Amy Appleton-Dreyer wearing the WOMAN tee by Blackbird Collection.
WOMAN didn’t start as a product.
It started as a voice for women’s empowerment.
Years before WOMAN became a movement, it lived quietly online through **Steps of Style,** an Instagram platform created by Amy Appleton-Dreyer as a space to share her personal taste, fashion sensibility, and deep appreciation for thoughtful and sustainable fashion design. What began as a visual expression of sustainable style naturally expanded into a women's community and something much more meaningful.
Through Steps of Style, Amy shared not only what she wore, but how she lived: her home, the sustainable fashion brands she believed in, and the values behind them. Over time, that openness invited connection. Conversations formed. Relationships grew. And as Amy continued to show up honestly, she began to find her voice in a new way.
That voice started to speak about womanhood, not as an idea, but as a lived experience.
As Amy navigated different chapters of her life: marriage, motherhood, divorce, entrepreneurship, and reinvention, she chose to share those experiences openly. Not perfectly. Not performatively. But truthfully.
She spoke about change. About starting over. About raising children while building something of her own. About the fear, resilience, and strength it takes to move through the world as a woman, especially when so much of that experience is still unspoken.
In sharing her story, something powerful happened: women responded.
What Amy found through Steps of Style was an overwhelming sense of support…women connecting with her story, seeing themselves in it, and feeling less alone. Through these connections, she built empowering relationships with women across the country and around the world.
That community became the foundation that gave her the confidence to take a leap, to open Blackbird Collection, a sustainable lifestyle concept built entirely on her own. As a woman-owned business focused on sustainable fashion, Blackbird Collection was proof that women can build, create, and lead, even while holding multiple roles at once.
And still, Amy felt there was more to do.
