Salima Visram | Founder, Samara and The Soular Backpack

Our first guest of the third season of The Brand is Female is Salima Visram, founder of Samara, a brand of vegan leather goods based in Toronto, founded in 2017. The company is a favourite among influencers and fashion editors and it grew to sell over 70,000 vegan bags last year which were shipped to more than 22 countries. Made of 100% cruelty-free materials, Samara is a spin-off which also helps fund Salima’s first business venture, Soular Backpack, a not-for-profit she created with the goal of providing solar-battery backpacks to children in East Africa, so that they could do their homework at night without needing access to kerosene, an expense their families can’t always afford. Soular Backpack drew attention from the likes of Disney and actress Lupita Nyong’o who both became involved. Originally from Kenya herself, Salima has always had the goal of making our world better through her business concepts.

Find out how Salima applies sustainability principles to her company’s strategy and how she’s building a brand based on the belief that we should live in a world where fashion can do good, not just look good!

This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support.