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The news cycle feels a bit … overwhelming. I hope this week’s newsletter puts a smile on your face. Because amongst all the chaos, BIPOC women are doing cool things.

Let's get glowing

-Shilpa

P.S. If you enjoy reading Glowreel, please forward it to people in your network who will enjoy it too. It makes my day when you do that, and it keeps Glowreel running! If someone forwarded you this email you can subscribe here:

News, News, News! 📰

Sports (with a dash of business 🤌🏾):
Serena Out! 🐐 Some of the biggest news this week: Serena Williams is planning her retirement after winning 23 Grand Slam titles (she won the 2017 Aus Open while pregnant!) She shared the news in a personal essay in Vogue - grab your tissues, it’s an emotional read!

So what’s next? Serena plans to focus on her family and her VC firm - Serena Ventures. Her company’s raised $111 million this year and already funded a bunch of successful businesses. 78% of them are founded by women and people of colour!

Her legacy will live on. “I’d like to think that thanks to me, women athletes can be themselves”, says Serena. Her influence goes beyond women athletes though. She’s shown all women, especially Black women, that they deserve to take up space, all while boldly being themselves.

See also: They call her The Flash! Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce broke her own record and ran the world’s fastest 100m. And: Allison Feaster used her experiences as a woman of colour to pull up her own seat to the Boston Celtics table.

Jargon Free Business News

Business news can be really dry and unreadable. Market Loop changes that.

It’s the daily newsletter that brings the top finance stories from the UK and beyond, all in an easy, jargon-free 3-minute read.

Market Loop is founded by Ronke Fadipe. A finance professional with over 10 years of industry experience and a passion for making business news more accessible.

Extra Nuggets 👀

• I promise to love me, forever 👰🏾 Kshama Bindu made history when she tied the knot last month. She’s the first woman in India to marry herself. Patriarchy be damned!

• A safe co-working space made for you and me 👩🏽‍💻 That’s the aim of Blackbird House. They’re currently in the US, and plan to go international 🙌🏾

• Welcome to the 21st Century 🎼 New Zealand’s Symphony Orchestra is prioritising diversity and partnering with more Māori and Pasifika artists to better represent Aotearoa (New Zealand).

• Eyeliner, but make it … invisible? 👀 May Akhtar’s take on a winged liner is breaking the internet. It’ll be your go-to look for your next event annnd, you probably have all the products on hand. Yaaas!

Glowreel Recos

What we’re loving this week:

Read - Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. I read this back in 2020 and just re-read it again - it’s that good! One of those page turners that takes you behind the closed doors of two very different households.

Listen - Silence by Taanvi. She’s the young daughter of Nandeeta (this week’s trailblazing woman!) and wrote this song after helping her friend who was being bullied 🥺 The guitar solo at the 2 min 30 sec mark is played by Nandeeta’s young son, Aarav. A very talented family!

Try - Everyday Humans. A woman of colour founded, pro-planet, sun-protection and skincare brand. My favourite products include: Resting Beach Face Sunscreen Serum (no white cast!) and the Bomb Diggity Wander Salve (magic in a 12.5ml tube!).

Buy A Product, Change The World 🌏

Image: Supplied.

Nandeeta Maharaj is a global southern hemisphere citizen. Of Indian descent, she was born in Fiji, grew up in New Zealand and has been living in Australia for the past 18 years. She’s also a mum of two (plus her her cute dog Coco!).

She’s also the founder of Goods 4 Good: an online marketplace where every product available for purchase supports a social enterprise. So, you can support the cause(s) that matter most to you. Brilliant!

We caught up with Nandeeta to learn more about Goods 4 Good. Plus, what social enterprises do, and to hear her tips on how you can blaze your own trail. Let’s go!

How did the idea for Goods 4 Good come about?

I have a background as a corporate marketer. In my last role I worked for a company that had social enterprises at its core. There, I pitched myself as the Corporate Social Responsibility Marketing Manager. I worked with Rise Against Hunger - where we donated meals overseas to countries experiencing extreme poverty and hunger.

This sparked the idea for Goods 4 Good - I launched in November 2021. I realised that one determined social enterprise can make such a huge impact in people's lives. Imagine the impact if everyone started buying from the thousands of social enterprises that exist?!

What products do you sell on Goods 4 Good and how do I know what causes I’m supporting?

One thing that’s quite different is you can shop by the cause that matters to you! The causes our social enterprises are supporting include mental health, homelessness, animal welfare and the environment. Some of our social enterprises contribute towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

We sell a lot of things! Candles, socks, jewellery, toilet paper, body products, animal treats and greeting cards are some examples. Some examples of how the products support causes, and their stories:

• YUMM! Chocolates. They were created by a team of young doctors who saw the need for better mental health supports for young people aged 18-35. You scan the code on the chocolate and it takes you to their specialist mental health resources.
  

• Jewellery by Eden, which supports trafficking survivors. Each piece of jewellery tells a survivor’s story. The Committed necklace is one of the most powerful pieces. It’s a heart shape. You wear one half and the other half is given to a woman who has been trafficked. And it’s a promise to get them out of the situation. Once the women are rescued they get access to counselling, therapies and job training.

What do you hope to achieve with Goods 4 Good?

I want to change consumer behaviour. Which is a huge task! Most people have things they’re passionate about, but they don’t have the time to do anything about it. Imagine if you could use your consumer power to actually make a difference. For example, instead of buying toilet paper from any old company, buy from a company that actually is a force for good.

What have been the highlights and challenges of starting Goods 4 Good?

Highlights: Working with social enterprise founders, learning about their stories and being trusted to share these stories on my website. It is an absolute privilege.

I’ve also become part of the social enterprise society. Yes, there is a social enterprise society! When you find people who are in the social enterprise space, you really understand the impact that these social enterprises are making. They create the fire in my heart to really keep on going, and I feel like I found my tribe. I get so much joy out of doing what I'm doing right now!

Challenges: One of the biggest challenges is that most people don't know what a social enterprise is. My whole business is based on promoting social enterprises! I think with the media, what is more popular and easily understandable for people is talking about companies that sell sustainable products.

But social enterprises do so much more than sell sustainable products. Their main focus is to have an impact. They donate their profits or help a community that wouldn’t get support or opportunities otherwise. There’s an education piece building around why buying from social enterprises is so important. Social Traders ran an amazing campaign recently called “It'll Never Catch On”. There’s also a Social Enterprise World Forum coming to Australia in September, and a National Social Enterprise Body being created too. Hopefully this will all create some momentum around that social enterprise education piece.

The other challenge is finding the companies that are truly social enterprises. Sometimes you have companies where being a social enterprise is an afterthought. But you can see the impact isn’t being had. What I’m trying to do with my website is have products where impact is at the absolute core of everything the social enterprise does.

Your top tip(s) for BIPOC women on how they can blaze their own trail and make change in the world?

Find your tribe and lean on them and learn from them and really engage with them. When I was starting out, I reached out to all my friends and people who I’ve worked with for a 10 minute conversation. I told them, “I'm thinking of this idea, what have you learned as an entrepreneur or as a customer.” I’ve used all of the wisdom to create what I've created.

Even if you don't have a network, in terms of work experience, go reach out to the community. There's so much help available in the community - like local businesses. Local governments also provide a lot of help for startups.

Also, never let colour be your ceiling level! Just be brave and do what you want to do. I talked about Goods 4 Good for so long. But I didn't do it because I was always thinking “I don't know how to run a business.” Honestly, just do your research, do your homework and just do it. And once you start doing it, you learn as you go!

Support the cause(s) that matters to you! Shop from Goods 4 Good, and follow their Instagram.

One Lioness To Another

“Ignore the glass ceiling and do your work. If you’re focussing on the glass ceiling, focussing on what you don’t have, focussing on the limitations, then you will be limited.”

-Ava DuVernay

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This week's email was brought to you by Shilpa Bhim, founder of Glowreel. You can see more of her work at www.shilpabhim.com or follow her on Instagram @shilpa.bhim

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