We Are the Hood, www.wearethehood.com, is a new, all female-founded British brand on a mission to ‘redesign the world with women in mind’. Founded by two passionate women, Maria Purcell and Amone Gbedemah, The Hood is focussed on four main life stages: Girlhood, Womanhood, Motherhood and Sisterhood.
Girlhood: The Story
Launching in 2020, The Hood team is starting at the beginning, working on solutions that seek to empower young girls from an early age through knowledge and community. Launching this month, part-journal, part-guide, Girlhood: The Story, is a book designed specifically for girls aged between 8 and 14 years. Designed to prepare, guide and support girls through their journey into womanhood, Girlhood: The Story invites girls to capture their own unique story of growing up, while providing them with tips and a space where they can nurture good wellness habits for life.
We Are The Hood Co-founder, Maria Purcell explains: “When my 9-year-old niece had her first period, it was clear there was nothing already available to support her and we wanted to change that. The more we spoke to other women about their first period experiences, the more we came to realise that we could help change this experience to be more fun and celebratory whilst also being both educational and interactive. We’re really proud of Girlhood: The Story and that we have filled this gap in the market with something appropriately joyous.”
We Are The Hood Co-founder, Amone Gbedemah adds: “For such a key stage of life, there is very little conversation or sharing about puberty with young girls in order to prepare them for the exciting and, at times, awkward changes ahead in a celebratory way. We want Girlhood: The Story to help to bring the celebration back into growing up, starting with the period, which represents a girl’s first entry into womanhood.”
The team behind We Are The Hood, Maria Purcell and Amone Gbedemah, first met whilst working at Facebook. Maria is a commercial business leader with extensive experience in strategy, growth, advertising, sales and marketing. With over 13 year’s experience gained at businesses like Facebook and Uber, a Bachelors degree in Advertising and Media Production and a Masters in Design, Maria is a results-oriented digital expert with a passion for all things tech. Maria is also a dedicated mother of 2, and was recently recognised as one of Top 50 Sales leaders in the UK.
Amone has over 16 year’s experience in building high-performing businesses and teams at companies like Vodafone, Facebook and Millicom, and has always cared deeply about applying her commercial and technology background to solving complex, real-life problems. With a strong track record in strategic, commercial, operational and marketing leadership in both mature and emerging markets, Amone holds a Masters degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Bristol in England, as well as from the Ecole Française D’Elèctronique et D’Informatique in Paris, France.
Girlhood: The Story launched, on International Women’s Day naturally, with a month-long Kickstarter crowd funding campaign. Girlhood: The Story will be available, initially via Kickstarter and then afterwards online, in hardback, RRP £20 and as a downloadable PDF for RRP £5. What’s more, We Are The Hood will donate £1 for every book sold to the period poverty charity, Bloody Good Period.