Dear dudettes,
They say “Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back” and while I can’t take credit for this quote neither can I give one, since I couldn’t find who said it, the best I can do is testify for its truthfulness. Why you say? Well because, this year I’ve been lucky enough to experience first hand just how potent women empowerment really is, through the support of twelve amazing women entrepreneurs running multi million dollar companies, poets, producers and influencers who have entrusted me with the responsibility to tell their stories for our Cool Faces of Bastet Noir series. It still feels surreal till this day and I’m still pinching myself whenever I get to think of the selfless support these women, across the pond had given me and not just me, but to the women micro entrepreneurs and single parents we work with as well. Being a woman myself, in still predominantly male ran society, receiving this type of support is extremely important because it doesn’t only empower you, but lifts you up and pushes you to expand your horizons, beyond what you thought or believed you had the capacity for. New doors open up for you and with them new opportunities to influence and help other women as well.
In the year when women have finally found their own voices and “smashing the patriarchy” became more than just a phrase, it became a way of living, it’s safe to say that as a brand Bastet Noir had finally found its own voice too. And I got no one else to thank for that, more so than I do these 12 amazing women, each with her own incredible journey to share, stories that helped shape Bastet Noir into a real brand name. But this strong, resilient women were not the only ones who supported us this year. The insanely creative team of strong females responsible for running our social media campaigns, the female photographers behind the amazing photoshoots, the production team of badass artisan seamstresses and last but not least our arsenal of amazing female customers around the world are all equally deserving of the praise. Girl power, am I right?
Cool Faces of Bastet Noir
We’ve always stood for women empowerment, but this year I truly believe and feel like we’ve really embraced it and started to pay more attention to it. That’s why all of the launched collections in 2018 were inspired by strong, progressive and resilient women figures all of whom have left an indelible mark in human history, especially the Italian Affair Collection which was an ode to brave Italian women.
This year we’ve had so many amazing things going on for us. We’ve got Refinery29 stamp of approval, which in the world of fashion is kind of a big deal. We’ve opened an outlet shop with Depop and one of our items got featured in their explore section. Girl, we famous now! Just joking, but seriously not really LOL. We got to be part of several love stories, check this out. Our sales doubled and some of our products were even shipped to Latin America. We’ve also rebranded and we have a new logo and new packaging which will be launched starting January 2019. We’ve also partnered up with DHL Express to make Bastet Noir pieces ship faster, so this year all of our products were delivered to our customers in 3 days regardless of their location. How awesome is that, don’t ya think? But as flattering as the Refinery29 feature was, the real highlight of this year was actually being able to help and give back to the community by donating 10% of our profits for December towards the treatment of one young and brave woman battling cancer.
On the personal side of things, I was traveling again for work reasons obviously. I’ve got my first motivational talk for Trash Fashion, inspiring a small group of teenagers (hopefully successfully) to work on their passions and don’t give up. I was also a moderator of a panel about “Transport and customs for e-commerce” for the first e-commerce conference in Macedonia. I even became a tennis player and found a very surprising fact about myself, which is that I actually love this sport. Who knows, I might even become the next Serena Williams one day. I’m still growing obviously, getting to know myself better, but this year I’ve learnt how to actually enjoy the process, not rush into things, being comfortable with saying NO and just hustle my way to the top.
As another year bites the dust, the time to make new resolutions has officially come. So mine, like probably most entrepreneurs are obviously intertwined with those of my baby Bastet Noir. Apart from the obvious resolutions we all as humans probably have, like start eating healthy, take better care of myself and my cat, my top priority for next year is to be able to continue helping, supporting and giving work to women single parents and micro entrepreneurs in Macedonia. There’s no better feeling in the world than seeing these women smile. So I want to thank from the bottom of my heart all of you women out there who have either purchased something from Bastet Noir or have supported our brand in any other way. I just want you to know that if you’ve ever wondered whether you’ve made a difference in someone’s life, you can rest assure that you’ve made a tremendous one in mine, as well as the lives of these amazing warrior single mothers.
Love with all my heart,
Dani