How These Founders’ Stories are Making Change for Women and Girls
All photos by Sam Wallander
It wasn't the gorgeous setting or the downtown NYC vibe we felt that made the evening special. It wasn't even seeing our companies' mantras sewn exquisitely onto the softest pajamas ever that thrilled us.
It was the stories.
The stories of founders handpicked by Petite Plume to gather for one night and launch a powerful new initiative called #MadeForChange.
As recently described by Forbes: “Petite Plume, founded by Emily Hikade... unveiled the Made for Change initiative, a charitable program dedicated to empowering women and girls." Starring three inaugural partners, Every Mother Counts founded by Christy Turlington Burns, Ladies of Hope Ministries (LOHM) founded by Dr. Topeka K. Sam, and Être founded by me, "[t]hese collaborations" Forbes said, "underscore the commitment to mingling crucial social support with community engagement.”
Honored doesn’t begin to describe how I felt at that launch dinner.
But fascinated comes close.
Because listening to the other founders speak one by one at the table, it was impossible not to be fascinated by their backstories and their breathtaking work. From undercover CIA operatives who became CEOs to supermodels-turned-maternal health champions and founders inspired to build organizations while incarcerated, the women who pushed back their chairs to speak held the room’s attention in the palms of their busy hands.
I couldn’t wait to share their stories.
First, meet Emily Hikade – a former counterterrorism case officer with the CIA whose high-threat missions put her in harm’s way from day one. "I've been shot at," Hikade told People Magazine last year. “I've been so close to explosions that I've been knocked off my feet, where it rings in your ears, and everything goes into slow motion. I was invincible; I felt fearless before I had kids."
Once her children were on the scene, however, she no longer felt invincible. One near-death plane ride later, Hikade told us movingly at dinner, she turned in her badge and turned her attention towards building the luxury sleepwear brand Petite Plume. “Pajamas to me said home and safety,” she told us as we realized we were holding our breath. “It said family and security. And I realized that’s where I wanted to be.”
Next, meet Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts, and Grace Kellum, Director of Brand Partnerships and Business Development, who attended dinner on the organization's behalf. "I became a global maternal health advocate the day I became a mother," Burns says on the Every Mother Counts website, going on to explain that the birth of her first child led to significant complications. "While the active management of this complication was painful, I never feared for my life because I had confidence in my midwife and others who worked together to stabilize me. Without access to this critical and timely care, I may not be here today. Many other women are not as lucky."
“Becoming a mother has been a life-transforming experience in so many ways. My birth experience led me on a journey with maternal health as a central focus.”
Then, meet Dr. Topeka Sam – founder and CEO of the Ladies of Hope Ministries, an organization working to end the poverty crisis and the incarceration of women and girls. Providing “safe housing, reentry support and advocacy programs grounded in the…insights and ideas of people with direct experience with the criminal justice system,” Dr. Sam created LOHM to empower women to share their stories and strive for new pathways post-incarceration.
“It’s about changing the culture within the companies,” she told Forbes in an earlier article. “It’s about sharing the data because it’s no longer an issue that focuses on one person. One in three families is impacted by incarceration. So, this is in every single place and every single company in this country.” “I’m here to give other women a voice,” Dr. Sam told us at the #MadeForChange dinner, and a table of rapt listeners nodded in unison.
How did it feel to stand and give my own founder story amid these life-altering journeys?
Daunting. And exciting.
Exciting because just as Emily Hikade was inspired by her young boys, Christy Turlington Burns was inspired by her maternal health experience, and Dr. Topeka Sam was inspired by women she met while incarcerated, I was inspired to start Être by my daughter.
When I was working as a corporate lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates and realized that my middle school daughter had no idea what my job - or any of the jobs held by my accomplished female friends - entailed, I decided something needed to change.
I began bringing my daughter to see women in action at work, planting her in front of neurosurgeons and news anchors, fashion designers and finance mavens, and one thing became instantly clear: girls everywhere could be doing this. Être was born several years later with a French name that means to be and a mission: to bring girls into boardrooms and face to face with female leaders. Because mentors matter...early.
Indeed, along with making change an undercurrent of mentorship was felt throughout the night. When Être’s Chief Content Officer and Executive Producer Elizabeth O'Connell saw Danielle Weisberg, co-founder of TheSkimm, enter the room I was overjoyed to see them swapping stories – particularly since Weisberg’s co-founder Carly Zakin was O’Connell’s original mentee at NBC!
How did O'Connell feel in that moment?
“Beaming with pride," she told me, "to see, among these remarkable founders, a once-promising, persistent star you knew when their brilliant plan to create an early morning newsletter was a spark others tried to quash. TheSkimm co-founders Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin are both visionary change-makers not to be deterred. Much like the candles set on this powerful table, small, early moments of encouragement can help fan sparks in the dark.”
Mentor moments like that are the ballgame for me.
To be seated at a table of impactful women like these making change was an honor. And the instinct to drag in extra chairs for girls to sit and absorb these founders' wisdom was an instinct hard to quell.
But that will come.
For now, I am grateful to have been at this table and fascinated by what comes next. Every one of these founders has a story to make change. Look them up in the links below and see how you can help.
Looking forward,
Illana
Êxtras: Three more links to these founders’ orgs you won’t want to miss: Where to learn more about the start of Petite Plume and this campaign, ways to take action or become an ambassador for Every Mother Counts, how to learn more about or attend the LOHM Women of West Harlem Summit on June 2nd. More about Être? You can get that in a one-minute Être intro video right here.
