The Strength of the W4W Table
by Leah Wilkerson
Sometimes the best way to see the power of women supporting women is to watch it happen.
On September 1 at exactly 3:28 PM, W4W member Courtney Buchanan pressed play on Stevie Wonder’s Happy Birthday.
Her company, CB Grey, was officially six years old.
And then her phone started exploding.
Key after key after key began appearing on Instagram.
A few weeks earlier, Courtney had mailed 30 keys to people who had opened a door somewhere along the CB Grey journey. Some had made an introduction. Some had offered an opportunity. Some had bought a scarf or told a friend. Others had answered a phone call, encouraged an idea, shared a post, or believed in Courtney before she had much evidence that this crazy scarf idea was actually going to work.
On September 1, they all showed up.
Courtney cried for ten straight minutes.
And as I read her story, I kept thinking: This is what we mean when we talk about the W4W table.
We All Hold a Key
Courtney originally thought those keys were part of the launch of her new book, A Wild Silky Ride: Five Years of Beautiful Chaos.
But as she watched them appear across her screen, she realized they represented something much bigger.
CB Grey hadn’t been built by one person.
It had grown through relationships. Conversations. Introductions. Encouragement. Opportunities. People sharing her work and telling other people about it. Women opening doors for other women.
In Courtney’s words:
“The scarves are the thread. The people are the story.”
That line gets right to the heart of what we're trying to build at W4W, too.
The Strength of the Table
We talk a lot about gathering women around the W4W table. But the real value of that table isn't simply having people to sit with.
It's what happens because we're sitting together.
Someone mentions that she needs a photographer—and another woman knows one.
Someone is struggling with pricing—and someone else has already learned that lesson the hard way.
Someone launches a new product—and we share it.
Someone gets a wholesale account—and we celebrate it.
Someone needs an introduction—and one of us can open that door.
Sometimes support is big. More often, it's incredibly small: a comment, a share, a purchase, an introduction, a text saying, Keep going.
But enough of those small things can change the trajectory of a business.
That's the strength of the table.
And Now, There's a Book
Six years ago, Courtney thought she was starting a scarf company. She had no fashion background, no grand business plan and, by her own admission, absolutely no idea where any of it was going.
One scarf led to another. One woman led to another. One opportunity opened the door to the next.
Eventually, Courtney decided to write the story down.
A Wild Silky Ride: Five Years of Beautiful Chaos is the story of CB Grey—the scarves, the women, the giant yeses, the ridiculous moments and all the unexpected things that happened along the way.
Courtney says she thought she was writing a book about how she built CB Grey.
Instead, she realized she was writing about all the people who built her.
And I can't think of a better reminder for the women around our W4W table.
Pay attention to the doors you can open for someone else.
You never know which small introduction, encouraging word, purchase, share or simple yes might become a key part of her story.
And someday, you may look around and realize just how many women have been holding keys for you, too.
See the keys—and read Courtney's original post:
See Courtney's Instagram post →
A Wild Silky Ride is currently available for preorder. The first 50 orders will also receive an exclusive CB Grey mini scarf designed to match the book cover.
