Pandemic or not, marketing your business on social media platforms will only benefit you — as long as you budget correctly. 

In light of the new year ahead, we’re sharing some tips for small businesses looking to expand their reach through social media platforms. And while most of these trends are nothing new, learning how to master them will be the golden ticket to becoming marketing mavens.

Related

5 Social Media Trends Online Businesses Should Keep Handy for 2021

According to a 2022 Social Trends study conducted by Hootsuite, the “smartest brands in 2022 will tap into creator communities to learn more about customers, simplify content creation and build brand awareness and affinity.”

1. Practice “Social Listening”

Hootsuite cites “social listening” — analyzing who’s talking about your brand and what they’re saying — as a key tool for effective marketing. Social listening isn’t just about monitoring data (shares, likes, engagement) around your brand, but actively listening and interpreting people’s conversations about your products and services, along with your industry as a whole. Once you know what people are asking for, you can develop a stronger marketing strategy. 

But how do you track all the buzz about your business, especially if you’re running multiple social media platforms? Several companies, such as Mention or Falcon.io, offer social listening tools that collect data every single time your brand or industry, or a relevant keyword, is mentioned online. Some companies offer basic plans for free, while others charge hundreds of dollars. This HubSpot guide lays out some of the best-rated social listening tools and how much each one costs.

Related

10 Quotes for Empowering Women Business Owners

2. Get Into Paid Advertising

Frustration around small businesses marketing on Facebook and Instagram (which was bought by Facebook in 2012) may have increased, but these platforms aren’t going away anytime soon. Facebook had a whopping 2.9 billion monthly active users in 2021, and, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 200 million businesses (mostly small businesses) make use of the sites’ free tools to reach customers. 

But unless the Instagram algorithm plays into your favor — which it won’t, if you don’t have thousands of followers who actively engage with your content — marketing on these platforms will cost you money. According to Hootsuite, the average organic reach for a Facebook post is 5.2%, meaning “only 5% of your followers may ever see your posts if you don’t put any paid budget behind them.”  

Paid advertising is easy to budget, but the more money you spend, the more likely it is that your content will be seen. 

Related

Remember When Facebook and Instagram Were Easy (and Cheap) to Use?

3. Outsource Creators

Influencers have been making noise — the industry was forecasted to be worth nearly $14 billion in 2021 — and they’re likely here to stay. 

Each influencer has their own set of rules and rates, but it’s best to set aside a budget if you intend to collaborate with a creator. The days of exchanging free goods and services for a shoutout on Instagram are well behind us, although some influencers might still be open to it. Most collaborations, especially for small businesses, require some sort of payment to the creators.

But how do you collaborate with creators who sometimes have hundreds of thousands of followers? You have to find your niche, and then you find a creator who has the same niche. From Potter-Heads to fashionistas, there’s an influencer out there for every kind of business. Some platforms like IZEA can connect you with creators, or you can try your luck reaching out via email or direct message.

4. It’s High Time … Make a TikTok

Last year, we told you to get creative with TikTok. We hope you listened, because the 5-year-old social media platform hit 1 billion monthly active users in 2021, making it the fastest-growing social platform in history. 

Many small businesses attribute their success to TikTok. One example is Nectar, a hard seltzer company that ended up going viral after they made a self-deprecating “brew fail” video that featured a popular Drake song. The company saw a huge boost in sales afterwards, the founders told Business Insider. 

What could go viral on TikTok can only be determined by the algorithm gods, but experts recommend using multiple hashtags, making videos with songs that are trending and keeping the videos short but enticing.

Besides making videos, influencer marketing is just as “influential” on TikTok. Sometimes all it takes is one person raving about your product to go viral. 

5. Take Advantage of Evolving Tech

Social media platforms do offer tools that can make your job easier, but you need to know about them first. 

For e-commerce, Instagram has made all sponsored posts shoppable in the app, meaning someone can just click on a pair of jeans in a tagged photo and buy them. TikTok has begun testing for in-app purchases, too.

Related

This Immigrant Entrepreneur Came to America with $300. Now She Has a Successful Fashion Business

Twitter recently announced Super Follow, a monetized feature that allows users to charge followers in exchange for exclusive content. The feature is intended especially for activists, journalists, gamers and creators on the platform. The company also offers Spaces, a platform where you can host live audio-only conversations, along with Ticketed Spaces, where you can charge people for tuning in to these live events. LinkedIn also hopped on the WFH bandwagon and started facilitating live video streams. 

Whether you’re a small e-commerce business, a fitness instructor or the publisher of a new publication, there’s a tool out there for you. It’s only a matter of getting acquainted and comfortable with the resources.

The post If You’re a Small Business, You’re Likely Using Social Media Marketing. How Can You Slay the Competition? appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Here are the most-read stories on The Story Exchange in 2021.

1

Leaders, like their businesses, should be transparent and accountable (Credit: Photo by Mia Baker on Unsplash)

4 Leadership Qualities to Strive For in 2021

If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught businesses anything, it’s the importance of resilient, purposeful leadership.

In the year since the pandemic hit, the most successful business leaders have placed the needs of employees ahead of themselves. As we move farther into 2021, the best leaders will continue to inspire, motivate and empower their team — while also showing team members that they believe in them.

READ MORE

2

Sarah McAllister started GoCleanCo when she saw a gap in the cleaning market. Two years later, the pandemic hit and business boomed. (Credit: Sarah McAllister)

Her Cleaning Hacks Have Won 1.7 Million Instagram Fans — and Fueled Her Business

Sarah McAllister started GoCleanCo when she saw a gap in the cleaning market. Two years later, the pandemic hit and business boomed.

When the pandemic forced us to stay inside and stare at screens, it also forced us to realize just how dirty our houses are. And that combination is exactly what Sarah McAllister needed for her business. By the end of last March — the notorious month when the virus had wrapped itself around the planet — McAllister’s cleaning company, GoCleanCo, was attracting a customer base unlike ever before.

READ MORE

3

Pandemic life has fostered a groundswell of entrepreneurial spirit, especially among women. (Credit: Image by MaximeUtopix from Pixabay)

‘If Not Now, When?’ – Women Entrepreneurs Launch Mid-Pandemic

Whether it’s because they had to, or because they wanted to, more women are starting businesses.

Last year, as Covid-19 spread, Suzie Qualle felt more toxicity creeping into her corporate workplace. She even began dreading video calls with her boss. For solace from the stress, she turned to a long-forgotten pastime of hers: making tasbih, or Muslim prayer beads. “It took me about a month of making tasbih again to decide that this is what I was going to do,” she says. “I was going to quit my job and career, and start my own business.”

READ MORE

4

Yaa Birago is banking on pandemic fatigue to get women out traveling again. (Courtesy: Femmebnb)

A Scary Experience Inspired This Travel Enthusiast to Start an Airbnb Alternative for Women

Yaa Birago, a Canadian-based mother of two, has created a travel platform with women’s safety and comfort in mind.

Airbnb has revolutionized the way people travel. Femmebnb wants to revolutionize what that experience looks like for women.

Yaa Birago, a Ghanaian-born mother of two based in Toronto, came up with the idea for her company after she was subjected to unsafe conditions during jaunts to Rome and Paris in 2017. In Italy, she was harassed outside of her apartment — from which she was locked out. “I was sexually harassed all the way to the point where I stood at the door, the door was locked and I had nowhere to go,” she said.

READ MORE

5

Women all over the world are finally getting the rights they have long fought for, but there is still a lot of work left to do. (Credit: Maruf Rahman/Pixabay)

Take a Moment to Celebrate Progressive Policies for Women’s Rights Around The World

Women all over the world are finally getting the rights they have long fought for, but there is still a lot of work left to do.

This Women’s History Month, let’s take a moment to recognize the history being made in front of us.

Over the past year, landmark policies have been passed in countries across the world, many of them granting women the basic rights the United States has had for decades. But there is still so much work to do, especially as more horrific details come to light about Sarah Everard’s abduction and death by a London police officer, which has sparked mass protests in Britain.

READ MORE

6

The pandemic has left a mental strain on small business owners. The good news is you can recover. (Photo: Tim Foster on Unsplash)

3 Ways Business Owners Can Stay Optimistic as Pandemic Drags On

Here are some simple strategies for getting back your upbeat mind frame.

It’s unquestionable that small business owners are natural optimists who, as Winston Churchill said, “see the opportunity in every difficulty.” Why else would they risk everything—their money, their time, their ego—to start and run a business?

READ MORE

7

Everyday women across the U.S. are using Facebook, technology and old-fashioned door-knocking to get neighbors vaccinated. (Credit: Bronx Rising Initiative Instagram)

Meet the Industrious Women Who Are Speeding Up the Vaccine Rollout in their Communities

Everyday women across the U.S. are using Facebook, technology and old-fashioned door-knocking to get neighbors vaccinated.

Entrepreneurial, everyday women around the country are stepping in where the government has failed to make the vaccine rollout process a little more efficient as eligibility expands and supply still lags.

READ MORE

8

These 2020 books call for your time of day.

8 Perfect Books For Your Zoom Background

Make a statement with these books as your background, but also be sure to give them a read first.

For our book lovers, we’ve put together a list of titles that will make your Zoom backgrounds more aesthetically pleasing.

But these titles aren’t just window dressing — they have been drawn from end-of-year must-read lists, as well as TSE personal favorites.

READ MORE

9

Kati Kariko, shown here in 1989, worked for years in labs before her work would be taken seriously. (Credit: Kati Kariko)

Toiling for Years Behind the Scenes, Female Scientists Finally Get Respect for Covid-19 Vaccines

Kati Kariko, Melissa Moore and Kathrin Jansen are among the women who defied all odds to produce life-saving vaccines.

The world is betting on vaccines to serve as a bridge to an “after” time that looks more like the before times. And the heads of Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca — all men — are the ones who have visibly been leading the vaccine effort. But the miracle of the vaccines currently being distributed is the result of the dedication and determination of a number of extraordinary scientists, and many of the key players are women who have toiled for years behind the scenes — often for little pay and even less recognition.

READ MORE

10

Even before the pandemic, women were running the caregiving show. The spread of Covid-19 has only exacerbated the situation – and women’s businesses and careers are suffering as a result. (Credit: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay)

‘Mom Guilt’ Was Already a Thing. Then the Pandemic Made it Hell for Caregivers

Women are disproportionately saddled with child and elder care duties. Some of them are trying to keep businesses afloat, too. It’s been … a lot.

Even before the pandemic, women were running the caregiving show. Studies suggest that 65 percent of women serve as caregivers in their families, and spend 50 percent more time filling those roles than men do. Just over half of women handle the lion’s share of parenting duties in homes with both a mother and father present. Research additionally shows that the majority of household chores — in particular, laundry, cooking and other cleaning duties — also wound up on women’s to-do lists. (And as this viral web comic illustrates, composing the to-do lists falls to women, too, more often than not.)

READ MORE

The post The Story Exchange’s 10 Most Popular Stories of 2021 appeared first on The Story Exchange.

This digital book club app is starting a new chapter thanks to a windfall of investor money.

Fable — a platform for reading and online book clubs founded earlier this year by Padmasree Warrior, one of the most powerful women in tech — recently raised $20 million, according to a press release. 

Warrior, who has spent most of her career working in C-Suites, was previously the chief technology officer at Cisco and Motorola. She was also the CEO for NIO USA, an electric car company that competes with Tesla. She currently serves on the board of directors for Microsoft and Spotify.

Related

‘The Women in AI Are Talking’ Podcast

Yet she pivoted to one of the oldest industries in analog history: books.  

While Goodreads, another book reviewing platform started in 2006, also fills this niche, it has received criticism for poor design and functionality. The platform was acquired by Amazon in 2013 from its original founders, married couple Elizabeth Khuri Chandler and Otis Chandler. 

Fable’s platform allows users to create or join book clubs, get expert recommendations on what’s trending and keep lists of what to read next. The app tries to promote mental wellness through reading and discussion, and recently gained popularity among influencers on BookTok, the TikTok algorithm for avid readers.

Related

5 Socially Conscious Women Entrepreneurs Under 30 to Watch

“There’s a lot of fatigue around noisy social platforms,” Warrior, a book lover herself, told Fortune in an interview following the app’s launch in January. “I love reading, and I always have — so I’m applying everything I’ve learned in the tech industry into creating what we call a tech company with the soul of an artist.”

The app emphasizes that it’s a “social reading platform” where people can find “a community of readers building human connections,” according to its website. 

The latest funding round was led by Tiger Global, an investment firm mainly focused on the tech industry, along with Redpoint Ventures and others. The company previously raised $7.25 million in seed funding.

Related

17 Inspirational Women Whose Startup Stories Will Kickstart Your Dreams

The post A Powerful Woman in Tech Raises $20 Million for Her Book Club App appeared first on The Story Exchange.

A celebrity daughter of Spain is set to take the reins of the world’s largest fashion company.

Marta Ortega Pérez, 37, has been tapped as the new executive chair of Inditex — the parent company behind multi-billion dollar retailer Zara — by her billionaire father and founder of the company, Amancio Ortega, the company announced Tuesday.

Related

Meet the Fashion ‘Trash Nerd’ Who’s Won Money and Love from Vogue

She will assume the role in April and bring the company back under family control after a decade of outsider executives, according to Forbes. Inditex also owns seven other Spanish clothing brands, including Bershka, Pull&Bear and Massimo Dutti. 

“I have always said that I would dedicate my life to building upon my parents’ legacy,”  said Ortega Pérez, a mother of two. “I’m deeply honored by the trust that has been placed in me.”

She is the youngest of her three siblings, but the first to gain a leadership role. (Neither of her siblings is actively involved in the business).

Ortega Pérez started working for the family business as soon as she graduated from the European Business School in London. In the past 15 years, Ortega Pérez has worked as a sales associate at Zara, overseen women’s merchandise and helped with the brand’s marketing. 

“I have lived and breathed this company since my childhood,” said Ortega Pérez, who was always dressed in the retailer’s clothing since the time she was a child to today, when her social circle consists of high-fashion giants like Valentino designer Pier Paolo Piccioli. 

Related

Oscar de la Renta Finally Ditched Fur. We Can Thank Billie Eilish

When asked about a formal leadership role during an interview in August, Ortega Pérez remained coy: “You never know your future, and I’m open to it. But to be honest, I would like to stay close to the product,” she told the Wall Street Journal. “I think that’s what my father always did.” 

Her predecessor, Pablo Isla, predicted that Ortega Pérez’s role would become more important as Inditex increases its sustainability efforts over the next decade.

According to a report by the company, Inditex aims to meet net zero emissions by 2040 and to use sustainable only cotton by 2023. 

It’s unclear whether a younger perspective will lead to more environmentally friendly efforts for a global company known for its fast fashion, but Ortega Pérez says she believes in quality, affordable clothes for everyone.

“It’s important to build bridges between high fashion and high street,” she told the Journal in August. “Not only a few people should be able to have access to high quality. We want all our customers to be able to [have that].”

Related

Young Women Take on the Mantle of Climate Activism

The post Marta Ortega Pérez Grew Up with Zara. Now She’s Taking Over the Brand appeared first on The Story Exchange.

With food-filled holidays ahead of us, let’s take a moment to celebrate the women who might just be responsible for some of the meals on our tables.

From addressing food insecurity during the pandemic, to providing employment to refugees, to starting a business at almost 50, to sending out delicious bundt cakes all over the country, women have mastered the art of culinary entrepreneurship.

Related

Earth Day 2023: These Women Are Taking Climate Action

Below, read about 10 women food entrepreneurs we think are worth knowing about. 

1. Karen Washington, Rise & Root Farm

Washington lives by the belief that nutritious food is a human right. This belief led her to co-found Rise & Root Farm, located in Orange County, New York, and also led her to win a James Beard award recognizing culinary professionals and earn a mention in Ebony magazine’s “Power 100.” She has dedicated decades to providing low-income communities with a source of produce, all while encouraging Black representation in farming. 

2. Sumiya Khan, Sanctuary Kitchen

A daughter of Indian immigrants, Khan wanted to create a safe space for immigrants and refugees — and provide them with a means of employment. That’s why she co-founded Sanctuary Kitchen at CitySeed, where immigrants and refugees from across the world, from Mexico to Afghanistan, come together to host cooking classes and supper clubs. Events are ticketed (ranging from $20 to $60) and all proceeds support wages for the workers. 

3. Tatiana Garcia-Granados, The Common Market 

Garcia-Granados was shocked to see how many people in her Philadelphia Strawberry Mansion neighborhood had health-related diseases. After digging to the root of the problem — lack of access to nutritious food — Garcia-Granados and her husband founded The Common Market, a nonprofit that connects local farms to public schools, hospitals and workplaces. The NGO currently functions in the mid-Atlantic region, Georgia and Texas.

4. Deepti Sharma, FoodtoEat

Sharma, a first-generation Indian American, is helping New York-based immigrant women and minority restaurant owners expand their businesses with catering opportunities. FoodtoEat started off as a platform where people could order from small businesses, but with the number of restaurant owners of color in the city, it soon flourished into a full-fledged catering business. Sharma also addressed the city’s food insecurity problem during the pandemic by partnering with nonprofits to deliver free meals to those in need, and also raised $130,000 to buy meals from restaurants to donate to domestic violence shelters.

Related

Amid Angry Rhetoric, Kitchens Helping Immigrants and Refugees Are on the Rise

5. Janie Clapp, Janie’s Cakes

Clapp’s chocolate-sauce and Italian-buttercream-filled bundt cakes have earned local fame in Tyler, Texas, over the three decades since Janie’s Cakes was founded in 1987, but now the bakery is trucking its cakes — which are made with farm fresh eggs and real cane sugar — all across the country. Clapp’s daughter, Katherine Crow, became a business partner 12 years ago to carry on her mother’s legacy. 

6. Leslie Polizzotto, The Doughnut Project

Polizzotto is the rare case of an attorney-turned-baker. She’s also a classic example of the cliche phrase “it’s never too late.” In her late 40s, Polizzotto decided to ditch insurance coverage litigation and pursue what she really loved: making (and eating) doughnuts. She founded The Doughnut Project, which has been located in New York City’s West Village since 2015. 

7. Paty Funegra, La Cocina VA

Funegra founded La Cocina Virginia, a social enterprise helping unemployed Latinx immigrants secure jobs in the food industry by teaching them food and language skills. In 2019, she was able to raise $2 million to turn her basement-run business into the Zero Barriers Training and Entrepreneurship Center with a state-of-the-art kitchen incubator and equipment to secure the futures of immigrants. 

8. Marit Molin, Hamptons Community Outreach 

Molin founded Hamptons Community Outreach as a summer camp for lower-income kids in Long Island, New York. But in the wake of the pandemic, Molin expanded her business to become a meal-delivery service. She raised $200,000 in 12 weeks to feed the Shinnecock Reservation community in Southampton, most importantly the elderly and those with special needs. 

9. Monica Martinez, Don Bugito

With the effects of climate change only worsening, alternative food options have to be looked into. And Martinez is on top of the game — she founded Don Bugito, a company that makes snacks purely from bugs. Growing up in Mexico, insects were seen as power food and a large part of her culture. 

Related

An Insect Lover Builds an $18 Million Natural Pest Control Company

10. Melanie Moss, Mini Melanie

Moss started off spending her spare time as an event chef, but she knew her love of food was strong enough to become her full-time hustle. Now she’s best known for her intricately designed truffles, which taste like cake but look like jewels. She founded her Brooklyn-based confectionary, Mini Melanie, in 2014, and has gained an exclusive following, with Dior and Louis Vuitton among her clients.

The post This Thanksgiving, Let’s Celebrate Our 10 Favorite Foodpreneurs appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Growing up in the bustling city of Pune, India, Aaditi Lele saw how extreme heat waves and unpredictable weather made daily life miserable, and even killed people stricken by poverty. But when Lele, 18, moved to Ohio in 2010, she realized this wasn’t just happening in the developing world — the climate crisis was getting worse everywhere, and no one seemed to be taking action.

“There was nothing being done about it on an international sort of level,” Lele said. “Then coming here [to the U.S.], there were still natural disasters happening. And there was nothing being done.”

Lele is one of millions of young people across the globe who say they feel responsible for fixing a problem they didn’t create. Activist Greta Thunberg used to be a lone voice in the fight, but the calls for action are growing louder. From protests in the streets to COP26, which recently brought together nearly 200 countries to set global climate goals, the pressure to find solutions is rising. 

Although climate summits have been held for decades, young people are not relying on officials to call the shots anymore. According to a 2021 Pew Research study, 71% of millennials and 67% of Gen Zers say the climate should be our top priority. 

Related

Will the COP26 Climate Meeting Be a Turning Point for Women?

Now these young people are translating their calls for change into careers. Colleges are also trying to be at the forefront of the conversation, offering a buffet of new programs and classes — and, in one case, an entire school devoted to the study of climate change and sustainable development. But for all of these state-of-the-art programs, students say they don’t necessarily need to major in the field to have a “climate career.”

Lele, who is studying political science and environmental sociology at Vanderbilt University, exemplifies this sea change. “It’s really valuable for people to pursue their passions, and then find ways to connect them to the environment,” she said.

Marrying Passion And Purpose

Climate careers are on the rise, and they’re no longer limited to engineers or general scientists. Now you have solar photovoltaic installers, wind turbine service technicians and forest fire inspectors, which are predicted to be some of the fastest-growing jobs in the next decade. But young people are also finding ways to address climate change through fields such as law, business, immigration and politics. 

Katie Eder, a second-year student at Stanford University, is one of the founding members of youth-led climate organization Future Coalition. She is pursuing American Studies with a focus on political and social systems. She said students shouldn’t be limited to a single pathway when pursuing a climate career. 

“I think that the older we get, the more we look at [how] every problem will be affected by the climate crisis,” said Eder, 21. “You don’t have to be in a career focused on climate in order to get involved — like showing up and supporting local organizers in your community. In this moment, that’s the greatest impact.” 

Related

This International Women’s Day, Meet the 22-Year-Old Climate Activist From Pakistan

Lele, who began climate organizing in her sophomore year of high school, is well acquainted with Eder’s organization — she advocates against the use of fossil fuels with Future Coalition’s climate finance alliance. As time went on, Lele figured out a way to marry her environmental activism with her lifelong dream of becoming an immigration lawyer. 

She plans to focus on communities impacted by extreme weather events, primarily climate refugees who are forced to flee under brutal conditions that can involve droughts or flooding, and who have little to no legal protection. 

“It’s definitely a large burden for students and young people to feel like the work that they’re doing is contingent on whether the world survives,” said Lele. “But there’s also another angle, which is that you are getting a say in your future and the future of your children and your friends and your family.”

With young people showing a commitment to climate, colleges are also looking to adapt or introduce new curriculum. 

Columbia University went so far as to open its first new school in 25 years this year, Columbia Climate School, which aims to be the premier institution where students can access cutting-edge research on sustainable development and learn from the best in the field. 

Related

Climate Change Activists To News Orgs: ‘You Are Among Our Last Hopes’

“We are moving to take on in a scholarly way — as only a great university can — an area of tremendous public attention and increasing concern,” President Lee Bollinger said in a press release announcing the school.

Other schools are taking a more integrative approach. The University of Southern California, for instance, announced in June that it will launch a program called “Sustainability Across the Curriculum” that teaches students how issues of sustainability can intersect with their majors. 

Taking the Traditional Route

While many people are thinking outside the box about what careers of the future can look like, some still take a more traditional route. 

Sasan Saadat, 26, spent his days at UC Berkeley doing research for professors, and then he worked on sustainability issues in city government. He is now a researcher and policy advocate at an environmental firm called Earthjustice. 

Even though he worked his way up the ranks to his current position, he also says there’s not just one path to a climate career. 

“Finding and creating a career in climate is going to get easier and easier, and it’s smart to start thinking about it in college,” he said. “There are people who go to engineering school and study renewable energy technology, or clean tech and food tech, and want to apply their skills.”

Still, he added, “there are other people who want to apply their business skills, run for office or go into politics,” and they can also use their expertise in climate careers.

Many young people want to help the planet, but they worry how they could possibly make a living doing that. But with a little creative thinking and more resources and academic offerings, it’s not so far-fetched anymore. 

“Once people really know about climate change — when they start to understand how big of a problem it is, and how much it’s going to change life on this earth, and how many people could be harmed — once the gravity of it sets in, it’s pretty hard for me to understand what else you could work on,” said Saadat.

Related

Giving Black People a Place in the Stationery Aisle – and the Climate Chaos Fight

The post How Can You Land a ‘Climate Career’? There’s Not Just One Path, College Students Say appeared first on The Story Exchange.

A 36-year-old mother of two and daughter of Taiwanese immigrants ended a long tradition of white male mayors in Boston, signaling a progressive turn for a city steeped in American history and tradition. 

Michelle Wu will be the first-ever woman and person of color to run Boston, according to CNN. In a race that showed a new direction for the city, Wu defeated Annissa Essaibi George, also a woman of color. 

Related

Black Girls Golf Is Teeing Off Against the Patriarchy

“From every corner of our city, Boston has spoken. We are ready to meet this moment. We are ready to become a Boston for everyone,” Wu said following her win Tuesday night. “I want to be clear, it wasn’t my vision on the ballot, it was ours, together.”

A Harvard Law School grad, Wu grew up in Chicago and was previously the president of the Boston City Council. To prove women can do it all, she would often bring her babies to council meetings, according to the New York Times. 

George ran on a more moderate platform compared to Wu, according to NPR. Wu advocated for climate policies supportive of the Green New Deal, a fare-free transit system and rent control and stabilization — not surprising given that one of her mentors is Elizabeth Warren. 

Wu ultimately won the vote thanks to a coalition of progressives and communities of color, with much of her support coming from groups such as Working Families Party, Planned Parenthood Massachusetts and the Boston chapter for a youth-led climate group called Sunrise Movement. 

Meanwhile, in New York City, Shahana Hanif, a Bangladeshi American, became the first Muslim woman and the first South Asian to serve on the City Council, according to the New York Times. Hanif joins more than two dozen women on the City Council, including Kristin Richardson in Harlem and Crystal Hudson in Brooklyn, who identify as gay and Black.

Related

Climate Change Activists To News Orgs: ‘You Are Among Our Last Hopes’

The post In Historic Win, Michelle Wu Turns Boston Progressive appeared first on The Story Exchange.

This year, you might take a step outside the box and dress up as a powerful figure to make a statement. Whether that statement is about gender inequality, race relations, Covid or climate change, there’s a woman out there breaking barriers. Why not pretend to be them for a day?

Below are five unconventional, last-minute costume ideas that you can easily D-I-Y with clothes in your closet. Word of caution: these looks are reserved for trailblazing women. 

Kamala Harris, The Power Suit

Vice President Harris is known for her power suits, besides the fact that she helps run the country. 

Dressing up as the first-ever woman VP is simple, yet elegant. All you need is a strong power suit — a pair of trousers with a matching blazer, accessorized with a pearl necklace to top it off. Heels are a must, and you might even add a U.S.A. flag pin to bring it all together. 

If you’re aiming for one particular Harris look that screams politics, opt for an all-white suit. When Harris accepted her role as VP on the night of Nov. 7, she rocked a white trouser set that Vogue interpreted as not only bold, but inherently feminist given that white was the color worn by by the suffragists in their fight for women’s voting rights in the 20th century. 

Related

Kamala Harris, Laurene Powell Jobs Inspire College Grads During 2021 Commencement Speeches

Meghan Markle, A Royal For All 

Dressing up as the former Duchess of Sussex will scream independence, but also that you’re a woman who knows how to advocate for herself and others. She’s a wife, a mother, the author of a children’s book and most recently, the author of a letter to Congress demanding paid leave for all. 

A Markle costume might be best done with a classic pair of black and beige — black pencil skirt, black top (or just a black dress) and a camel-colored coat matched with black sunglasses, or an all-black ensemble featuring a turtleneck, trousers and coat. Markle was spotted wearing both these looks in September, and the casual-yet-chic outfits seem to officially signal her exit from the Royal Family and the start of her new life in California. 

Related

New Mom Meghan Markle Has a Debut Children’s Book on the Way

Katalin Kariko, A Vaccine Champion 

A Kariko-inspired costume may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Halloween, but given that we are still in a pandemic, she’s more relevant than ever. 

Kariko is the scientist behind the Pfizer Covid vaccine. After spending years working behind the scenes, Kariko joined this year’s class of inventors to be featured in the Inventors Hall of Fame. This costume will not only say you are a powerful woman who was able to manipulate mRNA to battle a pandemic, but it will also say that you’re a woman who has risen above her male-dominated field and is finally getting the recognition she deserves.

Another plus? This costume is super easy. All you need is a lab coat and a DIY name tag (and if you’re feeling particularly ambitious about the look, you might even carry a needle-free syringe to make it look like you’re about to inject a Covid vaccine).

This costume is bound to spark some conversations, and might even encourage more vaccinations. As of Oct. 26, 58% of the United States population has been fully vaccinated, according to a tracker by USA Facts.

Related

Toiling for Years Behind the Scenes, Female Scientists Finally Get Respect for Covid-19 Vaccines

Amanda Gorman, The Inauguration Look

Amanda Gorman is not only the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate and the youngest ever US inaugural poet, but she’s also a champion for marginalized people’s rights. The 23-year-old stunned the crowd when she performed her poem, The Hill We Climb, at the 2020 presidential inauguration, and then went on to be interviewed by Michelle Obama. 

Her inauguration look was particularly striking. Anyone in your circle who’s even slightly politically inclined is bound to know who you’re dressed up as. All you need is a white dress or button up, a bright yellow blazer (or cardigan) and a chunky red headband. Carrying a book of poetry will add to the ensemble too. 

Gorman, a Harvard alum, writes about race, politics and the world through her eyes as a Black woman. 

Related

And Now, We Start a New Era. What’s Next? (Hopefully, More Amanda Gorman)

Jane Goodall, Saving the Planet 

A costume inspired by Goodall — the pioneering environmentalist and animal rights advocate — will not only be easy on your wallet, but it might even help strike up a conversation about sustainability given that the world is in a climate crisis. 

For well over 60 years, Goodall has immersed herself into environmentalism and become a friend to the earth, and best friend to chimpanzees. Recently, the 87-year-old published a book called The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for an Endangered Planet, where she encourages us to take action against climate change instead of just grieving our losses.

Dressing up as Goodall would include a good pair of khakis and a short-sleeved work shirt paired with some canvas sneakers. You want to opt for neutral earth tones. And you might even carry a stuffed animal (ideally a chimpanzee) to bring it home.

Related

In New Book, Jane Goodall Urges Youth to Turn Eco-Grief into Action

The post 5 DIY Costume Ideas for the Woman Who Wants to Make a Statement appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Young people have climbed their way to the top of the entrepreneurial ladder. A 2016 Global Entrepreneur report showed millennial-run businesses outperformed baby boomer businesses by 43% in terms of annual turnover, the rate at which goods or assets of a business sell. And Gen Z is predicted to be more entrepreneurial than ever, too.

But the up-and-coming entrepreneurs are thriving for good reason — they’re disrupting norms and breaking barriers that have been standing for one too many years. Women entrepreneurs, for instance, in the same 2016 study cited “making social impact” as one of the top three reasons for their success. And all the while, these socially conscious entrepreneurs are making money from their businesses by reaching a like-minded customer base through networks such as TikTok and Instagram.

Related

Remember When Facebook and Instagram Were Easy (and Cheap) to Use?

Among the young women who have caught our eye recently are those challenging Eurocentric beauty and body standards, while others are destigmatizing periods, teaching women financial literacy and creating technology to improve the justice system.

Read below about five women founders under 30 that we believe are worth a watch.

1. Cami Tellez, Parade

Tellez co-founded Parade — an affordable, comfort-first underwear brand for all body types — with $3.5 million in seed funding when she was just an undergraduate at Columbia University in 2019. She then dropped out to become full time CEO of the company, which is currently valued at nearly $140 million, according to CNBC. 

Tellez, 23, relies heavily on marketing to Gen Z. In the earlier days of the business, Parade would send out its underwear out to college students who would then show off their ethically-made boyshorts and hip huggers on their Instagram accounts. The appeal of the brand comes from it’s body inclusivity, steering away from the Victoria-Secret-model standard.

Now the company has secured backing from celebrity figures such as Shakira and Karlie Kloss. Parade is set to open a brick-and-mortar “experience” in New York’s Soho neighborhood next month after a recent $20 million Series B funding round. 

2. Tori Dunlap, Her First $100K

Rumor has it: Dunlap could retire next year if she wanted to. At the age of 26, she has apparently found the secret ingredients to saving money (smart investments!) and is now sharing her expertise with women across the world through her financial education business, Her First $100K. 

Dunlap’s own personal goal was to save $100,000 by the age of 25. After having successfully carried out her plan, she then saw an opportunity to create a full-fledged business out of her financial journey. She says she has since helped over 1.5 million women through her finance courses, teaching them how to save money, invest wisely and build generational wealth. Her business is on track to earn seven figures this year, she told Time Magazine. The founder uses social media for promoting her business and expertise, with 1.7 million followers on TikTok alone.

3. Nadya Okamoto, August 

At 23, Okamoto co-founded August, a menstrual wear brand, after she decided she had enough of the stigma around periods. Much like the other companies, August saw a large following through social media.

What makes August different from the traditional menstrual-care brand is not just the fact that the founder will quite literally show off her tampon string on social media, but the products are entirely sustainable. Tampons and pads typically take up to a thousand years to biodegrade, but August is trying to reach “green” menstruation. It is also one of the only brands to get rid of the “tampon tax,” the sales tax imposed on feminine hygiene products.

Okamoto has been in the menstrual industry since the age of 16, when she founded the non-profit organization Period. (Period’s board terminated their contract with Okamoto last summer over accusations of her not being inclusive towards her peers.)

Related

This Gen Z-Led Brand Is All About Destigmatizing Periods

4. Yelitsa Jean-Charles, Healthy Roots Dolls

The typical Barbie doll is blonde with silky straight hair. Nearly every Disney princess, from Rapunzel to Cinderella, shows off the same silky locks. That’s why Jean-Charles, 26, founded Healthy Roots Dolls, so the next generation of young Black women can learn to love their hair from day one, she told Women’s Health.

Jean-Charles launched her first doll, Zoe, in 2019. Zoe’s hair is made of special fibers that can be washed and styled to add to the play experience. The doll became increasingly popular this year, and a $1 million seed round in February helped Jean-Charles reach 1.5 million dollars in total funding to expand her toy line. The founder was featured on this year’s Forbes 30-under-30. 

5. Devshi Mehrotra, JusticeText

At 23 years old, this tech entrepreneur and University of Chicago grad co-founded JusticeText, an audiovisual evidence management software for public defenders to speed up the pretrial process. The software can generate automated transcripts of body cam footage, interrogation videos or jail calls, and it identifies key parts of transcripts to help attorneys easily generate video evidence. 

The inspiration for the product came during Mehrotra’s freshman year of college when Laquan McDonald, an unarmed 17-year-old Black man, was shot 16 times by police. In the days to follow, one thing became clear, Mehrotra wrote in a blog: the police possessed numerous technologies for their own needs, but public defendants lacked technological resources. 

JusticeText has raised funding from multiple companies including 500 Startups, and is piloting software with public defendants in Washington D.C, Houston, Cincinnati and Queens, according to this year’s Forbes 30-under-30 for Social Impact.

Related

Malala Yousafzai Speaks Out About the Crisis for Women in Afghanistan

The post 5 Socially Conscious Women Entrepreneurs Under 30 to Watch appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Malala Yousafzai is scared for Afghan girls, and she knows firsthand what the Taliban are capable of. 

Yousafzai, who took a bullet to the head when she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl in northern Pakistan, appeared on the Today show to sound the alarm after the fundamentalist group re-gained a foothold. They entered the power vacuum left by the U.S. after President Joe Biden pulled out remaining troops from the region in August.

Related

‘Be Quiet, Be Calm, Pray’: How Afghan Women Are Dealing With the Taliban Takeover

“The Taliban are known for this political ideology that they do not accept women as equal to men,” the educational activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate told Savannah Guthrie. “They announced that boys can go to school, but they did not mention girls. They’re doing these political gatherings and meetings, and we do not see a single woman there. Women have just suddenly disappeared from that public, social, political life.”

The extremist group has said it would practice a more lenient regime and allow women to go to work and school, unlike the first time they gained control of the country in the 1990s.

But Yousafzai worries about the legitimacy of their vows — since the seize, they’ve kept women away from work and abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. 

Related

Angelina Jolie Calls for Helping Afghanistan in Debut Instagram Post

The headlines about the crisis in Afghanistan resonated with Yousafzai as she underwent surgery as part of her “longtime recovery from that one bullet.”

“For me it was just a reminder that for one individual, it takes that many surgeries and that many years to actually fix the scars from just one bullet,” the Oxford University graduate said. 

“We cannot imagine the millions of bullets that the people of Afghanistan, and people in parts of Pakistan, have taken in the past two to four decades,” she added.

In recent weeks, Afghan women have taken to the streets in peaceful protest. Sadly, some were beaten, but they were not defeated. 

“We need to demand our rights, not just for us, but for our next generation, our children,” one Afghan woman who was hit at the Kabul protest told the BBC in early September. “We know the Taliban will find us and might target us. But we don’t have a choice. We have to continue.”

Related

5 Times When Women Whistleblowers Like Frances Haugen Spoke Up for What’s Right

The post Malala Yousafzai Speaks Out About the Crisis for Women in Afghanistan appeared first on The Story Exchange.