Female Entrepreneurs in Consumer Goods: Empowering Innovation
The corporate landscape has witnessed a notable surge in female entrepreneurship in recent years, with emphasis in consumer-backed businesses. Cosmetics, beauty, wellbeing, and healthcare in particular have become hotbeds of innovation and transformation led by enterprising women. This trend is especially pronounced in the UK, where a wave of dynamic female entrepreneurs is helping to shape the future of the consumer goods landscape.
Cosmetics and Beauty
Former Head of Operations for Benefit Cosmetics, Sharon Chuter, made waves in the beauty industry back in 2018 with the launch of her own brand, Uoma Beauty (‘Uoma’ being a truncated version of ‘beautiful people’ in Igbo). She initially established the brand in London, to “re-write the rules of inclusivity and diversity”, offering better tonal ranges of makeup and beauty products, inspired by her own Nigerian heritage. But Chuter’s influence went beyond product creation to social impact, when she spearheaded the ‘Pull Up For Change’ campaign during the Black Lives Matter movement. The campaign, which started as a 72-hour crusade on Instagram, quickly expanded into a broader mission to advance the economic wellbeing of Black communities, with one of its central tenets holding companies to account in their DE&I values, by publicly declaring statistics on Black members of leadership teams. Well-established brands Sephora, ULTA, and even L’Oreal went on to release demographic data on employees and senior leadership teams. ‘Pull Up For Change’ then also further spawned the ‘Make It Black’ campaign, an initiative developed to create meaningful conversations around the definition of, and society’s sentiment towards Blackness. The program partners with leading brands to showcase Black beauty and achievement, using this as a vehicle to raise capital to support more Black-owned businesses. Chuter’s work was prompted in part by this recognition of the stark gulf between advisory, and more meaningful capital support for black-owned businesses within the cosmetics and beauty sectors particularly, with Chuter noting on Uoma’s website “…Black Founders are over mentored and under-invested. Less than 1% of available capital went to Black founders in 2020. We must change this.”
Though she unfortunately stepped down from her role as CEO of the company this Summer, citing ill health, Chuter remains broadly active in Uoma, developing new creative campaigns and product ideas for the brand. Female entrepreneurs like Chuter are emblematic in leveraging their unique perspectives to introduce products that go beyond surface-level aesthetics and address diverse needs and desires of consumers – often neglected by larger mainstream cosmetics companies – as well as supporting socially progressive agendas more widely.
Personal and Environmental Wellbeing
On the wellbeing side of the consumer-led industry, another female entrepreneur to watch is Grace Beverley. Initially well-known for her social media presence as @GraceFitUK (now @gracebeverley), Beverley is a serial entrepreneur, now also recognised for her Instagram Fitness App ‘SHREDDY’ and organisational toolkits under ‘The Productivity Method’ brand, before going on to found ethical activewear brand TALA. TALA is particularly notable for its well-rounded approach to ESG criteria. They have, for instance, comprehensive grasp on sustainability, with their clothing being designed for versatility and longevity; 92% of their offerings being ‘upcycled’; their ‘365 basics’ brand being made from wood pulp-based fibre, sourced from strictly certified sustainably managed forests; and even their clothing tags made from seeded paper that can be planted in soil after removal. The company simultaneously focuses on: reducing carbon emissions widely throughout the production lifecycle – their London office, for instance, runs on 100% renewable energy; celebrating inclusivity, with sizing offerings going from 2XS-4XL, and continually under review as the business grows; and a laudable commitment to fair payment for workers throughout the supply chain. All of TALA’s suppliers are held accountable to their code of conduct, which incorporates: the International Labour Organisation (ILO); UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights; OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the United Nations Global Compact. As if these ESG credentials weren’t strong enough, Beverley also continues to utilize her initial incarnation as a social media influencer, still providing content aimed specifically at advising other aspiring female entrepreneurs.
Health: Pioneering Personalised Healthcare
It wouldn’t be a truly holistic look at the beauty and wellbeing industries either, without reference to women working towards change within mental as well as physical health. This is particularly prescient given a report from Mental Health UK that noted “80% of small business owners reported experiencing symptoms of poor mental health – 86% of female business owners compared to 77% of males.”
After starting to suffer from panic attacks, initially during a high-pressured work presentation, former Marketing Director Kim Palmer initially sought out a variety of self-help methods to help regain control over her mental health. Finding solace in hypnotherapy, Palmer then went on to develop wellbeing app, Clementine. She recognised that women are “disproportionately affected by stress, anxiety and sleep problems”, and set out to combat these issues and “arm more women with the tools and know-how to look after their emotional wellbeing and develop healthier mindsets.” Clementine offers a unique combination of cognitive hypnotherapy, breathwork, relaxation, and mindfulness techniques, as well as direct access to licensed cognitive hypnotherapists, to help develop mental resilience on both a conscious and unconscious level, all with women’s health at the forefront of its offering.
This trend for extrapolating personal experience into a successful business offering is by no means exclusive to women. of course, but it can represent fascinating insight into the mind of the female entrepreneur, when women are so often under-served by existing structures and systems like traditional healthcare. It is thus perhaps no surprise that female entrepreneurs find themselves at the forefront of the entrepreneurial wellbeing movement, determined to make things more accessible, personalised, and ultimately more effective.
Challenges and Triumphs: Navigating the Entrepreneurial Landscape
Despite the remarkable achievements of female entrepreneurs over the last few years, challenges persist. Access to funding, gender bias, and societal expectations are hurdles that many women still face in their entrepreneurial journey. However, these challenges have not deterred these resilient and determined pioneers.
This commercial boldness in the face of continued market volatility suggests female entrepreneurs in the UK are not only thriving, but also inspiring a new generation of business leaders to come. Their success stories can serve as beacons of hope and motivation for aspiring entrepreneurs, irrespective of gender.
Conclusion
The rise of female entrepreneurs in the cosmetics and wellbeing industries signifies a transformative shift in the business landscape. The women profiled, and those like them, are not merely creating consumer products, but are challenging norms and helping shape the discourse around what it really means to serve consumers. They help foster more inclusive and holistic approaches to consumer welfare, in their commitment to tackling both immediate product need, and the wider question of social responsibility across the consumer goods landscape.
As the UK continues to be a hub for entrepreneurial innovation, the contributions of these women underscore the importance of diverse perspectives in driving industry evolution. The future of consumer-backed businesses looks bright, with trailblazing female entrepreneurs continuing to lead the way, and leave an indelible mark on their sectors, inspiring a new era of inclusive and innovative business practices.
At Partner Executive we are ardent supporters of women at every stage of their business journey, with particular depth of experience across the consumer goods sector. We are one of only three women-led businesses that are signatories of the Voluntary Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms, and as such operate under a unique, empathetic perspective in our approach to supporting businesses in their search and staff development needs, particularly towards bettering inclusivity.
