The disruptors, the move-makers, the go-getters. The women who said, “What I want isn’t out there — so I’m going to create it.” We’re highlighting women who had a vision, and went after it. From brilliant beauty innovators to those taking charge in the crypto world, these are the ladies making waves in their industries, and empowering others to do the same!
Cashmere Nicole, CEO & Founder of Beauty Bakerie
During a challenging, but successful fight with breast cancer, Cashmere became extremely health conscious and research-driven about the products we put in and on our bodies. In 2011 she founded Beauty Bakerie, a cruelty-free, all-inclusive cosmetics line made to enhance the beauty in everyone using healthy ingredients. The brand is now sold in 2000+ locations worldwide, and was the first to recalibrate shades from dark to light. In 2016 Beauty Bakerie created 501(c)3, Sugar Homes, which supports the needs of orphaned children globally — mixing activism within each cosmetic confection purchased.
Tiila Abbitt, CEO & Founder of ĀTHR BEAUTY
While working at one of the largest retailers in the beauty industry Tiila learned that in the US there are only 11 banned chemicals in color cosmetics, whereas in the European Union, there are over 1300. She wanted to do better, so she created ĀTHR Beauty — a clean, ethically sustainable beauty brand that innovates beyond the efficacy of conventional brands. Today ĀTHR Beauty bans more than 2700 ingredients, and the brand’s crystal-infused eyeshadow palettes are award winning for being the first zero waste eyeshadow palettes in the beauty industry, as well for their buttery smooth texture, longevity, and efficacy. Once you pop the pans out they are fully recyclable!
Jaime Schmidt + Brit Morin, Co-Founders of BFF
With market capitalization currently at $2.05 trillion — up 102% in the last 12 months — cryptocurrency is a hot topic. And this is the first time in history that women and nonbinary people have ever had equal rights to participate in the economics of a new multi-trillion-dollar industry. But they’re not…yet. In fact, men are more than twice as likely to invest in cryptocurrency than women. Friends Brit Morin and Jaime Schmidt, each founders of their own companies, are on a mission to change that with the launch of BFF, a free open-access community developed to build equity in the new economy. While it’s free to join and open to all, members can unlock additional perks through BFF’s NFT collections. From discussions on Discord and social media along with virtual and IRL events, workshops, talent incubators, lage-scale events, and more, Brit and Jaime aim to bring women together to share knowledge and thrive in Web 3.0.
Sheena Yaitanes, Founder of Kosas
Sheena’s obsession with innovation started not in a beauty lab, but a biology lab. After studying Biology and Fine Art, she married her love of color and science to create Kosas’ first product — four lipsticks inspired by the earthy blends of neutrals and pinks she made in a portrait painting class. In the next seven years Kosas has developed a range of skin-improving, clinically proven makeup that feels comfy on the skin. Try any one of her products and you will understand why Sheena has been touted as the Estée Lauder of our time.
Holly Christine Hayes, CEO & Founder of Sanctuary Project
When it comes to vision and leadership, our eyes are on Holly Christine Hayes. She is the Founder and CEO of Sanctuary Project, a survivor-run nonprofit social enterprise that employs and empowers women who have survived trafficking, violence, and addiction. As a survivor herself, Holly is fiercely passionate about creating a safe space for others to thrive in their journey towards lives of economic freedom and healing. To date Sanctuary Project has provided more than 25,000 hours of employment for survivors.
Sharelle Rosado, CEO and Founder of Allure Realty
Incredibly driven and dripping in determination, Sharelle Rosado broke barriers in 2019 when she founded Allure Realty, an all female, all Black, luxury real estate firm in Tampa, Florida with locations in Miami and soon Charlotte, NC. A former Paratrooper in the United States Army, Rosado’s leadership skills are on full display in the recent #1 hit Netflix docu-series “Selling Tampa,” as she mentors and empowers her team in brokering transactions for high profile clients.
Toni Ko, CEO & Founder of Bespoke Beauty Brands
Toni disrupted the beauty industry in 1999 with the introduction of her first company, NYX Cosmetics. Professional, richly pigmented products were finally at our fingertips at affordable prices. In 2019, she made waves in the cosmetics industry again with the launch of her newest company, Bespoke Beauty Brands — a new age beauty incubator that partners with celebrities, influencers, and entrepreneurs to bring their visions to life, and into our hands.
Ariel Kaye, CEO & Founder of Parachute
While many home companies started off as a brick & mortar and transitioned to developing their online presence, Ariel Kaye flipped the script. In 2014 she saw a space for direct-to-consumer, high quality bedding — and she didn’t sleep on it. She sprung to action, founding Parachute, an online-only destination for impeccable bedding that inspires wellness. Since then the company has expanded to offer essentials for every room in your house, and has found its own home in 14 retail stores with plans to expand to 30 by the end of this year.
Claire Schmidt, CEO & Founder of AllVoices
One of the most powerful things you can do with your voice, is to give a voice to others. That is just what Claire did when she created AllVoices, a platform that allows employees to anonymously communicate their concerns and feedback without fear of retaliation. The innovative employee feedback management platform is used by companies (including ours!) to build sustainable and healthy cultures where employees speak up and feel heard.
Dr. Roshini Raj, Founder of TULA
A board-certified, practicing gastroenterologist and medical media expert, Dr. Raj can occasionally be found arriving at the TULA Skincare board room in her scrubs, straight from performing surgery! She had a lightbulb moment after seeing the life-changing impact probiotics were having on her patient’s internal health — they were feeling better and their skin was glowing! She founded TULA to harness the power of probiotic extracts and superfoods in skincare, clinically proven to nourish and balance the skin. With TULA, Dr. Raj’s mission is to inspire confidence and help the TULA community achieve healthy, not perfect, balanced skin.
Allison Ellsworth, Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Poppi
Suffering from a variety of health issues, Allison discovered that Apple Cider Vinegar could reset and naturally detox her body, improving everything from her gut health and immunity, to refining her complexion. The only problem? She hated the taste. Then, an idea popped up. She began mixin’ in her kitchen to make it taste great and eventually landed on Poppi, the better-for-you sodas we know and love today — full of flavor with real digestive health functionality and clean ingredients. With a TikTok account that continues to go viral, an engaged social community that has grown by over 200,000 followers just this year, and brand fans like Billie Eilish, Noah Beck, Russell Westbrook, and J.Lo, this flavorful, full-of-function brand is just getting started on a mission to change the face of the soda industry for good.
Marcia Kilgore, Founder of BEAUTY PIE
Marcia Kilgore has disrupted the beauty industry on more than one occasion. First with the industry-revolutionizing Bliss Spa, and most recently with BEAUTY PIE, a fully digital buyers’ club delivering luxury beauty products without the sky high prices. Her brilliant model offers members up to 5X more for their money. Yep, that means more of the Pie for everyone!
Nancy Twine, CEO & Founder of Briogeo
Nancy’s passion for clean beauty goes back to her childhood. Growing up, she struggled with finding products to nourish her hair type — so instead, she and her mom (a doctor and chemist), would make homemade natural beauty products from scratch to transform hair, skin, and body. Years later, when Nancy was working in finance and searching for passion in her life after a personal loss, she began researching the beauty industry and discovered a trend: beauty consumers wanted clean but effective products, but there weren’t many options out there. Armed with her childhood memories and experience, Nancy eventually left her finance job and founded Briogeo: an award-winning line of carefully crafted, clean hair care that offers effective solutions for every hair type, hair texture, and person of every ethnicity.
Salima Visram, CEO & Founder of SAMARA
and Samara Visram, Head of Product at SAMARA
Growing up in Kenya, Salima noticed that children weren’t able to do their homework without the use of carcinogenic kerosene lamps, impeding their education. She developed The Soular Backpack, which uses solar power to charge a lamp on their way to school, giving students clean, safe light every night. In 2017 the entrepreneur launched SAMARA, a 100% cruelty-free fashion house with a full female team and a goal of creating better products using better materials. To tie in these two passions, SAMARA fully funds Soular, and her sister Samara (whom the company is named after) is currently building a secondary school in Kenya so that the children in the area are able to continue their education.
Ellen Bennett, CEO & Founder of Hedley & Bennett
While working on the line at two Michelin Star restaurants in LA, Ellen Bennett recognized that the “uniform” was not aligned with the creativity and confidence found in the kitchen. She brought her vision to life with Hedley & Bennett, a company that makes not only aprons, but trendsetting culinary workwear and gear that outfits over 6000 restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, resorts, and hundreds of thousands of home cooks all over the world. In April of 2021 Ellen released her first book, Dream First, Details Later, which outlines her personal playbook of putting your inner worrier on silent and leaping into action. Read it and get inspired!
xx, The FabFitFun Team
