Picture of a phone with Shopify software

Start Your Business with Shopify

Try Shopify for free, and explore all the tools and services you need to start, run, and grow your business.

Read More

Join Shay Mitchell on Her Speed Dates with Three Female Founders

Shay Mitchell
Shay Mitchell is an actor, model, author, and entrepreneur —she launched BÉIS, a travel accessories line in 2018. Here, in her words, Shay shares what it’s been like starting something from scratch —and how fellow women founders have persevered in their own journeys.

As an entrepreneur, let alone a female entrepreneur, there’s not really any road map to follow. There’s no blueprint on how to do this.

The biggest learning curve is trying to figure out your own way.

Starting my own business has been a learning process—a good one and difficult, but it’s been a process nonetheless. It’s also been quite the journey for Alexandra Scholtz, Doris Raymond, and Melody Ehsani, who shared what inspired them to get started—and what has helped sustain them through tougher times.

So, for me, any time I can come in contact with somebody else who’s doing it, I want to soak in as much advice from them as I can. I really wanted to meet and go and speak with differentfemale-owned-and-operated companies. It’s almost kind of like speed dating, like I’m setting myself up to make these new relationships. I am really just trying to expand the community of people I interact with who can give me their takes on what has made them, and their brands, a success.

  • “There’s a glass ceiling for women in the corporate world with fashion, but more and more people are rising up the ladder. I reached a breaking point, and I just said screw it, I’m going to open a business. It takes passion, which could be anger—in my case it was passion and anger. Be true to yourself.” –Doris
Shay Mitchell (left) holds up a black and white patterned blazer as Doris Raymond, owner of The Way We Wore, (right) shows her a detail at the hem.
“If you follow your bliss, doors will magically open,” Doris Raymond (right) tells Shay Mitchell about how she carved her path.Gemma Warren
  • “It’s been four years with Wild Flora, and I think the biggest thing I’ve done is just gone against the grain: unique flowers, different textures, colors. I love, love, love learning...I’ve done my homework throughout the years.” –Alexandra
Alexandra Scholtz (left), owner of WildFlora, and Shay Mitchell (right), pose with flowers in front of a plant-filled wall.
“I think female entrepreneurs in general have your back,” says Alexandra Scholtz (left). “We look at each other: we don’t know the answers to everything, but your experience might help mine.”Gemma Warren
  • “I believe in using a physical space, not just for commerce but for community. I want to make it a place where I gather like-minded people who are interested in something bigger than this. So we do a lot of events here, like every month we have the speaker series.” –Melody
Shay Mitchell, in a red jacket and white pants (left), poses back to back with with Melody Ehsani (right), who's wearing a dark green jacket and yellow pants.
“I really want to make this a place where I gather like-minded people who are interested in something bigger than this,” says Melody Ehsani (right).Gemma Warren

I’ve learned a lot about myself throughout the process, but I think the most important part was figuring out how I wanted to be a business woman: how to work with other people, how to start something from scratch, and answering the age-old question of how to turn my passion into something that I can not only share with others, but also make commercially viable. I think if you have passion, eventually you will be successful.

Shay Mitchell (left) displays the design on the back of her jacket, which reads
“I am really just trying to expand the community of people I interact with who can give me their takes on what has made them, and their brands, a success,” says Shay.Gemma Warren

Feature image by Gemma Warren
Reporting by Shuang Esther Shan

Topics:
Founder Stories