To empower women, we have to empower fathers
WRAL sat down with Kuhns to discuss female empowerment, workplace disparities and to reflect on her career as a physician and business owner.
Posted — Updated“We’re just so excited with the way the community has embraced the store,” she said.
Kunhns left her full-time job as a hospital-based physician in Raleigh to open the store, which sells ethically-made women’s clothing with a focus on female empowerment.
The Raleigh native attended Yale University before completing her medical degree and psychiatry residency at UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.
Kuhns still works part-time as a psychiatrist, but says she is thrilled to focus her energy on her long-time idea.
“My passion is empowering women around the globe,” Kuhns said. “As a physician, I was helping women at a micro-level, but now I can help women around the world. For women in developing countries to live lives of empowerment and freedom, that generally means steady employment.”
Liberation Threads’ inventory consists only of garments that are made ethically — meaning the workers are paid fairly, treated fairly and not exploited. Kuhns says that is something hard to find in today’s apparel market.
“Ethical fashion is a growing movement around the world, and I just felt it was time to bring a store to the Triangle.”
The store launched with clothing mainly made abroad, but Kuhns is setting no limits. The focus remains ethics and quality.
“As we’ve grown, we’ve found a real hunger for local and American-made clothing as well,” she said. “When people purchase garments, they know they're directly impacting job creation and empowerment of women around the world.”
WRAL sat down with Kuhns to discuss female empowerment, workplace disparities and to reflect on her career as a physician and business owner.
In the job that I left shortly before opening the store, there were a lot of biases against strong women. I was at a point in my career when I did not internalize that and realized that was a broken system instead of something wrong with me. The advice of "play well with others" is so much trickier for women.
There are people that don’t like taking orders from younger women. So when you’re the boss as a woman, you have to navigate being agreeable and pleasant without bending over backwards, while not being a pushover either. It’s so difficult to be a woman professionally, not to mention motherhood too.
The fact that so many women still rise to do wonderful things is something we should celebrate more. The playing field truly isn’t equal.
You may not always be pursuing a career that is fully your passion. The store is my passion, but there are parts that are so mundane. Finding interest and motivation in that is crucial.
Photo by Allie Mullin
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