March is National Women’s Month: Support Locally Owned Female Businesses

March is Women’s History Month, and we have gathered a list of ideas for ways you can celebrate and support women alongside your family. 

Lisa McDonald, owner and founder of TeaHaus, emphasizes the importance of shopping local in general: “When you shop at a corporation, you’re buying the owner another yacht. When you shop at a small business, you’re paying for local hockey lessons, field trips, and college funds.” She additionally notes, “Supporting women-owned businesses is really important: there’s a lot of younger women who are getting into business and we should absolutely support them! Supporting mom-owned businesses brings an extra layer of giving back to the community–by default we are heavily involved in our communities: our children go to local schools, we’ve involved in clubs.” Lisa notes that every one of her TeaHaus employees are local.

Here are a few of our at-home and local favorite ideas for celebrating local women this month!

Go to the library!

The Ann Arbor District Library’s book club this month focuses on women at the Harvard Observatory and will be showing on their TV channel on Friday the 18th. Wednesday the 23rd is a discussion on Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower. Some of AADL’s podcasts on featured local women are even teen-friendly. Or, take a trip to the library and show your younger children how to ask the librarian questions and discover books written by, illustrated by, or about girls and women!

Read a book with your kids: bonus points for local authors!

There are hundreds of amazing books across all genres with strong female characters for your child or teen to enjoy. 

Some personal favorites are any books by Patricia Polacco, a Michigan author and illustrator, who writes beautiful picture books about her experience as a Jewish-Ukrainian child of immigrants and her experience with dyslexia. Erin Stead is a famous Ann Arbor illustrator of A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Annie Appleford wrote the delightful M is for Mitten; Nancy Shaw wrote Sheep in a Jeep. 

For YA, Joan Blos lives in Ann Arbor and wrote A Gathering of Days. Check out this list for more local authors!

Shop at local women-owned stores

Want treats for a party? A place to get your family’s hair cut? Books to read or games to play with your kids? These businesses have got you covered. 

Rock Paper Scissors, Literati, Angel’s Exquisite Fruits, Cookie Colab, Nicole Haley Photography, Thistle and Bess, The Write Touch by Leyla, Jen Geer Photography, Late Bird Boutique, University Flower Shop, Duckadilly Fabrics, Breezy’s Bakes & Cakes, TG Charcuterie, and My Urban Toddler.  There are also many salons, childcare centers, and fitness studios that are locally owned by women as well, which provides you self-care while supporting locally-owned female businesses.

Eat (or drink) at local, women-owned restaurants 

Ann Arbor has a plethora of great restaurants, and many of them are owned by women! Whether you’re in the mood for Cuban, vegetarian, or just a nice cuppa, there’s many delicious options. 

Local favorite, Frita’s: their allergen-friendly menu and educated staff makes eating there a breeze for a variety of dietary restrictions. 

Check out Frita Batidos, Pilar’s Tamales, Detroit Street Filling Station, TeaHaus, The Pulpo Group, Thrive Juicery, Zola’s, or Vedge Cafe. 

Family movie night

And lastly, what family doesn’t love a movie night? When watching movies as a family, the conversations you have with your child are just as important as the movie itself. There are many movies that have problematic or sexist elements, but if engaged with a critical conversation, it can actually be very educational for your teen or child to be exposed to these movies and learn to ask questions around perspective, representation, and presented beliefs. 

There are also a variety of movies with empowering women characters who can stand on their own! Some of our favorites include Hidden Figures, On the Basis of Sex, Little Women, Maleficent, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. 

For younger children, check out Moana, Frozen, Spirited Away, Inside Out and A Little Princess.