Taking Charge: Liverpool Girls Aim High With Scrunchies!
Never underestimate the power of a great hair accessory. Colourful, cool and high-quality scrunchies are the lynchpin of a growing business run by a diverse group of teenage girls in Sydney’s Liverpool area.
The social enterprise has not only helped the girls cut their teeth in the world of business; it is empowering them to take charge of their lives.
Wildflower Hair Accessories is a colourful start-up that’s part of the ‘Girls in Business’ incubator program coordinated by Liverpool Neighbourhood Connections (LNC) and funded by a grant from Women NSW.
LNC is a grassroots organisation that seeks to empower and support the Liverpool community through place-based philanthropy and social enterprises that give people the tools they need to thrive.
The ‘Girls in Business’ program was launched in July 2019, aiming to help young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds think strategically about business and learn relevant skills.
Over the course of the next year the girls in the program developed the ‘Wildflower’ business, choosing a name which represents their diversity and ebullient natures.
They began cutting and sewing scrunchies in a joyous selection of colours and materials, then devised a sales and marketing strategy with both online and physical channels.
“Wildflower Hair Accessories is run by a group of young teen girls called 'Gibbies',” says Wildflower Manager Narjis. “Our team of Gibbies is made of fun-loving, caring, and hardworking girls with wild and diverse ideas.”
“We don't only learn new things about running a business, but also learn the basic skills needed in life like communication, dealing with people, working in a team, and so on. We are a mini family, we share things, check on each other to make sure we are ok and have lots of fun together.”
Some Wildflower members have permanent roles, some have casual roles so they can come in and out when it’s convenient.
“Our permanent team consists of a Project Coordinator and her helper (Jess and Nicole), Wildflower Manager (Narjis), Operations Manager (Stacey), Social Media Manager (Mariya), Social Media Coordinator (Andjela), and our juniors (Sara, Apryl, etc). Whilst most of us have fixed roles and areas to work in, we all at different times change our secondary roles to try new things. For example, Stacey also manages Pinterest's content at the moment whilst she is mainly our manufacturer (sews all scrunchies) and manages the operations team.”
The Wildflower business officially launched in December 2020 at the Warwick Farm Community Hub, with free food and games and a stall selling the scrunchies. It was a resounding success, with the scrunchies almost selling out!
Over the past year the Wildflower team has honed their marketing strategy, providing hair accessories for schoolgirls and sports teams. They have run community stalls, sold to Warwick Farm Public School and directly to three sports teams.
In addition to working together to make the scrunchies and then package them up for distribution, the team also created an e-commerce website from scratch, selling the scrunchies online.
Award-Winning Business Skills
The enterprise has been a crucial platform for the teens to learn fundamental business strategies. Every week during the school term the team gathers to learn business skills such as target marketing, branding, sales, team building, leadership and so much more.
As a true social enterprise, all the profits from Wildflower go back into programs to train young teen girls in business.
Narjis says that she joined the Girls in Business program to learn practical business skills and also have a place to socialise with new people to gain confidence and relieve stress during her HSC.
“I absolutely think it was a great decision, I have learned a lot and love being part of Wildflower!”
“I’ve learned a lot about building a website, calculating cost, considering shipping, producing label stickers and many more things.”
The group also fosters fundamental soft skills. Narjis says that she learned useful life skills like communication, confidence, teamwork and leadership.
“Being part of Wildflower means a lot to me. It's a big achievement for me to be the manager of such a wonderful and wild team that has won an award too!
Two of the young team have received scholarships to work for Wildflower Hair Accessories, and attended the Western Sydney Zest Awards 2021 to accept the award for “Exceptional Project in a Not-for-Profit Organisation
“Jess and Nicole always have my back when needed, and make us all feel included. I hope to stay with Wildflower and help turn it into a big brand selling much more than just scrunchies and not only in Australia, but worldwide.”
It’s inspiring to think that the Girls in Business program is nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Liverpool Neighbourhood Connections’ CEO Pat Hall says that “having an enterprise that is led by incredibly intelligent young women goes well for our future!”
Sydney, Let’s Get Behind Girls in Business!
The team at Liverpool Neighbourhood Connections believes that everyone in our city deserves the chance to thrive.
LNC’s place-based philanthropy is made possible by funding from organisations such as Women NSW, Sydney Community Foundation and and also individual donors.
On November 13, Be Kind Sydney will be holding a Day of Giving for 100 charities across the city. Liverpool Neighbourhood Connections is proud to be one of the chosen charities, aiming to raise $10,000 to support the Girls in Business program.
You can get behind LNC and the girls by donating here
