BlogHer VOTY 100: Meet Our Innovator Honorees

Explore the entire BlogHer VOTY 100 digital issue.

Voices of the Year (VOTY) is BlogHer’s annual celebration of women doing culture-shifting work for the greater good. This year, we’ve expanded this initiative into the VOTY 100, a list of changemakers across 10 categories: Wellness Champions, Small Business Owners, Creators, Eco Impact Warriors, Next Gen Creatives, Biz Experts, Innovators, Social Impact Leaders, Storytellers, and Community Builders. 

Women are responsible for some of the world’s most brilliant products and services. Count these originators (and their genius creations) among that illustrious group.

Teri Yu, CEO of Vibely

What is your proudest moment of the past year? 

I’m the proudest when our creators and communities give us feedback that Vibely is one the most positive and kindest spaces out there. This beats other accomplishments, including our recent 2M+ seed round, backed by mega-stars like Asana founder Justin Rosenstein, YouTube Meetup exec Steve Chen, and Scott Heiferman, which have naturally come as a result.

When you’re in a rut, how do you get inspired?

Podcasts like Masters of Scale or How I Built This.

What is something you wish you knew at the start of your career?

Everyone’s figuring out their own path and truth. Nobody knows the answers, as much as some might portray that they do better than others.

 

Chani Nicholas, Astrologer & Author 

Chani Nicholas is a best-selling author and astrologer with a booming community of over one million monthly readers. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and on Netflix. Her latest endeavor is her namesake app, CHANI, which offers birth chart explainers, a weekly mini-podcast, ritual advice, and daily inspo.

 

Olawide Olowe, Founder of Topicals

What is your proudest moment of the past year? 

I’m incredibly proud to be the youngest Black woman to raise over $2 million in venture capital funding ($2.6 million to be exact). Also, selling out at Sephora in under 48 hours was a huge accomplishment that we’re proud of.

When you’re in a rut, how do you get inspired?

I have a daily reminder in my calendar to write every evening and this helps me to stay inspired and present in my own life. I also often pray to help me refocus my energy away from the stress. Even if you don’t pray, I think just being able to find some time to just relax your mind and meditate helps clear your head and think better.

KJ Miller & Amanda Johnson, Founders of Mented Cosmetics

Besties KJ Miller and Amanda Johnson created Mented Cosmetics after recognizing a lack of range and diversity in the beauty industry, particularly when it came to finding the best nude lipstick. KJ and Amanda believe that every woman should be able to find herself in the world of beauty, no matter her skin tone – because when it comes to beauty, “no one deserves to be an afterthought.” Each of their lipsticks is vegan, paraben-free, non-toxic, and cruelty-free, and the brand has expanded into eyeshadow palettes, blushes, and more, with no plans of stopping any time soon!

 

Denise Woodard, Founder & CEO of Partake Foods

What is your proudest moment of the past year? 

In January 2020, Partake had one employee (me!) and could be found in 450 retailers. Since that time, we’ve raised a Series A, hired 10 employees, and can be found in 6,000+ stores nationwide. Our team is 70% women and 60% Black. I have built Partake around the idea of growing my business inclusively, and this past year has proven I can do it!

When you’re in a rut, how do you get inspired?

My daughter is a consistent source of inspiration. I started this company because of her, and she reminds me daily that joy and inspiration can come from the simplest things, and not to take myself too seriously.

What is something you wish you knew at the start of your career?

The most successful career is not necessarily a ladder—rather a windy road. I find that to be a good thing because as my career continues, I get to learn so much about different parts of business and grow in ways I hadn’t previously envisioned.

Sandra Oh Lin, CEO & Founder of KiwiCo

Sandra Oh Lin truly embodies what it means to be an innovator. She’s a mom of three, an engineer, and the CEO and founder of Kiwi Co. Sandra recognized that her own children seemed the most empowered by activities that allowed them to make their own decisions during play. In an effort to celebrate her children’s natural creativity and curiosity, and empower other parents to do the same, she founded KiwiCo, which provides busy parents with ready-to-play projects and activities that as are enriching and empowering as they are fun.

 

Felicity Yost & Carolyn Witte, Co-Founders of Ask Tia

Carolyn Witte and Felicity Yost are the co-founders of Ask Tia, a sustainable, scalable model of women’s care for patients, providers, and the healthcare system at large. After their own de-humanizing experiences with the American healthcare system, this dynamic duo took matters into their own hands. Tia is on a mission to “enable every person to achieve their own definition of optimal health through science-backed information, access to high-quality care, and community.” No surprise, we’re 1,000% here for it.

 

Julia Bornstein, Founder of The Yes

No one knows the world of e-commerce like Julia Bornstein – and she has the resume to prove it. Some of Julia’s past roles have included Chief Operating Officer of Stitch Fix, Chief Digital Officer of Sephora, and is credited for launching the e-commerce sites for Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters. Now, she’s launched her own e-commerce shopping app for women, aptly called “The Yes.” It’s actively revolutionizing the way we shop online using machine learning to build algorithms, giving shoppers a one-to-one feed. Think of it as a TikTok-esque “For You” page, except with shoppable styles from brands you love.

 

Beatrice Dixon, Founder & CEO of The Honeypot Co.

Dixon is the brilliant woman behind The Honeypot Co., a plant-based feminine care system. Beatrice started Honeypot after her own experiences with bacterial vaginosis and frustration with a lack of products on the market that weren’t transparent about their ingredients and altogether ineffective. After being visited by an ancestor in a dream, Beatrice found a solution to her issue and is committed to sharing it with women everywhere.

 

Chelsea Hirschhorn, CEO of Frida

Chelsea Hirshhorn is the CEO of Frida, a one-stop-shop of “fussbusting” tools for parents. As a mom of three boys, Chelsea knows the struggles of motherhood firsthand, which is why she spends almost every waking minute thinking of ways to make parenthood a little bit easier. From the post-partum recovery kit for new moms to sickness survival kits to ease your mind on when to call the doc, Frida is a godsend to moms (and dads) everywhere.

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