👩‍💻Founder Features: Meet Dre Thomas, Founder & CEO of Smile On Me

We’re back with another post in our Founder Feature series—a way to highlight badass, inspiring women who’ve founded their own companies and nonprofits. (Side note: We also feature those who are looking for their next professional opportunity and those who are pursuing really cool creative work—send us a note if you’re interested in being profiled!).

This week, I’m excited to introduce the amazing Dre Thomas, who founded Smile On Me. Since its inception in 2017, the company has championed girls’ rights to live safe and healthy lives. Its mission: to adequately prepare girls for puberty and provide a space for them to be authentic and discover something new.

Smile On Me celebrates girls, empowering them during one of the most pivotal times in their lives. Research shows that a large number of girls report feeling ill-prepared for menstruation and for changes occurring in their bodies—and girls from low-income communities in the U.S. in particular report negative experiences with this transition. That’s where Smile On Me comes in.

By providing girls with feminine hygiene products (the cost of which can be as high as $100 annually, competing with other personal care essentials), Smile On Me is not only preparing girls for puberty, but also giving them the opportunity to build a healthy foundation for sexual and reproductive health, setting the stage for girls’ relationships with their bodies for years to come. Through healthy environments that allow peer-to-peer interaction, Smile On Me encourages girls to embrace their strengths and celebrate their differences, helping to improve self-esteem and body image in a safe environment in which girls feel heard and valued.

You can read more about Dre’s story here.

Dre Thomas, Founder of Smile On Me

Name: Dre Thomas

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Currently based in: New York

Describe yourself in three(ish) words: Creative, generous, and people-oriented

I feel inspired when: I’m working to solve a problem and improve lives.

Outside of work you’ll find me: At home.

What led you to start Smile On Me? Can you tell us a bit about the origin story and how it’s evolved since its formation in 2017?

When I was 16 years old, after chatting with her mom at the dinner table, I had an idea to work with young girls in my community in Los Angeles to provide them with hygiene products and create a space where they could be authentic and discover something new. Growing up in a single-parent household, I experienced having limited access to menstrual hygiene products and menstrual hygiene education.

After nearly a decade of working with young people through various non-profit organizations, I realized that my experiences weren’t unique—that girls in communities similar to mine also lacked access to these necessities.  In 2011, I was given an opportunity to move to New York and work with inner-city youth. I discovered that these same problems didn’t stop in Los Angeles, but were common throughout New York and the country. And so in 2017, I decided to launch Smile On Me. (You can learn more about the timeline of the company and its offerings here.)

There are so many cool offerings: Homeroom, the first-ever Wellness Summer Camp for BIPOC girls, etc. How do you envision things evolving in the next year?

I’m hoping we can easily move back into IRL events. The heartbeat of Smile On Me is gathering girls to meet in person and creating lifelong friendships. It’s been great getting to create this online community, but I’m hoping we can soon have both. We are starting to plan our Wellness Summer Camp and I’m so excited. We’ve polled our girls to see what activities they’d like to experience and started reaching out to brands for potential partnerships.

In what way(s) does your work empower women?

Smile On Me empowers women by empowering girls to take charge of their lives.

What’s one super memorable piece of advice you got when spinning up your own business? Any mantras in particular that have stuck with you? 

The best (and most memorable) piece of advice I’ve received: If you stay ready, you won’t have to get ready. I often turn back to this in times of confusion or doubt. Staying ready for me is keeping my ear to the ground, listening to people around me, and understanding the need before I take action. 

For people looking to get involved in supporting Smile On Me, what are the best next steps? How can they donate? 

People can learn more on the Smile On Me website and Instagram, and can donate here.

Connect with Smile On Me here: Website | Instagram

🎙 Creative Spotlight: Lucy Gao, Creator & Host of Growing Up Immigrant Podcast

One of my favorite parts of The MarketHer—in addition to trying to help women find meaningful roles in the marketing world—is figuring out ways to highlight badass, talented, inspiring women in several ways: those who are looking for their next professional opportunity, those who’ve founded their own companies and/or started interesting side-hustles, and those who are pursuing creative work we’re moved by.

Next up, I’m excited to introduce Lucy Gao, a talented marketing and communications professional whom I had the pleasure of working with at WeWork. Lucy recently created and launched a brilliant new podcast called Growing Up Immigrant, and was kind enough to give us all the details. Read on, and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Lucy Gao, Creator & Host of Growing Up Immigrant

Name: Lucy Gao

Hometown: Born in Beijing and grew up in Toronto

Currently based in: Toronto

Describe yourself in three words: Creative, ambitious, and resourceful.

I feel inspired when: I’m being creative, learning, and trying new things, usually outside my comfort zone.

Outside of work you’ll find me: Making excessive amounts of lists, playing with my cat, taking French classes, doing improv, and spending time with family and friends.

Your new podcast, Growing Up Immigrant, is fantastic. Can you tell us a bit about the origin story and how the podcast came about? 

Growing up in Toronto, where almost half the population is foreign born, many of my friends have different cultural backgrounds. Sometimes we would talk about certain topics through the lens of our respective cultures, and it was fascinating hearing about the differences, but more so the similarities. I wanted to bring these stories to a larger audience, especially since they’re so relatable—like how long it takes to say goodbye to guests, or our moms passive-aggressively comparing us to anyone and everyone, to more serious topics like a lack of understanding in many immigrant families about mental health.

I’m also really proud to feature diverse voices and highlight the immigrant experience, which is not always represented in mainstream media. If we can start to discover how similar we are with people who are different from us, perhaps this can help create more empathy, respect, and ultimately more understanding between people of all backgrounds.

What’s one of the biggest things that has surprised you about launching a podcast? Has the creative process been what you’d expected thus far? What are some of the roadblocks you’ve faced in its development?

There was a lot of positive feedback when I launched it, which was really moving. Messages from friends and friends of friends saying, “Oh my God, I relate so much to that,” or, “I was laughing so hard when you guys started talking about the Royal Danish cookie tins.”

The creative process is also incredibly fulfilling. Putting the outlines together, designing the cover art, recording the episodes, and even the editing process. I’ll be editing for hours and I’ll look at the time and be like, Oh wow, it’s 2 a.m. I’m in a deep state of flow, which I love. 

Any tips for other first-time podcast producers?

Sound quality is everything—definitely make sure everyone has good mics! I record in my closet because it has the best acoustics. Also, I’ve found the best way to learn is to do everything myself, from picking the music to fixing plosive sounds, and everything in between. Although it’s time consuming, it’s super rewarding to have a finished product at the end of it.

Tools I use: Blue Yeti mic, Zencastr for group recording, Anchor for distribution, and Canva for marketing materials.

What’s one super memorable piece of advice you got when starting/launching Growing Up Immigrant?

Before we recorded the first episode, my friend Arianne, who’s on the podcast, told me that I should be prepared for the episode to turn out differently from what I planned— to just go with the flow. And that’s exactly what happened. My friends took my questions and prompts and brought the discussion to a whole new level. Preparation is, of course, still very necessary, but it’s also important to let the conversation take on a life of its own and see where it leads you.

You have an awesome background in communications. How does the Growing Up Immigrant podcast tie into your professional experience? How did your prior work inform this project?

Working in communications, there’s a lot of writing, editing, researching, creating campaign plans and editorial calendars, etc. I’ve definitely applied that structure and diligence to the podcast. 

What sorts of professional opportunities are you looking to tackle next? Are you looking to go in-house somewhere? Freelance? Continue working on the podcast as you take on a new role? 

I would love to combine my marketing and communications experience with my producing capabilities to tell compelling stories and create meaningful moments. I am looking for new professional opportunities while also continuing to learn and seeing where my projects take me. I definitely want to keep Growing Up Immigrant going regardless of what I do next!

Anything else we should know? 

Putting myself out there and working on these creative projects is quite a new experience for me. I’ve had a corporate job since I graduated from university, so diverging from that path and not working full-time feels quite scary (and is, ironically, very un-immigrant of me). But I’m sticking with it—for now at least… until my parents start asking me about it. 🙃

Connect with Lucy and the Growing Up Immigrant podcast here: LinkedIn | Instagram

✨Market Her: Karen "K" Abate

This week's spotlight is on my friend Karen “K” Abate. Though we met through family and both worked at WeWork, we didn’t really get to know each other until we both moved to Denver last year. Professionally, K’s speciality is building community through operations, hospitality, and workplace strategy, BUT I wanted to feature her in The MarketHer because of her incredible passion project/side hustle: Denver K Design.

K Abate (@denverkdesign). Photo: @dead.west

Name: Karen “K” Abate

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Currently based in: Denver, CO

Describe yourself in three words: Efficient, ambitious, and positive

Hobby-turned-side-hustle: Denver K Design

How did Denver K Design start? Like so many others in 2020, I was laid off by my previous employer. I found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands and needed a creative outlet—so I tried macrame for the first time in December. I started posting my macrame designs to Instagram and the response from family and friends was, "Can I buy that?" I started to feel motivated to try new knots and create new pieces because the response was so positive.

How did you branch out beyond family and friends? I reached out to Parlor—a local plant shop—and ended up creating a partnership and tapping into one of my favorite pastimes: creating community. The next thing I knew, I was invited to sell my designs at one of their outdoor markets, and the response was overwhelming.

Macrame (in The MarketHer colors!) from Denver K Design

What’s next for Denver K Designs? Next up: another socially distanced pop-up market in Denver. I’m still looking for a full-time role doing my previous work, but in the meantime, I’m really enjoying tapping into my creativity and the side hustle of building a business.

I feel inspired when: I can be creative! I love creating anything from experiences to crafts.

Outside of work you’ll find me: Boxing, doing yoga, hanging with friends and my dog, Bagel, or DIY-ing something!

Connect with me here: LinkedIn | Instagram (DM for custom macrame orders!)

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If you've found a role through The MarketHer or would like to be featured as you navigate your job search, we'd love to include you in an upcoming issue. You can get in touch here.