EP97. How indie beauty is driving gender equality

Indie beauty may be driving a generation of female entrepreneurs but women in other sectors still don't make it to the boardrooms. With this in mind, we ask what is gender equality today? Think of the people running the beauty industry in your locality. The beauty salons, nail bars, hairdressers, spas, and the beauty counters of drug stores are likely to be staffed by women. From a quick survey like this, you would think we should be addressing the need for greater diversity or the promotion of men in the beauty industry instead of the parity of women in the sector. But, what is gender equality or diversity or inclusivity too if there is no equality of representation across an industry? From shop and salon floors to the boardroom tables of big beauty brands and from the kitchen tables of start-up entrepreneurs to the offices of venture capitalists, gender, and other forms of equality must be factored in, focused on and fast forwarded. Because the beauty industry seems to be the domain of women does not mean it is led by women at management level nor do many female entrepreneurs attract the financing and support they need to help them succeed. In this episode, which airs a couple of weeks before International Women's Day (8 March), Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier and Ana Green, the school's Education Manager, discuss the vital role that indie beauty plays in fostering women's self empowerment, and also the startling realities many women face in getting to the top and succeeding as beauty sector entrepreneurs.