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31 Bits: The Power in a Bead
About two years ago, I traveled to Gulu, Uganda, a trip that captivated my heart and forever transformed the way in which I saw the world and understood the lives of the people that filled its many corners and crevices. As my team and I traveled from village to village, I became acquainted with a pastor of one of the churches there. As we talked more each day, I began to learn of his story. Just barely a teenager, this man was being heavily pursued by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by Joseph Kony, in a period when the LRA was ruthlessly and tirelessly carrying out raids on local villages in Northern Uganda. Chased on foot by night and hiding in bushes by day, this man literally outran efforts by the LRA to capture him into their band of child-soldiers. As he told me of accounts in which he barely broke free of a rebel soldier’s grip on him, I could not help but be amazed at his demeanor of acceptance, grace, and hope. Later that week, we went to visit the 31 Bits compound in Gulu. As we met with the local women who were working at the compound, one woman captivated the attention of our entire group; that woman was the mother of the pastor, and of the man who shared his story with me over the course of a few bus rides. Again, and perhaps more vividly, I saw that same message of acceptance, grace, and hope not only in the eyes of the pastor, but in those of his mother as well.
For 31 Bits, a socially conscious company that sells jewelry made out of recycled paper by employing women artisans in Gulu, Uganda, empowerment is the catalyst for change. This dream to use fashion and design to empower people to rise above poverty came about after one of the founders, Kallie, had been exposed to a resilient nature in the women in Gulu. As she learned more about the lives of these women, who had lived through war, terror, and tragedy, she learned that they were making jewelry out of recycled paper. Continuing to learn more about the stories these women had to tell and about the products they were making from this paper, Kallie came to find that these women had no way or means to make a living from their bead-making ventures. Compelled to do more for these women, Kallie brought back a box of this beaded jewelry to her friends in Southern California where they would begin to sell the jewelry on their campus at Vanguard University, and, in return, send money back to the women artisans in Gulu. As the beads grew to be more and more popular, the dream of creating a company around these beads, and the women making the beads, seemed less of a distant fantasy and more of plausible business plan.Today, 31 Bits is a highly acclaimed company that finds its products in 450 boutiques around the world. I had the chance of sitting down with Alli Talley, one of the co-founders and the Director of Public Relations for 31 Bits, to learn more about the impact 31 Bits is imparting on the lives of people in Uganda. With her father involved in international real-estate, Alli grew up traveling the world with her family and, at a young age, was exposed to both the immense beauty and extreme poverty of the world. Offering her talents and passions to other give-back spaces, like Toms Shoes, before launching her career with 31 Bits, Alli found herself constantly drawn to work that curated a purpose and that had a social impact. “I always knew I wanted to do something with a give-back element, I think that’s so many people’s dreams is to have a job that has a purpose and so that definitely had always been a huge priority for me,” she elaborated. But, for Alli and the other co-founders, what they started in launching 31 Bits has since surpassed every dream and expectation they could have imagined both for themselves, and for the lives that would be changed through the work of their company.
When their co-founder and friend, Kallie, met a couple of women who were making beaded jewelry, the instantaneous connection she formed with those women, and with the six original women who started with the company, has carried through with the nearly 170 women who have been employed by 31 Bits. In fact, its development programs are what make the work of 31 Bits so influential and so tangibly affective in the lives of the people of Northern Uganda. Alli relays that there are a lot of programs and socially conscious companies that give individuals an income, but it is the work of 31 Bits that goes beyond providing employment to incorporate programs that allow the change through receiving an income to be sustainable for these women. Alli adds that 31 Bits “really value[s] caring for them holistically so [that] when a woman enters our program, she’s immediately cared for,” whether that means giving a woman a bike, matching her with a business mentor, providing her with health education, or giving her math and English lessons. Alli believes in this uniqueness of 31 Bits: “I don’t think any other organization that I know of yet cares for individuals to such an extreme. They’re in weekly counseling sessions and therapy … they each have mentors that work with them and so … it’s created this beautiful atmosphere on our compound … where women just feel safe, and they’re happy, they develop lifelong friendships from it and it’s this little, like, safe haven that I think is just so beautiful and so rare.”
In fact, Alli experienced this authentic beauty and rarity in the relationships that the women have formed with each other, and in restoration and healing that each woman has experienced individually, when she returned to Gulu a few years ago. For her, this “founder’s trip”, which she shared with three of the other founders, was monumental in creating images of real accounts of restoration, healing, and transformation that is regularly occurring, not only on the 31 Bits compound, but through the entire community of Gulu and the whole region of Northern Uganda. When Alli was first living in Gulu, helping to establish 31 Bits, she came to know one of the women artisans there. As much as she tried to befriend her, though, Alli felt a hesitancy, a certain somberness, and a testy spirit that prevented the formation of a deep and close friendship. Although she never felt or received any reaction, Alli continued to sit with her, ask her questions, and ultimately try to break through the walls that were preventing her from truly knowing this woman. Upon her return to Gulu, however, she was able to meet with this woman, who had since graduated from the program and was thriving in a business of her own. In their reunion, the woman poured out her gratitude and words of thankfulness for Alli’s compassion and kindness in always giving her a smile, for her reassuring and instinctive acts of comfort in rubbing her back when she had a hard day, and, ultimately, for her offering of time and energy to ask her questions about herself in an effort to get to know her. The woman admitted that while, once, her heart was hardened, Alli’s selfless and inherent actions to treat her with love and kindness broke the bind of bitterness and sadness to soften her heart into an explosive reaction of gratefulness and a lifestyle of healing and restoration.Stories like these, of a hardened heart that has been gripped by an overwhelming act of love and compassion and of the hope of a young boy that had been chased by the LRA, only to find the hope again through the employment opportunities presented to his mother, make the work of 31 Bits a powerfully transformative revolution in an area that has seen the promise of hope amid unparalleled tragedy. “Bits came in at a time when [the women of Gulu] desperately needed hope,” Alli relays, “A lot of our women are ex-LRA slaves, several of them escaped from that and came in with a lot of trauma …. I think that’s been the coolest thing is seeing these women being empowered in a culture where women aren’t very empowered or valued …. It’s really cool to see our women realize that they’re capable of running a business, they’re capable of … saving money and really providing for their families and going back to school.” This hope that is curated in the work of these women, that is displayed in their daily conversations with each other, and that is experienced in their business ventures and personal ambitions, is the hope that will replace a history of tragedy with the inspiration of a resilient people. These women’s hopes and dreams have the capacity to rewrite history.
With each purchase of a 31 Bits product, then, know that your efforts are not just sustaining a business in Northern Uganda, but they are transforming lives and revitalizing hope and healing. Your purchase does not just add to the wealth of one single individual, but it amasses to the empowerment of entire communities. This Christmas season, believe in the hope that transforms tragedies and that binds humanity across lands, seas, and international borders. Give a gift that empowers someone to realize their potential and to believe in a power in themselves that they may not have known before.For more opportunities to become involved with 31 Bits, visit their website to learn of ways to become a campus rep on your college or university’s campus, to pursue an internship, to host a house party, or to learn of various volunteer opportunities.Here are some of my favorite pieces from the 31 Bits collection:The Droplet Necklace – I have not taken mine off! Comes in three colors, here!Canopy – Comes in two colors, here!The Romantic – A classic Bits piece, comes in five colors, here!Droplet Bracelet – Comes in three colors, here!Starlight – I absolutely love my burgundy/gold one! Comes in three colors, here!The Inspirer – I wear my mint one constantly! Comes in five colors, here!Northern Lights – Comes in two colors, here!See the entire 31 Bits Refined collection, which utilizes 14 karat gold chains, here!Bitsies friendship bracelets – For the kiddos! Give a gift to your sweet and then have her share the Bits story with a friend, here!You can find a complete view of incredible gift sets from 31 Bits, here!
The Little Market: The Beauty Behind Empowerment
Nobel Prize recipient, National Humanities honoree, and notable economist, philosopher, and relentless advocate for social justice, Amartya Sen once said, “Women are increasingly seen, by men as well as women, as active agents of change: the dynamic promoters of social transformations that can alter the lives of both women and men.” Many philosophers, economists, and politicians have noted that the advancement of women’s rights is essential for societies and communities to thrive and flourish. The Little Market is one company that is simultaneously cherishing cultural practices and protecting artistic intricacies while continuing this advancement of female empowerment through its work with female artisans around the world.
The Little Market seeks “to build sustainable partnerships with artisans from around the world, by connection them with customers through an online marketplace.” Through enabling its customers to have a social impact, The Little Market builds and maintains relationships between its customers and female artisans around the world. Their ambition to empower women is evident in “building this mutually beneficial relationship [in which] customers would have the opportunity to purchase unique, one-of-a-kind pieces from around the world, and artisans would earn fair wages and generate a means to support their families.” In employing women around the world, beautifully crafted “handmade goods showcase the artisans’ traditional skills and their dedication to preserving their artisanal techniques. [The Little Market] source[s] all of the artisans’ products ethically and practice[s] fair trade principles.” Through various home décor items, accessories, kitchenware, apparel, and gift items, The Little Market showcases and produces the work of over 6,000 of its women artisans in partnership with twenty-six of its artisan partners from sixteen countries around the world, including Peru, Nepal, India, Bolivia, Guatemala, and the United States. Throughout all of their artisan partnerships, The Little Market targets gender equality and human rights issues. For instance, through its work with women artisans in Nepal, The Little Market aims to alleviate the gender disparity between women and men in areas such as “health care, nutrition, education and preparation in decision-making. Illiteracy is more prevalent among women than men, and many rural women live in extreme poverty, without any means of improving conditions for themselves and their families.” By employing women artisans in India, The Little Market seeks to alleviate, or wholly dismantle, the country’s leading human rights abuses. Although India boasts of the world’s largest democracy and fourth largest economy, “longstanding abusive practices, corruption, and [a] lack of accountability for perpetrators [sustain the country’s] human rights violations. Many women, children, Dalits (so-called untouchables), tribal communities, religious minorities, people with disabilities, and sexual and gender minorities remain marginalized and continue to [be discriminated against] because of government failure to train public officials in stopping discriminatory behavior.”
Through its collaboration with local organizations, The Little Market is launching a global initiative to combat human rights violations around the world. Through its courageous efforts, its empowerment through employment, and its implementation of hope and restoration around the world, The Little Market is tangibly changing the way that governments, societies, and communities are treating its people and, equally, the way in which those people are demanding to be treated. In India, The Little Market partners with Matr Boomie, which is “a sourcing partner for socially and environmentally responsible products. They work with underprivileged and disadvantaged artisans in India and strive to improve their economic and social standing by creating self-sustainable employment following fair trade practices.” In Guatemala, The Little Market partners with Wakami which “serves as a bridge, connecting artisans in impoverished, remote areas with larger marketplaces … Wakami seeks to provide a support network and makes available organic gardens, solar energy supplies, and water filters, as well as business training programs for their artisan partners.” In Bolivia, The Little Market partners with Artesania Sorata, which “provides work for families with low income … [generating] an income that enables the artisans to provide a higher standard of living for [themselves] and [for] their families. Artesania Sorata supports adult literacy and health programs as well as creativity workshops in state children’s homes and a children’s hearing program.”When you purchase a product from The Little Market, you are creating a ripple effect of hope and empowerment that stretches to the farthest ends of the earth. Through buying a candle, a weekend travel-bag, an accessory, or an authentically embroidered article of clothing, you are enabling women to rise above circumstantial hardships and injustices, imbedded in social, governmental, institutional, or cultural practices. Your purchase, then, becomes more than a Christmas gift to a loved one, but it becomes a symbol of empowerment and an emblem for the solidarity found in human kindness, compassion, empathy, and care. Through your purchase, you are supporting the hopes and encouraging the dreams of women artisans around the world, so that they will be empowered to properly care for themselves and their families.
This Christmas season, believe in your knowledge, power, and ability in order to initiate a ripple effect of positive and influential change in your own circles of friends, family, and loved ones. Be the voice in your work places, on your college campuses, around your dinner tables, and in your friend groups that speaks to the power within each other to unite in our humanity to bridge hope, healing, and empowerment throughout the world. This season, know that your gift can make a difference, and watch it send ripples of change and inspiration in communities throughout the world.Here are some of my favorites from their incredibly vast product line:Soy Blend Candle – Peony, my favorite scent, here! Also comes in amazing holiday scents, here!Capri Overnight Bag – The cutest weekend, travel bag, here!Small Ikat Satchel – In cream, here!Sayulita Luggage Tag – The cutes stocking-stuffer, here!Stone + Crystal Wrap Bracelet – Get the “Sun” color, here!Block Printed Flower Apron – For that Betty Crocker in your life! Get this adorable apron, here!Sugar + Spice Gift Box – Includes a cinnamon candle, an olive wood sugar bowl, and a spiced cookie milk chocolate bar, here!Because I think these gift sets are a great deal, you can find an assortment of these beautifully designed gift sets, here!
Krochet Kids International: Empowerment that Changes the World
What if with the purchase of beanie or a scarf, you could directly contribute to the wealth of a woman halfway across the world? What if your purchase did more than just provide a job for someone, but what if it empowered someone to realize their worth, to use their skillsets to curate dreams and ambitions for themselves, and to invest in the goals they have set for themselves? For Krochet Kids International, these “what ifs” make up their founding principle: to empower people rise above poverty.
In the early 2000s, Gulu, Uganda gained worldwide notoriety for Joseph Kony’s endless raids in villages throughout Northern Uganda. Throughout these raids, Kony raised up an army of child soldiers, called the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. When organizations like Invisible Children began to tell the tale of the people’s strife in Gulu, the world was shocked and left wondering how such a massive atrocity, that involved innocent children and destroyed countless lives, could be carried out without much notice. Gulu’s circumstances created a sense of hopelessness and heartbrokenness among its people and a sense of distrust between its people and the aid organizations that came and left in such a dire and desperate time. However, when Krochet Kids Int’l began to implement its programs in Gulu eight years ago, its founders were moved by the resilience of the people. Their desire to work in Gulu, then, was not influenced by Gulu’s problematic and tragic past, but it was inspired by the desire to come alongside these heartbroken people in a war-torn region who desired to help themselves rise above their circumstances.On a bright and crisp November morning, I was able to talk with Kohl Crecelius, the CEO and one of the co-founders of Krochet Kids Int’l, at their headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. He told of the beginning of Krochet Kids Int’l and of the stories that intertwined among the three founders in order for Krochet Kids Int’l to become the powerful force that it is today. The story of Krochet Kids Int’l is made up, in part, by their experiences with crocheting in high school, by founding a beanie-making business in the pacific northwest, focusing on a skiing and snowboarding clientele, and, ultimately, by learning from an early age the workings of having brand and being entrepreneurs. The other part of their story, then, comes together with each founder’s specific and personal traveling experiences around the world. Kohl elaborates that “the whole organization and the brand that it is today came about when we had opportunities to travel internationally and see poverty in our world, and try to ask ourselves, and the people that we were trying to serve on any trip that we were on, what we could do to help.” The driving force behind founding Krochet Kids Int’l and implementing its work, first, in Northern Uganda was the beautiful message of hope and tenacity of the people in Gulu. Kohl spoke of this spirit in Gulu that they had heard of from a founder’s trip to Gulu, adding that “it was [the] people there that he was interacting with amidst all of the tragedies and rebel violence … [who] said, ‘We want to work, we want to provide for ourselves, and we want to be the ones to care for our own children; we don’t want to be dependent on the next aid organization to come through and meet our need.’”
What started, in 2007, with investing in ten women who desired to be the ones to change the course of their own lives has grown today to encompass roughly 200 women in two communities in Gulu, Uganda and in Lima, Peru and an additional seventy-five staff members, who are almost completely of national origin, across both countries. Krochet Kids Int’l also works with national and local organizations in both regions in order to equip the women they are working with to rise above poverty. The goal of Krochet Kids Int’l is to graduate their workers from their programs in order for them to independently pursue their dreams and achieve their ambitions. Since its founding, Krochet Kids Int’l has graduated over fifty women from their programs and has since noticed stories of women caring for their families, starting their own businesses, and employing other people in their communities [See their Graduation is Empowerment video, here]. Their individualized and goal-oriented program, then, is an integral part of empowering women in these regions to be forces for change in their own lives and throughout their communities. Their program spans three to five years in which they equip the women they employ to be able to achieve their goals, first, through providing them a consistent income and, second, through a three-year educational curriculum that encompasses everything from numeracy and literacy to budgeting and savings to, in the financial aspect, business planning and development. Their curriculum covers more than business and financial planning, however, but it also incorporates health and family planning, diet, and nutrition. Beyond implementing an educational curriculum, Krochet Kids Int’l prides itself on its one-on-one mentorship program in which the women are able to work with their mentors to create contextualized and individual plans for what their education has taught them and for securing what their finances have empowered them to achieve for themselves. While some women are equipped to take what they have learned in order to start their own businesses before their graduation date, Krochet Kids Int’l allows their workers to continue to master their trade and sharpen their skills even one or two years beyond the three-year curriculum.
It goes without saying, then, that becoming involved with the work of Krochet Kids Int’l and with the impact it is making in both Gulu, Uganda and Lima, Peru creates a lasting impact in not only the lives of the women of those two communities, but in the lives of those who are directly influenced by the women extending that message of empowerment in their own communities. For Kohl, the impact of purchasing a Krochet Kids Int’l product is the driving force behind the work that they do: “our whole mantra is that social impact is a result, it’s not an action. So, it’s not about giving something away, whether that’s money or food or clothing … but it’s the result of what happens when you do that.” Getting involved with the impact Krochet Kids Int’l is curating throughout the world becomes more personal with each hand-signed product that you receive. Kohl elaborates that this is the most beautiful way to realize the tangible change that employment through Krochet Kids Int’l brings to these women. When you purchase a product, you are able to see the signature of the woman who made it, visit the woman’s profile on the Krochet Kids Int’l website, and write a thank you note to her in the comment box. What may seem like a simple action on our part to say a few words of thanks or encouragement means unparalleled inspiration for these women who desire to positively transform their lives and their communities. Kohl elaborates that “one of those key pieces of development, and this is something we all share as people, is that idea of confidence and self-esteem … and the things that we need as individuals to be successful.” When the notes are printed and handed to the women, those notes become more than mere words on a piece of paper, but they become messages of hope and healing, and they connect human spirits all around the world. Kohl said that he always viewed those notes, and that opportunity for a customer to connect with the woman who made their product, as such a powerful tool of empathy, of putting yourself in the situation of these women and realizing the impact that your words and actions can make. When you take the time to write to the woman who made your product, and when you put yourself in her shoes for a moment, you begin to ask yourself, “How would these words of encouragement affect my life? How would these notes make me feel and how could these words even influence how I want to live my life? How could these words give me the confidence to pursue my dreams and achieve all the ambitions I have set before myself?”This idea of empowerment, then, is not just outlined in the curriculum of its educational or financial programs, but it is brought to fruition through the efforts of Krochet Kids Int’l in binding the lives of people all around the world. This level of empowerment, the empowerment that has the capacity to transform lives and provide hope and healing in spite of all the injustices carried out in social stigmas, governmental practices, and historical atrocities, is brought to life when one person buying a product speaks and affirms the worth of the person making the product. This empowerment is exponentially more powerful when lives are connected and when humanity is linked beyond geographical, cultural, or social limitations. Kohl speaks to this, saying, “Having been empowered, we have the opportunity to empower others … We have the chance to equip people and let them know how beautiful and capable they are.” Through learning, whether through formal teaching or mentoring, through traveling, through experiencing the life in our homes, in our communities, or in our nations, and through being exposed to the circumstances and otherwise unjust realities of people around the world, we have come to derive our own ambitions, discover our own passions, and sharpen our own capabilities. Through that process of becoming our own selves, of experiencing inspiration, passion, injustice, triumph, and perseverance, we have the opportunity to extend our own experiences to help enable people around the world to be the agents of victory in their own lives, despite whatever tragic or unjust circumstances that may prevail around them.
This Christmas season, give the gift of empowerment that goes beyond an exchange of presents, but that creates a lasting impact of hope and transformation throughout the world. Give the gift that inspires women around the world to dream of and to be all that they can. This season, chose to empower people, because the gift of empowerment affects the world in more ways than can be realized: “What all that empowerment means and looks like, if you really boil it down, is that … we are equipping people to care for themselves and their families on their own two feet, and the pride that these women have for being able to do that … and the ways that they are changing their communities from the inside out is like, there’s nothing better, there really isn’t.”Here are a few of my picks from the Krochet Kids Int’l collection:The Winnie – Comes in three colors, here!The Becks – Comes in six colors, here!The Geneva – Comes in three colors, my favorite is the Sepia, here!The 5207.5 – For him, or her! Comes in ten colors, here!The Dawson – For him! Comes in two colors, here!The Cooper – A great bag for a weekend getaway! Comes in three colors, here!The Pike – For your Christmas wish-list! Comes in eight colors, here!The Ridgeview – Comes in two colors, here!Love Long Sleeve Tee – Comes in seven colors, here!Marni Long Sleeve Tee – Comes in three colors, here!Saturdays Sweater – Comes in two patterns, here!Portland Long Sleeve – For him! Comes in three colors, here!Colton Sweater – For him! Comes in two colors, here!
International Sanctuary: Handcrafting Hope
Desmund Tutu famously said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” For some of us, these words may ring more true as recent events have cast a cloud of darkness over our world. We may, then, look to this Christmas season with eager hearts, hoping to catch a glimpse of light amid all this darkness. This year, the love, joy, and peace that ring throughout this season may not get put away with the lights, trees, and decorations, but it may just give us the chance to believe that the best is yet to come.
For International Sanctuary, or iSanctuary, this hope is evident in the everyday practices of providing holistic healing to victims of sex trafficking in Mumbai, India. After reading about the tragedy of human trafficking in India, and then traveling to India herself on a short-term mission trip with her church, the founder of iSanctuary, Stephanie Pollaro, was moved to use her efforts, talents, and passions to join in on the fight to end human slavery, specifically sex trafficking. Founding iSanctuary in 2007, Stephanie used her hobby of jewelry-making to train girls that had been rescued from sex slavery in India in the art of designing and crafting jewelry. Hoping to sell the jewelry, she began to send the designs back to a friend she had in Orange County, California. Today, the grassroots jewelry business she hoped would provide a few women in India with job security and restoration has turned into a successful nonprofit that provides women with not just a means to an end, but with hope to dream of the best futures for themselves.
On a chilled November afternoon, I sat down with Michelle Johnson, iSanctuary’s Head of Distribution, to learn of the tangible impact iSanctuary has in Mumbai and of its aspirations to spread its message of hope throughout the world. Michelle had been led to work for an organization like iSanctuary after a year-long trip exposed her to the injustices of human trafficking in Southeast Asia. That trip, six years ago, transformed Michelle’s perception on the world and inspired her to use her talents to contribute to something bigger than herself. She elaborated that in reiterating to the girls in Mumbai that the jewelry they are creating is not only selling well in the United States, but that it is desirable and beautiful instills iSanctuary’s message of hope in the girls, “to really help [them] believe and understand that they are worthy and capable and that they can achieve different goals that they have set for themselves.”The incredible thing about iSanctuary, is that it not only provides girls who have been rescued from sex trafficking with employment, but the organization’s staff forms deep and personal connections with each girl in order to understand her story, to empathize with her trauma, to learn of her dreams and aspirations, and to empower her to use her talents and strengths to pursue whatever goal she sets before herself. Where these girls do not find support in their communities, in their circumstances, or even in their families, the iSanctuary staff comes alongside them and walks with them in each step of their transformation and healing process. This may mean supporting a girl through her marriage and pregnancy, accompanying her to doctors’ appointments and paying for her medical bills. Alternatively, this may mean helping a girl sign up and apply for law school while still providing her with a job so she can make extra money while she completes her studies. These personal connections that the staff forms with each individual girl enables her to realize her worth, to see the beauty in her individuality, and to believe in her strength to achieve her dreams. Michelle realized the importance of empowering each girl to realize her worth and potential in one of her own personal experiences working with girls that had been rescued from sex trafficking in Orange County. While working closely with the girls, Michelle came to know one girl who had been trafficked from a different country into the United States and who also happened to be particularly younger among the other girls working in the program. Even still, Michelle noticed a certain brightness and intelligence in her, despite her reserve, shyness, and timidity. After leaving for a while to pursue another job, the girl returned to iSanctuary with a strikingly different confidence. Her persona and her confidence displayed a new light that resembled something completely different than the girl that kept to herself at the lunch table. This transformation and healing process that started in even the early days of Michelle’s career with iSanctuary came to fruition in the confidence and prowess of this grown-up girl.This story tells of such a beautifully timed transformation process that is unique to each girl working for iSanctuary. Some stories may tell of speedy and otherwise natural healing processes. Other stories may reveal the intricacy, the patience, and the faith that it takes to enable a healing process to come to its fruition. Still, in all healing stories, there is a common message of beauty, of individuality, and of hope that bind all these girls and all their stories together. In fact, this community that has been formed among the girls, themselves, is a powerful display of the message of hope and restoration. Michelle adds that the girls “hang out with each other outside of work [and] they ride with each other in the trains.” This community has allowed the girls to invest in one another, to lean on one another, and to support and enable one another to pursue their dreams. When one girl completed her first year of law school, the other girls threw her a celebration, brought her a cake, gave her card, and formed a circle around her in which they all spoke out the encouraging messages they had written to her.
The community that is embedded in the work of iSanctuary is not just for the girls to enjoy in Mumbai, though. In fact, there are many ways to involve yourself, wherever you are, with iSanctuary’s work and with its mission. Michelle notes that one of the best ways to get behind iSanctuary’s cause in India is simply through buying jewelry. “The more jewelry we can sell, the more women we can serve,” she states. During this festive time of year, hosting a trunk show would be another resourceful way to personally connect with iSanctuary’s influence and to expand their influence within your own circle of friends and family. The beauty of iSanctuary’s impact is that it invites its customers and supporters to join along in its dreams and ambitions to provide healing and restoration to victims of sex slavery and human trafficking all around the world. Michelle spoke of this ambition in specificity to iSanctuary’s big 2020 goal, “which is to open ten different sanctuaries across the world.” Michelle elaborates that with that goal, they are going to need man-power, financial support, and the collection of a vast array of different ideas, skillsets, passions, ambitions, hopes, and dreams that are found in the individuality and uniqueness of each person that believes in its mission of hope and wishes to see that hope spread throughout the world.Finally, Michelle reiterated this message of hope that is so prevalent in all the work that iSanctuary conducts and in its future endeavors around the world. She explained that when the girls first come to work for iSanctuary, they experience difficulty in believing in their worth and they lack the hope that they can be different than what society has instilled in them, than what their family or friends have spoken over them, or than what their circumstances have misguided them to believe about themselves. She admitted that they “really have to overemphasize [that message of hope] with them and … help them re-work everything in their minds to believe that they are worthy and that there is hope, there is always hope.” Whether it is completing jewelry pieces, taking yoga classes, learning English, laughing and rejoicing during their chai tea breaks, or ensuring mid-day dance parties, these girls have been showered with love and care from the work of iSanctuary. More than that, though, they have been empowered to realize their worth, to push beyond any limits that they have been instructed to believe in, and to set new expectations for themselves.This Christmas season, believe in your impact and believe that by purchasing a piece of jewelry, you are directly contributing to building hope around the world. Believe that the healing process in giving these gifts of Purpose Jewelry is not only a healing process for these survivors of sex trafficking, but a healing process for us, as well, as we witness the power in the bond of humanity. Finally, believe that there is always hope and be relentless in sharing that hope with others.Here are a few of my favorite picks from the Purpose Jewelry line:Chevron Necklace – Get it here!Aurora Necklace – Comes in silver and gold, here!Sand Dunes Bracelets – Good for layering, get it here!Infinity Bracelet – Comes in silver and gold, here!Destiny Earrings – Great for holiday parties, here!Billow Earrings – On sale! Get ‘em, here!Shine Gift Set – If you can’t just pick one, get a gift set, here!Purpose gift card – Because, you can’t go wrong with a gift card! Get it, here!
Tentree: Grow the World, Love the World
There is immense beauty in the world. When you adventure outdoors, you not only stimulate physical movement, but you begin to form connections with the nature that surrounds you. The more you venture, the deeper the bond you will form with the vast outdoors, the great unknown, and the world’s most beautiful wonders. This deep connection has inspired some companies and organizations to protect the world’s natural beauty and to assure that our generation is not only actively doing our part to protect our surroundings, but guaranteeing that future generations get to roam the world’s wonders in awe just as we have. Tentree is one environmentally conscious company that is determined in curating a culture that aims to protect our land through reforestation. More than that, Tentree aims to bring employment and inspiration to communities around the world that benefit from their tree-planting projects.
On a mild November morning, I had the opportunity of speaking with Derrick Emsley, one of the co-founders and the CEO of Tentree. Derrick elaborated on how this idea to give back, to change the world, and to be a proponent for environmental protection and reforestation came to be. When he was in high school, Derrick and his brother engineered and founded a tree-planting business that was purposed to sell carbon offsets. But, what Derrick and his brother established nine years ago, through planting these trees on marginal farmlands, was more than just a business; they instilled in themselves a determination to give back to the world and a passion to use their talents in order to pioneer a revolution of reforestation.This deep love and admiration for the outdoors led Derrick’s brother and another one of Tentree’s partners through the jungles of Oahu. While on a hike, they were peering from a mountaintop over the luscious Hawaiian lands. On one side of the island, they could see magnificent, untouched forests, but, when their eyes scanned to the other side of the island, they noticed, in stark contrast, the bustling city of Honolulu, which prompted the question that is central to their company: “What can we do to have a more meaningful impact? What can we do to protect the environment?” Derrick went on to acknowledge this socially conscious movement that was forming around the time that Tentree came into existence. This idea of “tying direct impact to a product” inspired the founders of Tentree to connect the action and business of its customers to powerful and sustainable impact throughout the world. The daunting idea, then, of the environmental degradation and erosion that is affected by past and present behavior becomes a cause that each and every person can care about. As such, Tentree’s work aims “to educate every Tentree consumer on the incredible impact they can have” and of their “ability to positively affect what will happen in the future.”
Today, Tentree’s apparel and accessories are found in about 600 stores across North America. With each purchase, Tentree plants ten trees in communities throughout the world, and since the early days of their existence, Tentree has planted more than 6.5 million trees, working in more than 13 different countries across the world. Their goal is to have planted over 10 million trees by the end of 2016. What has made Tentree so successful in its global reforestation efforts is the uniqueness of each of its projects. For instance, their work in Madagascar aims to restore wetlands. Determined to provide for themselves and for their families, the local Madagascar people began cutting trees for wood and other resources. Without an understanding of the importance of these trees to the ecosystems of these communities and to the environment that surrounds these communities, deforestation continued to negatively affect the quality of life within these communities. In fact, the trees were distinctly instrumental in the ecosystems of these Madagascar villages as they were holding in the soil for these beach communities. Moreover, the root beds of these trees were providing fish hatchery for the marine life. As a result, when the trees were cut down, and when the soil began to erode, the fish were forced to leave, and without much fish, the fishing community began to diminish as well. Looking to partially, or even wholly, answer this pressing issue, Tentree employed more than 300 people in Madagascar in tree-planting and educated them on sustainable tree-planting practices.
Detailing another region within which Tentree is implementing tree-planting educational programs and employment opportunities, Derrick described a personally impactful experience that he had with a local farmer in Senegal. He elaborated that during his visit in 2014, the Ebola epidemic made it difficult and risky to travel within and around the western African region. However, it was the simple and profound sincerity and generosity of Malik, the farmer that Tentree was working with in Senegal, that prevailed over even the most pressing concerns of an Ebola epidemic. While sitting in his forestry garden, amid thousands of trees that Malik had planted, Derrick saw the literal fruits of Malik’s work in tree-planting. About four years prior, Malik had been a peanut farmer with which he could barely make an affordable living for himself and for his family. In fact, Derrick noted that he was making “at most $250 USD a year on those peanut crops.” However, since planting and harvesting the fruit trees, Malik was making up to six-times as much as he ever did, and he was able to abundantly provide for his family. Derrick added that Malik is acting as “one of Tentree’s lead farmers, now, and he is managing twenty other farmers and helping them with the impact that they can have.” By Tentree’s efforts in holistically aiding communities around the world through planting trees, Malik has been empowered to overcome poverty and to provide his children with a different life than the one he had. Derrick gave a fitting illustration of how this empowerment has transformed Malik’s own life and the lives of all others in the communities that Tentree’s work impacts. While talking and visiting with Malik, one of Malik’s children walked over to the street, picked up a big stem, and started to whack down fruit from a tree. Then, as he rejoined his father, he thought to share some of his own, hard-picked fruit with Derrick. “At first,” Derrick added, “I just sort of thought, ‘this is a cute kid … how nice,’ but then I sort of thought to myself, and I realized, this kid is two-years-old and he’s grown up in a completely different world from his father’s and sister’s, together. He’s grown up in a world where he hasn’t known hunger; he hasn’t known malnutrition, and the inability to find food …. So, he’s sitting there, handing me this fruit, being generous, and he’s more concerned about my hunger than his own.”
Stories such as these give Tentree inherent meaning and worth in its efforts not only to positively affect the environment, but to provide people across the world, in communities where the quality of life has been widely affected by environmental degradation, with new hope, new meaning, and new life. Even more than that, Tentree invites its customers and supporters to join in on this movement that it is generating. In involving yourself, through buying, through learning, or through sharing, in Tentree’s work and its mission, you are involving yourself in its goal to become the most environmentally progressive plan on the planet and its ambition to plant 1 billion trees around the world. With a Tentree purchase, then, your impact does not just go to planting trees in an effort to save the environment and combat deforestation but, rather, your action surpasses even gross environmental impact to influence and transform the lives of real people all around the world.This Christmas or holiday season, you may choose to partner with Tentree: to buy a tee-shirt, a sweatshirt, a hat, or a journal. But, in supporting Tentree, in embarking on this journey to empower and enable people around the world to enjoy the best lives they could be given, all while positively and lastingly impacting the environment, you are investing in life around the world. Through rebirthing the lives of trees, or through investing in and encouraging the lives of the caretakers of those trees, you are partnering with Tentree’s mission. In fact, with every purchase, you receive a tree token, a code where you will be able to track where your trees have been planted and the tangible impact your trees have made on communities around the world. So, this Christmas season, you may decide to plant ten trees, and with those trees, you may just breathe life into a community that needs that bit of fresh air to dream, to hope, and to live freely again.Here are some of my favorite holiday picks:Freedom hoodie – Find it here!Creation sweats – Comes in two colors, here!Lush flannel – Comes in three colors, here!Woodsman hoodie/jacket for your man – Comes in two colors, here!Gilligan button-down for him – Comes in two colors, here!Thicket baseball cap for him – Check it out here!Voyager beanie – Comes in two colors, here!Centurian shades – Get ‘em here!
Sevenly: People Matter
“People matter.” That is the motto of Sevenly, the world’s leading cause-marketing company. Based out of Orange County, California, Sevenly conducts cause-marketing campaigns in which they partner with various charities in order to raise awareness about the work of these organizations as well as contribute funds that directly benefit project and program initiatives. Through their sales, Sevenly donates 7% of every purchase to these projects, in an effort to rally a healthy consumerist mentality and cultivate powerful and intentional social impact. Every seven days, Sevenly partners with a new charity, creates a new campaign, designs new graphics, and supports a new cause. Just four-years-old, Sevenly has been supporting charities, inspiring positivity, and affecting change through social impact since its founder Dale Partridge dreamt up an idea to change the world in 2011.
In a quaint little coffee shop and bar in Old Town Orange, California, I sat down with Lindsay Robb, Sevenly’s Charity and Influencer Outreach Associate, to learn more about Sevenly’s influence throughout the world. Lindsay’s primary responsibility is to find “unique charities that are making a difference in an interesting or new way” and to convince them to collaborate with the company in order to bring more awareness to their cause.
Ever since she was little, Lindsay has been influenced by a love of giving back, a wonder of roaming the outdoors, and a persistence to defend and assure environmental and women’s rights which has paved the way for her to offer her talents and passions to Sevenly. As a “business that has a heart for more than just business,” Sevenly forms a connection with its employees, volunteers, charities, and supporters through its founding principle that people matter. Lindsay described the depth of the impact that Sevenly has on it supporters through a story in which one woman’s life was drastically changed after the simple decision to buy a tee-shirt. This particular supporter learned about an organization called Mercy Ships which sends fully stocked and operative hospital ships to developing countries around the world in order to provide medical care and services to regions that lack clean water, electricity, medical personnel, medical facilities, and basic medical care. Because of Sevenly’s campaign for Mercy Ships, this woman was prompted to learn more about the organization, and through her own research, she was inspired to commit to a two-year mission to be a nurse on Mercy Ships. That is the kind of personal impact that Sevenly inspires in all of its supporters around the world. That is the kind of undeniable power that Sevenly has in bringing causes, issues, and epidemics that seem to be miles away all-the-more pertinent to advocates, supporters, and individuals all around the world.
Sevenly’s effortless ability to connect its supporters with a cause in a tangible and lasting way inspire each individual to know of their worth and of the impact they can disseminate throughout the world. In sparking your own impact this Christmas or holiday season, in realizing and exerting the power and light that you carry in order to make a difference in the world, you may consider actively contributing to Sevenly’s mission. There are many ways to get involved with Sevenly’s causes. In fact, supporting one, or many, of Sevenly’s seven-day campaigns is one of the best ways to get involved, according to Lindsay. But, even learning more about the charities or organizations through Sevenly’s campaigns and then spreading awareness and promoting the causes of these charities among your own family and friends is an effective way to instigate world change. There are endless opportunities to partner with Sevenly; the incredible thing about Sevenly is that it appeals to such a vast array of backgrounds, passions, talents, interests, and dreams. In its mere four years of existence, Sevenly has partnered with each and every organization you could possibly think of. For instance, their campaigns have served powerful international organizations like the United Nations Foundation with which they have collaborated to support the foundation’s global goals. These goals, known as the Global Goals for sustainable development, or SDGs, are seventeen goals which aim to achieve three major global ambitions in the next fifteen years: end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change. These goals are attributed to widespread movements like women’s rights and gender equality, girl-child education, racial equality, and are being used in efforts to provide solutions to global injustices such as poverty, hunger, disease, and environmental and social epidemics. In their partnership with the UN Foundation, Sevenly spent a month campaigning and preparing for their seven-day feature on the foundation, during which time, it slowly and consistently built and established an awareness for the foundation’s work. Sevenly has also partnered with Autism Speaks numerous times in which it has supported many of its projects, such as raising funds to support their iPad program in which kids who experience difficulty with verbal communication can communicate with their parents.
With an influence this wide and an impact this transformative, it is no wonder Sevenly is leading in the market of conscientious consumerism and social impact. In addition to spreading the message of their campaigns and joining in the movement of their causes, you can incorporate Sevenly’s products in your gift-giving this year. Aside from purchasing their shirts, which are their best-sellers, you can gift journals, stickers, and posters. But, one of their most inclusive gifts is their CAUSEBOX, which requires a quarterly subscription, and includes products from other socially conscious and impact-oriented organizations like Krochet Kids International and 31 Bits. For $50, you would get almost $150 worth of product that you can enjoy and that also provide a social good or service to people across the world.
In using your own resources to support Sevenly through spreading or raising awareness of their campaigns and causes, or through actively purchasing a product, you are contributing to the lasting influence that Sevenly exerts around the world. Your purchase, then, spreads far beyond the realm of consumerism, but it doubles the impact you have. Lindsay elaborated that in giving someone a Sevenly gift, “you give to someone you love and you make them happy, but you also contribute directly to someone else’s happiness. And even though you may not know them, they’re still a person having a Christmas somewhere, and if your gift can positively impact their life, too, it’s just double the bang for your buck.”This is what makes the work and impact of Sevenly so beautiful, so unique, and so powerful. Through every purchase made, every campaign shared, every organization researched, you are contributing directly and conscientiously to world change. Sevenly, then, welcomes the passions and talents of every different type of person. Whether you are going to commit to an opportunity to work for one of the organizations that Sevenly has sponsored, or whether you are going to contribute to the funds raised by Sevenly through purchasing a product, know that you are contributing to world change. Through buying, through sharing, through drastically altering your life to work on a ship that brings free medicine to regions throughout the world that are desperately in need of it, you are spreading your light, you are affecting change, and you are growing and deepening your impact. Lindsay noted that “it’s really just a simple switch from instead of just buying this shirt that made someone else richer,” to directly and intentionally contributing to world change. She added that “there are so many social good companies like Sevenly” in which you can buy a product that helps “alleviate poverty and hunger, and it’s [these] little small changes [like buying a simple shirt, journal, sticker, or poster] that can really make a difference.”Finally, Lindsay’s hope for Sevenly is that it would not be needed anymore. She admits that “it would be amazing if all the causes in the world were perfectly solved and didn’t need [Sevenly’s] help to raise funding and awareness.” In the meantime, though, Sevenly will continue to spread its influence to even the most distant regions in the world and, with the help of its supporters, learners, researchers, influencers, and world-changers, it will bring joy, love, hope, and light to those otherwise unreachable places and it will bind the bond of humanity ever-stronger in its efforts to support causes that bring hope and restoration throughout the world.
Below are some of my favorite picks from Sevenly’s products for presents and stocking-stuffers:Sevenly Gift Card -- Get a gift for anyone here!Dreamer Tee -- Shop it here!Journey Tee -- Get the look here!Adventurers Tank -- Get it here!Ocean Tee -- For us beach-lovers! Get it here!Henna Hand Long-sleeve -- Shop it here!Shop these beautiful prints -- For that creative in your life! Here are two of my favorites:Beauty PrintMountains Are Calling PrintMy personal favorite is the CAUSEBOX -- The gift that keeps giving! Learn more about how to bless someone with this gift here!
Give-- Joy to the World
I believe that empowerment is powerful. It has the capacity to rectify offense, transform tragedies, assure hope, and sustain joy. It has the ability to connect people from nations, countries, and continents apart. It is capable of weaning differences of race, ethnicity, gender, culture, and religion. Empowerment reminds us of our shared humanity and, in doing so, encourages us to see the needs others as equally, if not more, important than our own. It radically changes the way we love, the way we share, the way we sacrifice, the way we rebuild, the way we dream, the way we inspire, and the way we live.
It is officially December 1st, and the Christmas and holiday season is fresh upon us. For some of us, this is crunch time, but also the best time of the year: we begin to fill our schedules, plan parties, see to our shopping lists, wrap presents, decorate homes, reminisce and relive old traditions, and cherish time with our loved ones. But, through the business of the season, my hope is that we will be reminded of our impact and of the light that we each carry. As we prepare to shower our loved ones with gifts that show our appreciation and love for them, I want to provide opportunities for you to see your gift go further. Over the course of this month, I am going to feature the work of various organizations that are making an impact in communities throughout the world. I not only want you to be familiar with how these organizations are making a tangible impact in these communities, but I want you to become aware of how your talents, skills, dreams, passions, and everything that makes you unique can contribute to the work of these organizations.As I started preparing for this series, my hope was that I would be able to offer our readers with the means to buy gifts that would go further, that would make a real impact in the world. But, that hope surpassed anything I could have imagined it to become. As I was interviewing CEOs and co-founders of these organizations, I came to realize that our empowerment stretches far beyond even buying gifts that give back. Our empowerment and our talents, our passions and our dreams, have the capacity to add to the work of these organizations in a way that they might not have seen before. Our empowerment has the immense capacity to strengthen the transformation that these organizations are carrying out in communities around the world. Our empowerment has created a unique force within each one of us that adds a valuable and lasting presence to the work of these organizations so that they are able to surpass the dreams and goals that they have set for themselves.
In my preparation, I also noticed a parallel between all the meaning we associate with this Christmas or holiday season and the meaning in the work of these organizations. Love, joy, and peace are sentiments that we associate with the goodness of the holiday season. We see lights strung in trees, we feel magic in the air, we hear laughter ringing throughout our dinner conversations, and we are filled with the richness of love, joy, and peace. Then, with the joy that is so present in our hearts, we find ourselves more compassionate and more generous in the way that we treat those around us. This mantra of love, joy, and peace that we see written on cards, engrained in decorations, or even exchanged in greetings becomes prevalent in our actions. “‘Tis the season!” we declare as we throw spare change in charity buckets, or offer spare dollars to someone in need, or simply lend a helping hand. But, the meaning of love, joy, and peace goes far beyond the timely constraints of the holiday season. The embodiment of love, joy, peace, compassion, kindness, generosity, and hope, then, are reflected in the way that we treat one another. The joy we see in Christmas cheer is found again when we support an organization that replants trees throughout the world. The hope that we experience during the holidays is found again when we involve ourselves with an organization that empowers people to rise above poverty. The peace that we see so eminent in this Christmas season is found again when we support the work of an organization that restores dignity to survivors of human trafficking. The compassion that we practice throughout our generosity during this season is found again when we contribute to the work of an organization that provides clean drinking water to the roughly 660 million people in the world who are lacking it.My hope for this series is that the power and influence that we see so eminent in these organizations would inspire and empower us to use our capabilities, our strength, our talents, our dreams, our hopes, and our ambitions to contribute to the transformation that is enacting positive change and restoring love, joy, and peace throughout the world. I hope that through seeing the work of these organizations, Sevenly, Tentree, Krochet Kids International, 31 Bits, iSanctuary, Generosity Water, and the Little Market, that we would be inspired to first recognize the unique value that we are each able to offer to the world and that we would use that uniqueness to inspire a movement of empowerment wherever we are.‘Tis the season … to change the world.
Lo's Faves
Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed my post featuring my favorite Christmas gift this weekend. Today, Lauren (Scruggs!) is sharing some of her faves with us!
See her top picks here:[show_boutique_widget id="207784"]