Stacey Horowitz is the Founder & CEO of Shopping for a Change (SFAC), a marketplace for fair trade products by artisans, artisan co-ops, and companies that employ artisans from economically disadvantaged areas.
Stacey’s story began in 2009 when she visited Peru with her family. She witnessed the ugly face of hunger and poverty in sharp contrast with the innate beauty of these regions first hand. Noticing the wealth of artistic talent passed down through generations, she knew that given the right circumstances, this could be their means to a better life.
She learned that many women were the sole providers for their families, and had been affected by atrocities such as illness, spousal abuse, war, unemployment, and death. Stacey arrived home a different person. She felt compelled to do something to help better the lives of these women and their children. The following year (2010) she founded Shopping for a Change to combat some of these problems in a way familiar to most of us —online shopping. Stacey set a goal to assist artisans in raising themselves out of poverty, fund community improvement projects in the artisans’ communities, and raise additional funds for U.S. based nonprofits.
With all this experience under her belt, here are the “3 Things” she has learned along the way:
The amount of money you make and what you do for a living does not define you. What we do as a person does.
I think for the first 30+ years of my life, I let who I was as a person, be defined by what I did for a living and what I had to show for it. If someone were to say, “tell me about yourself…” what they heard from me was, “well, I am a ____________ .” Instead of talking about things I enjoyed doing, my belief systems, my opinions, etc., I began answering with what I did for a living. The first time I really realized this was when I found myself out of work, and unsure of what I wanted to do next. I began to feel like I didn’t know who I was. My second taste of this was when I chose to stop working outside of the home at the time our son turned three years old. Suddenly, I was a mom…simply, a stay at home mom. It was my choice, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that there is nothing simple about being a stay at home mom, but it honestly felt very strange at first. I felt disoriented in a way. It reminded me of how you can sometimes lose yourself in a relationship. You forget who you were before that person came along- the things that you enjoyed doing, the parts of your personality you liked the most. It took me a while to understand that who I am is not defined by what I do for a living. It is defined by what I do as a person. How I behave towards myself and others, those close to me, and those in more distant lands. I admit, I have always been a late bloomer in many ways, but I do tend to learn from my mistakes (thank goodness!) and as they say, “better late than never!”
Don’t be consumed by consumerism, and appreciate all that you have.
For a woman whose career has been built on promoting consumer goods, gaining a strong appreciation for what I had instead of what I had not, was an important lesson for me.
My father worked hard to provide a mid to upper middle class upbringing for us. I did not know what it was like to be without any basic necessities (food, clothing, shelter) nor did any of my friends. We moved quite a bit due to my father’s work, and always landed in a nicely furnished home in a good neighborhood, and attended great public schools. I was privileged to go to college out of state and attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I received a fantastic education, but I believe that my most valuable learning experiences came even later in my life. It was when I began traveling abroad as an adult in my late 30s and 40s, that I became keenly aware of just how abundantly rich my life was in every aspect of those words. While people around the world didn’t even have access to clean drinking water, let alone clean water in which they could shower, I was truly spoiled taking my long, hot, showers. I became aware that the money I was spending on a café mocha here at home, was what people lived on for three days in some parts of the world. I realized how fortunate I really was, and that I needed to have a much deeper appreciation for that.
I discovered how little it can take monetarily and emotionally to make a huge difference in the lives of others. Which leads me to…
One person really can make a difference in the world.
Even well into my 40s I did not internalize the reality that I, as one person, could truly make a difference in the world. I thought you had to be someone like Angelina Jolie, or Mother Teresa to be able to do anything of importance like that. It wasn’t until I returned from a family vacation in January 2009, distraught over the conditions I saw in which people were living, that I began to seriously question how I could use my professional background to provide a means in which these people and others like them, could help raise themselves from poverty. I spent the next year and a half in research and development, ultimately bringing to market, Shopping for a Change®, on September 10, 2010. Shopping for a Change (SFAC) is a non-profit that helps artisans, artisan co-ops, and companies from impoverished areas sell fair-trade goods online. Our profits are donated to international community improvement projects focused on clean water, healthcare, and education in the artisans’ communities, and to U.S.-based nonprofits which our shoppers choose during the checkout process.
I am excited to share that in the four years since our launch, we have grown from partnering with 11 artisan groups in Africa and South America to over 40 artisan groups spanning 4 continents and 28 countries. That’s over 25,000 lives that we have touched. We have funded three community improvement projects abroad and have donated thousands of dollars to U.S. based nonprofit organizations.
One person, who makes one purchase, permanently helps improve someone else’s life. Imagine if we multiply that by thousands.
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