Naja
Naja is one of the latest investments I have made. What makes this company unique is not only is there a powerful woman entrepreneur behind it there is a social mission too. With each purchase you make you are changing the life of women in Columbia who is working for the company. I am a huge believer in finding dedicated women to work in companies in underserved areas so that their kids can see that they work every day to make their lives better. It is the same thing with Hot Bread Kitchen. Changing one women’s life changes her family and her community. Also…the product is fantastic!
Just as an added bonus Catalina, the entrepreneur behind Naja will present Underwear for Hope to the Dalai Lama and the Nobel Laureates Summit next week in Rome. That is pretty awesome.
Comments (Archived):
That’s a very smart type of vertical integration with a grand mission and a cause behind it. And the products designs look very cool and creative. Is the plan to keep selling only online?
Small boutiques. We also sell on Spring.
I like this.I like businesses that change the world.I also know that the connection between the organic component of the clothes and the brand as touching the fashion world is a touchy one and to my knowledge, still a market nut to crack.I hope they can do it.
I hope so too
It’s interesting as in food, its so connected, especially in the wellness space.An aside–I’m sure you know this–but the two New York women who are under the radar to most, but started a mulit billion dollar industry are the BluePrint Cleanse founders.I stand in awe of them for inventing the cleanse category and even now, after it is long since sold and the product is chock full of not so good stuff, their brand sells and sells and sells. NY women entrepreneural heroes. Marketing geniuses.
I love hearing about companies like this! (definitely going to be shopping their products soon). I see big opportunities for these businesses to capture the loyalty of millennials, who are very conscious about who they shop from and the ideals that their favorite brands represent. Reminds me of your article about the Honest Company -great products with a strong mission.
Having a “higher mission” is comendable and a bonus. BUT the product or business must stand on its own. Gotta say, LOVE those USA knickers! Fabulous. We have a similar feeling about 2 other products that also “do good”: Bombas socks and Love My Melon caps. Both have a buy one donate one credo. In each case, we bought becuase of the product; but clicking “buy” is easier when there is that extra “give.”
This is some really nice stuff (from a man’s perspective).One thing I would suggest though is that this (which appears at the bottom of the webpage) needs to appear above the fold on the page: All Naja purchases directly contribute to the employment of under-privileged women in the poorest areas of the world. All panties are sewn in a factory owned by women, and are sewn by single mothers/heads of household. All Naja bras directly employ women, like Maria, through our Underwear for Hope program. That message is one of the key differentiators and it shouldn’t be hidden out of sight.
This is a really late reply, but I agree. The best quote I heard all 2014 was “transparency is the new black”.
love that
I saw naja on shark tank last night and her message was certainly different from what was in her video here. Certainly, the producers cut and paste the interview for the best television but she came off as anything but a woman empower-er. She said her company owned the factory where the lingerie was made and each bra cost $7.00 to make to show how cheaply she could make the product and how much she can profit from a retail $60 bra. Obviously, you saw something different in this business. I understood right away she had to protect her previous investors from the “sharks,” but now you have to back pedal from this terrible pr. Someone should have schooled her in some phony humility.
It is a business that makes money with a social mission.
I looked again at the shark tank episode and did not realize I missed the very beginning of the episode. My apologies but still I do understand that her profit was a little over $140,000 after paying her employees and to value her company at that much “could” be a bit of an overstatement, but I haven’t seem her books and you have so I am only looking at the episode from the tv perspective. I have no idea how much a factory costs to build to make the lingerie and how much it cost to teach the women to sew, but it must take a lot of investment money.I commend her for buying the factory. My friend’s daughter is looking for an “overseas” factory to make her dresses. At this point, my friend’s daughter just wants to contract one to make a very large order she has just gotten. My friend’s daughter is going about the business a bit differently. Because she is from a financial background she is financing her dream herself.
power to your friends’ daughter.