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Showing posts from September 2, 2018

The Downsides of being a Female Entrepreneur

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As a female entrepreneur, I have had really good luck until recently. In the past decade, I have founded a startup fashion handbag brand in Seattle. After one year I was able to secure a loan through the Startup community, and about a year later I went to a VC forum in Seattle and I met an investor. He invested in my handbag brand, Rocco e Dante after one meeting and helped me build my company for several years until the economy tanked and we shut it down. I have had an overall positive experience as a female entrepreneur in the fashion industry. My investor was always professional and was a great mentor. I ended up getting to know his family. In the past two years, I have started another brand of commuter and bicycle bags - the brand is Pendolare. www.pendolaregear.com I have spent over two years building the brand, I have the samples and have tested them, I have a business plan and an explainer video. In March 2018 I reached out to 15 startup Venture Capitalists on LinkedIn.

New article in FORBES for Two Neighbors!

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I am super excited to see the brand I work for be covered by Forbes! Check it out here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellemartin/2018/08/31/how-fashion-is-bringing-women-from-israel-and-palestine-together/#72245bd9515c When retired American couple, Dr. Whitman Jones and his wife Paula created   The Center for Emerging Futures , a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing some of the most difficult situations that humans face, they didn’t realize they would also be launching an innovative fashion brand soon thereafter.  After visiting Israel and seeing the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians firsthand, Jones began looking for ways to facilitate peaceful connections that could transcend the conflict. Given the skill sets of women in the region, Jones had the idea to bring Israeli seamstresses and designers together with Palestinian embroiderers to create a high-end fashion collection that could create jobs and highlight talents from both sides of the conflict. T