Are you #HungryForEquality? We surely are, which is why I'm SO excited to share that we've partnered with Girl Up and fashion photographer & TV personality Nigel Barker to launch the newest edition to our superfood line up, dropping in a few short weeks. Not only will this flavor be insanely delicious and infused with stress-relieving superfoods (Spoiler alert here and you can pre-order!), it comes with a story and impact, too.
Over the past few months, I've taken five girl leaders from the Girl Up community under my wing to help me bring this new flavor to life -- all the way from concept to launch. The best part? A portion of proceeds will directly benefit Girl Up to advance our shared mission of achieving gender equality worldwide.
OK, so you may be wondering… (1) what is Girl Up? and (2) what does Nigel Barker, judge and photographer on America’s Next Top Model, have to do with this? Fair questions. Let’s start with (2). Nigel Barker is not just a famous reality TV show personality -- he's also a big gr8nola fan after discovering my brand on Instagram. We connected, and Nigel was inspired by my journey as a female founder, and thought I would be a great mentor to ambitious young women; you guessed it, that’s where Girl Up comes in...
Nigel Barker’s Involvement in Girl Up
Image Source: Getty Images North America
Nigel stumbled upon Girl Up at a fundraising event in 2010, the year it was founded by the UN Foundation. As a new father to his daughter Jasmine (pictured above), he was instantly inspired by their mission to empower girls across the world through leadership development programs at a young age. He became passionate that she, and all girls, had the same opportunities afforded to his son. He immediately volunteered to champion the Girl Up cause and man up for change. Since 2010, Nigel has volunteered his time to support Girl Up’s initiatives, impacting the lives of girls by giving them the tools and know-how to take control of their lives in meaningful ways.
Gr8nola x Girl Up x Nigel Become Partners in Gr8ness
I knew I wanted to get involved with Girl Up when I heard Nigel’s passion for the organization, which ultimately led to this fun flavor collab. Driven by a passion to inspire other female entrepreneurs, I worked with Nigel to form a mentorship program for five selected girl leaders from the Girl Up community to work behind-the-scenes with me to develop this new flavor -- all the way from concept to becoming your new favorite breakfast staple.
Nigel said it best: “This sort of real life experience, not to mention fundraising opportunity, is a win-win for the Girl Up community and shows how powerful mentoring can be."
The outcome won’t just be a fun, delicious new flavor -- it will be the hard work of five inspiring young women and future entrepreneurs -- and it'll help support Girl Up's mission of empowering young women worldwide with 8% of proceeds going right back to Girl Up.
Looking Ahead
It's not easy to get started as a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated world. Although I'm still a baby company, one of the greatest things about being a female founder is being able to inspire other young women to chase their passions, pursue their dreams and not let gender, ethnicity or anything get in the way of achieving their goals in life.
We hope you’re as excited as we are about this new launch and the impact it will have on our #HungryForEquality mission. Because when girls rise, we all rise.
