Hi ladies!

Happy March 1, or the first day of Women’s History Month! Every year, this month celebrates the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. While I think every month should be dedicated to women (ha!), I thought this month would be a good time to focus on two women I find extraordinary.

The first is my 13-year-old daughter, Caroline. She’s always been creative and artsy-crafty, but now she has started a business making bath bombs — i.e., fizzy explosions of color and scent when dropped into water. Apparently this is big with tweens and teens! Who knew?

All on her own, Caroline went online and found a recipe to make these concoctions, bought the ingredients and made her first batch. She decided to make them egg-shaped so she could safely transport them to school in an egg carton. Caroline’s bath bombs sold out; she made more and those sold out as well. She knows her costs and profits (and puts them in an Excel spreadsheet!). Excuse me for the humblebrag, but I’m one proud mama!

The other woman could well be the inspiration for Caroline. Her name is Barbara Bradley Baekgaard, and she’s the co-founder, chief creative officer and director of Vera Bradley. Traveling back from visiting her mother, Vera Bradley, Barbara and her friend Patricia Miller were at the Atlanta airport and noticed how drab women’s luggage was. Not waiting to make a business plan or do a deeper dive into the competitive luggage market, they jumped right in. Borrowing $250 from their husbands, the very next day they set up shop in Barbara’s basement and created a cottage industry that, according to Forbes, now has sales of half-a-billion dollars a year.

I’m happy to tell you that Barbara will be one of our keynote speakers at the upcoming Women in Retail Leadership Summit. I can’t wait to hear her story in person. I also just learned that we have less than 30 seats remaining for this year’s Summit. If you’ve been meaning to sign up, don’t delay any longer. We will be sold out.

Meanwhile, I’m cheering for Caroline and all women entrepreneurs everywhere!

Enjoy!
Melissa Campanelli
Co-Founder, Women in Retail Leadership Circle