About 'Takes Heart'
WHY WOMEN-OWNED?
Where women are supported, people grow together.
‘Takes Heart’ is a 5-foot tall work of heart designed for Parade of Hearts 2024. The interactive artwork connects the community to the women-owned businesses through this site – encouraging support for women+ entrepreneurs and minimizing the strain caused by substantial funding gaps for women-owned businesses.
According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, there are over 12 million women-owned businesses in the United States, which is about 40% of all the businesses in the country. In 2019, the Small Business Administration reported that women-owned businesses employed more than 10.7M people. A study by McKinsy reported that 64% of new women-owned businesses are started by women of color.
A Forbes study uncovered that women-founded businesses outperformed men-founded businesses, and that women-led tech companies achieved a 35% higher ROI. The number of businesses owned by Black women grew by 50% between 2014 to 2019.
Despite consistently out-performing male-founded and male-led companies, women-owned businesses only received 2% of VC funding in 2023. While the government earmarks 5% of its contracts specifically for women-owned businesses, the number is merely a goal. It’s only been met twice in the last 20 years.
Taking on the Funding Gap
Takes Heart identified that women are positioned to solve the Funding Gap by simply redirecting the purchasing power of women to women-owned businesses. In its first few months, the Takes Heart directory measured $250k+ in economic impact by fostering B2B collaborations and purchases of goods and services. Additional connections and partnerships were formed that were not measured.
About the Artwork
Inspired details
‘Takes Heart’ carries you on a journey packed with hidden meanings, inspired details, and interactive secrets that unlock the entire story celebrating women-owned businesses. The abundance of color? Each one has meaning. The chaos of texture? It all has a purpose too. Seek out the hidden gems within the artwork to reveal new stories and perspectives.
Interactive features
Discover women-owned businesses across the Heartland. Hold your phone near one of the sparkling tiles to instantly reveal business listings, entrepreneur resources, heart stories and more.
Community connection
The heart by Laura Crossley will be publicly displayed in a TBD location from April to August 2024. During the Parade of Hearts, people from across the region will be able to experience the ‘Takes Heart’ art, website and connected women-owned businesses.
The impact that women-owned businesses make on the economy is undeniable.
Meet Laura
World traveler and whiteboard addict Laura Crossley is a trailblazer in innovation, storytelling and business growth. Her professional background spans 20 years of strategy, marketing, consulting, creative, front-end dev, UX and product. From that – she brings a unique, holistic perspective to the table for businesses in critical stages of growth. Her work has been leveraged by brands and agencies worldwide including Lucas Film, Sesame Workshop, The Simpsons, The Javits Center, O2 Arena, AdPredictive, Garmin International, American Heart Association, Hallmark, Helzberg Diamonds, Lee Jeans, and Kendra Scott.
