Wow! What a year it’s been so far personally and professionally. Our family is busier than ever with sports and academics and my business, Grace & Fire is taking off! 

Our small family owned and run business is growing and evolving! Ray is on product photography and learning how to manage our website. The girls have been to their first trade show, moving boxes around, and anything else I ask of them. My son has been tagging products in the showroom with happy faces on.

It’s been a family adventure! 

I wanted to give you a back stage pass to what’s been happening as we progress as I’ve been getting so many questions from people - but mostly “How’s your business?” and “Why Guatemala?"  

Did you know that the Guatemalan National Football team Los Chapines' placed in the semifinals for the first time since 1996 - so that's exciting! 

So, Why Guatemala?

While I love the service work that I assist with while I’m there, there is a greater desperation for jobs in Guatemala, especially in the rural villages. The homes in remote Guatemala are oftentimes dilapidated and deteriorating, flooding and crumbling with the rain. While there, we hiked to many homes, places cars can’t reach and areas untraveled to those who don’t live there, where the families would pull up stools for us to sit on to share their stories. 

Stories of tragedy and stories of resilience. Loss of loved ones, often babies who don’t have access to formula with mothers who can’t provide milk due to starvation. Babies with untreatable diagnosis, unable to walk leaving their mothers no choice but to remain home always. Fathers who are sometimes not present for a number of reasons, or who have taken the incredible risk of going to America for resources and never to be seen again. 

Desperation and Determination would be the two words that I would describe the mothers of Guatemala. They do whatever it takes to feed their children.

Grace & Fire was a name that came to me in vision 10 years ago. I didn’t know exactly what it meant. When I left Guatemala for the first time, I knew that this was it. I would sound crazy if I tried to explain the ways in which I know this, so I will say only this - The Grace it takes love and have compassion for the people around you, especially our children and the Fire it takes to truly survive as a mother in any capacity IS the true meaning of the name. 

We all face trials in our lives; hardship. We can all relate to doing what it takes to provide for our children. We do it and we get it done, over and over again. Whatever the situation be it safety, financial, emotional wellbeing, education, or in the case of the Mothers in Guatemala, feeding our family while living in extreme poverty: We all have a desire and intention to care for the ones we love most. 

Our First Collection:

The bags you find on our website are made by Silvia and Esterand The LUM Project. Silvia has been a seamstress for many years and Ester was in training. Both of these women have been served by “Casa Tabito”. The LUM Project is created by a collective of nannies from an Orphanage called “House of Hope”. 

What’s Next for Grace & Fire? 

I have recently built a relationship with a small workshop in Antigua to design a new collection of leather bags. Excitedly, we will have a new collection of leather bags that will include totes, clutches, handbags, and more. 

We are also working with Casa Tabito to develop a Grace & Fire collective of weavers. These weavers are all mothers who are in the program to ensure that they have a safe home, food, medical care, and clean drinking water. 

We will be combining the two to create an incredible and unique one of a kind product branded Grace & Fire!

Launching a brand with this much passion and purpose is both gratifying and fulfilling. It's also quite a bit of pressure. It’s been a lot of markets, a trade show, and I’m starting to schedule home and business gatherings this fall. If you have any interest in hosting, just hit reply to this email and we will set it up! 

Currently the main goals are to:

• Increase our following on Instagram 
• Gauge Interest in an Ambassador Program
• Reviews on Facebook Review Here

If you feel so inclined, please share posts on social media, or forward this message to a friend or ten. We would love for you to be on this journey with us!