Why support Women-Owned Brands: Interview with the Founder of Women-Led Wednesday
Today-only Sales on Women-Owned Outdoor Brands
Cassie Abel (front) is the founder of Women-Led. Wednesday, November 27th, 2024 is a day to shop women-owned brands.
November 27th, 2024
Today is Women Led Wednesday! Treeline Review is the largest women-led, women-owned outdoor gear review site (that we know of) and we were thrilled to have a chance to talk with the Cassie Abel, founder of Women-Led Wednesday.
Cassie Abel is the co-founder and CEO of the women’s mountain apparel brand Wild Rye. But Cassie didn’t just start an awesome women’s outdoor apparel brand. She’s also the founder of Women Led Wednesday—a holiday that encourages shoppers to support 900+ businesses founded and led by women. We caught up with Cassie to learn about the inspiration behind Women Led Wednesday and why it’s so important and worthwhile to support brands with women at the helm.
Treeline Review has an extensive list of Women-Owned, Women-Founded Outdoor Brands as well, some which may surprise you.
You can jump ahead to read the full interview with Cassie or check out the today-only Women-Led Wednesday sales on outdoor brands to support women-owned businesses.
Women-Led Wednesday Sales (Today Only)
| BRAND | SALE DETAILS | ABOUT THE BRAND | TREELINE'S FAVORITE GEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Rye | 25% off sitewide, free shipping over $75 from 11/21 - 12/2 Plus free beanie with $150 purchase on WLW (11/23) | Wild Rye is a premiere active lifestyle apparel brand designed for and by women+ adventurers. | Freel Shorts, Freyah Pants |
| Thousand Helmets | 30% off helmets, Traveler 2.0, bells, gloves | Thousand was founded to help save 1000 lives by designing a helmet people actually wanted to wear. To date, we've replaced over 1000 customers' helmets through our industry leading accident replacement program. And, our stylish range of helmets and accessories have become an urban mobility essential for making safety seamless. | Thousand Chapter 2 MIPS bike helmet |
| Title Nine | 20% Off Women Owned Brands thru 11/29 with code SHELEADS | Women-run and owned since 1989, Title Nine has been outfitting and inspiring women to take risks both big and small, lead in their communities, and seek their own adventures. | Retailer sells many Treeline winnesr |
| Kinfield | 20% off sitewide, excludes bundles. code WLW2024 | Great Essentials for the Great Outdoors. Kinfield was founded by Nichole Powell, inspired by the camping trips of her childhood in Minnesota, and modernized with clean ingredients, effective formulas, and environmentally-friendly packaging. | Golden hour mosquito repellent |
| Skida | 25% off sitewide from 11/27 - 12/02 | Skida® offers an assortment of outdoor headwear and accessories that are performance-made, playful statements of self expression. Nestled in the heart of Burlington, Vermont, their headquarters is home to their production, planning, and design. | Alpine headband, Nordic headband |
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Cassie Abel is the founder of Women-led Wednesday and the outdoor brand Wild Rye.
Interview with Women-Led Wednesday Founder Cassie Abel
Treeline Review: You started Women Led Wednesday. What sparked the idea for that?
Cassie Abel: A little bit of dumb luck honestly. It dates back to 2018 and I was talking to my then business partner about when we should launch our own holiday sale. Black Friday felt kind of icky and all about mass consumption. Small Business Saturday felt very brick-and-mortar, and Cyber Monday felt like a surefire way for a small brand to get lost in the battle of the ad dollars, especially since we had zero of those dollars at that stage.
It was that, plus the fact that the news cycle was completely stuck on getting more women into leadership positions, into C-suites, and onto boards of Fortune 500 companies. My big question from that was, “What are we doing to support the women who are already in leadership positions?” Women in leadership tend to bring more women up the ranks and really develop the leaders of tomorrow.
Those two things collided at one point, and I realized there wasn’t a holiday that already existed to support women and shop from women-led brands. And so that year we started Women Led Wednesday. The first year I think we had 50 brands involved, and now we have close to 900 brands in the directory.
Cassie Abel created Women-led Wednesday to bring other women-led outdoor brands together.
Treeline Review: I think supporting a women-led business does a lot more than just help that individual company through sales.
What sorts of positive impacts have you seen since starting Women-Led Wednesday?
Cassie Abel: The founder journey can be really lonely when starting a business, and I’ve seen this as an incredible opportunity for women-founded brands to come together.
This year in particular we encouraged brands to sift through the directory and find other brands that were comparable and collaborate on holiday promotions. Now we’ve seen so many cross-brand women-led giveaways in the last month and all these brands coming together. So I think it’s created a lot of community for female founders.
I think shoppers also appreciate the opportunity to shop with purpose—no question, Millennials and Gen Z are really using their purchasing power to stand behind brands that align with their values.
With every sale of Ride Fast Raise Hell Wild Rye shirts, the brand donates to Planned Parenthood.
Treeline Review: It seems especially important now to support women-led businesses.
You haven’t shied away from the hard stuff as a brand and instead choose to tackle it head on, like with your “Ride Fast, Raise Hell” t-shirts that benefit Planned Parenthood. That seems pretty bold from a business standpoint. What have the responses to that been like?
Cassie Abel: We launched our first tee after the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Everyone saw the writing on the wall that it was going to tip the scales of the Supreme Court, so we launched our very first Planned Parenthood fundraiser tee. I got a few nasty emails in response to that, but more than anything we got a ton of positive feedback from our community.
I believe that brands today have to stand up for their community’s values and rights. We’re a brand for women. We don’t necessarily talk about specific political candidates, but we will 100 percent stand behind women’s rights to opportunity and healthcare. We donate a lot of money to Planned Parenthood (and similar funds that support reproductive healthcare for all) every year and it’s a big part of our business model. The more success we have as a brand, the more we can support those sorts of programs.
Treeline Review: Do you have anything else like that in the works?
Cassie Abel: For Giving Tuesday, 10% of proceeds from our online sales will go to Planned Parenthood. We’re also bringing back our “Ride Fast, Raise Hell” t-shirts in the spring. They’ll be sold at every REI, and $5 from every t-shirt we sell both to REI and online will be donated to Planned Parenthood.
Treeline Review: It seems like people are also more willing now to pay for high quality gear like what you make, especially when the brand aligns with their values.
Cassie Abel: I couldn’t agree more. High quality stuff is also the best way to protect the planet because it’s less likely to end up in landfills and stays in circulation on body longer. (Editor’s note: You’ll see a similar idea reflected in Treeline Review’s mission, which is displayed on every review we write)
This year was the first year that women were allowed to compete in the Red Bull Rampage. Wild Rye was a sponsor of the event.
Treeline Review: As a brand you also do a lot to support women within the industry, too. This past summer was the first year women were allowed to compete in Red Bull Rampage, and Wild Rye was a sponsor, correct?
Cassie Abel: Yes, it was so cool to be a part of that. It was such a historic event for women, really leveling up the potential for female mountain bikers. Those women are incredible and I have so much respect for them. Women have had a place in endurance sports for a while, but now it’s super cool to see them recognized in high-risk gravity sports, too.
Treeline Review: I don’t think I’m alone when I say that, as a female mountain biker, it’s often hard for me to find apparel that I feel good in and that has some style while remaining super functional.
And after years of testing gear, it’s pretty easy to notice when women’s outdoor apparel has been designed by other women, and when it hasn’t. I think Wild Rye nails that.
What’s your philosophy behind designing women’s specific mountain apparel?
Cassie Abel: I think something that’s unique to us at Wild Rye is that we design everything from the very beginning 100 percent exclusively for women. It starts at the material selection process. We are choosing materials with extra stretch to accommodate curves. Most coed brands are sharing materials across women and men and the same materials are not created equal for women’s and men’s apparel. That’s a huge part of who we are as a brand—we are an active, outdoorsy team of women designing clothing for our peers. And fit is our number one priority.
(Editor’s note: Over the years our testers have used and loved Wild Rye gear—their Freel mountain bike shorts are a winner in our review of the best women’s mountain bike shorts, among other models we love, like the Freyah pants (which we’ve recommended in our Best Gifts for Mountain Bikers guide).
Treeline Review: Are there any hot deals we should look out for on Women Led Wednesday from Wild Rye?
Cassie Abel: Most apparel on our site is on sale right now. For Women Led Wednesday we’ll be giving a free, really high-quality beanie with every purchase over $175.
Treeline Review: What other exciting outdoor brands in your directory should we support on Women Led Wednesday?
Cassie Abel: I’m a big fan of Oiselle, which is a running brand. Title Nine is amazing and they do so much to support female founded brands. I’m also a big fan of Gnara (who makes women’s-specific outdoor pants with a unique female fly zipper). Thousand Helmets has a very passionate female owner and they make great commuter helmets. We’ve collaborated with Skida on hats and neckwear and they are another awesome female-led brand. And Kinfield is an outdoor-inspired skincare line that makes really clean bug sprays and sunscreens and other skincare items.
But I want to give a giant shoutout to every women-led brand because they’re all amazing.
