Quirksmith was set up 7 years ago with a dream to create designs that were conversation starters. Over these last 7 years we have picked a lot more dreams that we’d like to chase while building this brand. One of them is to commit ourselves to nurturing many more women leaders – for now it takes shape in the way of our hiring decisions. Today, 100% of our team (non-artisans) comprises of women!

I’ve been asked multiple times on why do we hire women? Here is what I believe, and what feeds in our continued commitment towards women’s careers

• Women need more women role models: This is something I have experienced for my own self. I believe with Quirksmith, I chose the road less travelled. We decided to stay bootstrapped and build a slow and profitable brand. We decided to focus on the long term, which also meant letting go of the short term highs, and not being touched by the single definition of “success” all around us. I wanted to not just grow, but grow with intention. For the longest time, I found myself in rooms with a high share of men and the advice I constantly heard was “grow fast or you’ll be redundant”, “get funding or you’ll be redundant”, “don’t spend your own money to grow, or you’ll fail”. While all of these may be true to some, I always wanted to pause and ask myself – “what does success mean to me”? And the reflection on these answers led us to making choices that have led us to this path today. We realised that we valued the joy of work over speed, we valued building a sustainable culture slowly, we valued getting a good night’s sleep with no debt :), we valued the way we spent our time . It was not until much later that I was at an event hosted by WICCI, where I met several other women leaders who I resonated with deeply. These women had built long term successful businesses while keeping their definition of “success” intact. If I had met these women earlier, I wouldn’t have felt so alone in the choices I was making.
  
  This was just one example, but this can apply to so many personal, professional or health goals that women set for themselves. Imagine as a 20 something young girl, being pressured by their families to get married (which by the way is the most common concern with young girls that I learn about in my conversations) – it is so much more comforting to fight that battle for your independence till you’re ready, if you have other like minded women moving through their challenges in their own unique way and chasing their dreams of having fulfilling careers. You learn from each other and you become each other’s pillar of strength.

• Financial freedom enables women to have a seat at the table: One learning that has hit me hard is how financial independence, and going to work and making money for your own self, makes women get a listening ear at their homes – not all of which may have made them felt seen before. They get the confidence to say no (which is such a brave act if you think of it) – to partners who disrespect them, to uncles and aunts who want to get them “settled”, to the society that wants to keep them in their little “cages”. Making their own money, gives women the confidence to speak up.

• Women have some crazy super-powers - and these come to life in environments where they can thrive and be their whole selves. Over the last few years I have been surprised multiple times by how much the team here at Quirksmith can do, how constantly they can break out of their comfort zones and make something that was once intimidating, seem so effortless. The one common ingredient I have noticed for unleashing these super powers is to be in an environment that encourages them, cares for them and most of all, celebrates their uniqueness. That is the tribe I want to continue to build at Quirksmith – because ultimately there is so much special about each one of us, we just need to dive deep and find ourselves. And if Quirksmith can provide a little nudge on that journey, then that’s what we’re aiming for here.

And most of all, to see women thrive is a source of personal joy for me! 😊