IInternational Women’s Day, celebrated annually on 8 March, represents over a century of action to promote equality for women. This hugely important movement is an opportunity to recognise the incredible progress in women’s empowerment and equity globally – and it calls for continued positive change. It is a day when women are recognised for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity. A message that calls for an equity approach to women’s empowerment because ‘equal opportunities are no longer enough’. While equality means giving individuals or groups the same resources or opportunities, equity acknowledges that unique circumstances will mean that allocating different resources and opportunities is necessary to achieving an equal outcome. We asked those within our Butterfly Mark Community what International Women’s Day means to them/ their brand, how they embrace equity and what they are most proud of achieving in relation to IWD.
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STEPHEN WEBSTER
Kate Jarvis, Managing Director
What does International Women’s Day mean to you/ your brand?
As a brand that exists to empower women, our collection ‘The Rebelles’ spotlights extraordinary women from very different walks of life, who have endured to accomplish great things. It is a true celebration of women but also an important reminder of the continued pursuit for equity. Personally, I am incredibly proud of the talented female leaders at Stephen Webster who head up design, sales, marketing and pperations. They contribute hugely to our culture of nurture and development. For example, Kellie, our Head of Operations, acts as Wellness Officer, utilising her psychotherapy training to provide support to the wider team. Also, many of the Stephen Webster team are parents and I understand the struggle to manage the combined demands of parenting and work. If we want women to remain and excel in the workplace, we have to ensure there is flexibility and support to do so.
BAV TAiLOR
Bav Tailor, Founder & Creative Director
What does International Women’s Day mean to you/your brand?
A celebration of Divine Femininity.
How are you embracing equity personally or as a brand?
Women are voices. Women are courage. Women nurture creativity. A dedication to all the Women that have supported and fuelled my energy to build my holistic metasphere.
Is there anything in particular you are most proud of achieving in relation to IWD?
Women in unity instead of competing power.
IVAR
Ritika Ravi Appaswamy, Founder and Designer
What does International Women’s Day mean to you/your brand?
I think International Women’s Day is a great way for me to celebrate all the amazing women in my life. Women have consistently been a source of support and strength to me. While I hope I show them their value every day, on this Women’s Day I choose to celebrate the women at Ivar, who work with me across the world, at home and always, always my mother who gave me her love for jewellery and who inspires me to keep creating.
How are you embracing equity personally or as a brand?
Ivar is a brand founded by a woman, led by women and managed by women. I was fortunate to receive every opportunity to study, work and travel and I hope to be able to give back to women and children around the world.
CULT MIA
Nina Briance, Founder
What does International Women’s Day mean to you/your brand?
From my perspective as the CEO of Cult Mia specifically, when I look ahead at my career trajectory and that of the business, I know that only 8.8% of Fortune 500 companies’ CEOs are women, and I also know that there is still a huge disparity in the funding received by female founders vs male founded businesses. There’s still work to be done to even out the gaps. On the positive side, I can say that I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support that I have received via dedicated female founder groups and support networks. The power of women supporting women is growing, and for me, IWD should be a celebration of this, and serve as a reminder to all women that supporting each other makes a difference, and will have positive knock on effects as we work to improve on the imbalances we see as a broader community and society.
How are you embracing equity personally or as a brand?
One of our four core values is Cult Power, where Cult Mia is committed to constantly promoting and supporting women-owned businesses – 75% of the brands on our platform today are women and/ or minority-owned. We are proud to be the platform for growth for minority-led fashion labels and provide support every step of the way, from digital marketing, logistics to accounting. We equally want to ensure that as a platform and through our brands, we remind women of their sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others. Many of our brands do just that and are a constant reminder of how much we can achieve.
Is there anything in particular you are most proud of achieving in relation to IWD?
As a female founder, leading our growing team of 10, made up entirely of women!
At Candacraig we have a heavy female presence in the team! We are very proud to have a female led team with three of the ladies living only a few minutes from Candacraig. Candacraig is located in an extremely rural area of Aberdeenshire. Lynne Lino – the owner – has always considered employing local staff a top priority. When it comes to women, this often means having a flexible approach and allow women to work around their childcare and family arrangements so that they can maintain a healthy work/life balance.
However what we are most proud of is the teamwork and collaboration that goes on between men and women in our team. Running a house and offering first class service requires the strengths and abilities of both men and women. We also work with some fantastic external contractors, many of them are female. Valuing each member of our team for their contribution to our success and their individual talent is what allows us to deliver a great experience to all our guests.
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