Dana Donofree, AnaOno’s founder and CEO, was diagnosed with breast cancer in her mid-20s and felt like she lost her identity after treatment. This experience led her to create a line of what she called “boob-inclusive lingerie” designed for women who’d undergone breast surgery. “One breast, two breasts, no breasts or new breasts, everyone deserves to be supported,” Donofree tells us. AnaOno partners with Pink Warrior Advocates for its Bra Assistance Program, which provides up to 25 post-surgery and mastectomy bras per month to people in financial need. The brand also runs its Natrelle Inspires Bra program — for every Natrelle Inspires Bra purchased, one bra is donated to a breast cancer patient diagnosed within the last 12 months.
Ali Mejia and Mariela Rovito, co-founders of Eberjey, began the company in 1996 and aimed to design pajamas and lingerie that were both beautiful and comfortable. Today, the founders tell us Eberjey’s team is 95% women, many of whom are mothers, including themselves. Because of this, they were conscious about providing employees the flexibility and resources they needed to balance work and motherhood during the pandemic. Eberjey now offers optional remote work that’s permanently available at the company.
Nell Diamond initially founded Hill House Home after she had trouble finding well-crafted pieces to accessorize her first apartment. Since its launch in 2016, the brand expanded from beautifully designed home and bedding products to chic dresses, shoes, pajamas and even kids and baby clothes.
After a decade in the fashion industry, Lisa Bühler created Lisa Says Gah as an “anti-shop” shop where unique, diverse and independent designs can live. The brand offers a range of clothing, accessories, shoes, home decor and more in vibrant colors and fun designs.
Inspired by the classic friendship bracelet, Adriana Carrig created Little Words Project as a way to create wearable affirmations and reminders of one’s self-worth and self-love. The brand offers pre-made bracelets with positive phrases like “Keep Going” and “You Got This.” Shoppers can also make their own bracelet with a custom saying.
Khadijah Fulton was a fashion designer for a decade before launching jewelry brand White/Space in 2012. Influenced by classic art, Fulton designs unique pieces, including earrings, necklaces and rings. Each collection is designed and made by hand in collaboration with small workshops and individual artisans in downtown Los Angeles, according to the brand.
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Becca Millstein and Caroline Goldfarb teamed up to create Fishwife after Millstein noticed a gap in marketable, ethically-sourced tinned fish. Since then, Fishwife (a term that dates back to the 16th century and referred to the daughters or wives of fishermen who sold fish at the market) has soared in popularity thanks to its stylish tins and delicious seafood, including smoked Atlantic salmon, albacore tuna and smoked rainbow trout. If you’re looking for ways to take your tinned seafood to the next level, Millstein published “The Fishwife Cookbook: Delightful Tinned Fish Recipes for Every Occasion” earlier this year.
Erica Liu Williams started making granola at home while doing a cleanse with her husband and began selling it at farmers’ markets. That led her to found Gr8nola, which she grew by stocking office pantries at tech companies like Google and Uber. The pandemic severely disrupted Gr8nola’s operations when people began working from home, but the brand shifted its focus to building its direct-to-consumer sales. This pivot taught Williams how to adapt in unexpected scenarios and still be successful. Gr8nola offers granola in flavors like Cacao Chip, Cinnamon Chai and Peanut Butter. All of the brand’s products are made without soy, dairy and refined sugars.
Lil Bucks founder Emily Griffith first stumbled upon sprouted buckwheat seeds as a grain-free granola replacement in Australia. She wanted to bring buckwheat, a fruit seed that comes from the buckwheat flower, to the U.S. and did so by establishing her company in 2018. Lil Bucks debuted its first product line at a fitness festival in Chicago, and the brand now offers multiple product lines, including Lil Bucks, Clusterbucks and SZN-ing. All of Lil Buck’s products are centered around buckwheat and many items are free from the top 9 food allergens, including peanuts, wheat, soybeans and milk.
Two factors inspired Rose Bakewell to launch Mrs. Bakewell’s, which sells boxes of cream tea scones: Her love of baking and British history. “I decided I wanted to offer a quintessentially English tradition to America to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes,” she tells us. Mrs. Bakewell’s scones are made without preservatives, artificial colors and artificial flavors, and they’re available in four flavors, including Classic Plain, Cranberry-Orange, Blueberry-Lemon and Zante Currants.
Denise Woodard founded Partake after struggling to find allergy-friendly snacks for her daughter, and the company has rapidly expanded since its 2016 launch. Its cookies, breakfast mixes, graham crackers and vanilla wafers are available in stores nationwide, including Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Kroger. Partake’s products are gluten-free, vegan and free from the top 9 allergens.
Maritza Abreu’s parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic and opened their Brooklyn restaurant, Puerto Viejo, in 1986 (the oldest Dominican restaurant in NYC, according to Abreu). But after a fire devastated the establishment, Abreu wanted to help her parents rebuild their dreams. She began bottling up family recipes and selling them as ready-to-eat sauces and seasonings — thus, Pisqueya was born. The brand became a way for Abreu to share flavors that remind her of home and help fill the gap in Latin Caribbean representation within the global food market. In addition to seasonings like adobo and sazón, Pisqueya sells hot sauces, including a smoky hot sauce (made from Scotch bonnet peppers) and spicy sweet sauce infused with passion fruit, and apparel.
Melissa Gallardo started her candle company after noticing that the scents she grew up with were underrepresented in the home fragrance industry. “I set out to create a collection of Latina-inspired candles to share la cultura with the rest of the world,” Gallardo tells us. After launching Bonita Fierce in 2020, the brand became the first Latina-owned candle brand sold at Nordstrom and formed part of the inaugural cohort for the Ulta Beauty MUSE Accelerator program, which provides financial support for BIPOC-owned beauty brands.
Once she saw the fashion industry use environmentally friendly textiles in clothing, Phoebe Yu, Ettitude’s founder and CEO, wanted to do the same for the bedding industry. She leaned on her experience working in textile supply chain management and merchandising to create Ettitude’s proprietary CleanBamboo fabric before launching the brand, which she runs alongside co-founder and president Kat Dey. Ettitude sells bedding products like sheets and pillowcases, as well as bath towels and robes.
In 2010, Christina Stembel took $49,000, which was her entire life savings at the time, and put it toward starting Farmgirl Flowers, an online flower delivery company. She’s grown the business over the past 14 years without outside funding. Farmgirl Flowers works with growers across the country to source seasonal flowers and ships its signature burlap wrapped bouquets nationwide.
Because she ran an interior design blog, Ariel Kaye used to help her friends and family design their homes. While doing so, she had a hard time finding bedding she deemed high quality, affordable and dependable, which inspired her to start Parachute and offer the exact products she was looking for. Parachute sells items like sheets and bath towels, and recently expanded into furniture and rugs.
Moving into their first home together came with a problem for Caroline Matthes and Rose Fierman: They wanted to add modern wall lighting to their space, but traditional sconces were a hassle to install and not renter-friendly. Thus, Poplight was born. You can hang up the wall light via double-sided sticky tape, make sure it’s straight with the built-in level and recharge the battery as needed instead of dealing with wires and plugs. The Poplight also connects to an app, allowing you to control it, adjust its brightness and set a sleep timer.
In 2011, Ariane Goldman founded Hatch to offer mothers chic maternity clothes as well as beauty and wellness products they could use during and after pregnancy. Hatch, along with Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, partnered under a new parent company in 2023: Hatch Collective, of which Goldman is the CEO.
Kids Crafts sells activity kits for preteens themed around female trailblazers like Ella Fitzgerald, Amanda Gorman, Greta Thunberg and Amelia Earhart. Each kit comes with the materials needed to construct, package and sell handmade crafts, which teaches girls about entrepreneurship and gives them the opportunity to earn money by running their own business, says owner Kirsten Field.
Fiona Sahakian founded Posh Peanut in 2011 after years of working as a hairdresser. She says the 2008 recession jeopardized her ability to provide for her family, so she took a leap and embarked on a new business venture. “I used that moment as an opportunity to create something that was mine, and that I was passionate about,” says Sahakian. Posh Peanut sells clothing and accessories for children, as well as apparel for adults and nursery items like changing pad covers, crib sheets and more.
Sloomoo Institute, which Karen Robinovitz and Sara Schiller co-founded in 2019, encourages sensory play through its vibrantly colored, scented, textured slime. Sloomoo began as an in-person experience in New York City, and the brand now has additional locations in Chicago, Atlanta and Houston with plans to continue expanding across the country. The brand also sells slime, slime making kits and subscription boxes online so those of all ages can enjoy using it at home.
Childhood best friends Kelly Oriard, a family therapist, and Callie Christensen, a special education teacher, started Slumberkins out of their desire to give caregivers tools to aid children’s emotional development. The brand’s stuffed animals are paired with affirmations, board books and educational resources that adults can use to teach kids lessons about conflict resolution, self-acceptance, stress, grief and more. Slumberkins also developed a curriculum schools can use in classes.
Greenlight Bookstore was founded in 2009 in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to an expansive collection of physical books, e-books and audiobooks that you can purchase online, Greenlight also hosts author talks, book groups, in-store children’s story time and more. It also has a subscription plan called First Edition Club, which sends subscribers a signed first edition of a newly published book each month.
Little Patakha — “firework” in Hindi — offers puzzles, activities and other educational tools to teach children about diverse ideas, sounds and people. Founder Akshata Nayak built the company to help parents and teachers introduce new cultures and stories to their little ones, and subsequently teach self-confidence, acceptance and representation, according to the brand.
Nadine Fonseca launched Mighty Kind to spark conversations among children about bias, diversity and inclusion through its educational magazines, both in the classroom and at home. Since its start in 2019, Mighty Kind has since restructured to be a community-based digital model, and though it no longer produces new issues of its quarterly magazines, you can still purchase individual digital editions.
Based in Seattle, Washington, Nook & Cranny opened its doors in 2022 as a new and used bookstore and a community space. Its collection of books are handpicked and curated by Nook & Cranny staff, and they offer store credit for used books in good condition. The bookstore also hosts events weekly, including author chats, open mic nights and book clubs. Though you can’t purchase physical books on its website, you can order monthly book subscription boxes, puzzles, journals and more.
Parnassus Books was founded in 2011 by author Ann Patchett and her business partner Karen Hayes after one of two main bookstores in Nashville, Tennessee had closed down. Parnassus has a large collection of fiction, non-fiction, children’s, art books and more, and it even houses an extensive local author section. Parnassus also has an online magazine called Musing, which highlights Patchett’s blog, staff picks, author interviews and more.
Reading in Public is a bookstore and cafe located in West Des Moines, Iowa. It was created by Duke graduate Linzi Murray after living in New York City during the pandemic, and realizing how essential bookstores really were for her and the community after the shutdown. On its website, you’ll find fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and more, as well as audiobooks and events.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Cynthia Sakai stopped selling jewelry and started selling face masks. She wanted to give people more access to personal protective equipment that was hard to come by at the time. Four years later, Evolvetogether still sells masks for adults and kids, but it’s expanded its offerings to other daily essentials as well, like hand cream, lip balm and deodorant.
Melissa Bentivoglio designed a proprietary pilates reformer in 2018 to use in her fitness studio. But she wanted to give people around the world access to it, so she spent years transforming the reformer into a piece of equipment that anyone can buy for at-home use. Frame Fitness, which Bentivoglio co-founded with her husband, Lee Belzberg, officially launched in 2021. The reformer has a built-in screen that allows users to stream on-demand pilates classes, many of which Bentivoglio teaches.
The Movement Club is a fitness platform founded by former Dancing with the Stars pro Lindsay Arnold. It offers workout classes under 30 minutes like dance cardio, pilates, HIIT, yoga and stretching. Arnold designs classes to be accessible to anyone regardless of their fitness level or prior experience, and uploads new videos to the platform each week.
Melissa Bamberg created the first prototype for Nodpod, a weighted sleep mask, in her kitchen in 2009. She wanted to find a way to improve people’s sleep by harnessing the power of deep touch pressure, which involves applying gentle pressure to the body to promote relaxation, according to the brand. Over a decade later, the Nodpod sleep mask, also known as a weighted blanket for your eyes, is sold at major retailers like Target and Anthropologie. The brand also launched Nodpod Body, a weighted pad you can put over your torso or legs.
During a period of political instability in Venezuela, Cherie Hoeger learned that her family did not have access to period care products for months. She started researching reusable options, which led her to create a collection of menstrual cups and period underwear. Part of Saalt’s mission is to provide reusable period care products to those experiencing period poverty — a lack of access to menstrual products — across the world. Saalt is a certified B Corp and commits 2% of annual revenue to donating products to underserved communities. Since it was founded, Saalt has donated over 100,000 period cups and underwear to those in need across more than 50 countries, according to the brand.
Andrea Lisbona founded Touchland with the goal of elevating hand sanitizer. She created a non-sticky, moisturizing, FDA-compliant formula that’s sold in over 16 scents and packed in containers that makes it easy to dispense on the go. In addition to Touchland’s original hand sanitizer, the brand has Gentle Mist that’s specifically designed for those with sensitive skin.
Mili Godio andZoe Malin are, respectively, the updates editor and reporter at NBC Select. For this article, they connected with hundreds of women-owned businesses to confirm that they’re at least 51% women-owned. (To be considered a women-owned business, a company must be at least 51% women-owned, according to the Census Bureau.) Godio and Malin also rounded up notable products from women-owned businesses across shopping categories.
