March 08, 2020

How Rashelle Whiteharris Came to Empower Women-Owned Businesses with the Launch of Women's Collective Box

When Women's Collective Box founder Rashelle Whiteharris became a mother to her first child Charlie, she decided that it was time to become her own boss. As she navigated life as a new parent and full-time photographer, Rashelle discovered a network of women whose creativity, ambition, and talent were changing the face of entrepreneurship. She saw first-hand how women, their ideas, and their products flourished within communities that valued their voices and empowered them to succeed. This experience inspired her to find new ways to harness the limitless power of women supporting each other's dreams.

Now a mother of three, Rashelle is on a mission to help women-owned businesses find their tribe. The Women's Collective Box delivers a collection of items from exclusively women-run companies that represent the thoughtfulness, resolve, and artistry that set women apart. Each box brings the treasure hunt of conscious shopping to your front door, telling the story of the incredible women behind every product. With every quarterly delivery, you will not only take part in supporting the business mavens of today but empower the founders of tomorrow. Five percent of all Women's Collective Box proceeds will go towards helping up-and-coming women entrepreneurs take their ideas to the next level.

Q: Did you always know that you would become an entrepreneur?

Sort of, normal jobs never suited me. I always got bored doing the same thing day after day or frustrated that I couldn't make the changes that I wanted. I always had a love for photography and started charging people for photo sessions in high school and my love for having my own business grew from there.

Q: What are your specific experiences in life that led you to where you are today?

Having my daughter at a young age really challenged me to create the job that I wanted. I wanted to show her that you could be a woman, a mother, a wife and still achieve your dreams.

Q: What does women empowerment mean to you and why is it important?

Women empowerment to me means helping lift other women up. We are all born with our own talents and skills that we can excel at and when we combine those together it's so powerful. It's so important to me because I feel so lucky that I was able to chase my dreams and there is so many women who aren't able to do that and that's not right. Woman and girls with dreams should have more opportunity to achieve them.

Q: Prior to launching womenscollectivebox you were a photographer. Do you plan to still focus on photography with the launch of womenscollectivebox?

Yes, I don't think I could ever shake doing photography. I think what I'm doing with it will evolve but photography has always been my passion and I love using it in the box as well. All the images on our website and social media were done by me and it's been a great escape for me and I love providing images for the women businesses that are included in the box.

Q: What would you do if you had an extra day in the week?

Right now there are about a million things I would need to do gearing up for our first box. But any other time I think I would use it for a family day.

Q: What's is your ideal Sunday like?

My ideal Sunday would be a lazy day at my house with the family. Wake up and have coffee in bed and snuggling with my husband and kiddos. Watch movies, play board games and laugh together.

Q: How do you balance work, life, and you?

I don't? LOL I try to set times to do things so I have time in the evening with my family but I'm so thankful that they are so understanding that this is a busy season for me.

Q: How can we help support your launch?

Talk about it, share it with friends family. Anything you can do :)

FLASH ROUND ANSWERS:

Current book you're reading: Girl, Stop Apologizing
Favorite Time saving App: Canva, I am terrible with graphics and love how easy it makes it to design things for my social media
1 thing you need when travelling: My camera, for sure!
Song you're listening to on repeat: Probably Old MacDonald... because my 3 year old dictates my google playlist.
Favorite Vacation Destination: Quebec City, Quebec