The Empowerment List: Women I'm loving right now
I went to a fashion tech summit this week where one of the topics was about no boundaries. We are living in a limitless world right now and I’m here for it and embracing it fully. In honor of women’s month, I wanted to honor women I am loving at this moment for whatever reason I am loving them. Like the world, this post has no boundaries, but it has a common thread of inspiration and empowerment. Some of these women I know personally, some of them I talk to on my socials, and some of them I admire from afar. They span different industries from fashion, philanthropy, to photography and business. Hopefully you find inspiration from one of these women and add them to your virtual circle, because that is what women’s day and women’s month is about, expanding our circles and lifting ourselves and each other up.
Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen
What is there not to love? I’ve watched them since their Full House days, and am half embarrassed (not really) to admit I have probably seen all of their movies. What I love the most is their pivot into the fashion industry almost 2 decades ago and that they pretty much have succeeded at living out of the public eye despite their celebrity. Asides from loving every single piece that comes out of their collection, The Row, I am loving their power move at Paris Fashion Week banning cellphones from their show. In today’s digital age, it was much needed and practically groundbreaking considering the backlash they received from many editors. I, on the other hand, applauded it. It brought me back to my early career days when fashion was about the fashion—I remember going to shows at the Bryant Park Tent and vigorously taking notes of what I loved as each look went down the runway and being present in all the emotions it invoked vs the idle video documenting that happens now. These women don’t care about the status quo, nor do they care about what other people think about them and I love it, and am here for all of it.
Vivian Tu
Most of you may know her by her instagram moniker, yourrichbff. If you are not following Vivian already, you should. Vivian teaches financial fluency on her IG page and if you want the master’s course, you should definitely buy her book, Rich AF.—it’s the new Rich Bitch, the book that basically helped me understand finances and build my portfolio. What I love about Vivian is that her content is actually easy to understand and you can use the information in your day to day life without a master’s degree in finance. Vivian started her career as a trader at JP Morgan, so unlike other IG personalities, she actually has the goods to back it up. Her IG videos are not only informative, but entertaining. I have learned so much following her page from life to travel hacks, both saving and making myself some money.
Gabby Bernstein
This woman has literally changed my life. I signed up for one of her challenges in January 2023 and almost didn’t because my marketing brain instantly thought “they are targeting me because of New Year’s resolutions”, but when I woke up the next day and it was the first thing I saw I thought, “It must be a sign”. Fast forward to over a year later, and I am still a member of her platform and the reason I still am is because it adds value to my life and I have seen true personal growth. I did the same challenge this year and I was astonished at how my perceptions and way of thinking had significantly shifted over the course of a year. As someone who was always so trapped in the NYC craziness mentality (IYKYK), meditation and slowing down does not come easy for me. Her practice has changed the way I approach everything, the way my mind works, the way I handle situations, EVERYTHING, and for the better. Obviously spirituality is subjective–you need to find the right person for any spiritual practice, but for me, it is Gabby! I had the pleasure of meeting her back in October and it’s like we have known each other for years. You can check her out by trying her app or reading one of her books. And if you are in the NY area, she will be at Town Hall on April 2nd.
Francine LeFrak
Where to start? One of my goals is to accomplish half of what this woman has in my life. I met Francine over 15 years ago and she is truly one of the women in my life that continues to amaze me with everything she does. Francine is a social entrepreneur, serial philanthropist, and force of nature, who has been honored by countless organizations including the United Nations for her impact. I attended one of the first events for her organization, Same Sky, and I found one statement she said so powerful, “Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not”. Those words not only inspired me, but also made me recognize all the opportunities I have been given and made we want to give back and make a bigger impact in the world. Same Sky empowers women who were affected by the Rwandan genocide by giving them the tools and means they need to build a life for themselves and their loved ones. These artisans make the most beautiful pieces, and everytime I wear them I feel good and always get compliments, which is a nice bonus! I find Francine so inspiring because she keeps on finding new ways to serve. She has built the FAL Foundation that provides scholarships, creates educational programs, and helps formerly incarcerated women reacclimate back into society. Her Wellness Center at Barnard College is opening this September and will provide students with access to comprehensive physical and mental health, holistic wellness, and financial literacy support. The impact her programs have made in so many lives is remarkable and allows people to empower themselves to create a better lives. I have met some of the people and students whose lives she has impacted and it is such an indescribable feeling to be part of something bigger than yourself.
Emma Grede
I fell in love with Emma and her business prowess when I watched her first episode on Shark Tank. She is an entrepreneur, a fashion designer, and CEO and co-founder of the denim company Good American and founding partner of Skims. The brands she represents are fully inclusive, and for women and for women, which is truly something I can get behind. And like some of the other women on this list, she promotes social change. Through the world of instagram, I just discovered that she has a newish reality show out with model Ashley Graham, called Side Hustlers, which aims to help empower female entrepreneurs turn their side hustles into their main income. Looks like it is a hit so far since they just got renewed for season 2, so I for sure will be binge watching this on the next monsoony day! Emma is also the Board Chair of Fifteen Percent Pledge, an organization that asks businesses to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands since black people make up 15% of the US Population. They have been able to shift almost $14B of revenue to Black-owned businesses in four years of inception and recently commemorated this achievement by ringing the NASDAQ opening bell.
Charlotte Tilbury
So I have always been a fan of Charlotte Tilbury cosmetics since the brand launched in 2013, especially her lipstick–it is the only true form lipstick I use these days. The formula is just so moisturizing and the color pop is amazing! Why I’m truly loving Charlotte right at this moment, doesn’t really have much to do with the products in general, but her participation in Formula 1. Charlotte Tilbury will be the first beauty brand and the first female-founded brand to become a sponsor of F1 Academy. F1 Academy is an ambitious new project from Formula 1® to develop and prepare female drivers to progress to higher levels of competition. And if you need even more reason to love this partnership, have you seen the car? Love the tagline “Make up your destiny” That copywriter definitely deserves a raise! I love that she is putting a woman owned business in a space normally occupied by men for the whole world to see.
Mel Robbins
Mel is another one of my social media gurus. I tend to follow people on social media with good energies and I am a lover of the digestible motivational quote and she serves them up daily, at minimum. Reformed lawyer, turned podcast host and speaker, Mel’s mission is to empower everyone to create a better life for themselves. If you are not an IG person like me, Mel is actually known for her podcasts or you can check out her book, Stop Saying You're Fine: Discover a More Powerful You, the book that propelled her into fame. I could never get into podcasts, but I did watch a Ted Talk where she speaks about the Five Second Rule, which basically states “From the moment that you have the idea, you've only got five seconds to take action, otherwise it's gone.” She suggests to write it down, schedule it, send an email to yourself or make the request. Since I get distracted EASILY (understatement of the year), this has honestly saved my life, or more specifically, my thoughts and ideas, and instead of just thinking of them, I have been putting all my little brain childs into action.
Fawn Weaver
If you love whiskey, or women powerhouses in general, then you will love Fawn Weaver. She is an entrepreneur, NYT best selling author, and Founder/CEO of Uncle Nearest Whiskey. I met Fawn last September at a conference in NYC, and her passion and fire truly impressed me, and was contagious! I learned a lot about the fascinating history of her brand and ties to Jack Daniels, which is definitely one you everyone should read about, because what she did by teliing his story is remarkable. Long story short, when Fawn did a lot of digging and after discovering the entire history, she bought a 300-acre farm in Tennessee, where Nearest taught Jack how to distill. Without any experience in distilling (no imposter syndrome here and a good testament of one of my mantras—if you believe it, you can do it!), Fawn decided to open up the Nearest Green Distillery. Uncle Nearest Whiskey pays tribute to Nathan (Nearest) Green, who was hired as the first master distiller for Jack Daniel Distillery, and he is the first African-American master distiller on record in the United States. Fawn is also the founder of the Nearest Green Foundation. This organization offers full scholarships to every descendant of Nearest Green. Her new book, Love and Whiskey, her story amidst his story, comes out this June. And if you are whiskey drinker of discernible taste like me, it truly is one of the best American whiskeys I have had.
Carmen Gonzalez
If you don’t know Carmen, you will now. Even if you are not a dog owner, her instagram feed will instantly bring a smile to your face. If you are on instagram, you may know her as nycstreetdogs, or if you live in NY, you may have had the pleasure of meeting her on the street asking to photograph your pup. Carmen is a dog pawtographer whom I met almost two years ago when she took a photo of me and Cups. I loved it so much that it became my holiday card! Fun fact: Carmen pivoted her career from a top professional chef to another passion in her life, dogs. As soon as she took her first photo, she instantly knew that this was the path she wanted for the second stage of her life. And I’m all for following your passion in life and purpose in life. One of the things I love most about Carmen is her desire to to give back and a calling to her higher purpose. She is paying homage to dogs in her home country through one of her projects, Pawlendar. Pawlendar is a yearly calendar photographing rescue dogs (satos) in Puerto Rico and telling their adoption stories. Proceeds of the calendar go to organizations responsible for saving the lives of the dogs featured. How can you not love that?
Kelly Rutherford
In my book, Kelly is the ultimate mother QUEEN. I have admired her during her Gossip Girl days and am loving her social media renaissance. Her outfits are a reflection of my own personal style and style aspirations, so her elevator selfies always bring a smile to my face (IYKYK). Her son’s name is Hermés, and if that doesn’t scream my fashion spirit animal, I don’t know what does. I also love her quote posts that appear to me during the day, and always seem to resonate with me. Her down to earth personality and candor in interviews is always a joy to watch. I recently watched an interview with Kelly and Laure Guilbault of Vogue Business where I learned a lot about her spirituality, mindset hacks and the diverse array of projects she is involved in. I also discovered a knowledge sharing app she invests in called Whyzzer, which hosts on demand video conversations on a certain topic. I checked it out recently and it’s pretty cool because you can record and listen at your leisure, and the platform gives you a better connection to the person on the other side of the camera. And random fun fact for those of you who knew of Kelly before reading this, I was last week old when I realized that she was the actress who played Megan Mancini on Melrose Place—I honestly may rewatch the show just for that because I need more Kelly in my life!
Ugly Betty
Yes, I know Ugly Betty is a fictional character and she is on the list for a reason. For anyone who doesn’t know about this show, Ugly Betty was a show that aired between 2006 and 2010 about a smart and unfashionable girl (Betty Suarez) trying to get her break in the media industry. I have recently started rewatching it and I think it is a good lesson in resilience, not judging a book by it’s cover, and what society places importance on. I love that her character stayed true to herself while navigating the sometimes superficial fashion media world and made it her own. For me, her character and boundless optimism is personification of the American Dream. Her character is played by America Ferrera (talk about synergy), who is having a renaissance of her own from her role in Barbie the Movie. Maybe it’s her calling to play roles that inspire a nation, and the world. She posted on instagram recently a throwback to Ugly Betty talking about the true message of the series. IMHO, think this show is a must watch show for girls and all women vs Barbie, as it has a lot of life lessons and shows a woman’s journey of truly finding herself and who she was meant to be.
Taylor Swift
You cannot have an inspiring women’s list without Taylor Swift. I’ve had a love hate relationship with Taylor for a couple of years, but it has been full on lovefest since her film version of All to Well came out in the fall of 2021. This was the moment I fully realized what a true artist she was. I know she gets a lot of flack for writing about her past relationships, but it is an extraordinary feat how she can translate that pain, love, joy, or whatever feeling into something that billions of people can resonate with and enjoy. Her artistry aside, she seems to be a genuinely nice and down to earth human being based on what I have seen in the media. This video I watched of young Taylor speaking about how she got into the music business is a must watch. If you don’t respect or admire her after watching that, I can’t help you. Her strength, resilience, and overall tenacity at such a young age was truly remarkable and has made her the force she is today. This woman has worked and continues to work hard to achieve her dreams, and she lifts those around her up as well, from giving her drivers 100K bonuses, to promoting emerging designers like Kristin Juszczyk. The effect she has on many by using her power and celebrity is astounding. But the thing I love the most is she LOVES what she’s doing and I think she would continue to create her art whether if it was one person vs billions of people listening to her music. Luckily for everyone that is not the case, and looking forward to her new album and seeing her in concert this spring.