Meet the Creator of Women-Led Wednesday | Tory Burch Foundation

When our Fellows spot a gap in the market, they take action. Cassie Abel, 2020 Tory Burch Fellow and founder of Wild Rye, noticed there wasn’t anything like Small Business Saturday for women-owned companies, so she started it. Launched in 2018, Women-Led Wednesday highlights women-owned and -led brands on the day before Thanksgiving, making it easy for shoppers to buy according to their values during the holiday season. Abel joined us for an Ask Me Anything on our Instagram to answer questions about the need for Women-Led Wednesday and how brands can benefit.

Q: What was the inspiration for creating this event?

A: This is a question with so many layers of answers. One, there was no right “day” to launch my own brand’s holiday sales; Black Friday is built around mass consumption, Cyber Monday was a good way to get lost in the war of ad dollars and Small Business Saturday felt too focused on brick and mortar. I was actually shocked that nothing supporting women-owned brands existed. Secondly, with all the talk of getting more women into C-suites, I was at a loss for why we as a population weren’t doing a better job of supporting the brands already led by women with what we all need: money (because we all know we can’t count on the venture world for that).

Q: How can people get involved with Women-Led Wednesday, both as consumers and business owners?

A: All women-led product brands are welcome to join the initiative. Create a brand directory page and commit to cross-promoting the initiative to help elevate women-led business across industries! If you’re not a brand, please share the initiative with the women-led brands and help us get the word out that everyone out there should consider shopping only women-led on November 24th, 2021! We’d especially love sharing across social channels as the day draws nearer.

Q: How do you support businesses that join? 

A: We’ll provide a tool kit of assets you can use to let everyone know you’re a part of the initiative and reap the benefits of all other brands doing the same!

Q: How does Women-Led Wednesday support women leaders year round?

A: While we have many ideas of more that we can do with more resources, we believe that reframing the public’s thinking on the big day, will make us all more conscious shoppers the other 364 days a year!

Q: Are you considering incorporating women-managed services into Women-led Wednesday? 

A: We’re not there yet, but it’s certainly something that’s been on my hit list.