IWD24: Celebrating Female-Founded Small Businesses
To mark International Women’s Day, we turn our spotlights to some incredible trailblazers – women who dared to dream, took a leap of faith and ventured into the realm of entrepreneurship. We’ve had the pleasure of working with these talented women at Blackline. We love what they do and how their personal experiences are at the heart of their brands.
Meet Amina Aden, the brains and heart behind MelaVie, a company dedicated to crafting effective skincare solutions for all skin tones. Recognising the difficulty women-of-colour face when it comes to finding products suitable for their skin, Amina demystifies beauty practices, making luxury skincare accessible for all.
Born out of her personal experiences and her career as a pharmaceutical scientist, Amina has made sure that MelaVie products contain clincally-proven ingredients, specifically targeting the skin health needs of darker skin tones.
Striving to instill confidence in women, Amina promotes the understanding that beauty is beyond skin-deep. She continuously champions this philosophy through her brand, empowering women to feel beautiful in their skin, and ‘celebrate life with colour confidence’.
Meet Kirsten Wilson, the dynamic and visionary woman behind Hello Day, a successful stationery business that combines beautiful aesthetics and clever organisation.
Championing healthy work-life balance, Kirsten launched her company back in 2016, driven by her passion for design and a vision of empowering women through simple and elegant organisational tools. Her beautifully designed planners combine fashion and functionality, providing women with the essential tools they need to keep their lives organised, while infusing a touch of style in their everyday routines.
In Kirsten’s words, Hello Day helps her customers to ‘start each day with positivity and purpose, and end each day with a sense of accomplishment and progress.’
Recognising the importance of mental well-being, Kirsten extends her work beyond the traditional concept of planning, introducing mindful moments throughout her journals such as words of motivation, water intake trackers, goal tracking and manifestation opportunities.
By doing so, she embodies the spirit of female entrepreneurship, creating innovative solutions while fostering a holistic approach to productivity and wellness.
At the core of Peace & Pure, lies Alice Wu’s inspiring story of perseverance. Life dealt Alice a challenging hand, marked by depression, grief, and periods of self-doubt. In the solitude of her struggle, she discovered the power of mindfulness, and how mental wellbeing can impact the skin.
Born out of her personal experiences, Peace & Pure’s signature product, the Timeless Elixir Facial Serum has become an essential element in her customers’ skincare rituals. With each bottle, Alice hopes to instill peace and self-love, allowing that inner shine to mirror through your skin, reflecting both inner and outer beauty.
For Alice, skincare transcends the boundary of simple routines. She perceives it as a restorative ritual with the power to heal. And rightly so, since Mintel recently featured Peace & Pure within their 2024 Global Beauty & Personal Care Trends Report, highlighting the ‘NeuroGlow’ trend that focuses on the mind-skin connection.
