Some of the most memorable businesses do more than solve a problem. They bring beauty, flavor, personality or a sense of occasion into everyday life.
For National Women’s Business Month, we’re spotlighting female founders who are doing exactly that. These women are creating handcrafted jewelry, immersive dining experiences, thoughtfully made food, distinctive fashion, beautiful spaces, pet-centered destinations and memorable ways to travel and gather.
Their businesses span very different categories, but they share an appreciation for the details that make life feel more personal and considered.
From a chef turning fine-dining technique into exquisite chocolates to designers creating pieces meant to mark life's milestones, these are the women bringing creativity and entrepreneurial vision to the art of living well.
Gale Rosen Parker | Amore e Amore
At Amore e Amore, dinner is not designed to feel ordinary.
Gale Rosen Parker started the Atlanta restaurant with her husband Giovanni out of a shared passion for food, hospitality and creating experiences for other people. Parker quickly became a recognizable presence at the restaurant, affectionately earning the name “Mama Gale.”
More than two decades later, that sense of personality remains central to the Amore e Amore experience.
Each season, the restaurant transforms its entire space around a new theme, creating an immersive atmosphere alongside its Italian menu. Guests might find themselves stepping into a romantic fantasy, winter wonderland or another elaborately decorated setting designed to offer a temporary escape from the everyday.
The business serves a mix of Atlanta locals, tourists, celebrities and athletes, but the underlying idea remains deeply personal: food can be part of a larger experience built around connection, atmosphere and a little theatricality.
Amore e Amore is now entering its 26th year, an impressive milestone in an industry where longevity itself is an achievement. For Parker, hospitality is not simply about what arrives on the plate. It is about how people feel while they are there.
Website: Amoreeamore.com
Jocelyn Dubuke | JARDÍ Chocolates
Chef Jocelyn Dubuke spent years working in fine dining before an unexpected experience in a chocolate shop changed her direction.
Her culinary background included restaurants such as The Ocean Room at Kiawah Island, The Georgian Room at Sea Island and Restaurant Eugene. Restaurants had always felt like home, but an internship in a Pennsylvania chocolate shop introduced Dubuke to a different creative medium.
She was hooked. After leaving Restaurant Eugene in 2015, she opened JARDÍ Chocolates in Atlanta with the idea of bringing the precision, creativity and sense of occasion associated with fine dining into the world of chocolate.
JARDÍ's confections are individually handcrafted using real ingredients without preservatives, additives or dyes. Presentation is treated with as much intention as flavor, resulting in chocolates designed to be beautiful before the first bite.
The brand's playful side comes through especially in its limited-edition Advent Calendar. This year's story stars Hermie Corgi, inspired by Dubuke's own corgi, as an ambitious village chocolatier secretly delivering creations to his friends. JARDÍ is and has always been 100% female-owned, and the company places an emphasis on hiring aspiring women and LGBTQ+ team members.
It is a lovely example of what can happen when a founder takes expertise from one world and translates it into something entirely her own.
Website: Jardichocolates.com
Jackie & Charme Carr | PVO Pet Collective
PVO Pet Collective started with homemade dog treats. In a remarkably short period of time, it became a destination.
Mother-daughter founders Jackie and Charme Carr launched their original dog-treat business in early 2025 before expanding into a brick-and-mortar pet boutique built around the idea of treating pets as part of the lifestyle rather than an afterthought.
They deliberately did not want PVO to feel like a conventional pet store.
The boutique carries premium products from community makers, independent artisans and local entrepreneurs alongside the Carrs' own dog treats. The assortment includes treat pouches, plush toys, leashes, beds, mugs and outfits, while the physical location adds spa services and a bookable pet photo studio.
The concept has continued evolving. In about a year, PVO grew from an online boutique and bakery doing pop-ups into a community space hosting dog-friendly gatherings, educational classes, mixers and events. An outdoor patio gives pets and their people another reason to stay awhile rather than simply shop and leave.
The brand's “pawsitive vibes only” philosophy may sound playful, but the larger business idea is thoughtful: create a space where shopping, services and community all revolve around the relationships people have with their pets.
Website: Pawsitivevibesonly.shop
Lindsey Gann | Bold & Bloom by L Gann Designs
For Lindsey Gann, jewelry is not simply the finishing touch to an outfit. It can be a way of reconnecting with yourself.
Gann is the Founder and Designer behind Bold & Bloom by L Gann Designs, a handcrafted polymer clay jewelry brand based on the Oregon Coast.
Each piece is hand-sculpted in small batches, giving the collection an artistic quality that feels intentionally different from mass-produced accessories.
The brand's designs lean into color, movement and symbolism, with pieces such as the Heirloom Butterfly Frame Set and Electric Bloom Hummingbird Hoops.
Those motifs carry meaning. The butterfly is associated with transformation and becoming, while the hummingbird evokes vitality, joy and self-expression.
That makes the brand particularly resonant for women moving through seasons of change, including midlife, when personal style can become a way of rediscovering rather than simply dressing oneself.
Bold & Bloom encourages women to use style creatively, choosing pieces that feel expressive, personal and connected to who they are becoming.
Website: Shopboldandbloom.com
Terry Thomsen | Feel Good Dough
Pizza may be comfort food, but Terry Thomsen believes convenience and comfort should not require consumers to stop paying attention to ingredients. She founded Feel Good Dough around an organic, plant-based, high-protein probiotic pizza dough made with premium organic ingredients.
Ingredient transparency is central to the company. Thomsen's philosophy is that consumers deserve to know what is in their food, where those ingredients come from and how food choices fit into a larger approach to well-being. For her, better grains are not simply a product differentiator. They are part of a broader belief that everyday food can be both enjoyable and more thoughtfully made.
Feel Good Dough's pantry mixes can be ordered online, with subscription options available for customers who want to make them part of their routine. The concept turns one of the most familiar foods into an opportunity to reconsider what convenience can look like.
“I started this company because I believe food should bring us back to what matters — our health, our families, and the simple joy of sharing something made with love.”
Website: Feelgooddough.com
Sara Shahnavaz | Sara’s 5/Day Nutrition Bar
Sara Shahnavaz started her company from a frustration many shoppers share: finding something genuinely convenient without encountering an ingredient list that no longer resembles food.
Shahnavaz had long preferred whole, simple foods over highly processed options. As she became increasingly interested in the role fruits and vegetables could play in everyday eating, she also recognized the practical problem.
Most people know they could probably eat more produce. Knowing that and actually doing it during a busy day are very different things. That disconnect inspired Sara’s 5/Day Nutrition Bar.
The product is built around a simple concept: each bar contains five fruits and vegetables, specifically two fruits and three vegetables. It is intended to make adding more produce to the day easier while also serving as a reminder of the larger five-a-day goal.
The bars are made with organic, non-GMO ingredients and a short list of recognizable foods. Shahnavaz deliberately chose not to turn the product into another bar loaded with added protein, fillers and unnecessary ingredients. Instead, the focus is on simple nutrition and convenience.
Taking Sara’s 5/Day from an idea through product development and into its first production run was itself a major milestone for the young woman-owned business. For Shahnavaz, seeing something she envisioned become a tangible product has made the challenges of entrepreneurship worthwhile.
Website: 5-per-day.com
Sara Mizrachi | Sara Sela Jewelry
Sara Mizrachi's jewelry business began with a change in her own relationship to what she could comfortably wear.
At 22, thyroid cancer left Mizrachi with a sensitive scar on her neck. Heavy statement jewelry, something she had previously enjoyed, suddenly became uncomfortable.
Instead of giving up the expressive quality she loved about jewelry, she began creating pieces that approached the idea of a “statement” differently.
Today, Mizrachi is the Founder, Owner and Designer behind Sara Sela Jewelry, a Chicagoland-based handmade jewelry brand built around what she describes as the “simple statement.” Her small-batch pieces draw inspiration from nature, combining organic and geometric forms, natural gemstones, earthy palettes and lightweight construction intended for everyday wear.
The result is jewelry that can feel distinctive without feeling overwhelming. Designs have included Fern Frond Post Earrings, Labradorite & Flower Hairpins, Rose Earrings and Petal and Quartz Earrings. The latter also received an unexpected television moment when Mandy Moore wore them on This Is Us.
What began as Mizrachi's personal search for something beautiful she could comfortably wear became a larger design philosophy: statement jewelry does not have to be heavy, loud or reserved for special occasions to make an impression.
Website: Sarasela.com
Women Bringing More Beauty to Everyday Life
Beyond our featured founders, women are building businesses that touch almost every part of the lifestyle landscape, from fashion and fragrance to home design, family travel, food and unforgettable experiences.
Julie Olson | Plumtree Baby
Julie Olson founded Plumtree Baby more than 15 years ago after recognizing the need for pregnancy and childbirth resources that were evidence-based without becoming inaccessible to the people who needed them.
The company creates educational materials for perinatal educators and parents covering pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and parenting.
Its featured Lamaze Navigating Pregnancy & Birth Parent Guidebook combines expert guidance with practical information designed to help parents feel more informed throughout pregnancy and birth. The resource is backed by Lamaze International and guided by its Six Healthy Birth Practices.
Plumtree Baby is also in a multi-year partnership with Lamaze International and has received two Digital Health Gold Awards for its work.
In an era when parents are often sorting through enormous amounts of conflicting online information, Olson's approach places thoughtful design and evidence-based education side by side.
Website: Plumtreebaby.com
Antoinette Marie Johnson | Cohere
Antoinette Marie Johnson brings a creative and strategic perspective to the hospitality world through Cohere, a strategy and brand studio focused on food, hospitality and place-based businesses.
The studio works with businesses ranging from independent restaurants to destination-driven concepts, helping them develop brands that feel connected to their surroundings, audiences and communities.
Cohere's work spans brand strategy, hospitality consulting, creative direction and experience design, reflecting the idea that a memorable restaurant, destination or hospitality concept is shaped by far more than a logo or visual identity.
For Johnson, branding becomes part of the experience itself, helping create businesses with a stronger sense of place and a more meaningful connection to the people they serve.
Website: Coheremade.com
Danielle Whisenand | Backhouse Fragrances
Danielle Whisenand spent 18 years working as a real estate appraiser in Orange County, where she repeatedly noticed the same problem: many client and closing gifts felt generic and forgettable.
In 2018, she began hand-pouring candles in the 300-square-foot studio behind her Newport Beach home, initially as a way to create gifts that felt more considered.
That project became Backhouse Fragrances.
The company has since grown from its original backyard studio into a 3,500-square-foot warehouse while remaining based in Orange County. Its candles are still hand-poured in small batches, even as the business has expanded into larger-scale corporate gifting.
Whisenand's approach to customization is intentionally restrained. Rather than covering the product itself with corporate branding, personalization is incorporated through packaging, hang tags, notecards and tissue seals so the result still feels like an actual gift.
The company offers ten signature scents, including its bestselling warm sandalwood fragrance, Lido, and has worked with more than 200 companies on corporate gifting.
Website: Backhousefragrances.com
Kate Schneider | Ibis Coastal Landscapes
Attorney and Master Gardener Kate Schneider founded Ibis Coastal Landscapes in Savannah, Georgia in January 2026.
The landscape design firm creates gardens rooted in a distinctly Southern aesthetic while incorporating a “right plant, right place” philosophy and greater use of native plantings throughout coastal Georgia and South Carolina.
Rather than treating resilience and beauty as competing priorities, Schneider's approach brings the two together. Her work aims for gardens that feel quietly sophisticated and connected to the traditional visual language of the region while being better suited to the landscapes in which they are planted.
For a category increasingly influenced by sustainability, climate and a renewed interest in native plants, Ibis offers a thoughtful perspective on what modern Southern landscaping can become.
Website: Ibiscoastallandscapes
Onji Alsup | Alsup German Shepherds
Onji Alsup has turned a lifelong passion for dogs into a women-owned breeding program focused on health, temperament and responsible breeding.
Alsup German Shepherds specializes in AKC-registered long-coat West German Showline German Shepherd puppies.
Puppies are raised in a family environment with early socialization and careful planning, with the goal of producing confident, well-adjusted dogs suited to family companionship, show homes and protection-focused owners.
The program also provides health and temperament guarantees along with ongoing breeder support, reflecting the belief that the relationship between breeder and family should continue well beyond the day a puppy goes home.
Website: Alsupgermanshepherds.com
Brittany Britten | Mimu & Me
Brittany Britten founded Mimu & Me around a familiar family-travel challenge: young children are expected to navigate long waits, transitions and unfamiliar environments without necessarily having been taught how.
A former teacher, family travel advisor and mother of two, Britten created the Canadian women-owned brand around the idea that being a “good traveler” is not simply an inborn quality. Children can learn the skills involved.
Mimu & Me creates thoughtfully designed, screen-free tools intended to support emotional regulation, confidence and independence during travel and everyday outings.
Its Calm Travel Bag is a premium activity system that transforms into a contained play space, giving children something engaging to do while helping them practice navigating waiting and new environments.
Website: Mimuandme.com
Maty Rowley | Red Clog Kitchen
Red Clog Kitchen is bringing the farm-to-table idea home.
The meal-delivery company creates seasonal, ready-to-heat meals using ingredients sourced from local farms and producers, giving customers a way to eat locally without taking on all of the grocery shopping, planning and preparation themselves.
Its rotating menus are driven by what is fresh and available, with offerings that can include entrées, vegetarian dishes, breakfast items and small-batch desserts.
The concept combines two things that are often difficult to reconcile: the convenience of prepared food and the seasonality associated with local agriculture.
Website: Redclogkitchen.com
Nicki Hoyne | Nicki Hoyne
Irish designer Nicki Hoyne founded her namesake footwear brand in 2020 with a philosophy that feels particularly relevant in an era of disposable fashion: buy pieces worth celebrating and keeping.
The B Corp Certified brand produces shoes in Spain and Portugal, sourcing materials as close to its factories as possible while emphasizing a fair and transparent supply chain.
One standout design is the pink suede Bow Pump, a shoe customers have chosen to mark promotions, milestone birthdays, weddings, vow renewals, award nominations, photoshoots, divorces and other fresh starts. That emotional connection is part of Hoyne's larger vision for fashion.
“I want people to celebrate and cherish fashion, not consume it and throw it away.”
Website: Nickihoyne.com
Sarah Doss | TableBud
Sarah Doss is bringing social discovery back to dining with TableBud, an app built around restaurant, bar and experience recommendations.
Rather than relying solely on anonymous reviews, TableBud allows users to discover where people in their own networks and the wider community are actually dining. Users can rate restaurants, see where others are going and check in at locations around the world.
The idea taps into something that has always driven restaurant discovery: we often trust a recommendation from someone whose taste we know more than a list generated by an algorithm.
Website: Tablebud.com
Burcu Garnier | Color Atelier
Burcu Garnier is bringing old-world texture and craftsmanship into contemporary spaces through Color Atelier.
The U.S. manufacturer creates mineral-based paints and plasters inspired by traditional European finishes, using natural ingredients and curated colors ranging from warm whites and soft greys to deeper blues and pinks.
The finishes are designed to add depth and an organic quality to both interior and exterior spaces while remaining breathable, durable and resistant to mold and mildew.
Among the company's featured collaborations is MARFA by Douglas Friedman for Color Atelier, a palette inspired by Marfa's expansive sky, landscape and distinctive atmosphere.
For homeowners and designers moving away from flat, uniform surfaces, Color Atelier reflects the renewed interest in materials that give walls texture, variation and character.
Website: Coloratelierpaint.com
Heather Dowd | Tourissimo
Heather Dowd, Co-Founder of Tourissimo, is building travel experiences around one of the best ways to understand a destination: move through it slowly enough to actually experience it. Based in Massachusetts and Turin, Italy, the award-winning active travel company specializes in small-group cycling and hiking vacations throughout Italy.
Its itineraries combine outdoor exploration with Italian culture, food and wine, allowing travelers to experience a region through more than its major landmarks. Tourissimo also creates custom private itineraries for couples, families and groups seeking a more individualized trip.
For travelers increasingly interested in immersive experiences rather than simply checking destinations off a list, Dowd's approach offers a different kind of luxury: time, movement, local connection and a deeper sense of place.
Website: Tourissimo.travel
The Business of a Beautiful Life
What makes this collection of founders especially interesting is how broad the idea of a lifestyle business can be. It can begin with a dinner that feels like an escape. A chocolate created with the precision of a fine-dining dessert. A piece of jewelry light enough to wear comfortably but distinctive enough to make someone feel different when she puts it on.
It can be the candle sent to celebrate a client, the shoes purchased after a promotion, the garden outside a home, the meal waiting in the refrigerator, the restaurant recommendation from someone whose taste you trust or the cycling trip through Italy that becomes the story everyone keeps retelling.
These businesses are not frivolous because they deal in pleasure, beauty or experience. Those things are part of life too.
And the women behind them are proving that creativity, craftsmanship and an understanding of what makes everyday life feel better can become powerful foundations for entrepreneurship.
This National Women’s Business Month, we're celebrating the founders building businesses around exactly that.
