My Two Cents On Lauren Conrad's The Little Market
/The Little Market is a nonprofit fair trade shop for artisans from around the world to sell their products. The products are ethically sourced and the business model is designed to empower artisans and create economic opportunities for them. It was co-founded by Lauren Conrad and Hannah Skvrala after a 2012 trip to Uganda and Tanzania. With Lauren’s background in design and fashion, and Hannah’s background with non-profits and human rights advocacy they created The Little Market.
From their website, The Little Market is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to alleviating poverty. Our collection of fair trade goods is made by artisans in need, including refugees, people with disabilities, women transitioning out of homelessness, and survivors of trafficking and domestic violence. Each purchase helps artisans build a brighter future for themselves and their families.
I first heard of their business about four years ago after watching an interview with Lauren Conrad. I have always admired her lifestyle brand and meticulous attention to every design detail. As I listened to Lauren describe the business I loved her creative approach to facilitating opportunities of economic autonomy for others.
The Little Market currently sources from 75 artisan groups in over 25 countries and sovereign states/countries. The artisan crafts the item by hand and then it is sold through The Little Market platform. When you or I purchase an item, the full sale amount is donated to the associated organization. Over the past five years, they have sold 122,876 units of product and generated more than 478,983 hours of dignified labor. The “dignified” distinction is a sobering reminder that there are many unsafe, working conditions and wages that are far below the livable.
One of my favorite products is the Prosperity Candle. The following is a description of the candle from the website:
Prosperity Candle is a social enterprise based in the United States that invests in women entrepreneurs to help end poverty. Candles are the focus of this enterprise because candle making is a business a woman can start and expand in the safety of her own home with local materials, a critical element at times of unrest. This has been the goal of Prosperity Candle since the beginning: to enable women to escape poverty and conflict around the world through entrepreneurship. Every candle purchased helps provide a living wage for the women of Prosperity, who have recently resettled from refugee camps and are working to build a brighter future for themselves and their families in the United States.
The women of Prosperity Candle are entrepreneurs who have recently resettled from refugee camps here in the United States. Each candle is handmade in Massachusetts by a single artisan from start to finish.
The women hand-pour the wax in small batches; it is a clean-burning mixture of a coconut-soy wax blend, which is free of phthalates and infused with essential oils. They use a carefully crafted mixture of essential oils to create the perfect scent and finish the candle with a 100 percent cotton wick. Every candle is created without dyes or enhancers. Finally, the artisan packages the candle and signs her name on the bottom.
My Two Cents
I absolutely love this company and there is a lot we can all learn from it as entrepreneurs. For starters, the design and aesthetics are consistent with Lauren Conrad’s overarching brand. Whether you like the aesthetic or not is beside the point. As entrepreneurs, our design palette needs to be consistent across all of the companies that are within our personal brand portfolio.
Additionally, Lauren and Hannah do not retain a salary from the non-profit. I am looking forward to growing my portfolio to include a non-profit and I love the example they set of re-investing all of the revenue back into the company.
The Little Market also does a fair job of leading with their mission as opposed to Lauren Conrad’s celebrity. It is clear that this venture is not about the money or the praise for Lauren and I appreciate how this is reflected in the marketing and promotional efforts.
The one-piece of feedback I would offer to the team is to provide a more in-depth impact report. I would love to read more about the financial impact The Little Market has made in the lives of the artisans. For example, on average how much money does an artisan earn? What does this bump in income translate into? Is it a pair of new shoes or better access to schooling? Which countries are they seeing the most impact?
Overall, I would like more insight into the effectiveness of the non-profit’s mission to create economic autonomy.
And that’s my two cents.
About Money & Mimosas: Money & Mimosas was started as a passion project by Danetha. A former NFL cheerleader turned entrepreneur, she started blogging as a way to combine all of her passions into a career. Money & Mimosas is now enjoyed by readers in over fifty countries with the same dream of achieving financial freedom without living frugally.
