Hi Lovely,
Proud members of #FFC right here!
What is the FFC you ask? The Female Founder Collective is a network of businesses led by women, who support each other through awareness. By identifying ourselves as members of the FFC on our shop fronts, we are able to let our brides know that when they shop at Lovely Bride, they are supporting a women-owned business. So simple but SO important. This collective truly speaks to Lovely’s core ethos.
I’ll admit, I got a little misty as I placed the Female Founder Collective decal in the window of our OG shop, Lovely Bride NYC. As the founder of Lovely Bride, working with powerful women is my norm. So it’s nice to take a step back and appreciate all that we have done. Things that were not necessarily possible for our mothers and grandmothers. And things that are going to be standard practice for our daughters. I’m so glad to have this place in herstory.
XO,
We recently caught up with Elisabeth Leonard, Director of Community and Brand Partnerships and Rebecca Minkoff’s righthand woman for all things FFC. Check out our Q+A below to learn more about the organization.
Lovely Bride: Tell us about the Female Founder Collective. Where did you get the inspiration to create the collective?
Elisabeth Leonard: The idea for the FFC came out of a meeting that Rebecca was in where she was trying to work with only female founded companies and realized there was no way to find them easily. She then came across a study by Berlin Cameron that said 82% of women are more likely to support female founded companies if they only knew how. That proved to her that a symbol or a seal for consumers to recognize would be key for us to find ways to support and give our money to Female Founders.
LB: How many women make up the collective? What types of business are involved?
EL: The FFC is made up of 3K women with businesses from so many industries; fashion, tech, creative services, event services—the list goes on! It’s a very diverse group of incredibly talented and inspiring women!
LB: Why is it important to make the conscious decision to support women-owned businesses?
EL: White women currently make .80 on the dollar, for WOC, even less. This is a way for consumers to vote with their wallets and for the collective of these women help support each other and give each other resources and tools to bridge the gap that much faster.
LB: How can women can support each other in the workplace?
EL: We need to promote an environment of working together rather than competing against one another. Real change can happen in the world when women work together on behalf of all women. We need to encourage collaboration over competition
LB: What’s next for the FFC?
EL: We want to continue to get the symbol widely known and recognized, get it in use, so that people begin to recognize and identify the symbol. Our goal is to both help consumers find and frequent these businesses while also providing female founders a supportive community.
LB: What was the hardest part about being a female founder?
EL: As female founders, we’re already in a minority, so we’ll be more prominent and more powerful if we’re in it together.
LB: What is the most rewarding part of your job?
EL: The hunger and excitement and the flood of applications. The FFC has grown since so much since the September launch and still can’t keep up! What is amazing about that, is that it shows you that there was a need for this and FFC is filling it.
Interested in learning more about the FFC? Click here for more info about their mission. And as always, support women owned businesses when you shop!
