Sunday, May 11, 2008
Life, Style
Give locally, save globally
Atlanta women launch local chapter of Nest
In photo: Nest Atlanta founding members (L-R) Stephanie Jolluck, Jenny Lopez, Titania Jordan, Denise Disharoon, Tiffany Davis. Photo by Kirsten Ott.
By Kirsten Ott
Changing the world is possible, no matter what the numbers are, whether it’s your age or your bank account.
A couple of years ago, and two weeks after graduating with her master’s in social work, St. Louis resident Rebecca Kousky, now 25, combined her interest in helping women in developing countries with her love of fashion and design, by creating Nest, what she describes as a “virtual gathering place for women around the world.”
Nest provides interest-free micro-credit loans to women in developing countries like Turkey, Istanbul, Morocco, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Africa and Guatemala. These loans are a financial innovation that allows poor women the opportunity to become self-sufficient by providing them with small business loans to create sustainable entrepreneurial businesses. The loan recipients are crafters looking to start—or maintain—their own art- or craft-based business, but they live in poverty-stricken areas. Loans vary in amount from $50 to $2,000. Of course, $50 goes a lot further in Mexico than it does in, say, Atlanta.
So far, Nest has been able to fund at least 60 female business owners around the globe. In addition to the loan money, the women receive invaluable support and advice on the business aspects of carving their own way toward financial independence. The money enables them to do things like purchase a pottery kiln, rent workspace or buy raw materials. When they’re ready to begin paying back their loan, they don’t even have to do it in cash, but rather in product. Their wares, which run the gamut from Turkish lace earrings created in Istanbul to Dupioni silk pillows out of San Francisco, are sold on the Nest e-commerce site, Buildanest.com. Kousky also spends much of her time criss-crossing the country hosting pop-up trunk shows and artist markets featuring Nest designers.
A portion of the profit pays back their loans, empowering the women and providing a ripple effect of social mobility, cultural impact and economic process all over the world. To date, all loans have been paid back 100 percent. Inspired stateside designers are completely on board, too. Not for loan money, but dedicating some of all of the proceeds of some of their own merchandise—jewelry, clothing, home décor and artwork—to the cause of Nest. That money is used toward future loans.
Others were so moved by Kousky and her nonprofit organization that they decided to dedicate their time and efforts to starting an Atlanta chapter of Nest. I met with founding members Coleccion Luna and World in Need Now founder Stephanie Jolluck, DailyCandy.com editor Tiffany Davis, Tig’s Closet Jewelry designer Titania Jordan, jewelry designer Denise Disharoon of Denise Disharoon Designs and Taurus manager Jenny Lopez to learn more about the inception of Nest Atlanta and what’s on the horizon.
SPREADING THE WORD
The women forged a common bond hearing of Nest, which came about through Davis in December, when she met Kousky through CNN correspondent Nicole Lapin, who interviewed the Nest founder for “Young People Who Rock.” Since Daily Candy featured Nest when they launched in 2006, Lapin reached out to Davis, who says, “Nicole said to me, ‘Rebecca wants to come down here and do a trunk show. Who do you know out there that would probably be a good fit and would be socially and culturally aware enough to be like, Yeah, this is something I want to donate my time and proceeds to? So I throw out this list of local artists, because that’s kind of the way [Nest] models all [its] trunk shows. They had a trunk show at TEW Galleries, and all the ladies here kind of fell in line because that was right up their alley.”
The trunk show went well enough that Kousky decided she wanted to start a local chapter of Nest in Atlanta and reached out to the founding members. Other local chapters also exist, but in just a handful of other major cities, including Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York. “It’s all about connecting female-owned businesses and designers with other women around the world,” says Jolluck, who serves as Nest Atlanta’s president.
BIG BUSINESS
“Another big goal of Nest is to show these women how to run their businesses, so there’s business planning, they have people to consult about marketing, about positioning,” says Lopez, head of the development committee. “A lot of these women are in patriarchal societies, so they’ve never handled money ever. So Nest also shows them how to handle the money. There’s a lot of educating as well, to help them become self-sustaining.” In order to connect the loan recipients with people who can financially advise them in their own country, Kousky relies on a network of smart, savvy and good-hearted people, including Nest Atlanta members.
SHOW TIME
The group of successful women is brimming with ideas on what to do with Nest Atlanta, including at least two large shows a year, in the spring and fall. The official launch party this Sunday, May 18, at LUXE-Atlanta and 1*FIVE*0, from noon to 6 p.m. The event highlights the loan recipients with a showcase of photos and products they’ve made, which are available for purchase. The party itself is a testament to the giving spirit of the Atlanta community: Catamarca Imports wine, 5 Season Brewery beers, an exclusive designer trunk show featuring eight local talents, live music courtesy of Vientos del Pueblo, and food by Six Feet Under and new Decatur hotspot El Tesoro.
What inspires these women to volunteer their time to Nest Atlanta? Jolluck says, “For me, just as a designer and feeling blessed to be an American designer, that I have the opportunities to either get funding or that I can fly to Guatemala. After traveling to developing countries and seeing their situation, it’s kind of a way to give back to not only Guatemalan women, but to women around the world who don’t have the same opportunities.” Disharoon, a globetrotter who’s spent a lot of time doing social work in South America and China, agrees. “You can’t really grasp the difficulties that they’re faced with; they’re astounding," she says. "To give them that opportunity, to see them flourish, is incredibly rewarding.” SP
NEST ATLANTA LAUNCH PARTY
WHERE: LUXE-Atlanta and 1*FIVE*0, 1000 Marietta St., West Midtown
WHEN: Sunday, May 18, noon to 6 p.m.
WHY: Change the world one purchase at a time.
COST: Free
MORE INFO: www.buildanest.com; nestatlanta@gmail.com