We chat to founder of The Feminist Shop, Virginia Méndez

We chat to founder of The Feminist Shop, Virginia Méndez, all about how she started the business, what the future holds and what three women she admires most. You can also read Virginia’s own articles on The C Word about pink and feminism and privilege, that scary word. Check out our interview below.

How and when did you start The Feminist Shop?

I started it in 2019. Felt in love with the vision in January after realising that we couldn’t think of a recognisable feminist brand that we could go to for our Christmas gifts. My husband and I worked so hard on it during that year (with 2 kids under 3!) and had a successful crowdfunding at the end of August and finally launched in November. So we have been running for almost 2 years now. I love how we have maintained the vision of “everything we do, we do it ethically and with the idea of feeling people’s feminism"

What were the ups and downs when starting the business?

It is hard - no need to lie about it. And sometimes lonely… you have to spin all the plates and even if people let you know that it is going to be slow and take some time, it is incredible how difficult is sometimes to persist and keep giving your 200% until the results kick in. That is why it is important to love what you do, and have a clear why. I love writing, and talking to people, I love researching and reading about feminism, I love every single product that we sell, and every sale and every comment on social media, or email reminds me why it is important. Why it matters.

I also have the best tribe around me. Other women entrepreneurs that have my back and inspire me every day!

Your shop has SO much content! Tell us about how you curate the items and the importance for you for things to be ethically sourced?

When we started imagining, we thought that we would be an online store, as per many others (except better, lol!). We thought about the strong branding presence and we wanted it to be recognisable. We thought about the ethical part of it because as businesses we have a responsibility with the world we live in. We need to make sure that our profit is not at the expense of the environment or the people in the production chain, we want to have positive impact at every stage. But when I thought about the shop, I couldn’t imagine not having books! Books where a huge part of my feminist journey! So we added books to the equation. Then showcasing the amazing partner associations that we work with sharing 10% of the sales (it will be 50% of the profits when we become profitable).

We wanted to be a place for people to hang and learn, so we also created all the recommendations based on topics (from films, to podcasts, from parenting to sex, and from policy to to the role of men on feminism). And then it was sharing my journey, and my thoughts, and my learnings, and those of the people that we have been interviewing… The Feminist Shop vision kept growing and I know it will keep growing always trying to do more and better.

You've interviewed some amazing people, how do you go about choosing the right people to interview for your website?

We want to hear different voices. We believe that our feminist journeys are very different and that feminism, at the end of the day, is the mix of all of us! So we love hearing about the voices of people fighting for feminism through their books, businesses, associations, their social media accounts. The fascinating thing about feminism is that it can apply to almost everything, so we get the huge chance to interview people doing completely different things for the cause. Interviewing people has become one of my favourite things, I always learn something and I find myself nodding while reading their answers. We have a lot in common and that feeling of community gives me so much hope regarding the changes that are already happening.

In your opinion, what more can be done to push a feminist agenda and be more equally inclusive in life?

We need to keep talking about it. I genuinely believe in the power of conversations. The power of people speaking and challenging each other in a positive way. Holding each other accountable. Voting with our money (and with our actual votes!) and supporting people that stand behind our beliefs. I think we have a lot of power and it is difficult to see… we don’t see how calling out that joke, or setting those boundaries, or buying more ethical, or supporting women’s art/literature/businesses/films... can make an impact. But it does. Massively. Because we are one of millions! We have power in numbers!

What does a typical day look like for you now?! Is there anything you do to handle stress?

So different every day! Sometimes I am writing (either an article or for my book), sometimes I am talking with an illustrator plotting the next collection, I might be organising a workshop, or reading and sharing on social media. I write an email personally to every client and handle all the customer service, I make sure the logistics are working and I am keeping an eye on new titles of books to add to the over 400 that we have already. We just designed a new way to shop, in which the client builds their own The Feminist Shop product so there was a lot of itty bitty admin stuff, but also a lot of strategising and thinking on the effect it might have. It is the lots of plates spinning and trying to allocate the time based on urgency and mood.

To me kindness and gratitude have been game changers. Reminding myself what I have already achieved instead of living in the urgency of getting to the next stage. Understand that I am the engine of the business and I need to be in a good space to function, and allowing me the time to recover when things get too much.

If you had to choose three women that inspire you, who would you choose and why?

• Michelle Obama: She always find a way to use her voice for the good. Not only her personal success and story is motivational and impressive, but also the way she uses it to advocate for change. And she seems to be having fun on the way, so hell yes to that!

• Shon Faye: She is articulated, she is fierce and she is determined to educate the world and make it better. It takes a lot of courage to do what she does, and a lot of skills and talent to also do it as well.

• Gloria Steinem: she has refused to stop growing and learning (and unlearning) and defending feminism. I would love to be like her at 87. Still having so much hell to give and moving on with the times.

Is there anything upcoming on The Feminist Shop for the remainder of the year that we should know about?

We have at least 2 new collections on the pipeline! (hoping for 3, but let’s see how that stress management works!). We will bring nice Black Friday deals and we really hope to be in people’s mind for their Christmas presents. There is so much on the shop for every one! From those that are not a feminist yet, to those that are proudly angry feminists! We have this really cool test (that has been done over 24,000 times!) so you can start by finding out what type of feminist are you! https://thefeministshop.com/blogs/the-feminist-shop-blog/what-type-of-feminist-are-you

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Founder of The C Word Magazine, Emily King is currently living in London. She is passionate about art, travel, culture, cinema, fashion, sports, dating, feminism and a whole lot more. She is currently working on her own podcast with a friend and also dabbles in graphic design, when not doing her day job as a project manager. Find her on Instagram @emlrking or chatting on Confession Sessions, The C Word Mag’s podcast.