When the economy is uncertain, job security becomes a major topic of discussion. Here in the U.S. we’re lucky to have social support systems like food assistance, temporary healthcare benefits, and supplemental unemployment pay when times get tough. In disadvantaged countries and communities with job scarcity in the best of economic times, these concerns are magnified.Despite having one of the fastest growing economies in East Asia, the Philippines has a high poverty rate at over 20% of their total population with many of those affected living in rural areas. Concerningly, this statistic is thought to be worse than the data suggests as many consider the official poverty threshold to be unrealistic; a family of five who earns at least $1.41...
Names can carry personal, cultural, familial, and historical connections. They give us a sense of who we are, the community we belong to, and they help us find our place in the world. And it’s one more way our team pays homage to the makers whose hands create everything in our shop.Our design process is long. Typically our team spends 6-9 months from that first initial idea for a product through production and finally when it’s ready to sell, sometimes that timeline can extend to a year or two for our more complicated pieces. We obsess over every detail: from the material it’s made of (including where it comes from and how we obtain it), to the finished look of...
One of the foundations of our mission is to support equal opportunities for women. Did you know that 70% of all people living in poverty are women and girls? In the countries where we work, women are often viewed as second-class citizens who are held back by social, cultural, and economic barriers. Many have to decide how to feed and clothe their families on less than $2 per day, and that doesn’t even account for “luxuries” like schooling for children (it’s not free), medicine if someone gets sick, housing, and transportation. If a woman is lucky enough to find employment, they are only eligible to work the lowest paid jobs which come with dangerous working conditions and unthinkable long work...
2022 was a whirlwind year for me (I’m sure many of you can relate). I always find it’s helpful to have a look back at what happened—good and bad—to better plan for the future.On a personal level I was distracted more in 2022 than ever before; I had my first baby in April and the uncertainty of the world economy really wore on me the second half of the year. We have a lot of safety nets as citizens in the US, I’ve never worried about going hungry even if our business should completely fail, but our partners in Indonesia, India, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, and the Philippines often can’t rely on their governments taking care of their basic needs if...
As we finish up our holiday shopping please keep our makers in mind and understand the real difference you've made in their lives when you've chosen to gift thoughtfully with Fair Trade items.With our phones in our hands almost all the time, sometimes we can still seem more disconnected than ever. It’s our hope that by connecting you with the maker who created the products you buy from us, you realize that you’re connected to her and her entire village because you’ve changed their lives with your support.There are real people behind everything you buy from us. You may never get the chance to meet her face to face, but I promise she thinks about you often and appreciates you...
