SHOP WOMEN-OWNED
SUPPORT WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21
SUNDAY, AUGUST 22
PRODUCTS
Welcome to the Passionistas Project Virtual Marketplace, the virtual vendor experience that is part of
the Passionistas Project Women's Equality Summit. Please take some time to browse through the listings of the artists
and businesses who are taking part in the marketplace this weekend. Click each link to SHOP or get MORE INFO.
Aaron’s Coffee Corner provides 24/7 access to free, fresh quality coffee to the family, friends and caregivers of critically ill patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on the 16th floor of Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Join us in our efforts to bring a daily dose of comfort to families in every pediatric intensive care unit in the country.
BILLIE BEST
Billie Best's uplifting memoir titled How I Made a Huge Mess of My Life (or Couples Therapy with a Dead Man) is a provocative, at times hilarious, account of her midlife mistakes and misadventures, and how they build her strength. Available on Amazon in paperback ($12.99) and ebook ($7.99).
BILLIE BEST is a writer/blogger living in Portland, Oregon. Her memoir from Widowspeak Publishing is titled How I Made a Huge Mess of My Life (or Couples Therapy with a Dead Man). Her blog Beyond 60 — Loving Life, Staying Relevant is posted Wednesdays at billiebest.com.
KAITLYNNE ALTMAN
Feminist artwork done by Kaitlynne Altman.
Digital paintings include: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Rosie the Riveter, Sergeant Debbie Callahan (from the Police Academy films), digital painting of Debbie Callahan (Police Academy franchise) and feminist-themed Callahan silhouette drawing. Message Kaitlynn on Instagram @Kaitlynne2013 or Facebook @Kaitlynne Altman.
KAITLYNNE ALTMAN is an 18-year-old activist, feminist, artist and a fan by heart. She's been passionate about equal rights, specifically feminism, since she was five. She plans to minor in women’s studies in college, and is an active participant and moderator in a feminist group on Facebook, where she learns about the lives and struggles of other women, pushing her to want to help further not just for her life, but for ALL women’s (and even men’s) lives.
CAFE CON LIBROS
Cafe con Libros (coffee with books) is an intersectional feminist community bookstore and coffee shop. Through our choice of books, programming and great coffee, we endeavor to create a vibrant community space where everyone; specifically female identified folx, feel centered, affirmed and celebrated.
KALIMA DeSUZE
Owner of Cafe Con Libros, is an Afro-Latinx feminist, social worker, activist, teacher, veteran and mother. She has combined a lifelong journey, curiosity and love of literature, community, intersectional feminism and delicious coffee to create a space on her home turf that brings her, and others around her, joy.
EFFIE’S PAPER
KALYN JOHNSON CHANDLER
is the founder and creative director of Effie’s Paper. She's a lawyer turned fashion stylist turned stationer/graphic designer. Her weaknesses are diamonds, pretty stationery, Hermes scarves, sequins and metallics.
Effie’s Paper is a lifestyle brand presenting cool and on-trend accessories for fun at work, stylish travel and a chic daily life. We believe that from the door to her desk, a woman should be surrounded by pretty things that make her heart leap! Our products are a unique mix of casual elegance, motivation and social conversation that make using them fun and engaging.
ESTETICA MIA
CLAUDIA CORDOVA RUCKER is the founder of the award-winning beauty oasis Aqua nail bar and Estetica Mia — AJurlique wellness spa. She is a heart centered activist and supports equality, empowerment, women’s rights as human rights. .
Estetica Mia is a Jurlique wellness spa that is on a mission to change what beauty looks and feels like through our online store, in spa and online virtual spa deep beauty experiences. Use code PASSIONATE20 at checkout on our website to receive 20% off your order! Offer ends 8/30/2021.
FLAVNT
COURTNEY RHODES is the Co-Owner and Designer of the FLAVNT partnership; she helps design, promote and run the business and is the mastermind behind some of your favorite designs. Both "Gender Roles Are Dead" illustrations were created by Courtney, along with some of your favorite phrases on FLAVNT t-shirts.
FLAVNT Streetwear is an Austin-based independent clothing brand for everyone within and anyone who supports the LGBTQ+ community. Started with the goal of creating clothes that promote confidence and pride, FLAVNT is all about being comfortable with who you are and flaunting that to the world.
IMPRINTED MEMORIES
ImprintedMemories is a mom owned business started from the desire to create jewelry to keep the ones we love most closest to our hearts. You will find high quality personalized necklaces, sentimental messages and unique charms, perfect and ready to gift to all the girls and women in your life. For those who are feeling a little crafty, check out ImprintedMemoriesToo for more charms, chains and jewelry supplies. Wholesale options available! Use the Passionistas20 to get 20% off your entire purchase. Offer expires 10/1/21.
NIK KACY
NiK Kacy Footwear is a LGBT-certified business and the first gender-equal/gender-free footwear and accessories for genders and identities in all spectrums. As a gender nonconforming, transmasculine individual who identifies as nonbinary, Kacy’s designs are inspired by both their personal identity, style, cultural background, fashion, and activism. Their hope is to provide a solution to individuals who have been seeking footwear alternatives that fit not only their feet but also their authentic expression of self. Their mission is to utilize fashion as activism in a way that inspires change so that gender is no longer a force that limits or restricts, and EQUALITY becomes the vernacular that ALL individuals speak.
NIK KACY is the Creator and Executive Producer of Equality Fashion Week, the 1st LGBTQ+focused Fashion Week in LA, as well as the Founder and President of NiK Kacy Footwear,
KAYA ESSENTIALS
Sara Ku is the founder of Kaya Essentials, an impact driven fashion, beauty and home brand that works directly with Artisans and Farmers in the Philippines, providing a sustainable livelihood with fair trade wages. After working with a non-profit in the Philippines, Sara was inspired to create her own social business and first started making coconut skincare (thanks to her DIY loving Mom and upbringing) and selling at local farmers markets. Use the code PASSIONISTA30 for 30% off site wide.
LAMIK BEAUTY
Have you discovered LAMIK Beauty yet? LAMIK Beauty is a vegan makeup line made with natural and organic ingredients for multicultural women. We are here to support and celebrate women in all of their glory, building an inclusive community for women across the country. Get 10% OFF from your next purchase with the code PASSIONISTAS10.
LAMIK BEAUTY is a tech-enabled clean color cosmetics company focusing on women
of all diverse backgrounds. We
are here to support and celebrate
women in all of their glory, building an inclusive community for women across
the country. We're passionate about serving this community by creating the highest quality products with the purest ingredients.
Lisa Harrington-Barbosa of LMH Artisan makes beautifully handcrafted clothing and accessories to bring your wardrobe to a whole new level. Her latest collection includes summer weight, 100% cotton shawls and scarves and matching H2O holders. The shawls and scarves are embellished with sea glass and teardrop beads. The newest addition to her line is hand-crocheted earrings made of 100% cotton with sterling silver French hooks and teardrop beads.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit Project U First. Use code SUMMIT20 to save 20% your purchase.
LISA BARBOSA walked
a long and winding career path that involved many creative pursuits — from directing theater to sewing altar cloths. After relocating to California in 2016, Lisa discovered another passion — crocheting. Vowing to move beyond “your grandmother’s” crochet with her use of colors and patterns, she puts a modern spin on what some might have considered a passé art form.
THE LIT BAR
The Lit Bar opened its doors on April 27, 2019 and is currently the only bookstore serving the 1.5 million people of the Boogie Down Bronx. Our venue encourages curious readers and welcomes literary and community gatherings — while our wine bar connects the great pastimes of social sipping and introverted reading. We offer a carefully curated selection of general interest books, gift items and programming which emphasize local interest and diversity for all ages.
NOELLE SANTOS is an African American and Puerto Rican venture activist from the Bronx. She's a life-long reader whose studies at Lehman College earned her a bachelor’s degree in business/accounting and a master’s degree in human resources management. She's living her best life owning & operating The Lit Bar.
PASSIONISTAS PROJECT PACK
A quarterly subscription box filled with women-owned products. Each Passionistas Project Pack includes 5-7 full size items like jewelry, stationary and more. We include Q&A's with each contributing Passionista, plus access to online content and the Passionistas Project Facebook group to inspire you to follow your passions.
Use the code SUMMERMYSTERY
to get a FREE MYSTERY BOX
($49 value) with
a one-year subscription.
AMY & NANCY HARRINGTON gave up successful careers in the entertainment business to follow their own passions. They understand the satisfaction that comes with following their hearts and thrive on creating a network for women who want to do the same. They founded The Passionistas Project Pack to support women-owned businesses. But they also want to show our subscribers that anything is possible through the examples set by the business owners and artisans who are featured in the box.
POPCORNS QUEENS
April and Bonnie Wardlaw are a mother-daughter team from the Washington, DC area that handcraft caramel popcorn with the finest ingredients and lots of love. Their story began over a decade ago when Bonnie began adding popcorn to holiday gift bags. April added Bonnie's caramel popcorn to a cocktail party menu for her catering company. From there they created a line of flavors that now includes 9 different varieties of caramel popcorn. In September 2013, they let the catering company go, launched Popcorn Queens and have been busy making caramel popcorn ever since.
APRIL AND BONNIE WARDLAW The Popcorn Queens have been in business for almost five years. Before starting the company Bonnie was a vice-president in a local insurance company and April ran her own catering business.
RAISING ROYALTY
I created Plan Your Day to fit my life into one, easy-to-use, compact system. It’s a top-down approach to planning, with the idea that if you fit the “big rocks” in first, the “sand” of the details will fall into place easier. And it’s designed to make your daily planning take less than five minutes of your time. When something fits just right, and it’s easy to do, you will keep doing it. Especially when it makes your life better.
Make your daily planning easy, and make your life easier with the Plan your Day planner.
SARAH WALL is a
Virtual Assistant, homeschool blogger and single mom who supports bloggers, coaches and mompreneurs to manage and grow their online presence. After leaving an abusive marriage with five young children, launching a successful business and creating a support community with several hundred members, Sarah believes there's always a way to achieve your goals. It's just about finding the right support. Sarah is a single mom of six girls, and lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
REBURN
REBURN is a 24-page creator-owned full color comic book by an all female team. In a dystopian future, a super-powered woman known as MAY fights to be free from THE UNITY, a cult-like society ruled by the corrupt, maniacal HOPE.
Issue #1 is available now with covers by Artist Elise McCall and Molly Mendoza. Issue #2 is available for pre-order (shipping December 2021). Follow our heroine, MAY, as she steps forward to reclaim her life, find her daughters and begin to understand the scope of her legacy and powers.
RoHo is an ethical accessories company offering ethically made beaded leather sandals, jewelry, bags and accessories all handmade by talented artisans across Kenya (95% of whom are women). In addition to paying its artisans fairly, RoHo is also committed to sending artisans' children to quality local schools. Use the code WOMEN15 for 15% off (offer good through 10/1/21.)
Sea Witch Botanicals is committed to being a role model in the shift toward sustainability and ethical business and transparently dedicated to environmental justice. We are a small, tenacious team that believes you don't need sinister synthetics or animal byproducts to have a clean home, a beautiful smelling space, or luxurious self-care. All of our products are crafted with only plant-based ingredients and packaged for optimum waste reduction.
Use the code
PASSIONISTA15 for 15% off your order.
SEA WITCH BOTANICALS
Bags aren’t just about functionality. Textiles and crafts have been used by women for centuries to make statements, share messages and give a voice to their distinct world views, from the bravery of WWII espionage knitters to the compelling and unforgettable handwork used to create the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Subversive Textiles is about sending a message too – It’s okay to know and show who you are, with your fabulous Subversive Textiles bag (of course!). Use the code PASSION10 for 10% off all purchases, including custom orders.
VICTORIA MORENO-JACKSON is passionate about making change through creation and connection. In making one-of-a-kind bags, Victoria celebrates individual perspectives, strengths and identities. Most importantly, she brings her customers joy and confidence. After feeling shamed and lazy for always being told she could “do better” if she “would just try harder.” Victoria decided to stop trying to fit in and embrace her “quirky” nature, so she stopped practicing law and founded Subversive Textiles, LLC.
SUBVERSIVE TEXTILES
Founded in 2015 by Sashee Chandran, Tea Drops is a woman and minority owned, innovative tea company with a mission to inspire human connection through tea. Tea Drops has become a favorite among new and experienced tea drinkers alike, launching innovative tea experiences that merge flavorful blends, food art and edgy design. A favorite of Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States, Tea Drops are also loved by Oprah Magazine, Forbes and the Tory Burch Foundation.
Use the code PASSIONISTAS20
for 20% off your purchase.
SASHEE CHANDRAN is founder and CEO of Tea Drops, creator of organic, dissolvable loose leaf teas. After working in corporate offices in her early 20s, she found it difficult to make loose leaf tea on-the-go. This inspired the creation of Tea Drops, which is now sold nationwide in over 1,500 retailers.
TEA DROPS
Elizabeth Hoenscheid and Karena Rasser founded Top it Off in the summer of 2003 with the idea of bringing vibrant, versatile accessories and gifts to women at a price point they would love! From ribbon belts and other ribbon-embellished accessories, Top it Off has continued to design styles that inspire confidence as the trends have evolved. Use the code PASSIONISTAS to get 15% off order over $50. Offer expires 10/1/21.
Prior to Top it Off, Elizabeth and Karena worked together at a software company in marketing (Elizabeth) and sales (Karena). That experience brought a keen understanding of the importance of listening to the customer and what she wants. This has always been a guiding design principle at Top it Off. Elizabeth has held product management and strategy consulting roles at companies in Paris, France and Boston, MA.
TOP IT OFF
At Village Thrive, traditional craft meets modern design with the purpose of seeing the people of Bali, Indonesia thrive. Our goods are thoughtfully made from sustainable materials and handcrafted by our artisan partners. It’s a full circle movement where everyone benefits. Every beautiful piece of decor provides sustainable income and the opportunity for a better future. We are honored to share the story of generations of craft and culture with you. Use the code
PASSIONISTA15, to get 15% off your purchase. Offer expires 8/22/21.
VILLAGE THRIVE
XERASUPPORT
XeraSupport is your virtual business support. Whether you need to bounce ideas off someone, strategize your marketing plan or refresh your online home base design, you can find help here. XeraSupport was created so that anyone, regardless of technical expertise or business know-how, could make money online, on their own terms. When you have a great idea, but you need help to make it happen, you shouldn’t have to pay thousands to get started. XeraSupport helps to bridge the gap between your passion and your profit. Get your business growing with XeraSupport.
SARAH WALL is a
Virtual Assistant, homeschool blogger and single mom who supports bloggers, coaches and mompreneurs to manage and grow their online presence. After leaving an abusive marriage with five young children, launching a successful business and creating a support community with several hundred members, Sarah believes there's always a way to achieve your goals. It's just about finding the right support. Sarah is a single mom of six girls, and lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.