Hooray! It’s Friday! Here’s a picture of me rockin’ our Hope tee with a gray pinstripe blazer. I love t-shirts and I love blazers - and the combination is even better.
Since I talked a lot about Freeset this week on the blog, I wanted to highlight one of their products. Our Freeset tees are made 100% fair trade, organic cotton tees made by women in Kolkata, India.
Awhile back, Freeset purchased a new building that will enable them to expand their operations and continue to hire more women from the streets of Kolkata. They’ve been posting video updates on the renovations of the new building. The latest video includes footage of the area where they make their t-shirts. Guess what? They’re working on the new Stop Traffick Fashion t-shirts! Check it out and get a preview of one of our new designs.
If you have a few minutes, read the latest news that was posted by John from Freeset in Kolkata, India. If you don’t have time to read the whole thing then here are a few highlights:
I recommend you check out this blog post by Siddharth Kara on CNN.com. The topic is forced labor in India.
Forced labor can easily give rise to human trafficking, where people like Amina who are desperate for better wage-earning work succumb to offers from traffickers for better jobs in big cities.
Throughout rural West Bengal, I met numerous young girls who fell prey to offers for domestic work in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. They ended up working for well-to-do families around the clock, and after several months they were paid perhaps ten or twenty percent of the promised wages. Eventually, they are returned home, where they are just as desperate as before.
I asked one such girl, “Khadija”, if she would ever take such an offer again.
“Yes,” she replied, “There is no other work for me. What choice do I have?”
At the end of the post they pose a question, “We want to know what you think… What do you think needs to be done to stop this practice?”
Oh, me! Me! Pick me! (Imagine me raising my hand in an excited fashion). Notice in the quoted excerpt above what Khadija said she would take an offer again because there is no other work for her. One answer to what can be done to stop human trafficking is to give people other opportunities to generate a sustainable income for themselves. Hey, what do you know? That’s what Stop Traffick Fashion is about!
One of the organizations that makes our products is Freeset in Kolkata. They hire women who have been trafficked and employed in the sex trade to make fair trade bags and t-shirts. Not only are they paid a fair wage, they have a new, free, healthy lifestyle, are taught basic literacy, receive health care, a pension and child care is provided! You can support these women and enable Freeset to hire more women by purchasing their products. The number of women they can employ is directly tied to how many products they can sell so check them out! In our next post we’ll share some exciting updates from Freeset, as well.
We post enough information about human trafficking on here to keep you occupied - why not add in a little more fashion fun? Every Friday (hopefully!) I’ll be posting some fun pictures of me and of others sporting their Stop Traffick Fashion tees and accessories. If you’d like to participate send an email to hello@stoptraffickfashion.com (or post it on our Facebook page) with your photo and why you like Stop Traffick Fashion and we’ll consider posting it on the blog, as well. Sounds fun to me!
This week I happened to get some professional photos taken by the wonderful Kate Combs of Katy C Photography. Kate is a fabulous photographer and specializes in simple, comfortable and enjoyable photography. I definitely recommend checking her work out.
In this photo I’m wearing the new Three Friends Necklace from our Freedom Stones collection. It’s turning out to be a popular piece. It’s made out of recycled glass in Ghana and adds a funky twist and hint of color to any outfit.
Stop Traffick Fashion and Bad Girl Ventures had more great coverage today in the Cincinnati Enquirer! Thank you to Laura Baverman for the story.
A soon-to-open Over-the-Rhine restaurant, a Findlay Market pet supply store and a West Chester animation studio are among the eight woman-owned companies that will soon be considered for a $25,000 loan from Bad Girl Ventures.
The start-up microfinance organization, founded in March to provide educational resources and early-stage financing to female entrepreneurs, announced on Tuesday night its first participants in a six-week crash course on starting and running a business. At the end of the program, one of those companies will be chosen for to receive a loan, funded by dozens of local private investors.
The finalists are:
Darcy Vorhees, founder of Flaming Medusa Studios Inc., an animation, illustration, art and character design studio.
Emily Hill, founder of Stop Traffick Fashion, a website that sells jewelry, handbags and T-shirts made by survivors of human trafficking.
Nicole Willis, owner of Party Sitters LLC, an agency that provides on-site child care at parties or events.
Caitlin Wilkerson, co-founder of WouldURather.com, a website that provides consumers with deep daily discounts to local businesses.
Ellen Smith, president and CEO of Electronic Interiors, a professional consulting and design firm for video, audio, security and telecommunications systems;
Heather Curless, founder of Greener Stock, a store in Columbia Tusculum that sells non-toxic and eco-friendly building products.
Ellen Faeth, owner of Mullane’s Parkside Café, a new restaurant in Over-the-Rhine that will offer a menu of fresh and local ingredients along with revolving art shows and live music.
Michele Hobbs and Amanda Broughton, co-owners of Pet Wants, a pet food and supply store recently opened at Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine offering only foods made in Ohio.
The BGV board of directors selected the winners after a thorough review of 68 applicants. Credit checks and interviews with family members yielded the final eight. Members of an investment committee (made up of those who have invested $500 or more) will select a recipient for the first loan after reviewing the progress and efforts of the women during the six-week program.
To date, the organization has raised $100,000 from local private individuals, said its founder, lawyer Candace Klein.
“I had no idea on March 3 what this would look like today, but it totally fuels the fire for me that we’re doing the right thing,” she said.
At the Tuesday evening event, held at the Hyde Park Country Club, Klein also announced a new partnership with Fifth Third Bank to serve as BGV’s fiscal agent. Bad Girl Ventures will also partner with the Economic and Community Development Institute of Columbus, a nonprofit small business lender that funnels micro-sized federal loans to businesses across Ohio.
Both organizations could provide additional funding to Bad Girl Ventures participants upon completion of the program.
“One of our goals is to help more small businesses be more bankable,” said John Marrocco, business banking executive with Fifth Third Bank. “We want to find a way to share our resources in the community and help our environment.”
Stop Traffick Fashion and Founder Emily Hill (me!) have been chosen to participate in a Cincinnati in a brand new entrepreneurship and micr0-lending organization called Bad Girl Ventures! The inaugural class consists of 8 women entrepreneurs and we’ll be participating in 6 weeks of courses. After completing all of the course work one woman will be chosen to win a $25,000 micro-loan. We’re excited to participate in the program and truly feel that BGV’s mission of helping empower women to live out their dreams is perfectly aligned to our goal of empowering survivors around the world!
Today Soapbox Media ran an article on the program and some of the participants, including Stop Traffick Fashion. It’s a great article so check it out!
Cincinnati’s first Bad Girl Ventures Class has been hand-picked and is ready to get down to business. But the name of this group of entrepreneurs is sort of a misnomer. These bad girls really aren’t either so don’t let them fool you. They’re an accomplished group of women ready to set Cincinnati on fire with an innovative brand of start-up financing.
Bad Girl Ventures was launched earlier this year by Over-the-Rhine attorney Candace Klein to help fill the gap between small startups looking for loans, and funders who want to invest in local job creation.
Bad Girl Ventures is based on the micro-financing model (donations start at $25) of international organizations like Kiva where small loans from individuals are bundled together. Bad Girls is a registered 501(c)3, housed in the Over-the-Rhine Chamber Revitalization Corporation, so contributions are tax deductible. The businesses apply for loans in a competitive application process that will allow them to get their ideas off the ground.
While one of the eight entrepreneurs selected will receive a $25,000 low interest loan from Bad Girl Ventures, other partner banks will be approached to finance the other participants. Another round of financing will follow every six weeks or so. BGV has partnered with traditional and non-traditional lenders and recently cemented partnerships with Fifth Third Bank and ECDI, a micro-lender out of Columbus that primarily lends SBA dollars.
“5/3rd is interested in partnering with BGV because they’re interested in investing in women-owned businesses,” Klein said.
Klein believes BGV is the first of its kind in the nation because it pairs the micro-lending model with a curriculum and a focus on women. Eight chosen startups will undergo a six-week entrepreneur curriculum where they will learn the building blocks to starting a business and be responsible for submitting a business plan, WBE application, etc. And while the classes are free for the eight women selected for the loan program, others in the community are welcome to sign up for the classes as well. (You can email Klein at candace@badgirlventures.com for more information).
BGV’s first class will be announced tonight, Aug. 24, at 6 p.m. at the Hyde Park Country Club. Tickets for the reveal and fundraiser are $25.
“I am very excited about the talent that has come forward for our first BGV class,” said Klein. “Of the 68 women who applied to receive our first loan, we feel confident that the eight women who have been invited into our first class represent a variety of skills, backgrounds and diverse business concepts.”
The businesses range from fashion to food to tech and everything in between. BGV’s youngest participant is in her early twenties, while the most tenured is in her mid-fifties. Some have already run a number of businesses while others are just beginning. BGV gave Soapbox access to its first finalists - just some of the creative business women who are making an impact on the Cincinnati startup world. Here’s a preview of three of those finalists.
Stop Traffick Fashion
Stop Traffick Fashion’s Emily Hill brings abolitionism into the 21st Century. She launched the business just over a year ago, selling boutique-style handbags, jewelry and t-shirts made by survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence in Cambodia, Vietnam and Afghanistan. Proceeds from those sales goes toward supporting and empowering those survivors, which gives them a self-sustaining way of making a living. The Walnut Hills resident sells the products through her web site and at local trunk shows.
Hill works in market research analytics at The Nielsen Company and has a Master of Arts in Economics from Miami University. She operates Stop Traffick Fashion herself, and self-finances it. BGV will allow her take her company to the next level, Hill said.
“I feel like I’m at the crossroads now. When I started (Stop Traffick) I just wanted to get it up and running and then take a look at (growing) it later. Taking the classes and getting mentorship from professionals that have experience with startups was appealing. They can help me refine it and plan for the future,” Hill said.
Electronic Interiors
Ellen Smith purchased Electronic Interiors last year and is president and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Though the Hebron resident has extensive management experience with Avon, spending the last 15 years as a District Manager directing 250 sales personnel, this is the first time she has owned her own business. Smith was also an eight-year employee of Norcom an audio/visual design/integration company, where she worked as a marketing and business manager.
Electronic Interiors is a professional consulting and design firm that develops video, audio, security, and tele-communications systems, in addition to creating sustainable design for new and renovated spaces. In the past year, Smith has earned needed certifications as a Certified Technology Specialist - Design InfoComm International and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Accredited Professional and others.
Smith said BGV will allow her to expand her business network and refine her business plans. If she wins the $25,000, Smith will be able to better market her company as she goes into her second year of ownership.
“I can move on and start introducing myself and my company,” Smith said. “Being part of Bad Girl Ventures will help with marketing and lead me in the right direction. I think it’s a great opportunity.”
Pet Wants: The Urban Feed Market at Findlay Market
Michele Hobbs and Amanda Broughton opened Pet Wants in June in OTR’s Findlay Market. The store offers locally sourced specialty pet foods and products to urban Cincinnati pet owners. The pair, who live in Prospect Hill, also offer a delivery service to shoppers who live within a five- mile radius of Findlay Market and spend $15 or more each week on their pets. Hobbs said she and Broughton would like to one day turn their business into an affordable franchise opportunity.
Hobbs was the President of the Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association for 3 years until her term expired in 2009, and has worked in sales. Broughton has a marketing degree from Northern Kentucky University and has worked in retail, the service industry and in small business management.
This is their first business venture together and in addition to financing, the mentorship of BGV will be vital to helping them succeed, Hobbs said.
“We’re really looking forward to that feedback. The mentors can look at some of things we are doing and let us know if we need to change direction on anything,” she said.
Two recent news articles have highlighted the sad state of human trafficking in Ohio. A recent study by the Polaris Project named Ohio one of the “dirty dozen” when it comes to lax sex trafficking laws. Other states included Hawaii, Massachusetts, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, South Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.
A few days later the Columbus Dispatch posted an article about human trafficking in nail salons throughout Ohio. Kevin Miller, executive director of the Ohio Board of Cosmetology spoke of the problem in a meeting of the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission.
He told the commission that immigrants from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, often brought illegally to the U.S. for a price, are given “laundered” false identities, including fake high-school diplomas, driver’s licenses, immigration papers and other documents.
The employee then becomes an “indentured servant,” working for the employer for two years for little or sometimes no money to pay off their debt. Often, the employees are required to live on the premises. The agency documented one case where 16 licensees lived at the same address.
Next time you go to get a mani and pedi, make sure you pay attention to your surroundings and preferably, think twice about going to get a cheap manicure. Now sounds like an excellent time to contact your senator to push for change in Ohio’s laws!
From Change.org:
This week the Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation that would fund new services for children trafficked for sex in America and crack down on the pimps who profit from selling them. The bill will make six block grants available to innovative new programs for American children who have been victimized in the commercial sex industry.
And you can help make sure this critical legislation becomes law! Read more here and make sure to sign the petition and pass it along to your friends. It might seem trivial but if our lawmakers know that fighting human trafficking is a priority, then it will have to become a priority for them, as well!
The excellent film, Call + Response, is now available for pre-order on DVD! Organizing a screening of this film is an excellent way to raise awareness of the issue and call your friends to action. Call + Response is not a DVD you watch alone in your home, it’s something you show and experience with others. It’s a movement.
Why not pre-order the DVD and host a screening? They have put together screening kits for you to use in various locations. You could even combine it with a fair-trade chocolate fondue party. Everyone loves chocolate fondue. Watching a cool movie with (great music!) about human trafficking and eating fair-trade chocolate sounds like a good way to spend an evening and raise awareness about human trafficking!
Posting tweet...
