It’s no small secret that I book a busy schedule. I might complain to Ryan a lot about how I’m busy (read: I ignore him because I’m distracted by other things, even though I love him dearly and enjoy nothing more than curling up in his bed and absentmindedly acknowledging his presence as I read through and respond to e-mail), but the truth of the matter is that I function much better under pressure. I get more done when I have 100 things to do than when I have 10 things to do, or--heavens forbid!--only 1 thing to do.
In that spirit--and in my new-found, but long-lurking, spirit of sales--I spent a lot of time speaking with Jill, the founder and CEO of Original T-Bag Designs. We visited her business in Hout Bay, at the foot of the hill that is Imizamo Yethu township, last Friday, in addition to visiting other entrepreneurial ventures in the area. Jill is a lovely Englishwoman who came to South Africa and was so affected by the destitution in the townships that she started to do something--anything. After a few moderately unsuccessful ventures teaching crafts to impoverished individuals in hopes of selling their products, she was drinking tea and discussing her situation with a dear friend from England. Essentially, the friend took the tea bag out of her tea and said, ‘Why not create designs out of these?’ The designs are created by taking the used, dry tea bag, opening it up to dump out the spent tea, ironing the bag, and painting on it before using it to create art.
It’s. Awesome.
It’s sustainable. It’s scalable. It’s sweatshop-free and it’s helping people work their way out of poverty. On top of all this, these product are high-quality and look great. How could you not support?
Jill employs women (and some men!) in the township for this business. They get paid piecemeal for each bag theat they take home to dry, iron, paint, and bring back. They also get paid a monthly salary. They are in serious need of some productive infrastructure and efficiency, but somehow things get done and they get done really well. The items are each literally individual pieces of art.
I struck up a conversation with Jill and discussed her distribution. (Meaghan less than 3 marketing and sales, apparently.) Jill’s a big fan of using business--not charity--to solve poverty. Woot! She thinks that there should be business incentives for all involved, which was refreshing to hear. She’s originally a teacher, though, and she still has a lot to learn about business. In her presentation to our group (and two tourists who had some time to kill and hopped on), Jill touted the fact that one of their customers is the Smithsonian. When I spoke with her, we discussed her US distributor, Jodee. Jodee, a former teacher as well, is an extremely passionate, completely on-board woman who basically has no background in sales, marketing, or business.
Sweet.
Thinking about how much we all liked the products offered--especially the new line of nautical-themed coasters, trays, stationary, et cetera--I began to hypothesise more US distribution. Something like this would sell fantastically at a kiosk in Quincy Market or the Pru. It would be so easy to convince rich people on the Cape to spend their money on the nautical stuff. In fact, Shelagh, who lives on the Cape, bought a tonne of it here.
Hm…
I have Jodee’s contact information and I intend to start communicating with her. I need to do an honours project, and though I’ll probably have about 6 projects vying for my attention simultaneously in the fall (with 2 already potential honours projects, both in microfinance/social business), that’s how I operate, right? What’s 7 to 6? What’s 17 to 7?
Maybe not that far.
Maybe.
In the mean time, check out the website! (There's less info on the US one.) Leave comments letting me know of you interest! Would you buy this product? How would use use it? What else would you like to see? What don’t you like about it? What’s stopping you from buying everything? (Hint: this is a really good time and place to mention items that particularly tickle your fancy that you wouldn’t mind ending up in my suitcase.)
Behind the link are more awesome pictures.
2 comments:
I quite enjoy these designs, especially the candle holders and coasters! My aunt Robin and uncle David, who live in lovely Concord, MA have many pieces with similar designs in their home. These mostly include wall fixtures and table dressings which look great and give the house an earthy rustic feel. David is originally from Joburg, so they really enjoy the traditional artwork and tribal items. (Fwding website to them)
I certainly think there is a US market for items such as this... probably more east coast. I think the main appeal of the designs and items is that they are artistic, earthy, and sustainable. Quincy market is a great idea. Other "artsy-trendy" places such as Newburyport and Portsmouth too. Outdoor bazaars/markets in general.
Lately it seems that the trendy thing for many upper middle class people is to be artsy and eco-conscious, which is good, but can seem disingenuous. Ideally they would also care that the business they are supporting is providing income for impoverished south Africans. So there's the target group. And socially aware students too, of course.
Interesting concept. Pretty cool vision.
I really hope that it works. I would have so much fun promoting something like this.
Also, not to be totally ignorant/whatever, as long as people are interested in buying product, I'm happy. I've learned that there are wayyy too many disingenuous people in the world, and they all really bother me. I've accepted, though, that as long as their actions are good, then I'm fine with their actions. For instance, 14-year-old vegans who are only vegan because their favourite band is vegan are annoying, but they're still not creating demand for barbaric products, so I'll live with them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend?
Nbpt and Portsmouth are wicked good ideas. =) Methinks craft fairs, too. And I think that I could work with groups on campus who are already selling hand-made crafts from impoverished women in different areas of the world, so woot!
I love life.
Post a Comment