Thailand

Exciting news here:::: Kelly has presented me an opportunity to travel with her to Thailand!! I'm planning on being there for 1 month. The first week I will be at a conference with Kelly in Bangkok, I will then travel to the north to visit a women's group called Population and Community Development Association or PDA. I will spend one week with then developing new products with local artisans. I will then fly down to the south of Thailand and spend one week with SHE Thailand and one week with the Duang Prateep Ban Thai Namchai orphanage and develop more products with them. The products we create will be sold at The Village Experience and their local markets. I will actually be there with the artisans developing products and searching for materials! Crazy huh??

The only stipulation with the trip is that I have to fund the entire thing. Therefore, I have created the brochure to help fundraise for the trip (to enlarge the brochure, just click on it). Many of you may have already received it via email or will receive it through the postal mail. Hopefully, through enough family and friends I will raise enough to cover my travel and expenses. If I surpass my goal, I will use the money to help build up the women's group. Please click the "donate" button on the right side if you would like to help! As most of you know, their needs are simple and a small donation can make a huge difference.

Please contact me if you would like more information regarding the women's groups I will be visiting or if you have any questions/comments!

Look, I'm famous!

Well......I'm not really famous, BUT my biography and the link to my blog is up on TVE's website! Despite it only being a little write-up-which I wrote myself- it kind of makes me feel like an asset to the company. Working on the website was really interesting. Not too complicated but interesting in that you get to see the "behind the scenes" or "back end" of a website. The interns have been delegated the responsibility for keeping the website up-to-date on the events, travels and new products. Tomorrow I will post new pictures of the store and the products to the website, some of which are already posted on my blog.

Working on the website took up the first half of my day and the other half of my day was spent researching new products that can be created. Anne and Kelly are leaving for Thailand tomorrow. While in Thailand Kelly and Anne will be meeting up with SHE Thailand and the Duang Prateep Foundation to discuss and develop new products for the store. SHE Thailand focuses on pearls, while the Duang Prateep Foundation produces this beautiful printed fabric. As of now, the Duang Prateep Foundation is using the fabric to make wine totes, however TVE wants to do more with the fabric. It is made of 100% cotton and comes in a variety of colors. A few ideas for the fabric is to develop student travel id's (similar to the ones made by Vera Bradley), various sizes of make-up bags, passport covers and credit card holders. Below are a few pictures of the fabric that is currently used to make the wine totes:

Just in case you were wondering what the Duang Prateep Foundation is, it began in 1978 to work with the urban poor. In response to the Tsunami of 2004, the organization expanded its services to Phangnga province to help the remaining survivors, mostly children. This foundation supports orphanages, handicraft centers, kindergartens, community development projects, and much more. The women of Duang Prateep engage in income-generating projects to help themselves and to support local children's home, such as Baan Tharn Namchai, where The Village Experience works.

Ideas for SHE Thailand are pearl earrings, both studs and dropped pearls, bracelets with several rows of pearls, necklaces with a variety of sizes of pearls, etc. In researching, it is important to think of the resources these organizations will have available, as well as, the complexity of the product. Having a picture of the product or a simplified sketch is crucial. All while trying to keep in mind the young, college-aged consumer!

Check out my bio under the "Our Team" tab. Then, click on "Advisory Board!"

Night folks:) xxoo