Meet Kinda Lincoln, the CEO of Raven + Lily

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for reading our second blog post. We are honored to have Kinda Lincoln, the CEO of Raven + Lily, be featured on our blog!

From a young age, Kinda was drawn to a career in business. She graduated from Sam Houston State University with a BBA, a (Bachelor Degree of Business Administration) with a focus on Accounting and decided to further her education by completing her MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in Accounting and Finance. Kinda’s journey in the corporate business world had just started. Whether it was being the manager of Arthur Andersen & Co. or Chief Financial Officer of the Global Wildlife Conservation, or even strategic advisor of the Woom Bikes, Kinda used the skills she acquired in college to help her seamlessly step into countless leadership rolls where she was able to widen her knowledge on finance and sales and become well versed with the business world. However, Kinda realized she felt a little out of place. After working in consumer brands for 7 years learning how businesses were run, Kinda knew she wanted something more. She wanted a place where women could come together to create something truly special and beautiful.

In October 2019, Kinda embarked on a new adventure at Raven + Lily. Kinda took the position of CEO as she was drawn to the opportunity to lead a purpose-driven brand that prioritized diversity, growth, and collaboration.

Although Raven + Lily originally started as a nonprofit, it eventually transitioned to a B corporation. Kinda’s past experience in corporate business helped her transform Raven + Lily into a unique combination of nonprofit work and traditional business norms. This changed the way she looked at the business world and showed her that businesses have the ability to create impactful and positive change in their practices. During this transition, Kinda was inspired to combine these concepts to ensure that Raven + Lily stayed true to its commitment of sustainability and fair working conditions while still functioning as a normal business. Additionally, she wanted to strategically start producing goods that the artisans they were working with specialized in. Instead of apparel, the artisans were experts at crafting bags, jewelry, and home-goods at fast speeds. She revamped the way Raven + Lily conducted product development and placed a higher emphasis on quality of quantity. Kinda wanted to ensure that the product that left her company was going out into the world to benefit someone, and that the person producing them was equally benefited as well.

A B-corporation is a type of verification that is provided to companies that are completely sustainable and employ ethical forms of labor. “For every style we produce, we can tell you its origin story: where we sourced the raw materials and the artisans who handcrafted it.” Raven + Lily’s responsible production has set them apart from most generic production brands. Most recently, Raven + Lily’s B corp has been named “Best for the World” and has consistently scored in the top 5% for the positive impact they have and the changes they are making in both the production field and in the communities their products travel to.

Raven + Lily’s working practices have positively impacted artisans, employees, and consumers from around the world as they work to ensure that each product is made sustainable, each employee receives a fair wage, and each individual receives an equal opportunity when turning to their company. In addition to all they do, Raven + Lily has dedicated 1% of their profits to go and benefit several non-profit organizations that go to help women in need. They assist with things like abortion funds, healthcare, and more.

Early in her career, Kinda had the privilege of working with lots of women as a Public Accountant. This job shaped her perspective into thinking that having women in positions of power was norm. This experience gave her lots of leadership skills and inspired her to continue her journey to her future endeavors. Once at Raven + Lily she learned how the business world can be harsh and unforgiving towards women. When fundraising, she first believed Raven + Lily fell under the term “impact investing” because of their sustainability and work with women artisans, however, she later realized she was the “impact.” Her identity as a woman made her a riskier investment for investors. Looking back at the issues she has faced, Kinda wishes she had set higher expectations for her work environment, didn’t compromise, and went after what she wanted. In addition, she encourages women to use all of their resources and connections, such as staying in contact with one another, networking, engaging with others, and most importantly speaking up. Being a female founder can be difficult, but Kinda encourages women to go after their dreams.

Kinda has worked to employ women artisans and practice sustainable labor, which includes conducting background checks on every artisanal partner. In addition to this work, Kinda works to ensure that their employees have a good and fair work environment. This includes flexible work schedules as women typically are primary caregivers, as well as an average of 3.2 months for maternity leave. In fact, all of the work that Raven + Lily does not only helps employ women but also helps develop their financial portfolios with things that include equity and stock options. As Kinda put it, “ I don’t just want the women on my team to have a decent job, I want them to create wealth.”

Most recently, Kinda was named an Inaugural Sustainability Star by Adweek. Kinda is passionate about supporting women in work and volunteers with the Austin Community Foundation as a Women’s Fund Grants committee member

Raven + Lilly has always focused on expanding and growing, their main focus in the upcoming years is to collaborate with different brands and like minded individuals that want to change the way the world looks at products and consumeristic brands. They are working on developing unique designs with new partners and are ramping up their production capabilities. These not only provide consumers with new goods, but also fund sustainable labor for both employees and women artisans. The overall goal is to magnify their impact 10-fold.

We hope you will join us and support Raven + Lily in achieving this goal by buying wholesale, buying goods online, and connecting with them on social media @ravenandlily. Raven and Lily has a wide assortment of bags, jewelry, and homegoods, all of which are ethically and sustainably made by women artisans. As Kinda herself put it, “People who purchase are making a choice to support our commitment.”

Thank you for joining us!