DISCOVER HER POWER WITH TOYAH DIEBEL, FOUNDER OF BUTTZ

TEXT & INTERVIEW: KADDIE ROTHE, GOALGIRLS* | PHOTOS: DELIA BAUM

The most interesting companies right now are being built by women who stopped trying to fit in. A new GOALGIRLS* column about women building businesses differently.

There are many interviews with inspiring female founders. Most begin with the same questions, and end with the same answers. But a business doesn’t change through perfect answers. A business changes through people who question the rules.

That’s exactly what DISCOVER HER POWER is about. Women who don’t try to fit into the system but rethink it from a female Perspective.

A column by GOALGIRLS* featuring founders who shift markets and rewrite narratives.

Meet Toyah Diebel & BUTTZ
A founder who doesn’t ask for permission

For the first edition, we spoke with Toyah Diebel, founder of BUTTZ. BUTTZ is an underwear upgrade for women – modern, innovative and made for every booty. At first glance, it looks like a classic consumer product. It isn’t.

For decades, markets around women’s bodies have been designed by people who don’t experience those bodies themselves. Toyah questions that logic. Not with slogans. With a company.

Humility is not a business strategy

Kaddie Rothe: Where does your girl power come from, Toyah?

Toyah Diebel: “I’m pretty persistent. And I don’t believe in humility as a business strategy. I believe that you have to want things out loud: growth, influence, money, visibility. Because one of the oldest expectations placed on women in business is still humility. Be ambitious – but not too loud. Be successful – but not too proud. But if you want to change something, you’re allowed to want it. And to want it visibly.”

What if women’s bodies didn’t need fixing?

Kaddie Rothe: If your business were a movement – what would it destroy?

Toyah Diebel: “We should destroy the idea that women’s bodies constantly need fixing. The industry thrives on making us believe that we’re not meeting society’s expectations: stomach too soft, butt too flat, body too old. And then we buy products that promise to fix it. Everyone likes optimising themselves – me too. But I don’t want to do it from a place of insecurity that companies have planted in me. Maybe one of the most radical ideas in business is simply this: stop constantly telling women what’s wrong with them.”

When capital shifts, power shifts

Kaddie Rothe: What would be different if more women ran companies?

Toyah Diebel: “Over 90 per cent of venture capital still goes to male founding teams. Not necessarily because they build better companies, but because the capital itself is almost exclusively managed by men. People invest in what they understand. If more women built companies – and more women decided where capital goes – entirely different business models would suddenly be taken seriously.”

Toyah Diebel isn’t just building a brand with BUTTZ, she’s shifting a perspective. Products for women’s bodies are not a niche market. They’re one of the most underestimated markets in business.

This stage belongs to women who claim it. Check out @heygoalgirls on Instagram to find out more.

DISCOVER HER POWER WITH TOYAH DIEBEL, FOUNDER OF BUTTZ

This column in three learnings:

Humility is not a business strategy.
Women’s bodies are not a niche market.
Capital decides who gets visibility.

And one more thing:
Women build companies differently.
That’s not the problem.
That’s the advantage.

GOALGIRLS* is an international FLINTA* creative collective and agency. Follow on @heygoalgirls

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This stage belongs to women who claim it