In honor of Women’s History Month this March, we’re celebrating the women-owned businesses in our community. These women entrepreneurs have transformed their lives and communities through powerful small businesses, and we’re so happy to have them in the Honeycomb family.
Here are 36 women-owned businesses that are creating meaningful products to add to your shopping list!
California:
1. Compostable LA
Compostable LA is a subscription-based composting service in Los Angeles that gives motivated folks a vehicle for environmental change in a meaningful way. Members leave a full bin of food scraps outside their home and Compostable LA coordinates donating those scraps to local farms, gardens, and community composters all over the city, where they are turned into healthy soil and available to LA communities. Co-owner and founder Monique Figueiredo works to keep environmental justice close to her heart through all she does at Compostable LA.
Michigan:
2. Studio IPlay Inc
As the only Black-owned indoor playground in the Detroit metropolitan area, Studio IPlay offers art classes for kids, birthday parties, and more. Studio IPlay provides a small intimate environment that caters to children under 10 years old with art and engaging play. As the mother of a young daughter, owner Kandis Hall is putting her business background to work to fulfill a much-needed service for working parents.
3. The Upperow
Based in Detroit, The Upperow Luxury Fashion House offers upscale, versatile, and exclusive clothing for men, women, and children—everyone in your family. The Upperow’s corporate and preppy designs bring an innovative and modern approach to fashion. With a diverse portfolio including physical therapy and overseeing multiple businesses, Dr. LaToya Thompson brings a unique perspective and powerful work ethic to The Upperow while building the brand with her husband.
Ohio:
4. Western Reserve Distillers
Located in Lakewood, Ohio, Western Reserve Distillers is a successful family-owned organic craft distillery that produces a world-class range of 21 organic spirits. Western Reserve has received numerous international distinctions at the World Spirits Competition and is looking to continue its expansion across 11 states! Co-owner Ann brings her diverse background to Western Reserve, helping this distiller to be extremely successful!
5. Pierogi Pantry
Pierogi Pantry is a small craft food company serving up delicious scratch-made comfort food at farmers' markets, local events, and wholesale to local restaurants. These made-from-scratch pierogies provide a sense of home to the Cleveland area. Owners Nikki and Jay Odongray are about to open their second business, Cleveland Bakery Collective, where they’ll be featuring dozens of other food businesses and offering commissary kitchen spaces!
6. Squash the Beef
Serving the Northeast Ohio area, Squash the Beef is a vegan food company that caters to events, provides concessions for fairs and festivals, and hosts popup events. Squash the Beef also sells their specialty vegan meals and beverages at local cafe shops in Cleveland, including UnBar Cafe! Co-owner Candace Maiden says that one of her favorite things about being a small business owner is the connections you can make with other women-owned businesses in the area, creating mutually-beneficial relationships for everyone.
7. UnBar Cafe
Located in Larchmere, UnBar Cafe provides an alcohol-free atmosphere for socializing via the “well-being” cafeé model. Serving up non-alcoholic beverages, coffee, smoothie, and other local goodies, everything at UnBar Cafe is dedicated to enriching the lives of the patrons. Owner Melissa Hirsch is skillfully using her 30 years of experience in corporate America to create a safe and enriching space for the community to gather.
8. MinusG
With a product line consisting of seven gluten-free baking mixes, MinusG manufactures gluten-free and allergen-friendly products with uncompromised quality. MinusG’s innovative baking mixes give customers with gluten-intolerance, food allergies, or vegan diets the opportunity to enjoy delicious baked goods. Baking since the age of 10, MinusG’s founder Katherine Krage has turned her passions into reality. Inspired by her personal experience with celiac disease, Katherine was determined to make gluten-free food taste good and has succeeded in MinusG!
9. 2nd Semester Consignment Shop
As the first and only consignment store in the country that caters to educators, 2nd Semester Consignment Shop provides a convenient, safe, and economical option for teachers to buy and sell school supplies. 2nd Semester creates long-lasting experiences for children while allowing teachers to make a little extra cash. A teacher with 20+ years of experience, owner Monica Grays discovered a gap in the market for an education consignment shop.
10. Bakery on the Square
Based out of Andover, Ohio next to Pymatuning Lake, Bakery On The Square is a family owned and operated artisan bread and pastry bakery. With specialty bread, pastries, and a coffee bar, Bakery On The Square has become a local community favorite in the town’s main street. Along with her family, co-owner Vicky Allin works tirelessly to ensure that Bakery On The Square is a welcoming place for her community to gather!
Pennsylvania:
11. Triangle Foundry
With roots in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh, PA, Triangle Foundry is a yoga, cycling, and strength studio that started as a virtual platform during the pandemic. Owner Karyna Kerin is tapping into her fitness passion and opening up a physical gym space in the South Hills that will allow Triangle Foundry to be a safe, inclusive space for yoga and cycling.
12. Tonic Coffee
Opening soon in Lawrenceville, Tonic Coffee gives Pittsburgh a unique and upscale coffee experience. With high quality and specialty products, Tonic Coffee’s owner Stephanie will be highlighting women in the coffee industry by serving coffee from women-owned farms through Sey Coffee and hosting coffee-related events.
13. Black Cat Market
Located in Garfield, The Black Cat Market is a cat cafe that has helped adopt out over 220 cats. Owners and best friends Indigo and Olivia have transformed their space by adding a coffee bar, where people can buy beverages while spending time with adoptable cats. This dynamic duo has successfully channeled their passion for animals into a thriving business—it doesn’t get more purr-fect than that!
14. 2 Sister 2 Sons
As a small family-operated takeout restaurant, 2 Sister 2 Sons brings a pop of Caribbean flavor to the Sharpsburg area. As the name suggests, the restaurant is inspired by two sisters, Marline and Denise and their two sons. Marline and Denise have been making Jamaican dishes since they were 9, before moving to the United States to have a better shot at a normal life. Now with their sons, the pair's unique menu draws customers of all ages and backgrounds looking for a new flavor. Stay tuned for their second location that’s opening soon!
15. Sister Sunflower
Sister Sunflower helps to find homes for quality, healthy plants in the Philadelphia area. Plant education sets Sister Sunflower apart, as they ensure plant care momentum through bi-weekly check-ins with customers. As a lifelong plant lover, owner Kay Henderson has turned her passions and business background into the success story that Sister Sunflower is today.
16. Square Cafe
Square Cafe has been a staple in the Regent Square neighborhood for 17 years with its quality food and commitment to philanthropy. With its recent move to East Liberty, Square Cafe’s new space includes two dining rooms, an outdoor courtyard, and a rooftop deck. Behind the welcoming vibe of Square Cafe is owner Sherree Goldstein, who prioritizes the wellbeing of her employees and customers. Next time you’re looking for brunch, set your navigation to Square Cafe!
17. The Pittsburgh Juice Company
Using only the highest quality ingredients, The Pittsburgh Juice Company creates fresh, organic cold-pressed juices, small batch superfood smoothies and high-performance snacks. Since founding The Pittsburgh Juice Company in 2013, owner Naomi Hoppel has opened two locations, while delivering juice across the city with her Honeycomb-funded delivery truck. Drawing from her time in the Peace Corps, Naomi knows just how to engage a community into successfully executing her mission of delivering clean juices!
18. Blackberry Meadows Farm
Blackberry Meadows Farm is a Community Supported Agriculture business located in Fawn Township, Allegheny County. Members receive a weekly allotment of fresh produce and can also order meat, vegetables and other products through the weekly newsletter. Co-owner Jen manages the primary operations of the farm along with her family, ensuring the quality produce their customers know and love!
19. Madeleine Bakery and Bistro
Located in Regent Square, Madeleine Bakery & Bistro is a small, local bakery serving the greater East End of Pittsburgh through classic French baked goods. Madeleine Bakery strives to provide the best quality products made from the finest and freshest ingredients. After earning a nutrition degree and working in several restaurants, Madeleine’s co-owner Abigail Stump brought her dream of a French bakery to life with her husband Andrew!
20. Hilltop Coffee
Hilltop Coffee provides the best possible coffee and baked goods while creating a space for Arlington residents to spend quality time with those they love. Hilltop Coffee’s owners Jami and Dan care deeply for their community and are committed to quality service for their neighbors. Hilltop Coffee is the first coffee shop and second new business to open in Arlington in the past 20 years. Jami says she is motivated to lead Hilltop Coffee to success by opening a business in her beloved childhood neighborhood.
21. PointBreezeway
PointBreezeway is a cozy event space tucked away on Reynolds Street in one of Pittsburgh's East End neighborhoods, Point Breeze. The space has held memories of countless rehearsal dinners, concerts, and baby showers and will continue to do so for years to come. With a background in customer service and hospitality, PointBreezeway’s majority owner Lauren McMillen grew up in the space with her father Dennis Inserra before transforming it into an event space and in 2014!
22. The Pickled Chef
The Pickled Chef is a family-owned local canning, preserving, and pickling company in Latrobe, PA. This inspired family sells condiments, ferments, sauces and most importantly pickles! The family behind The Pickled Chef couldn’t run without matriarch Deb Driggers and daughter-in-law Ashlee Andrews. This powerful duo works hard on management, marketing, and business development for The Pickled Chef.
23. Flexable
Flexable helps to connect parents with trained and vetted caregivers. They work to provide caregivers at different community locations through match caregivers with the requests that come in. Through her passion for empowering the modern working parent, co-founder and CEO Priya Amin is leading the helm at Flexable and providing essential services during the pandemic!
24. Casa Brasil
As the first restaurant to serve Brazilian home-style cooking in Pittsburgh, Casa Brasil provides an exciting restaurant experience for its customers. Bringing a taste of Brazil to Pittsburgh allows head chef Keyla Cook to create some of her favorite dishes for her son. As a mother and a “chefpreneur”, Keyla elevates Casa Brasil’s customer experience with carefully curated and unique Brazilian flavors.
25. The Speckled Egg
The Speckled Egg is a full-service restaurant uniquely located in the lobby of the historical Union Trust Building in Downtown Pittsburgh. Serving breakfast, lunch, and happy hour to serve 800 building tenants and others downtown, The Speckled Egg is the perfect place for a good bite. Co-owner Jacqueline Schoedel says the most rewarding aspects of her career with The Speckled Egg are welcoming of new challenges, being open to continuous learning, leading a team, and creating great food.
26. Rolling Pepperoni
Rolling Pepperoni is a social enterprise bakery selling pepperoni rolls and other goods to hungry folks around Pittsburgh. The mission of Rolling Pepperoni is to unite urban and rural communities by breaking bread across communities within the Appalachian region, from Maine to Georgia. Owner Kat Schuler was inspired to create Rolling Pepperoni with the idea to “harness both public good and self-sustaining product models to bridge the opportunity gap between urban and rural communities”!
27. Pittsburgh Honey
Located on Squirrel Hill’s Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh Honey is a producer and supplier of pure and local honey and a variety of handcrafted honey and beeswax products including a line of skin and beauty products. The former 2012 American Honey Bee Queen, owner and founder Alyssa Fine inspiredly transformed her childhood interest in bees into a successful business that customers now know as Pittsburgh Honey!
28. Tall Pines Distillery
Tall Pines Distillery is a growing producer of premium moonshine and whiskey products in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Tall Pines serves creative, high-end drinks with exciting flavors like Bananas Foster, Huckleberry, and Pine Sap. As assistant manager, Lisa Welch is the brains behind Tall Pine’s operation and oversees marketing, operations, and administration!
29. Pittsburgh Current
Pittsburgh Current is a reader-first, influence free, multimedia company that provides coverage of news, arts, music, sports, and events through an updated daily website and a twice-monthly printed newspaper. Worried that corporate influence is affecting the quality and integrity of news outlets across the country, Pittsburgh Current was founded to cover news that is valuable to readers, not political or corporate interests. With a distinguished communications career, Bethany Ruhe is the Pittsburgh Current’s associate publisher and co-founder.
30. Mompops
Mompops is a certified women-owned business located in Chester County, PA that offers all-natural, healthy, and allergen-friendly ice-pops. Mompops is a healthy alternative to a typical dessert with each pop ranging from 10-25 calories, 2-5g of carbs, and 2-5g of sugar. As a school teacher, Sandra saw food allergies and obesity as increasing problems. Find Mompops at Whole Foods, Krogers, and grocery stores across the Northeast!
31. Batch
Batch creates high-quality artisan-made goods such as jams, soups and breads that are handmade in small batches. Their mission is to rekindle the simplicity of flavors we once enjoyed as children and that the generations before us enjoyed, too, but with a modern twist. Batch is run by two women with a dream, Jessica Brewster and Meghan Pohl.
32. Millie’s Ice Cream Truck
Millie’s Ice Cream has become an award-winning Pittsburgh staple. With their Honeycomb-funded ice cream truck, Millie’s will be able to scoop up deliciousness all around the city. Behind Millie’s famous brand is co-owner Lauren Townsend who works on everything from finance to customer experience, and Melissa Horst, who manages retail operations. Millie’s could not be the Pittsburgh staple it is without these two powerful women!
33. Botanical Vegan Cafe & Market
Botanical Vegan Cafe & Market brings shades of luscious leafy green to Commercial Avenue as the latest addition to Aspinwall’s eateries. Botanical’s products include everything from smoothies to sandwiches, and owner Grace Affeltranger is ecstatic to dive into her life-long dream of opening up her own cafe!
34. My Goodness
Run by the owner of Square Café and a veteran physical therapist, My Goodness is the first neighborhood market in Regent Square to offer locally produced and sourced foods and grab-and-go prepared meals to the community. Owners Sherree Goldstein and Jeanne Herbert have the shared mission of helping people to live healthy lives through all their endeavors, including My Goodness.
35. Global Wordsmiths
Global Wordsmiths provides language translation to nonprofits and social service providers, as well as advises organizations on improving language access policies and procedures. Advancing language accessibility in the Rust Belt, Global Wordsmith’s founder and director Mary Jayne McCullough has tapped into her 20+ years of language field experience to build Global Wordsmith into the inspirational powerhouse it is today.
36. Remember When Ice Cream
Remember When Ice Cream scoops up Pittsburgh’s largest ice cream cone for excited neighbors. Remember When Ice Cream will continue to offer the community tasty frozen treats as it has for over 50 years since its opening. Both decorated veterans, owner Deb and her son Mike are committed to Remember When’s continuous growth!
Support female entrepreneurs by investing in women-owned businesses
Shopping from women-owned businesses is a great starting point to putting your money where it matters. But, if you’re looking for a way to support female entrepreneurs one step further, consider investing in women-owned businesses on Honeycomb. By investing on Honeycomb, you can say yes to a woman entrepreneur’s dream and shape the place where you live, all while earning an attractive rate of return. Learn more about investing at honeycombcredit.com/invest.