Sevenly

You may have already read our gushing account of Parker Clay — their products, their purpose, their story — but we wanted to give you another look into the heart and soul behind the company, Ian Bentley. Ian inspires us the serve and give and work faithfully — if you aren’t already deeply in love with Parker Clay and their mission, give this interview a read :)

(Ian onsite in Ethiopia with one of Parker Clay’s artisans)

You and your wife, Brittany, visited Ethiopia and then ultimately decided to move there, and then it wasn’t until several years later that Parker Clay was formed. Can you say a little bit about each step of that process? What drew you there, why did you stay, why compelled you to build a business there?  Back in 2008 we were moved by the number of orphans living in the world. Some statistics place the numbers at 163 million orphans worldwide. While those statistics are alarming, and we looked at these numbers and said, “What if that was Parker or Clayton” our two biological children. From that moment, the journey to Ethiopia started and in 2011 when we brought home our Ethiopian daughter, Selah who was 5 months old at the time. While in Ethiopia we spent time with a number of organizations looking for ways to address some of the root causes to poverty and the disruption of family. It was soon after this that we packed up our lives and moved to Ethiopia to help with development work centered around job creation and capacity development with vulnerable women.

Can you pick one specific woman that has been crafting products for Parker Clay and tell us her story? How has Parker Clay had an impact on her life and the life of her family?  Milion is one of the incredibly hard working and brilliant women behind Parker Clay, she is a young woman who is passionate about her community. She spends time giving back to her community and love singing in her church choir.  We also work with a number of women who have left prostitution. One day a women we work with was so excited to show us something and as she pulled us back to her work locker, she showed us the report card of your 9 year old son. On the report card it said he was first in his class and in that moment we realized that the empowerment we were working so hard at was not only impacting these women but the next generation of leaders in Ethiopia.

Can you briefly discuss the implications, impact, and advantages of building a business onsite in Ethiopia rather than managing it from afar in the US?   It’s huge, while we love sharing the story of individuals behind our products, we believe that the story of community is just as significant. The connectivity has a beautiful thread throughout it all.  From the rural farmers, tanneries, artisans, to the shipping companies that are all involved at every step even before the products leave the port in Ethiopia, there are literally 100’s of people involved in the making of Parker Clay products. We have seen the group of artisans we work with double in just over a year, and while it’s not easy to build an international brand in an emerging and still developing market, we feel that the potential is great. One of the most rewarding things to see is the talent developed in our artisans, to give them opportunities that challenge them and watch them step up and exceed your expectations. It’s all about people ,and we consider it a privilege to work with every one of them.

How long does the bracelet from the CAUSEBOX take to make from start to finish? How about the Headband? Can you say just a bit about the materials and the process of production?  The production of the bracelet for the CAUSEBOX was a design 100% sourced from Ethiopia.  For certain accessories, such as zippers, we have to import from Switzerland because the options we very limited in Ethiopia.  We wanted to design something new that would not only show the beauty of the leather but tell the redeeming story of how we give back with each bracelet.  The metal accessories we use in each bracelet were upcycled from artillery found in the rural areas of Ethiopia where there was former conflict.  These artillery shells are melted down to make the beautiful part you seen.  As you can imagine, this process is very time consuming as it’s all done by hand. We then have these custom pieces brought in from the countryside into Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia where we have the premium leather straps ready to be assembled by our team.  They then stitch each ring and bead on by hand.  A similar process happens with each headband.

(Upcycled Artillery Bracelet from CAUSEBOX03)

What excites you most about what Parker Clay is doing and where it is going?  We have learned a lot in the first year of business, we continue to focus on producing a premium product with an equal focus on the impact that is made in Ethiopia.  We are thrilled with the year ahead and some exciting new partnerships and products that we will be adding to our offering.  We have been grateful for the relationship with the team at CAUSEBOX and Sevenly, who in many ways shares our ethos. At the end of the day, it comes down to relationships for us. While living in Ethiopia we saw other brands exploiting people in Ethiopia for marketing and we committed to always be genuine in what we do. We work with our friends, people who we have lived with, shared meals with, cried with, and this is at the core of why we do what we do.

Find the t-shirt here:

(womens): sevenly

We know you loved the Musana Bumba necklace from the Summer CAUSEBOX because it’s showing up everywhere on Instagram :) We love it too. We also love everything about Musana. They are such a powerful brand and company that means so much to the women they are training, serving, and mentoring in Uganda. We sat down with Linden Baker, Musana COO, and asked her a few questions about how the Musana journey began. We dare you not to fall deeper in love with Musana after getting the whole story :)

How did Musana start and how was it named? Why Uganda? Musana actually started in 2009. For the first few years it was a small nonprofit based in Uganda that employed seven women in the Lugazi, Uganda community. A few girls had put the group together at the end of a volunteer trip to Uganda, but unfortunately after a few years it became difficult to sustain. I met one of the girls, Melissa Sevy, in 2013 when Musana was at a make-or-break point. Melissa and I were both really passionate about making a sustainable difference and we loved the artisan business model, so we decided to team up to give Musana one last go. We launched Musana Intl. along with fresh branding, a new website, and newly designed products. Since then we’ve been able to expand retail and online sales significantly. We grew from employing seven to 21 full-time artisans in under six months. Since our real launch as U.S. brand was about a year and a half ago, we’re still in somewhat of a “start-up” phase looking to expand retail and build our brand so we can continue to employ more women. Our mission is to empower women to provide a better life for their children by giving them steady employment and educational opportunities. There’s something very empowering for our artisans to able to provide for their families and pay for their children to attend school all on their own. They are the reason we do what we do! Musana means “sunlight” in the local language of Luganda - it was inspired by our incredible artisans as they are truly a light in their community and in the lives of everyone they meet!

On all of the tags on your jewelry there are photos of the women who handcraft the products. Can you pick one specific woman and tell us one her story? How has Musana had an impact on her life and the life of her family? One of our artisans, Harriet Ochieng, was actually in the U.S. this past February as a special guest speaker for our annual fundraising gala. We put together this video from her trip that tells her story. Harriet is the epitome of resilience. After her husband died and she was diagnosed with HIV, her and her twin daughters were completely ostracized. She wasn’t able to find a job, a place to live, or get any help from friends or family. It wasn’t until she found Musana that she was finally able to catch a break. Now, she plays an important role at Musana as a health teacher and advocate. Her openness towards speaking about HIV is very rare and she is one of the few people beginning to start a conversation about the cultural implications of HIV/Aids in Uganda. Since she started working at Musana, she has been able to provide for her twin daughters and even help provide for her granddaughter.

How long does it take from start to finish to make one of the necklaces that was in the CAUSEBOX? From start to finish, it takes about a week to a week and a half. A few hours total goes into each individual necklace though. The firing, painting, and drying of the clay beads is what takes so long. So day one includes shaping all the beads and sending them through quality checks. Once they’ve shaped all the beads, we fire them in our kiln. It usually takes two or three days to fire them depending on the quantity. Once they’ve been fired, they’re strung up to be painted. After each bead is hand-painted, they dry for two days before being taken down for assembly.

What excites you most about the effect that Musana is having on the Lugazi community? I think the most exciting thing has been seeing changes amongst the next generation, our artisans’ children. All of our artisans are mothers and many of them are the sole providers for their children, so having steady employment is a gamechanger. Their children are much healthier and happier. One of the requirements as a Musana artisan is that all school-aged children must be currently enrolled in school. Often times Ugandan families will pull children out of school and have them work or watch their younger siblings to bring in extra money for the family. As our artisans have been consistently sending their children to school, we’ve seen incredible changes within their families. The women understand now the importance of education and many of their children have reached a higher levels of education than anyone else in their family. It’s really exciting to see their families grow and prosper!

Visit Musana online: musanaintl.org

Sign up for The CAUSEBOX and get yourself one of these lovely Musana necklaces before the Summer Box is sold out!