Celebrating International Women's Month

by Jillian Zhang / Mar 20, 2020

To kick off our series, we’re interviewing our founders, Coral Chung and Wendy Wen.

@coralllista @_wendy_wen on Instagram

What inspired you to start Senreve?
As a young mom and executive I could never find the perfect bag. I didn’t feel like luxury brands were creating products for someone who wants a beautiful luxurious bag, but also needs something versatile that can help me stay organized and transition well from day to night. For awhile I was not ready to take that leap of faith to start SENREVE, but I had a spiritual moment where my inner voice was telling me that I had to do it! 

This year celebrates the centennial of the 19th Amendment, ensuring women's right to vote in the U.S. What do you see as the next 100-year fight women face?
There are so many fundamental women's rights that we still need to address. Globally, there are parts of the world where women don't have access to education, property rights or a political voice because of their gender. In the U.S., there's still such a structural bias against women, especially in arenas where women aspire to take substantial risk in their careers, whether as a founder or investor. How do you really do that when, biologically, a woman's most fertile years are in direct conflict with her years of critical professional development? There's got to be a fundamental shift to create optionality and support beyond these biological constraints so women can pursue passions outside of their family. It's not a one-dimensional change—there needs to be an ecosystem of financial, social and political resources that fosters this.

As a female founders, how do you empower other women?
One of the biggest challenges is still representation. Unfortunately, there are still so few women at the most senior levels… it’s critical to have people to look up to who make you feel like “oh yeah, she looks like me, I can do it too.” We find that one of the most rewarding things about starting a company is being able to build a team of strong, smart, capable women. 

What other women inspire you?
I’m a big fan of Katrina Lake (founder of Stitch Fix). It’s amazing how she built a company from start to IPO… Brie Larson who broke the glass ceiling with Captain Marvel  Also, love Toni Ko (founder of NYX and Bespoke Beauty) who built a cosmetics empire in her 20s with no outside capital. They’re all super supportive fans of our products and are true #womenofSENREVE.