When we started out running our environmentally-conscious footwear brand TWOOBS over nine years ago, we’d never been anyone’s “bosses” before. Google told us how much we should pay an employee, what the heck Super actually was and how we should be calculating it, and we’d be lying if we said we hadn’t typed “What should I ask someone in an interview?” into a search bar once or twice.
While being first-time employers in our early and mid 20s had its drawbacks, not knowing how we were meant to run a company actually allowed us to ask the question: How do we want to run a company?
After discovering that the standard Monday to Friday nine-to-five work week was invented by Henry Ford for factory workers in the early 1900s, and given that was about a billion (or a hundred) years ago and at a time when women weren’t even allowed to be employees, we started to think about what a workplace - and one employing predominantly women - might look like in the 2000s.
So with the road ahead unpaved, we did what women have been encouraged not to do in the workplace for what we can only assume is forever: we used our intuition. And what came from this is the most supportive, caring, and nurturing workplace we could dare to dream of.
A workplace where instead of being asked to leave your personal life at the door, you’re encouraged to bring your full self to work. A workplace where communication is open, honest, considered, and affirming. A workplace where we live by the 80/20 principle, asking you to work smarter but never harder. A workplace where people’s personal and career dreams are fostered as a priority.
Our team works a four day week on full time pay, they get five weeks of paid annual leave, and our meetings start with a group meditation and a feelings share, so that we can support each other inside and out of work.
But leading with kindness and compassion isn’t only the way we’ve been able to achieve a rare staff retention rate of pretty much 100% (for real), or massively increase productivity, we also see it as essential for the future of our planet.
Early on someone introduced us to the Feminist Principles of business, a set of guidelines built on applying archetypally “feminine” qualities which both women and men possess, and it revolutionised the game for us. For years we had sat across the table from men who told us the only way to succeed in business was to be assertive, stoic, and highly competitive, or for lack of a better term, to act like men.
But let’s be real: most of the business world is currently dominated by typically masculine ways of leading, and the planet is suffering. We need radical change, and we believe that the key to that radical change is in embracing our more feminine qualities. Things like nurturing our team members to bring the best out of them, treating our partners with kindness, and having honest conversations in a gentle way. Qualities that are traditionally seen in the workplace as weak, but ones we actually believe are our superpower.
The connection between women-led businesses and planetary healing isn’t just a feel-good idea - it’s backed by research. Studies show that companies with diverse leadership, especially having women at the helm, are more likely to prioritise sustainability, ethical supply chains, and environmental stewardship. Women tend to take a long-term, holistic approach to problem-solving, ensuring that business growth doesn’t come at the cost of planetary destruction.
We feel this at TWOOBS every day. From sourcing more environmentally-focused materials to ensuring ethical production practices, every decision we make is about balance - between profit, people, and the planet.
What if, instead of prioritising profits and allowing ego to guide us, we led with compassion? What if businesses operated in harmony with the Earth, designing products and systems that replenish rather than deplete?
We have a saying in our business: That if we’re doing something because that’s the way it’s always been done, then it’s time to rethink what we’re doing.
Our employees’ friends have been known to call TWOOBS unicorn land. And while unicorns might not be real, the incredible results we’ve seen from this trusting, purpose-driven workplace definitely are.
Our staff aren’t just fulfilled by our culture; they’re also fulfilled by their work contributing to the greater good of this planet. When people feel supported, they create solutions that support the world around them. It’s a ripple effect that goes far beyond our business.
So this International Women’s Day, we want to invite you to rethink what business could be. What if more companies embraced feminine qualities in their leadership? What if kindness, collaboration, and sustainability weren’t the exceptions, but the norm?
Jess and Stef Dadon, sisters and founders of TWOOBS
