Whether it is your mother, sister or best friend, we all have a special woman in our lives who deserves our recognition and appreciation. We want to encourage women, positively empower them to move forward with confidence and encourage other women with that energy. That is what makes this day so special! And to ensure that every woman gets this opportunity, today we celebrate International Women’s Day!

But how did this day come about in the first place?

As an initiative, the day was created to fight for equal rights, the right to vote for women and the emancipation of women workers. For the first time on March 19, 1911, more than one million people in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Denmark and Switzerland demanded that women should also be allowed to hold office and vote. Since 1921, we have celebrated International Women’s Day every year as a reminder that this equality is not a given and still has ways to go.

Why is the day still so important?

Today, International Women’s Day is still primarily about gender equality, and not just limited to individual areas, but especially across every ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

So, of course, values like equality and female empowerment also play an enormous role for us in our company – because a large part of the driving force behind Kapten we owe to strong women. This day is dedicated to them and we want to introduce you to some of them today.

First, there’s Sarah Harder – our senior influencer marketing manager. She’s been with us for a over a year now, and when we asked her why she chose Kapten of all companies back then, she said,

Because it’s not age, gender or background that counts here, but skill, good performance and good ideas.

Sarah Harder, Senior Influencer Marketing Managerin bei Kapten & Son

We asked the same question to Franzi, Junior E-Commerce Manager for Shop Tech & Product: “There is a very high presence of women here.” And also our in-house optometrist and Store Manager Shirley shared with us that two of the main reasons they chose Kapten were the start-up mentality and that women can work in various positions.

We especially loved the kind words from Yvonne, our Country Manager for the Netherlands:

You didn’t doubt my age when I applied. I definitely think I have the same chances as my male colleagues. There was a moment when I felt I could handle more work, so I got the opportunity to take on the project management tasks.

Yvonne Groenendaal, Country Manager NL

And dear Doreen, Assistant Manager of our Hamburg store, also described Kapten as a place where everyone works together for the big picture. When asked if she ever felt disadvantaged because of her gender, she replied,

Everyone has the same opportunities and possibilities here, no matter what gender you identify as.

Doreen, Assistent Store Manager Hamburg

Lastly, we asked everyone about their future wishes for all women in the world:

“Equal opportunities where people are judged on their performance and not on their gender or background.”

“That the topic gender equality in the workplace be normalized.”

“Men and women should earn the same amount of money for being in the same position.”

“More women in leadership positions.”

“No woman should ever have to face the question if she will have the same opportunities and rights as everyone else.”

“Women should also be given the opportunity to move more quickly into higher management positions.”

“Equal appreciation for equal performance.”

“That women become even more present, especially in departments that are mainly male-dominated.”

“Cohesion, and that’s what we all want, isn’t it?”

We couldn’t agree more, and hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into Kapten’s female power! You can find the full video of the interview on our Instagram channel. We wish everyone a wonderful Women’s Day! Sending out virtual hugs to all of you, Kaptens 💛