Dough — Stylish Storyteller

MEET VANESSA BRUCE — CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF DOUGH.

THE PLATFORM EMPOWERS YOU TO SHOP WOMEN-OWNED. DOUGH’S MARKETPLACE OF WOMEN-OWNED BRANDS RANGE FROM CLOTHING, JEWELRY, HOME AND DECOR, OFFICE, HEALTH AND WELLNESS TO BEAUTY, ACCESSORIES AND FOOD AND BEVERAGE.

There are 12.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. which generate $108 trillion per year; just 25% of women business owners seek business financing and women receive only 7% of venture funds for their startups — Dough hopes to change some of those statistics.

Founded in 2018, Co-Founders Vanessa Bruce and Anna Palmer wanted to direct spending dollars back to women-owned companies to create economic equity. You can shop by product category, community and values for a personalized shopping experience to find products quickly and easily.

SS: Since establishing Dough in 2018, how have you seen it develop and grow?

VB: “Dough has grown exponentially in the past two and a half years. It started as a visibility and community platform, and while those founding tenets still exist, our introduction of the Dough marketplace in September 2020 changed our business model because we now use dropshipping for order fulfillment. We feature more than 1,000 shoppable items from 200+ women founders and all products can be purchased directly on Dough.

Vanessa Bruce, Co-founder and CEO, Dough

“Over time, we’ve also furthered Dough’s mission of creating economic equity for women by launching several initiatives we’re really proud of. Most recently, we introduced The Wallet Power Fund, which provides grants to women entrepreneurs and is funded by proceeds from curated collections comprised of products sold on Dough.

“We’ve also partnered in really meaningful ways with fellow women-founded and like-minded organizations including Bumble and Ellevest.”

SS: Why is Dough unique in how it empowers people to shop women-owned?

VB: “Dough is unique because it’s a one-stop-shop for women-owned products. We empower everyone to shop women-owned by making it an easy and transparent process. You know exactly what you’re getting because we publish the impact of every product (vegan, cruelty-free, organic, handmade, etc.) You know exactly who you’re buying it from because we publish the name and photo of every seller as well as the communities they identify with (woman of color, veteran, LGBTQIA+, etc.) You can also take comfort in knowing that what you receive will be true to the images and description of what you ordered because we indicate the products we’ve personally experienced with a verified symbol.

“When you shop Dough, you’re shopping your values. We enable shoppers to be very deliberate about who and what their dollars support.”

Dough Verified brand 2 Goats + 2 Acres’ Rose + Egyptian Geranium and Rosemary Bar. Photo courtesy: 2 Goats + 2 Acres.

SS: How would you describe Dough?

VB: “Dough is an inclusive community for discovering and supporting women founders using wallet power.”

SS: What is your process for selecting women-owned businesses to sell on Dough?

VB: “Most of the women-owned businesses that sell through our marketplace learned about Dough through word of mouth and referrals, which is incredible and a testament to the powerful platform we’ve built.

“There is an application process to sell on Dough which requires completion of a brief survey and sending product sample. Beyond our marketplace, we also work with boutique owners eager to get products from women-owned businesses on their shelves, and we welcome women with small businesses who are not in retail to be featured on our blog and in our newsletter.”

“We empower everyone to shop women-owned by making it an easy and transparent process.
You know exactly what you’re getting because we publish the impact of every product (vegan, cruelty-free, organic, handmade, etc.)
You know exactly who you’re buying it from because we publish the name and photo of every seller as well as the communities they identify with (woman of color, veteran, LGBTQIA+, etc.)”

SS: What do you want women-owned businesses to know about Dough and why it's a premier platform to not only sell their products, but meet other women business owners?

VB: “We believe in collaboration, not competition. There’s space for everyone and we can – and do – all learn from each other. Our community is incredibly supportive and actively exchanges advice and tips on anything and everything related to running a small business – from web hosting, to product photography, to marketing.

“We walk the talk when it comes to realizing our mission and being true to what we stand for, and that’s immediately clear to everyone we partner with. And we don’t take the word “partner” lightly. We establish and cultivate relationships.”

SS: What are some future aspirations for Dough? How do you see it growing in the future long-term?

VB: “We hope to add many more products across categories to our marketplace by welcoming more founders. Ultimately, we want Dough to be top-of-mind with shoppers and be their preferred, go-to online shopping destination.”

Dough Verified brand, MODERN THEORY’s candles. Photo courtesy: MODERN THEORY.

SS: What memory or experience has stuck with you the most when interacting with women business owners since establishing Dough?

VB: “I’m honestly in constant awe of the inspiring entrepreneurs within our community. When lockdowns went into place a year ago, we started hosting bi-weekly coffee chats with founders within Dough’s network to cultivate connections and collaborations. We keep the chats small and intimate - between three and six founders per chat - and every time we hop on Zoom to connect it’s memorable. It’s a reminder of why we built Dough: to celebrate women-owned businesses and for them to feel celebrated.”

Note: As an affiliate partner of Dough, we get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Opinions and recommendations are our own. Each purchase supports a woman-owned business. Check out Alyssa’s Collection including Amy Zhang here.

*Cover image: Amy Zhang art prints. Courtesy Amy Zhang illustration studio and Dough Verified brand.