goodMRKT Live
goodMRKT Live
Empowering Women and Inspiring Change: The Parker Clay Story with Ian Bentley
Get ready to hear the inspiring story of Parker Clay, an incredible leather goods company that's committed to making a positive impact. Through their partnership with Ellilta Women at Risk, they are not just setting up successful businesses but also empowering individuals who can go on and empower so many more. Tune in for this episode of goodMRKT Live as Harry sits down with Ian as he tells us how their efforts have created positive ripples through communities by simply providing opportunities - and opening doors for hope!
Welcome to Season Two of the good market podcast. I'm your host, Harry Cunningham. Each month, we hear from good people with great products, supporting exceptional causes, and making incredible impacts on communities around the world. Join us now as we hear another good story about impact it's happening right near you. So it's an exciting day for me, as we get kick off this episode of good market live, something we've never done before in some 30 episodes or so yet, we actually get the opportunity to speak with a founder who is in their factory in another country. We've talked to people in other states, we've talked people out of their cities, but never in another country. So I'm really, really excited to introduce you to Ian Bentley, founder and CEO or co founder, I should say and CEO of Parker clique, a super exciting brand that we're really pumped to talk about today. So Ian, welcome.
Ian Bentley:Thanks, Harry. I'm excited to be calling in from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia today. So yeah, it's fun to be here.
Harry Cunningham:Sort of a hometown for you, but also not a hometown for you, right?
Ian Bentley:Oh, this feels like home. I love Ethiopia. I love the people the culture. I I do feel like this is our second home for sure. Andit's always it's always such a joy being back. I wish I was here, actually, more often. But yeah, we love it.
Harry Cunningham:Very cool. So even before we talk a little bit more about Ethiopia, can you tell me a little bit about Parker clay, I know the story. But I'd love for everybody to hear kind of how you all started. I know you and your wife started. And there's a great reason behind the name Parker clay to but I would love you just jump in. Tell us a little bit about the brand and where you are, how you got started, how you got here today?
Ian Bentley:Yeah, it's been quite the journey. We've been working here and coming back and forth for about a dozen years now. And we first we first came to Ethiopia to adopt our daughter, or yet with our three daughters now. But we ultimately you know, a little bit of the backstory is we had our first two sons, my wife and I Brittany and I got married really young, we're actually highschool sweethearts. And we had our first two sons, Parker and Clay our boys. And we then started talking about adoption. And that ultimately led us to Ethiopia to adopt our daughter. And while we were here, we just had the, you know, really privilege of meeting some incredible people, specifically women who, as we asked them, What are the greatest needs here in Ethiopia, they kept saying, you know, we don't need handouts, we want jobs, we want opportunities. And that really stuck stuck to us, in addition to the fact that this country is beautiful, the people are incredible, resilient, there's really there was this kind of untold story we felt about Ethiopia, there was more focused on the problems, and we saw this huge potential. And that really led us to considering ways we could get more involved with Ethiopia beyond just adoption. And in 2012, we, we kind of chose the most logical path, which was sell everything you own, buy a one way ticket and move your family to Ethiopia. And so we,
Harry Cunningham:As as one does, right,
Ian Bentley:Right. It's right, that's right. But we moved here to partner with an organization that was helping women out of trafficking and prostitution. And the big need was creating job opportunities. And so Brittany and I really, were always looking for ways to create sustainable jobs for women now that even as of today, Parker claims mission and focus is to create jobs where women really can thrive, not just survive. And that is kind of the backbone to, you know, who we are and what we're about. And we do it by, you know, creating these really beautiful bags and world class products. And that was kind of a whole other story we discovered while we were here in Ethiopia, helping these women. So I like to say Parker clay, I mean, physically, my boys existed before we moved to Ethiopia, but the company did not. It started after we were living here working with these women. And am I right, you were actually looking for a bag for your wife.
Harry Cunningham:And that was part of the inspiration for doing the bag company?
Ian Bentley:Yeah, it was it was Britney's birthday. And there isn't a whole lot of big box shopping, retail stores that have things but there's a lot of artisans and things like that that are here. And we found this leather bag that was both caught our eye caught our eyes. And we looked inside and had a tag that said, made in Ethiopia. And on the backside of this tag was this guy's phone number. And so we literally called the phone number and said, Where did you get this bag and the material and it's sent us on this big journey to discover the leather industry. You mean you see goats and cows and sheep everywhere? Turns out Ethiopia has got the sixth largest population of livestock in the world. Well, and as a byproduct of that there is leather right and it really is this, this sustainable thing of this continuity of a material that could be thrown out as waste typically, is now able to be repurposed and made into these beautiful bags. And we were at a tannery when we first were interested in looking at the industry. And the owner of the tannery that day where he was loading multiple shipping containers with leather. And I asked him where he was shipping it to thinking, Are you taking it across town? He goes, No, that's going to Italy. And he said it. So matter of fact, like, this stuff happens all the time. Yeah. And so, you know, that lightbulb moment of thinking about at the time we are here, because we want to create jobs for women. And if there is a material that's good enough to go to the world's best, you know, fashion houses of the world? Well, we just found the source of it right here in Ethiopia. And let's create beautiful bags that people want not because it's helping women, but because it's a beautiful product, and then also have a massive impact on women.
Harry Cunningham:Well, it's it's amazing that, you know, something that is really not really talked about about it's obviously much more prevalent now. And I spent a lot of years in the luxury fashion world, probably encountered Ethiopian leather and never even realized it because I see bags that were made in Italy, but probably never even knew that and never honestly, I think they're probably a lot of people don't even think about where their leather comes from what the original sources. So I mean, I love that you're telling us already. But even more importantly, I love that you had the foresight to say, what if we just kept the leather here? How could we impact people even more, and there's one of our brands that we serve at the cafe coffee. And I want to this is kind of an interesting segue into the next thing that I want to talk about with you. But one of the brands that we carry our coffee that we serve, at the at the cafe, we also sell their beans. Brendon at utopian talk to me a lot about when he was going into these countries where farmers were, you know, harvesting coffee. They're only making something like 1% of the profits because of everything that happens in between, how does that financial impact shift when you can, in addition to obviously, the women employed, you know that the work that's happening there? Like how does that shift for even the beginning of the leather?
Ian Bentley:Yeah, that's right. And we always set out to create jobs that were sustainable to pay beyond a fair wage. And in many cases, set the standard for the house, things are paid and the infrastructure of it. In Ethiopia, there's no minimum wage. And so we wanted to look around and we actually developed our own we called our basket of goods, where we go and quarterly and we review the cost of living and we look at a transportation food, health care, childcare, many of the women at our factory our moms did and what are all the burdens and costs that go into that. Some didn't have savings accounts, financial literacy, some even just, you know, basic writing some some of the women coming in, didn't even have to write their name before coming in. I mean, he's just talking about this whole list of things that are really enveloped in, in the whole conversation. And, you know, I think when it when it comes to that we are very intentional, we actually also have multiple owners on the Ethiopian side. So what's unique about Parker Clay that we own the manufacturing, we're at the source of the product, right, so we're not just the brand selling the product in the US or internationally. But we are the factory as well, where the manufacturer and we have multiple Ethiopians on the Ethiopian side that have ownership in the building. So representation at the table with with them and, you know, we, we are a for profit business. So we are also very intentional to say, hey, we want to be toe to toe with the best in the world. And look at that with excellence. And so we talk about financial, you know, strategies and how we can be really cost effective, but also, how do we empower people the whole the whole way. And that's where, you know, we are very intentional. We've, it's interesting, because for us, like, like 2022, we had multiple people from both sides, we have women on the Ethiopian side and the US side, get married, buy houses have kids, you know, and I think that it's different. But but the thing, right is different in the sense that a house cost in Ethiopia versus California, it's probably going to be a lot different, but comparably right with those incomes and salaries. And really the full package of what we offer to our team is something that we're very, very intentional about so you know, when you're buying a Parker Clay product, that we have spent quite a bit of time really being intentional with that. And it's also one of the reasons as a B Corp. We are one of the highest ranking B Corps on the planet for our community impact and it's-
Harry Cunningham:Yeah, last time we talked you were telling me about that and I think you guys had a pretty big milestone this past year too, with your with your B Corp status, right?
Ian Bentley:We did yeah, we increased the score to 112. We beat out Ben and Jerry's. We, we, we and we want to push the limits, because again, we want to set an example. And you know, the beauty. I just just literally before jumping on this podcast, got to meet 12, potential new candidates, who will we work with, with a partner organization that's helping women out of trafficking. And we got to have a conversation about the business. And these are women that probably next month will join Parker clay, and have the opportunity to work with us. And in talking to their leadership team, they were talking about how we have inspired others in the community for what we do, because they see these women are excellent. They're hard workers, they pour back into their community. And now one of the banks we partner with just hired seven women from just nonprofits are credible. And so I'm I'm seeing firsthand right now, the ripple effects of what this is doing, not just immediately with Parker clay, but the partners we work with, as well.
Harry Cunningham:That's very cool. So I mean, I have so many questions for you. But I want to go back a little bit. So you mentioned you have Brittany were highschool sweethearts, right? My guess is that when you were a junior in high school or senior in high school, or whatever it was you guys started dating. The first conversation was not let's go to Ethiopia. How did you guys get from high school sweethearts to? Let's have kids and let's take a trip to Ethiopia. How did how does that how does that come up? I mean, I've got teens, you've got teens. Now it's like, I know, that's not what the what's going on, although it's no problem, arguably, in kids minds today than it might have been, you know, 20 years ago. But anyway, I mean, I was at
Ian Bentley:I was a- So I was a sophomore in high school and half Britney was a senior, though she was two years older, and so we, you know, we, I'm just really grateful we have such a great partnership, we the privilege of doing life together, the way that we do is so cool. We really both enjoy it work and family and everything, you know, that comes with that. And we we kind of jumped in, right? I mean, we got married, I was 19. When we got married, I was 21. And I had maybe a year left to college by the time we got married. And so we just kind of grew together, we grew, we went to college together. We got married young, we had kids. And I think while we were dating, we had talked about adoption. We did, we talked about that being something that we wanted to explore at some point, but we weren't, you know, in high school, we didn't know what was going to happen or the timing of that. And I think that we have always been very, you know, driven by our hearts, and driven by the passion that comes into that. When when I saw when we had our first two sons, it was hard for me to metabolize the idea that there were 160 million orphans in the world, almost 5 million just in Ethiopia. And that, like I don't know how to grasp what to do with that. It's just so big. It's such a big number. But then I would look outside and I see Parker and Clay running around in my backyard going, what if that was one of them? And, and that changes this headnotes to this art, movement, you know, hard, like just momentum that was like, I will do whatever it takes to help them and, you know, again, even reminded right now, those 12 women we just talked to who were talking about their, their passion for their kids, and they want to work hard and have a great job because they want to provide opportunity for their kids. And, you know, that's been kind of an evolution over for us over the years of Sure. And when you're dating, we're like, you know, who knows what that looks like? Or what, you know, what does that even mean? Where we marry? And, I think we pursued that. Really the American dream, right? We pursue the idea of we got married, we bought our first house, we've had our first kids. And then in came this detour of we adopted this little girl from Ethiopia. And it just the trip to Ethiopia completely unraveled some thinking, ways of thinking, and it was like, Wait, we're supposed to do this. We're supposed to kind of stay on the trajectory of career and everything you're told to do, then none of the move into Ethiopia made any logical sense. It was like, that's always thought it was the best. It was absolutely the best choice because looking back now 10 plus years later, I mean, it's, we've got a factory here in Ethiopia, 200 plus employees. We're the largest exporter of finished leather goods from the country to the world. I mean, you know, all of this create opportunity. And yet, there's still more right but we've created this huge, huge facility and opportunity to create even more impact and Yeah, so looking back, you know, there's been such, it's been a journey. And it's not easy. I mean, anybody who's created anything new, like pioneering, yet, but so worth it.
Harry Cunningham:But I think and I think you'll probably agree with this too, when we get to meet other people that are entrepreneurs that are pioneering as you will, it sort of gives you this extra, like, somebody else is out there going through this with me, I'm not at it alone, they're there, they're doing a different path, they're doing something differently. And obviously, you and Brittany have each other to do it, I have my wife to do it. But it's like, it does kind of give you this feeling like, Okay, we got like, we can keep doing this. And it's sorry, as modern as we're getting. And as much as we can become much more international. It also harkens back to even the early days here of people moving to the United States. And now there's so much unknown when they started that, and I think we kind of live with that unknown every day. And a little bit of wind in our sails gives us that much more drive to kind of keep pushing through that unknown and keep going and keep
Ian Bentley:100 percent, 100 per- And you know, and at the going. Right. end of the day, it's not just profit, we're chasing its purpose. And I think that, that, you know, the intersection of those two things is tricky sometimes. But that's something that's so meaningful to know, the level of impact that has happened. And, you know, I think that the more time you have behind these pursuits, you get to see the this road that kind of is filled with the ups and downs. You know, it's not like you just arrived this one day at this big factory always people. It's a journey, for sure.
Harry Cunningham:Yeah, let's go. And I think you I mean, you mentioned you have 200 plus employees in Ethiopia, you also employ people in California. So you're managing teams, you know, arguably, on opposite sides of the world, or certainly, that 9000 miles apart, or whatever the number is, I think you said, That's right, and I about right, 9000 miles apart? Not easy, but how do you how do you manage to sort of stay in touch with what's going on in both places, because I think as a leader, part of what is important is that you're always approachable, reachable in touch with what's going on? How do you manage that 9000 mile spread? Easily, yet, or maybe?
Ian Bentley:Let's be honest, well, in the last couple of years, right, we've all faced some really unprecedented challenges with a pandemic, a number of different global, traumatic events that have been really hard to navigate as a leader, it is a challenge to lead cross culturally, as well, you have to really understand culture, and respect that. And that's been quite a journey in learning that as well, I think especially as a, you know, frankly, as a white male, American, there's a lot of privilege that often comes into that and recognizing what that means in different places. Ethiopia is great, it's one of the only, it is the only country in Africa that has never been colonized. And there is a great sense of pride and respect without as well. I think what is important, and there's an African proverb that really explains this well and and even explains what you were just mentioning before this, of we go together and and that's a mantra here at Parker clay is that the proverb says if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far go together. So we have adopted and really made it a cornerstone at Parker Clay, we go together. And so what does that mean? It means that we are here for each other, that we are part of each other's lives, we're intentional about that. It's one of the reasons why I do put so many miles on the airplane coming back and forth. Because there's a difference between having a Skype call or a video call, and having a conversation with someone face to face. And I actually learned that even more so living in Ethiopia, I think when I first came in, I came in very business focused, we gotta get this done. Why isn't it now? Like, Hurry, let's go, let's move. And here, there's a there's a culture of, you know, sit down, have a coffee. Let's warm up a little bit before we jump right in. And I think there's I've taken some of that back to the US as well. And we really try to be intentional on both sides with the team. And we've really refined our core values. We have core values in English and Amharic language here in Ethiopia. And they're the same, they're in unity with regards to our our mission or vision and our values. We believe in things like we win, or we learned, right? And I had the first day I got here to Ethiopia. My team was giving me a report about this last year. And they said, Well, we failed in this area. And I said, Hold on. Our core value is we win or we learn what did you learn? It's not that you fail, what did you learn? And I think it's so fun to like, speak into those those truths of Parker Clay and what we believe and it brings people alive. It brings people alive and in in unique ways. And on this trip, we have an employee that we brought over with us from a car team on the US side. And so it's, it's nice to be able to bring them over here and be able to work but also meet the team on this side, we brought employees from the unit from the Ethiopian side over to the US as well. And, you know, I think really embracing culture, embracing each other's differences has been a big part. And, you know, I think there's a big degree of humility, empathy that comes with leadership as well. I'm, I mean, it's a privilege for me in a weight at times, it's a big pressure, right? To be able to have so many people, I think, as a leader, I feel the weight of providing for so many people. But I also feel the privilege of being able to be a leader in that space. So I want to, I want to do the best I can, because these people are amazing.
Harry Cunningham:Yeah, I think it's great hearing you say that that's part of what we what kind of has driven me as well at good market is that when we think about the work that we're doing, we're lucky to get to celebrate the work that you all are doing, right, we were privileged to get to bring your product and your stories. And you know, there's kind of our our three sentence mission good people, great products, exceptional causes, can really come to life because of what you all are doing. And it's a it's your point about it being a privilege, it really is. And as we think about expanding to other states or other cities, or whatever that might look like it, it's because we get to bring that good to more people. And I love hearing you say that, because it's so true to what we do as well. One of the things that I read about that you guys had on your site, I think it was trade is greater than eight. Right. And and I know that you have a ticker that runs on your site as well, that talks about the Empowered hours, and you're I think over 1.6 million now, talk a little bit around that, that Jen growing, which is fantastic. I mean that you'll you'll hit 2 million easily probably this year, right? Talk to me a little bit about trade versus aid or trade greater than aid, and how that all connects back.
Ian Bentley:I think going back to, again, when we first came to Ethiopia, and I think even today, for most people in the world, there's a perception of Africa, such as in Ethiopia, as famine as problems, there was a in the 80s, there was a cover of Time magazine, or crowdy Ethiopian woman and a starving child. And it was all about the famine, Bano had a big music tour, and there was all that aid. That was alright. So that has been a huge narrative for most of us, and our exposure to Africa. And that was that started to change when we first came here, because we heard just different narrative being on the ground. And I think that's another reason why it's so important that we're here. And so great while we're having this conversation while while I'm here, because that is such a differentiator, it makes such a huge difference. And for years, Ethiopia has been known as a destination for aid. And we've believed completely that, that it's time to shift that narrative to a destination of trade. Because the sustainability of trade up business is going to have such a big impact aid often creates dependency. And we've seen that, you know, we've seen some and even, you know, there's some of the best jobs you can find in places in Africa are a jobs are nonprofits. And there's a certain degree of I wish there was more conversations with a groups that were talking about, how do we eliminate these things and get ourselves out of a job? Right, that will be the best case for a lot of these aid organizations, because we're doing so good. We're not needed anymore. I think that when it comes to trade, there is the ability for business to have massive impact and do good on the world is just I think we're just now beginning to taste that and the consumer is aware to it as well. Right? The movement of conscious consumer is I'm sure that has really grown significantly, I would say over the last 10 years, isn't slowing down. It's only speeding up. And so consumers are wanting more of it. You know, in our daily purchases, we have the opportunity to be part of that. And so I think that that movement to trade where we look at Ethiopia, Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. And it's certainly the fastest in Africa. And a lot of people don't know that we they just created a hydroelectric dam that has capacity to power the entire country and sell to neighboring countries. There's all this infrastructure that's coming into the country and Asia is changing dramatically where a lot of manufacturing jobs are looking to leave Asia. And where are those going? Well, I think Africa is a fantastic opportunity to bring the jobs and stimulate the economy and the consumer is here too. So I think that when we want to have an impact, it is not just charities and aids are fantastic. And we partner with one as part of what we do. And they do something. They do rehabilitation work with women, and they do it phenomenally, that is not our core competency, what we can do is invite them into a healthy space, create job stability, and allow them to then sustain themselves and impact their community. And I think that's what's different, right? When it comes to aid, we can help these women to a certain point, but what's going to prevent them from potentially coming right back into trafficking or something like that they need opportunity. And that's what business does. And if we looked at business different from past generations, where it was pure profit, it was purely about just core, you know, business and nothing else and said, Well, what if actually, good business could be done in a way that you could impact society's greatest needs? And I think that's, that's why we exist. I know, that's why you guys exist, the same thing we can do that we can be business that can create those things.
Harry Cunningham:Yeah,I mean, I love and I think you probably feel the same way. I love that what we're doing is sort of trailblazing right now with regards to bringing together purpose driven brands. But my hope is that 510 15 years from now, it's much more prevalent. And we're seeing that the causes that brands are doing become table stakes. And if you're going to start a business, what is it that you're doing on the other end of it, and even in the short time, you know, we've been open just about two years, we're already seeing things like organic production and sustainable production becoming much more prevalent. Now, if we can continue to see that spread to the other causes, like what you're doing, like what some of our other partners are doing. That's where we know we're really making changes. And I do believe that the new consumer is expecting that edits, it's almost awkward slash weird when I talk to founders of brands and say, What's the good that you're doing? And they kind of look at me with the blank look, and they're like, What do you mean, but, but no, there's like, this is what I mean. And and so many times, though, when that happens, they're actually doing a good that they hadn't thought about how their business is allowing them to do it. So there's a lot of that that gets to happen. And, you know, it's interesting that, you know, that's sort of people are keeping it separate versus putting together but I love that yours is really at the heart of everything you do is really driving that awareness that support that education, that stability. You know, and I've heard this from a number of people is that when you can actually engage your team, as part of the real program versus just doing a job, it changes the whole dynamic, and this becomes part of their life, right?
Ian Bentley:It's a huge thing. And I'll give you one quick example, during the pandemic, where we have our own factory here, there's a lot of other brands that operate in Ethiopia, and they don't own their manufacturing. And what happened when the pandemic hit is the first thing a lot of businesses did is they stopped their POS, they stopped their orders. We couldn't do that. And so we got creative, we had to innovate. And it was one of the best things we could do, we ended up providing facemask shields for local frontline workers, we did a number of other innovative projects where we were able to utilize inventory, and do things in ways that we wouldn't have normally been able to do. And that's an example of how we put people first. And we don't, again, it's not aid. This is innovation that we are doing. But we it's because we care a lot about our people, and there's no way we're gonna cancel purchase orders, and just stop production. And that's what a lot of others had to do. And so, you know, the integrity that has to go along with these statements is deep. And that means that we don't compromise and you know what, we don't compromise on the product either, right? That's the way that we're saying we have to deliver a beautiful product that has the quality, lifetime guarantee, like all the things have to go with it. Because we care about people this much. And that's what has to be there in order to sustain it. So I think that, you know, those are the types of things that when you you, you can't We can't just sprinkle in impact. It is at the foundation and core of what we do. And I love to inspire other brands and others to do this with us. Because there's a lot of need in the world. And I think there's a lot of companies that aren't yet even created that can do a lot of good in the world.
Harry Cunningham:Yeah, and I think what I what I really appreciate and love for that is companies like yours, have made that requirement of true ESG embracing at big companies like it's part of what you do. It's very natural to you and I I love that what's natural to you. And part of what you do and how you started the company, how you run the company is has has become something that big companies that didn't start that we're really having to reinvent and think that way now. So the impact goes so far already. And you know, there's so much more. Which kind of leads me to my next question for you so much more you can do. Your Parker and Clay are two of your five kids, right? Yeah. What do you do for the other three? You've got to they got a company name for that.
Ian Bentley:I know, my wife and I have talked about that. And you know, the girls, like our oldest Estela and Abby. And Brittany is like, maybe we can, you know, start another one and get creative with their name. And I there's so who knows, maybe at some point, you'll see some additional line or some other products that incorporate their names.
Harry Cunningham:Interesting. So Kyla is with a "K"? Yes. So if you take their first initials, you've got "ASK". So there's "ASK", so maybe that inspires something. Maybe there's a whole different initiative with "ASK"
Ian Bentley:Or case. It could be case. Yeah, we can make some cool cases. Yeah. I better trademark it now that this is on a podcast.
Harry Cunningham:I learned quickly about getting trademark. So you gotta like do it. While you can do it. Do it, like get it now? Yes, somebody else does. Yeah, the good news is like, well, we'll do a little production. So you got a little bit of time before everybody will hear it. But jump on it. Let's Hey, uh, but before we go. One of the last things I want to ask for you is and it's an interesting question that I get to ask you, especially because of where you are in your life. And your story is nowhere near completely written yet. Right? You've got a long story ahead. You've got a tremendous story up till now. But when when your story, your personal living story is coming to an end, and you if you had the opportunity to go back and think I want X person to tell my the Ian Bentley story. Who would you pick to tell your story? And why would you pick them?
Ian Bentley:Wow, that's a great question. I love it. The I would the olives. For one of the women here in Ethiopia, to tell that story. I think authenticity is important to me. And to hear it firsthand is, is very meaningful. You know, I think there's the world is kind of clouded with his reels it's not. And some of the stories that we've been fortunate to have impact in heart. Just completely humbling. And even today, we're talking with these women's our nonprofit partner, this woman who's been working in this work, nonprofit work for 25 years. Bank to me today, saying when we first moved here, we were on a night drive, working with these women who are working on the streets and talking with why and I was really frustrated with a partner who was helping us with some weaving project we were doing, because he was charging so much to help out. And I said there's not enough resources going to these women. And this woman looked at me today. And I said, thank you. I knew from that moment that your heart was behind this. And your motives were real, you know, and it was like, fearful to have that said, and I think that while my vision is that we would impact literally 10s of 1000s, if not millions of women's lives, here in Ethiopia and around the world, is that there is just stories after story of women who can tell that story. You know, Hi, my name is Gnat. And this is what happened to me. And I think that those stories are the most meaningful to me, because while we can impact massive numbers, then it says individuals. It's a story of a mom who sends her son to school because he's dreaming of being a future leader of the country. And that's a true story of a woman who I met. Very first years, we moved here, and her son has now graduated. He is pursuing computer science and all these beautiful things that he is actually brilliant. And pursuing. And I'm still in contact with him today. Cool. I'd love him for him to tell the story, you know, so I, yeah, it doesn't. I think that it'd be fun to have a big celebrity doing that. But honestly, for me, it's about the people we've been working with. And I would love for one of the women here in Ethiopia to be able to share about the impact and the ripple effects that that has been seen in communities here.
Harry Cunningham:Well, maybe the big celebrity can portray you on the big screen while the woman in Ethiopia narrates the story. Oh, it'd be awesome. What's so what's so beautiful. what's so beautiful about that is that what you're doing is is part of who you are. It's not in to your point about authenticity. Probably the reason that was a tearful moment for you is that it's just part of what You do? Because it's who you are. But when you hear it, I think certainly for me the same is like, we don't think about, we just we're just focused on doing good and doing the right thing. And that's right. Right. And that's, that's what we need to do. And in my opinion, I think people are born to be that way people are born to do good. They're taught to not do good, but they're born to do good. And so when people like you can really embrace that for your your whole life. And it just is so natural. And so to your point, authentic. It's really a beautiful thing that happens. So I mean, kudos to you. And kudos to Brittany as well. And I love what you all are doing. I'm excited to have gotten to meet you, I think through LinkedIn is where we first met but I'm excited to meet you and and we're excited to welcome you guys in to the good market community as well. I think it's going to be a fun time. And I'm looking forward to much more exciting stories ahead. Next, I wanted to get Brittany on and talk a little bit more. We'll talk fashion design all that stuff.
Ian Bentley:Yeah, she's far more interesting. When it comes to that. She's, she's incredible. I, I will say there's been many products that she had the innovation to design well ahead of time, like a year or two in advance. And I was like, I don't know, are you sure that design is gonna hit? Sure enough, like there's a craze around Sling Bag sling bags right now. One of our top selling bags is the bale fling bag. She designed that a few years ago. I should have listened to her a couple of years ago. So
Harry Cunningham:very cool. Never too late. Right? Always.
Ian Bentley:That's right. That's right.
Harry Cunningham:Ian, thank you. The rest of your time in Ethiopia. Have a safe trip getting back home. And we'll see. We'll hope to see you in person soon. But certainly, we'll talk soon. Thank you.
Ian Bentley:Sounds great. Harry, thank you. Thanks for creating this platform as well as your stories and and the impact you're making.
Harry Cunningham:Well, it's our pleasure. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the good market podcast. A new episode will drop the second Tuesday of each month. So make sure you subscribe wherever you're listening. Give us a like a follow and a share. And please leave a review so that we can reach even more people and grow even more good. Tune in next time to hear more stories from good people with great products supporting exceptional causes. We'll see you next month.
