Hi All,
We know that normally we keep this section on the lighter side, especially because we like to use the newsletter as a platform for you to get to know us on a personal level, but we both believe that we should use our voices for good, which has been the ethos of The Verticale since day one.
It’s heartbreaking and awful what is happening in Ukraine right now, and we hate just sitting on our hands feeling like there’s nothing we can do. That’s why we shifted a budget that was supposed to be used to promote our Conscious Commerce survey and instead, we’re donating $1 to UNHCR for every entry (an organization that’s providing emergency aid to Ukrainian refugee families). You can help by taking 5 minutes to fill it out and helping us spread the word so we can give back, together.
This month is also Women’s History Month, and as female-founders, this cause is very close to our hearts. So expect to see lots of female entrepreneurs and innovators throughout our content, starring with a behind-the-scenes look at how GLDN jewelry is made.
Hopefully, this will be a better companion than everything that’s happening right now ✨ See you in your inbox every Wednesday.
– Jaclyn + Michelle, Founders
The Women of Tomorrow: Female-Founded Brands our Crew Loves
- Piecework: Founded by Rachel Hochhauser & Jena Wolfe, upgrade your lazy Sunday routine with the only puzzle too pretty to take apart.
- GLDN: Founded by Chrissy Lavdovsky, upgrade your neckline with this glimmering chain necklace
- Rigby: Founded by Sara Kelly, upgrade your kitchen with these Portuguese-blown glasses
Busy Doing What? Our Founders Keeping it Real
Jaclyn’s Busy…
- Visiting the Cooper Hewitt Museum’s exhibit on pandemics only to be pleasantly surprised by the presence of our newest brand, Craighill ????
- Cheering on LA’s first pro-women’s soccer team (founded by Natalie Portman) ⚽️
- Frustrated that even though they know better, and can do better, USPS wants to keep its gasoline-based cars. ????
- Seeing my niece and nephews ????
Michelle’s Busy…
- Happily reading about how the U.S. women’s soccer team will be getting equal pay as their male counterparts ????♀️
- Downloading CarbonDonut to see if I can cut down on my carbon footprint ♻️
- Feeling disappointment (and a bit of anger) that women only received 2% of Venture Capital funding last year (the lowest seen since 2016) ????
- Enjoying a drink at this NYC bar that feels old world and yet modern with its relaxing vibes and tunes ????
ICYMI While You Were Scrolling Through Instagram…
• We released the first-ever The Culture Binge, a curated collection of everything cool our editors read, watched, listened to, and ate in February.
• We made some jokes on TikTok (yes, we are VERY young and hip)
• We put together a list of all the brands we bet you didn’t know were sustainable
Diving Deep: Something you didn’t know about how GLDN jewelry is made.
What goes into making a necklace? Often when we get the end product, we forget about the hands that went into making it. Sustainable jewelry brand, GLDN, is bridging that gap. Every necklace, earring, or bracelet purchased from GLDN comes with a uniquely signed card, written for you by the very person who crafted your piece. So what goes into actually making each piece of jewelry?
Starting from the beginning, 90% of the metals used by GLDN are recycled, and 85% of items are made-to-order, meaning that while each piece is uniquely yours, it also has a history of its own. The delicate designs and shapes of GLDN’s pieces are handheld and hand stamped by their careful team.
Everything is made in their workshop in Washington state, where talented local crafts(wo)men take the time to stamp each symbol and letter by hand. The jewelry is then assembled by the same hands at the same desk. At the end of it all, your new necklace or earrings are packed away, signed by the creator, and sent over to you.
You can follow the creation of an order here. Or take a look at one of our favorite hand-stamped pieces here, The Poppy Necklace.
