Creative Spaces: LUÜNA’s Olivia Cotes-James

Your space champions a lot of work from local female artists too.

The walls of my flat are a testament to many of my favourite local artists in Hong Kong and Shanghai, many of whom I’m lucky enough to have discovered, worked with for LUÜNA and now call friends. From Shanghai we have illustrator Patti Ruan, and from Hong Kong you can see the work of Claudia Chanhoi, Charlene Man and Ellie Suh. One of my favourite pieces is an illustration by Ellie that she designed for the launch of our friend Rae Hu’s first feature film. I look at this piece and can feel so proud of the talented creative women in my life.

On the topic of championing women, you lead a team of nine women as founder and CEO of LUÜNA. What’s been your managerial approach?

Proving just how prevalent gender bias is in the start-up world, less than 3% of VC funding was allocated to female-founded start-ups in 2020. At LUÜNA, we tackle gender bias at all levels, from our external work to tackle menstrual stigma in Asia to our internal structure within which women lead at every level. With statistics like this in mind, our very existence and success is proof that long-outdated industries can and will be redefined, with women leading the charge. Too many leaders today still act out of fear, whereas at LUÜNA we’re committed to leading boldly and bravely. This involves having the difficult conversations many are too scared to have in a professional setting, being transparent with one another and empathetic at every turn.

Lastly, LUÜNA also has an impressive impact model. Can you share a little more about how you’re giving back?

Every purchase of our products helps fund period education and products to local communities in need. We’re so excited to be launching The Red Box Project in Hong Kong with The Zubin Foundation to alleviate period poverty. The Zubin Foundation has been working to improve the lives of marginalised ethnic minorities by reducing suffering and providing opportunities. We’ll be providing organic pads and period education to ethnic minority girls living in the city, which forms part of our efforts to eradicate period poverty in Hong Kong and across Asia.