Yahoo Finance Women in Crypto Q&A: Angelic Vendette, founder of WomenRightsNFT
Angelic Vendette is the vice president and global head of marketing at Alo Yoga and the founder of WomenRightsNFT.
She spoke to us about Alo Yoga’s foray into the crypto world, including within the metaverse and Web3, notably with its partnership with Roblox. Fresh off New York Fashion Week, where Alo had its first ready-to-wear collection, Vendette also talked about how items in the collection would come with NFTs.
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How did you come to the crypto industry?
AV: I was first introduced to the industry in 2016 via Bitcoin, and then much more prominently in 2021 with the rise of pfp [profile picture] NFT projects, where I started to invest in and collect women-led projects, and projects from artists of underrepresented communities.
In that vein, can you talk about WomenRightsNFT’ s purpose and what prompted the idea for the launch?
AV: Of course! WomenRightsNFT is a pfp NFT project that I launched in June, in order to raise awareness and funds for women’s rights in light of the Roe v. Wade overturn. 100% of the purchase price of each sale is donated to Planned Parenthood, and the pfp art I created commemorates prominent figures in women’s rights history.
What is Alo Yoga doing in terms of its intersection with Web3?
AV: I’m the head of marketing at Alo Yoga and am leading our digital innovation within the metaverse and Web3.
We launched our Alo wellness sanctuary in Roblox this past February, where you can practice mindful movement alongside your avatar, in addition to redeeming Alo digital fashion. To date, over 51.5 million people have done meditation or yoga with us inside the metaverse, and over 59 million items of digital fashion are being worn.
Similarly, this past summer we rolled out two very exciting crypto updates — the first being that our community can now use cryptocurrencies at check-out for all of their purchases online and the second that we offer to pay our employees in crypto if that’s how they’d like to be paid.
What about the NFT collection?
AV: We presented Alo’s first ready-to-wear collection at NYFW this past week; and, alongside the purchase of an item in this premium collection, we also announced that the items would come with an NFT in the form of a digital certificate of authenticity.
This was announced in partnership with MoonPay and HyperMint, MoonPay’s self-service NFT minting platform.
In addition to owning this unique NFT authenticator, customers will also be granted VIP experiences ranging from a personalized shopping experience via a private client manager, to unlocking future experiences at Alo Houses and exclusive access to the Alo Wellness Clubs.
What’s exciting, beyond the collection and NFT launch, is that Alo’s collaboration with MoonPay and HyperMint is the first of its kind. Alo Yoga is the first fashion & wellness brand to leverage HyperMint for easy NFT purchases via email check-out.
What excites you the most in the space?
AV: I’m most excited to see how this will bring both security and positive change to many legacy industries that impact our daily lives — think medical records, IDs, loyalty programs at stores, etc. — but also how the blockchain is and will continue to enable a force for good, a force for fundraising, for raising awareness, driving emergency funds and helping our fellow humans, like we’ve already seen happen in Ukraine this past year.
What do you think could be done for the industry to be more inclusive?
AV: Education and onboarding are the biggest keys to inclusivity in Web3. As artists, technologists, brands in the space, I also think it’s our responsibility to help onboard folks and help share what we’ve learned along the way so that they too can leverage blockchain technology to better themselves.
What do you think should change in the space?
AV: The true democratization of funds, mentorship, accessibility, etc. These principles of democratization are not only fundamental to Web3, but also crucial for mass adoption to take place.
Who are the women you admire in the space?
AV: Well, there’s a very, very exhaustive list of women I admire in the space, including Debbie Soon, Magdalena Kala, Stephanie Smellie, Emily Carrig, Shannon Snow and the list goes on and on!
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