Before I fully understood how clothing was made and how the fashion industry was meeting the needs of people around world while also profiting off exploited labor, dangerous working environments, and child labor in combination with the deep impacts and effects caused to our environment, landfills, and oceans - I bought what I liked and at a price I could afford. 

I grew up in a small town, and we were on the low end of the economic line. I want to call it poverty but have a difficult time doing that because we lived in a town where we often received assistance from a family member, a neighbor, or the government. 

I used to be embarrassed to mention this out of fear of judgement of status. 

Even though there were times I was hungry or without shoes in the hot summer months, I never truly felt deprived. There were times I felt alone, and emotionally untended to by a single mom who worked 3 jobs at a time but I knew that she was doing the best she could with what she had. 

As I grew up and started working and earning on my own, at times it felt easier to buy clothes than to go to the laundry mat. I worked during the day and I worked at night for many years until I got a job in Corporate where I was able to buy a house and work on that during nights and weekends instead of working at a restaurant or bar. I bought clothes that were affordable so that I could invest in my future.

Not knowing what it was costing the earth or people across the world. 

A few years ago, I watched a documentary about how we are handling the textile industry and it changed everything for me. 

I started “reading the labels” just like we do with our food. 

I started buying from B-Corps, looking at Fair Trade labels and just buying less. 

This may seem strange for me, as a founder of a brand that sells bags and textiles to promote buying less, but it is something I try to do and I’m proud of that. 

I will also share that I’ve heard from people who ask why our prices are so high and that they would buy something from us because they love what we’re doing, but our products are not in the budget. 

I  love to hear feedback, even this one, because it offers me an opportunity to help people understand what it actually takes and what it means to build a business like the one we are building. 

Weaving Collective: The weavers we work with are our top priority. All of the women in our program are mothers of Casa Tabito and are or have been supported by the clinic. Casa Tabito is a clinic that serves and saves severely malnourished babies. Casa Tabito offers a special program that requires families to have a referral from the local government medical system. As a partner of Casa Tabito we offer a solution to the economic mobility of the women who have received these services which guarantees that the women are in a safe home with a clean water filter, a clean air stove, and a front door that locks. Some have had their homes remodeled to safety or in more desperate situations, a new home built. This is a project that Grace & Fire, our team and our company supports through fundraising in addition to offering dignified sustainable and living wage jobs to Mothers of Casa Tabito. 

Certifications: The process of certifications is strenuous. There are fees involved but also hours and hours of time filling out applications and presenting publicly the standards to which are required. For us and most companies on a mission, we are already practicing what it takes to get certified but for the process it is required that we are transparent and accountable. It also requires that every source and every employee and contractor is also abiding by the standards of expectation. 

In the Grace & Fire company, we host an organization that contracts over 30 people from the Weavers, workshop, photographers, marketing, and management of the project. As we grow, it will be vital to continuously maintain our code of conduct ethical practice standards. 

Production: Weavings from the women we work for take a month to make. Sometimes, because the women are making two at a time and are able to turn in two a month. Our weaving coordinator manager is the ideal candidate for managing the purchasing of thread, receiving and submitting payment for the weavings through an organized weaving collective meeting, tracking each weaving with a SKU number and getting those weavings to our partner workshop where the bag making begins. 

We invest in production of products without being able to sell it until those products are imported to the states. As a slow fashion production line, we could wait up to 6 months before we receive our order. Shipping, Importation, and Tariffs, are all costs associated that are costs that we include in production costs. 

Marketing: We can’t sell products without people knowing about our company and people are accustomed to seeing an item on social media or in their email box with a direct link to the product they want. What it takes to get there is a step by step process especially with one of a kind products. 

Photography, posting to social media, creating a Hot Off The Loom Newsletter, website maintenance, and writing about the work we are doing, print takes a team of about 3-4 people. 

As a team, we utilize tools that help in assisting efficiency which helps with cost management. 

Operations: We are fortunate to have a fractional CFO as the costs associated with the management of so many people, we must track and manage financials, taxes, and payments diligently. 

As an extension of Grace & Fire, we are also forming a nonprofit that will further our impact by supporting families to educate children, offer financial literacy curriculum, provide medical insurance and build more homes. 

This fall, we are solidifying a deeper partnership with Casa Tabito in that they will become our throughline to payment for the weavers. The weavers will become employees of Casa Tabito that will allow them to receive medical insurance for their entire families and qualify them for other local citizen rights. 

Our mission is designed around people - to support them and to provide living wage opportunities for the most vulnerable population. Accomplishing that mission is a long process with many components - it costs more and takes more time to do right - and we are in for it all.