What’s Next in Wellness? These Female Founders Will Tell You

There’s something pretty special about Made to Matter, Target’s hand-picked collection of better-for-you products: the entrepreneurs behind each of the featured brands. Among them are seven impressive women—Annie Lawless of Suja, Thelma Meyer and Pam Helms of Mrs. Meyer’s, Angie Bastian of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP, Adina Grigore of S.W. Basics, Shazi Visram of Happy Family and Brook Harvey-Taylor of Pacifica—who not only create the innovative products shaping today’s naturals industry, but also empower other startup minds, especially women, to think creatively about the future of this category.

We recently celebrated these change-makers in New York City by bringing them together for an inspiring conversation about what’s next for natural, organic and sustainable products. The topic on everyone's tongues? The mission-minded passion these women bring to their work—and how it stands to shape the market. We got the scoop on the top three exciting trends they see emerging:

1. Natural could be the new normal: The interest and demand for responsibly produced, natural, organic and sustainable products is high, and only getting higher.
2. Consumers will become better educated about what’s in their products: Guests will hold brands responsible for identifying how and why a product was developed.
3. New, innovative products are coming…fast: Because guests expect to see new and interesting products on the shelves, brands will be challenged to work with consumers to innovate to stay differentiated.

To say the energy of these leaders was contagious would be an understatement. As each woman shared her brand story, a clear picture emerged: women who felt a need in their everyday lives–and saw the same need in the market–and filled it with their own natural, sustainable and organic solutions. As they spoke, they described the lessons learned throughout the ups and downs of growing a business, among them the importance of learning, letting go, building trust, evolving, persevering and always sticking to their core missions.

Eager for more wisdom from these pioneers, we asked about their groundbreaking approach to business—and how they support others, especially women, looking to innovate in the marketplace.