Here at The Shona Project, we have a list as long as your arm of all the amazing women around the world that we consider our heroes. We’ve decided to dedicate Fridays to some of these women. We’ll tell you all about them but most importantly, we’ll tell you why we love them!
Next up, we have Grace Beverley.
Introducing Grace Beverley
Grace Beverley aka GraceFitUK is an absolutely amazing young entrepreneur that we can’t wait to tell you about. This clever lady is only 23 years old and over the past 5 years has established multiple successful businesses and managed to work her way onto the Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.
Why we love her?
She established two companies while at Oxford
Yes, you’ve heard us correctly. This 23-year-old woman is the CEO of not one, but two very successful businesses! While studying for a music degree, Grace worked as a social media fitness influencer. She gave us insight to her daily life at college, from what she eats, to how her classes were going, and she even had time to record and vlog some of her life. She regularly updated her YouTube channel and Instagram with workouts that we could use both in the gym and at home. Somehow, she managed to launch her brands “B_ND” and “TALA” while also attending her classes. We have to wonder if this woman ever slept! We love that she aimed to make her fitness bands and barbell pads affordable and sustainable. She even managed to make them vegan friendly!
She’s an advocate for the planet
Grace transitioned into being plant based during her time at Uni and eventually went on to become a vegan. She is an advocate for the planet and her business TALA, a sustainable fashion company, aims to create affordable sustainable fashion. The company originally started with selling workout gear and has now gone on to sell loungewear and headbands. When TALA originally launched, the first clothing line sold out in 20 minutes! We also love that with every item you buy from TALA, you get a plant. Yes, you heard us correctly, every item comes with a label that can be planted and from this it grows a seasonal plant! We love this concept and think its such a lovely use for tags, which less be honest, usually end up in the bin. The products are 92% recycled, which Beverley admits wasn’t the original plan but they had to sacrifice the 8% to ensure they could keep the products affordable. We love an affordable sustainable queen!
She’s inclusive
Grace’s website regularly hosts a variety of models from tall to petite, from plus size to mid-size, there’s representation for all sizes and ethnicities. ““We understand there are a plethora of different types of people who wear our clothes or do our workouts. They are all welcome and they should come on our page and feel welcome no matter what they look like, no matter what they do, no matter where they’re from.” We love that this is seen on both her TALA website, and her Shreddy Instagram. Shreddy is an app that Grace launched at the start of the pandemic that has workout plans, mental health guides and food plans. It’s relatively affordable at less than a fiver a month which we love as it makes it accessible to most people. Grace admits that it was tricky to be inclusive when finding models for the app during the lockdown, but has used her Instagram page to show a range of people’s success from using the app.
She’s an inspiration
Grace regularly documents her life for her social media channels and something we love is that she is never scared to say she’s still learning. She often mentions that her first year in business was like a crash course of learning as she often had to think on the spot and continuously develop her own knowledge of the business world. Clearly, her approach worked as she made 6 billion pounds in her first year of business. What we also love is that Grace’s companies are all self-funded. She has invested the money from her YouTube channels into her companies and did not need investors. Its amazing, and it shows how hard work and hustle can lead to success. She’s even writing a book outlining her productivity tips and we really can’t wait for it to hit the shelves.
We are amazed by how much Grace has achieved in the past few years and we really cannot wait to see what she does next!
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