Celebrating Streatham’s women-led small businesses

Here in Streatham, we are extremely lucky and are proud to have a dynamic business community with women right at the heart of it. It’s extremely important to celebrate International Women’s Day to honour and appreciate the different achievements that women have accomplished around the world, including successes in society, economy and culture.

Every year International Women’s Day announce a theme to celebrate the day – the theme for 2022 is #Breakthebias.

InStreatham has highlighted a few of the many inspiring business women that make Streatham a great place to work.

Melissa Harwood, Baby Spinach Cafe
Melissa Harwood, Baby Spinach Cafe

When Baby Spinach opened alongside Yogarise and Element Fitness, it was greeted with a lot of excitement from locals; with a welcoming, baby, dog and laptop friendly environment – you can see why! After gaining much experience in the service industry as a sommelier, Melissa decided to start her own entrepreneurial endeavour. They chose to open their “baby” branch in Streatham following success from their award-winning East Dulwich restaurant, Spinach. Baby Spinach serves flavourful vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes – open sandwiches, flatbreads, smoothies, super juices. Using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible, Baby Spinach offers a light, bright cafe and homemade food for the Streatham community.

Marjorie Watts, Healthier Without
Marjorie Watts, Healthier Without

Marj saw a gap in the Streatham high street offering and thought we could definitely benefit from a zero waste shop. With the devastation of plastic pollution within our oceans, she wanted to amplify the message that shopping without plastic is not only crucial for our wellbeing but also to preserve our planet! She’s also an experienced supplement advisor on natural remedies for over 20 years.

Last year, her business was one of the chosen 13 across the UK to receive a makeover through Facebook’s campaign to encourage people to keep shopping locally and support small businesses. Visit the Zero waste shop for natural remedies, bulk wholefoods, nuts, pulses, dried fruit, pasta, rice and even refillable-cleaning supplies, all packaged free.

 

Emma Wilson, Emma Wilson Urban Spa
Emma Wilson, Emma Wilson Urban Spa

Having worked as a therapist within sports injury and beauty for over 20 years, Emma branched out on her own in 2015 opening her first spa in Streatham, and after amazing success as a multi award winning spa, she opened a second branch in 2019. She and her team have a deep knowledge of the effects of natural products on the skin and body and thus work alongside brands that hold the same ethos to offer the best the beauty industry has to offer.

Will you help break the bias? Cross your arms to show solidarity.

Strike the IWD 2022 pose and share your #BreakTheBias image, video, resources, presentation or articles on social media using #IWD2022 #BreakTheBias to encourage further people to commit to helping forge an inclusive world.

 

Streatham is full of successful, independent women who continue to make a positive difference to the area and
community (we wish we could list them all!) but we celebrate you all – Happy International Women’s Day to you.