselves out. Success doesn’t happen overnight.'

Check out Raw Halo here.

DAYE: @meetdaye

Founded in 2018 by Valentina Milanova

Daye is a vaginal health and menstruation product company that are keen on raising the standard for female health care. Inspired by Valentina’s childhood embarassment surrounding her period, Daye are a stigma-free safe space for all things time of the month. Their infamous CBD infused tampons show the dedication Valentina has for making cutting edge vaginal care products that actually make a differerence.

Advice from Valentina:

"My advice to women working in predominantly male industries, like VC and engineering, is to keep at it! When I was first fundraising for Daye, I could barely find an investor that would hear me out, as 92% of VCs are male. The majority of investors I met felt incredibly uncomfortable discussing menstruation and gynae health, but with a little perseverance, I found the right backers for Daye and was able to bring my vision to life. Similarly, I really struggled to find engineers at the start of our journey. The majority of design and software engineers are still male, and sadly a lot of them found the concept of working on solutions for e-commerce or manufacturing for a CBD tampon... less than tantalizing. Eventually I was able to recruit engineers from the art world, who had worked on large art installations, and this ended up being a really positive thing for Daye, because it meant our approach to machine and software building was really agile and creative."

Check out Daye here.

KitsCH Noir: @kitschnoir

Founded in 2018 by Cherelle Brown.

We are totally obsessed with KitsCH Noir- a greeting card and stationary brand with a focus on inclusion and diversity. Cherelle creates the most gorgeous items that are designed to reflect the joy, love and humour within the black British experience, inspiring her customers to embrace, encourage and empower. We love the beautiful illustrations that adorn her products and the wonderful messages that her brand radiates. 

Advice from Cherelle:

‘Never be afraid of your differences...they are your powers’

Check out KitsCH Noir here.

Thes Lac Rose: @theslacrose

Founded in 2018 by Dalla Niakhaté

We are obsessed with herbal tea at nuddy HQ and that’s why we love Dalla’s gorgeous hand crafted, loose leaf tea brand, Thes Lac Rose. Their unique array of flavours make this brand stand out from the crowd. Not only do their teas taste AMAZING, they have a keen passion for making sure they are ethically sourced by local tea producers in Sri Lanka, India, China and Kenya. We are super passionate about brands that DO good as well as creating amazing products and that’s why this tea making super brand.

Advice from Dalla:

‘On your entrepreneurial journey, you’ll learn that you are much more resourceful, stronger, and smarter than you thought you were. An incredible power lies within you and is just waiting to be unleashed. Analyse, strategise and go for it! You’ve got this!’

Check out Thes Lac Rose here.

Astrid and Miyu: @astridandmiyu

Founded in 2012 by Connie Nam.

Here at nuddy, we are total jewellery addicts. One of our fave brands is Astrid and Miyu, which was inspired by a lack of high quality, affordable ranges in the jewellery market and Connie’s favourite jewellery shop in Seoul. Best known for their signature ear stacks, this brand creates the most beautiful pieces in London before adorning the bling lovers all over the world. Astrid and Miyu champions community and we love them for it.

Advice from Connie:

‘Trust and back yourself. Don’t leave it to others to evaluate your self worth.’

Check out Astrid and Miyu here.

nuddy: @nuddyofficial

Founded in 2018 by Kassi Emadi.

As you may know, we are super proud to be a female led brand. So, here’s a little bit about US. nuddy has been making super chic, plastic free bathroom essentials since 2018. Our founder, Kassi’s goal was to make soap bars cool again, and its safe to say she has succeeded. Our vegan, cruelty free soap bars are free of SLS, SLES, paraben and phthalates and have been HUGELY succesful amongst all our eco-conscious babes. Since our launch, we have created an expanding range of shampoo bars, plastic free razors and super cute accessories and we can't wait to continue our journey of plastic-free fabulousness.

Advice from Kassi:

'Always be unapologetically yourself. Not all people are 'your' people, and that's okay. You'll find them one day soon. Just keep doing YOU.’