The Akola Project: Transforming Lives of Impoverished Women

WEBVTT

1
00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:10.439
There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

2
00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:14.519
and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

3
00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:19.920
Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

4
00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:24.120
we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

5
00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:29.559
personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

6
00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:36.280
on purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

7
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.240
Working on Purpose Shop. Thanks for
turning in again this week. I'm your

8
00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:42.200
host, Elise Cortez, joining you
from Dallas, Texas, which is home

9
00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:46.159
base for me. This program is
all about helping people more meaningfully and productively

10
00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:49.920
connect with their work and equipping organizations
to do the same for their employees.

11
00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:53.399
So I bring on guests who have
a particular perspective or experience that I think

12
00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:57.759
expands the conversation about meaningful and productive
work. And I often drawn the meaning

13
00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.880
of work research up and doing over
the last fifteen years, as well as

14
00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:03.359
my own consulting experience, including the
work that I do Insignium today, which

15
00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:07.879
is a global management consulting firm.
I'll get to the program in just a

16
00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:10.480
moment, but first, a big
thank you and shout out to my media

17
00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.439
partner and sponsor, jobbing dot com. They are the leading locally focused job

18
00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:18.000
board in the nation and they are
dedicated helping employers find quality talent in their

19
00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:21.719
own backyard while giving job control over
their search, they can find work close

20
00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:25.799
to home. Great partnership. Thank
you jobbing dot com. Last week,

21
00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:27.879
if you missed the show live,
we were on the air with Kimberly Davis.

22
00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:32.200
She's the founder and director of on
Stage Leadership, which runs in New

23
00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:34.760
York City and Dallas. She is
the author of the soon to be released

24
00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:40.439
book called Brave Leadership. Unleash your
most confident, authentic, and powerful self

25
00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.599
to get the results you need.
We've talked about all of what it takes

26
00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:46.680
to go into being brave, what
gets in the way of that, and

27
00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:51.000
more ways we can actually tap to
get to our brave place in our leadership

28
00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:53.079
roles. And by the way,
if you want to receive alerts in advance

29
00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.599
of my labor live radio show conversations
to know what's coming, you can join

30
00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:01.040
my mailing list by visiting my website
which is just Elise Cortez dot com.

31
00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:05.920
Navigating to the blog tab and then
under my photo entering your name and email

32
00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:10.000
address. So there's that. This
week with us is Brittany Meryl Underwood,

33
00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:15.039
who is the CEO of a Cola
Project, a nonprofit social business designed to

34
00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:20.680
empower women and disadvantage communities through training, employment, and holistic care. She

35
00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.840
is the recipient of numerous awards,
including the Best Person of the World by

36
00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:29.400
Yahoo in twenty fourteen, and was
honored by clothing manufacturer Levi as one of

37
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.280
fifty women around the globe who have
changed the political, cultural, and spiritual

38
00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:37.039
shape of the future. She joins
US today from Dallas, Texas. Brittany,

39
00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:40.159
welcome to Working on Purpose. Thank
you so much. How did you

40
00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:45.039
join your show. It's amazing to
have you with me, and I really

41
00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:47.120
really applaud the work that you've been
doing. And when I think about somebody

42
00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:51.840
really working on purpose, Brittany,
it certainly is. You. So glad

43
00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.240
to come and have you share your
story what you've been up to. And

44
00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:58.319
I really think that our listeners are
going to be empowered by the work that

45
00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:01.000
you do. And by the way, Brittany, we happened to enjoy listenership

46
00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:06.120
literally all over the globe, so
your message will will resonate all over the

47
00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:10.439
place, So you're ready, I'm
ready. Okay, Well, I want

48
00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.199
to just get right into the work
that you do. Brittany. I'd like

49
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.520
it if you could just tell us
a bit about the Acohola Project. Why

50
00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:20.960
did you found the organization and what
do you generally do in the organization.

51
00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.719
I think it's better if we hear
it from your mouth versus mine. Yeah.

52
00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:30.159
So this whole thing began back in
two thousand and four, about almost

53
00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:35.759
fourteen years ago, and I was
a soph artist in you and I had

54
00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:38.960
promised two friends who spend somewhere together, and we ended up in Uganda,

55
00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:47.159
and I had never witnessed extreme poverty. I sadly just didn't You don't know

56
00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:52.680
what you don't know, and through
the whole world that I didn't know about,

57
00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:57.840
and I was I didn't really know
how to process it. And I

58
00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:01.520
got sick and it was just having
a hard time. And I had a

59
00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.879
local actually pastor, approached me in
the community and he said, I think

60
00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:09.439
you need to meet a woman,
and you've gone a woman in our community

61
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.960
who I believe will inspire you.
I said, okay, So I followed

62
00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.439
him up. This kind of windy
dirt road to this shock on the outskirts

63
00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:21.160
of You've gone this capital city,
Kimpala. And it was Sarah that I

64
00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:26.079
met. A woman named Sarah.
She was only I think but three years

65
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:30.519
older than me at the time,
but lived her life with this incredible meaning

66
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:34.040
and purpose and kind of sacrificed everything
she had to take care of street kids

67
00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:39.160
who are just wandering to her home. She had no way to provide for

68
00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:43.439
them, that she gave them the
little she did have. She actually would

69
00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:46.920
go hungry so they could eat.
And I sort of sat back and thought,

70
00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.480
oh my gosh, I've been kept
being given so much in my life

71
00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:54.600
and haven't done anything for anyone.
And here's this woman who has hardly anything,

72
00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.519
and in the little she has,
she's she's sharing with others so they

73
00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.360
can live. And that sort of
shook me out of my complacency and began

74
00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:06.519
this journey, which at first was
to build an orphanage home for the kids

75
00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:12.000
that slept on Sarah's floor. And
I graduated from SMU in twelve and six

76
00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.240
and moved to Ugando with three friends
who put their post college jobs in the

77
00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:21.560
hold to kind of build this ambitious
building project for orphan children and Sarah's community

78
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:28.680
and started a kola, which means
she works while I was there. And

79
00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.920
what's really unique about a cola is
we kind of solved the same problem that

80
00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:39.040
orphanages solved, but in a more
efficient way. After we put a lot

81
00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:43.639
of money into the Orphanage project and
sort of built it ground up, we

82
00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.879
realized there's got to be a more
effective way to do this, to care

83
00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:53.160
for disadvantaged kids in a more sustainable
way. And we learned that while we

84
00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:57.279
were living in Uganda that if we
could work through women they wanted to keep

85
00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:00.560
these kids in their homes. They
just didn't have their resources. They had

86
00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.040
the vision and the heart to do
it, they just needed the opportunity.

87
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:10.879
So by combining income generating opportunities through
our Kala Jory line that we started in

88
00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:15.240
Tales and seven still going today and
excited to talk more about that, but

89
00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:20.920
combining living wage work opportunity and with
kind of holistic educational and empowerment programs to

90
00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:26.519
teach women how to use that income
to actually create meaningful change and their families

91
00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:31.680
and their communities, they could could
bring children out of poverty. And we've

92
00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:35.120
seen that today and excited to share
with you later in the show how we

93
00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:41.079
expanded that effort that started in Uganda
to Dallas, Texas for a local and

94
00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.519
global impact. So, Brittany,
you're gonna you're gonna do this to me,

95
00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:46.720
How you're gonna actually make me start
crying first thing in the show.

96
00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:53.480
Huh, that's how it's going to
be. This is amazing. I'm tickled

97
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.759
so much to have you on the
show. And I was wondering what Accola's

98
00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.120
meant. So it means she works, you said it does. Yeah,

99
00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:04.279
okay, okay, and I did
want to understand a little bit about it.

100
00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:09.040
If I heard you right then,
this is your first quote job,

101
00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:13.720
is that right? It's the only
job I've had for fourteen years? I

102
00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.839
will say it's we have innovated and
sort of reinvented what we do and who

103
00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:24.040
we are so many different times.
So we really really found, you know,

104
00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:28.519
this model that we now operate out
of a cola now that I almost

105
00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:30.360
feel like I've had ten different jobs, but they've all been in the same

106
00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.000
in the same one. So yeah, I've done this since I was nineteen

107
00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:39.279
and I'm thirty three now. Well, I want to applaud that and I

108
00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:42.439
think there's going to be more than
a few listeners out there that are incredibly

109
00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:45.920
jealous of you, because I get
so many questions from listeners who say,

110
00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.920
at least I love hearing your show
and hearing these people that are passionately connected

111
00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.399
to their work. They found their
purpose, and I don't know what mine

112
00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.439
is. I've been looking and looking
and looking. I can't find it.

113
00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:00.480
And for you to be able to
literally right out of the gate just go

114
00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:03.279
into the workforce and find it and
land it. Now, I'm not saying

115
00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:05.920
it was easy at all, Brittany, I know that it wasn't. But

116
00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:09.639
for our listeners to be able to
hear you know that you were open,

117
00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:13.800
you you let you, you let
your heart respond to something right, and

118
00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.480
that's and you followed it and probably
went against all odds and probably even advice

119
00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:20.800
that said, what are you doing, Brittany, Why don't you get a

120
00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.240
really great, high paying job in
corporate America or something that's going to pay

121
00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:28.160
big gobs some money instead? Did
you get that kind of advice from anybody?

122
00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.759
Oh? Yeah, I mean I
spent the majority of my twenties living

123
00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:37.080
in East African villages, so I
mean my friends left I was at SMU

124
00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:39.759
in Dallas, and you know,
they left and they were in New York

125
00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:45.480
and San Francisco, and you know, having a great decline to know I

126
00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:50.840
god knows how many different types of
thicknesses you've gotten, you know, sometimes

127
00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:56.759
didn't have running water, electricity,
and just learning the hard way in so

128
00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:01.679
many ways, which our first project, the Orphanage project, just we just

129
00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:05.960
learned so much, which actually helped
us build this new model that we kind

130
00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:09.480
of stand on today at a cola. But yeah, I had a lot

131
00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:11.559
of people, I mean my family. They were like, you're going to

132
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.399
be there for six months, right, and then it turned into a here

133
00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.799
and then two years, three four, and then finally I think they surrendered

134
00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:20.720
and I surrendered to this is the
rest of my life, like this is

135
00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.720
a calling and a passion. But
it was interesting. I didn't have a

136
00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:31.720
passion for it. I discovered my
passion while kind of committing to something that

137
00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:33.799
was really hard. Because if you
would have asked me at nineteen, what

138
00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.919
do you want to do this?
I would have I wouldn't even have known

139
00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:41.879
what this was, or I certainly
wouldn't have said I'm going to run a

140
00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:48.000
nonprofit or a nonprofit social enterprise in
our case. And but I never would

141
00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:52.080
have told you I would have spent
my twenties in East Affrica. After my

142
00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.039
first summer there, I thought,
well, great experience and I learned a

143
00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:56.519
lot, but I'm never going back, you know kind of thing. And

144
00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:03.440
fourteen years later I am. So
I discovered it through committing to something that

145
00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:07.440
was right and true and and and
to something that was for others. It

146
00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:13.279
was so not about me, and
I think that's that's kind of what carried

147
00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:18.159
me through this entire journey, is
it was always about these women, these

148
00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:22.000
kids, and I sort of lost
myself in this process, and I think

149
00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.919
in a great way where it was
about them, and that gave me the

150
00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.399
passion and perseverance to continue to commit
to it. And then through it I

151
00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:37.360
found this incredible passion for the work. I discovered it in the work that

152
00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:43.000
I do two things if I can
to that, Brittany. So first,

153
00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:46.360
I want to be able to acknowledge
the listeners that you know, sometimes finding

154
00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:50.440
our route to passion isn't convenient,
I mean, and so your whole notion

155
00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:54.840
of committing to something that's much bigger
than you, I think really speaks to

156
00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:56.840
that and really all that you went
through getting sick, all those months and

157
00:10:56.919 --> 00:11:03.600
probably years living in probably what we
could call third world countries is not for

158
00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:07.080
the faint of heart. And so
I want our listeners to get that sometimes

159
00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:11.320
en route or as we discover looking
for our purpose, it's not an easy

160
00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:15.440
path, right, yeah, and
well, and I think often you're like,

161
00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.519
what am I doing? Right?
Right? And least the idea was

162
00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.159
this again? Yeah? Yeah,
So we started selling a colla jewlry.

163
00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.480
I mean when we came up with
the idea and shelves and seven after we

164
00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:31.720
were working on this orphanage project of
hey, maybe a better way to you

165
00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.720
know, help kids is empowering their
moms, these women who want to take

166
00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:39.039
care of them and done of the
resources, and the social business movement didn't

167
00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:41.759
exist like we We are so lucky
to have been on the cusp of it,

168
00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:46.879
like we we That was by chance. And all I knew then was

169
00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:48.960
this is a better way, and
I'm committed to it. And we picked

170
00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:52.080
jewelry because you know, we looked
at all of these local, you know

171
00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:56.399
ways women can start businesses and they
were just so cut off from the global

172
00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.759
economy that we thought if we could
create a product, the women could make

173
00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.000
it, and we could sell it
in the States, and one hundred percent

174
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.919
of the money went back to them. Like that's you know, how we

175
00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:07.200
could do this, And we picked
Jerry at the time and this later in

176
00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:11.879
the story, but we're the first
nonprofit to ever retail in the luxury space

177
00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:15.440
and we sell in every single New
and Marcus store now. And they hate

178
00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.639
it when I say this, but
the little thought that went into our line

179
00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.559
that's now in every single store at
New and Marcus was that Dory was easy

180
00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:28.080
to ship. And we had some
friends who had boutiques and thought maybe they'd

181
00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.159
fell it to help support these women. And so I never knew it was

182
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.399
going to turn into this. I
never knew it was going to become the

183
00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:39.720
passion and purpose of my life.
I just knew there were women and kids

184
00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:43.279
who had needs. And I've felt
a burden at first, which wasn't even

185
00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:46.720
which is interesting. It wasn't even
passion or compassion. It was more of

186
00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:48.399
a burden of, oh my gosh, there's this woman. She's taking care

187
00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:52.600
of these kids. They're not eating, Like what can I do? And

188
00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:54.960
I feel like I have to do
something. But in committing to it,

189
00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:01.360
I found my purpose and passion.
And I think sometimes you have to take

190
00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:05.879
that risk and kind of jump into
the unknown to do something that you know

191
00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.000
may just start out as a burden
and not a passion at all, and

192
00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:11.600
then years later you discover this,
actually it is my passion and is my

193
00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:16.279
purpose. That is brilliant advice,
Brittany to really just kind of jump in.

194
00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:20.360
It almost sounds like the cart before
the horse. And that kind of

195
00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:22.879
got me to the second thing I
was thinking about when you spoke earlier,

196
00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:26.639
and that was this whole thing that
you're about empowering women and certain of the

197
00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.000
children, and so I understand that
you're certainly doing that in Uganda, are

198
00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.360
you? And by the way,
I wanted the reason that I wanted to

199
00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:35.039
talk about that is because frankly,
it's a it's a real passion of mine

200
00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.600
and I do speak to a lot
of women audiences about, you know,

201
00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:43.240
being empowered and what can we do
to empower each other. My question for

202
00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.960
you is, beyond Uganda, is
that your focus for empowering women or do

203
00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.600
you do that in other aspects in
other places as well. Yeah, I've

204
00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:56.120
kind of realized I have this really
cool seminar. I do some work with

205
00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:00.879
the Bush Presidential Center here in Dallas
and they have just great one's initiative and

206
00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:05.480
was actually part of a mentorship class
that helped mentor Tunisian women that came into

207
00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:09.559
the country, and we were sort
of helping them discover like what is their

208
00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.879
passion and purpose and in doing that, they had to kind of create this

209
00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.159
purpose statement for their life. And
it was actually the first time I even

210
00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.960
did that, which is funny.
Sometimes when you're in a mentor role,

211
00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:24.960
you end up becoming the beneficiary of
you know, and learning more than maybe

212
00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:28.799
you could even teach. But and
I thought, well, what's what would

213
00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:33.799
be my purpose statement? And it's
funny I realized it was empowering women to

214
00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:39.600
become agents of transformation and their families
and communities. And that's that's in every

215
00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.679
year of my life, Like I
mean, for a coal and my passion

216
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:48.519
is to unlock the potential that women. I think it's God given. You

217
00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:52.120
know that they Sometimes you've you've gone
through some hard stuff and you don't realize

218
00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:56.320
how much you're capable of and how
you you're actually designed to create change,

219
00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:00.919
not just to survive, not just
to go through life, but transform to

220
00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:05.200
change. And I've seen that unlocked
and the women that we work with and

221
00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:09.480
Uganda, and also the women coming
out of poverty that we now work with

222
00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:13.559
in Dallas or our new and Marcus
partnership as well. And but I also

223
00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:18.200
see that in I mean our staff
and even our customers. When someone comes

224
00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:24.159
into our Coalist store in Dallas.
We have a store uh and University Park,

225
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:28.399
and we have people come in and
suddenly they're like, oh my gosh,

226
00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.600
like I can be a part of
this by buying jewry and help other

227
00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:35.039
people and share the word and help
these women. And suddenly in them I

228
00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:39.519
see something unlocked. And I teach
a course at SMU and helping students realize

229
00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:43.480
what their passion is and how they
can create unique business plans to you know,

230
00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:48.120
help you know, find their passion
and live it out and creative ways.

231
00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:52.960
And suddenly that's unlocked. And and
that's happened to me through this journey.

232
00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:56.639
I've realized I'm so much more than
I thought I can give the world,

233
00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:00.519
so much more than I ever thought
I was capable well of. And

234
00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:03.360
that's been unlocked in me as well. And so it's funny how it just

235
00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:08.879
kind of carries through looking for heard
of your life. It's wonderful, Brittany.

236
00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:11.279
And I think that what you just
said about having that purpose statement,

237
00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:18.080
I have one too. Mine is
passionately uplifting humanity through provoking insight and empowering

238
00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.840
growth. And it does go everywhere
across my life. And I love the

239
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.480
fact that you could articulate yours the
way that you did, and it's so

240
00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:27.399
you can stand in that space.
It's awesome. So I love that we

241
00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:30.039
also gave that to our listeners to
that they can look and find their own

242
00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:34.720
passion and purpose statement. We're about
ready to go on the first break already,

243
00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.759
so before we do, let me, let me let me get to

244
00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:41.039
this other stuff about the impact that
your organization has been up to. I

245
00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:45.720
was amazed and blown away Brittany that
I understand your organization has helped drill twenty

246
00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:51.039
three clean water wells in Uganda.
Would love to understand how did that work

247
00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.720
come about and how much related to
the work that you're doing to empower women

248
00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:56.200
and get them out of poverty.
Yeah, it's so funny. So many

249
00:16:56.200 --> 00:17:00.799
people just know a star Jewey and
they shout me Marcus and online and we

250
00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.880
have price points from five dollars to
five hundred dollars, and there were in

251
00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:10.039
a lot of different categories, and
they they, I think, know that

252
00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:14.720
we help give women a work opportunities. Often they don't even know it's at

253
00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:17.759
a living wage. So here in
Dallas that's fifteen dollars an hour, which

254
00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:22.599
is pretty awesome. But what makes
us really unique and special is the incredible

255
00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:27.880
work that we do and the development
efforts for these women. So everything from

256
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:33.839
building infrastructure for economic opportunity for women. In Uganda, we built three training

257
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.240
centers ground up because women had no
place to work. They were working in

258
00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.599
the dirt in front of their full
mud hut church when we started, and

259
00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:45.640
you know, they didn't have a
decent place to work. So we built

260
00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:51.720
training centers. And women were spending
so much time fishing water that they couldn't

261
00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:53.799
go to work because they didn't have
clean water. So they didn't have the

262
00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:57.119
time. And so we thought,
if we start drilling wells and these different

263
00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:02.000
communities, you know, we can
help women kind of gain back that time.

264
00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.200
And so we've built that infrastructure and
drolls wells in eastern and northern Uganda,

265
00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:10.599
and we also have a suite of
holistic programming that all of our women

266
00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:15.680
can access called the Cola Academy,
and it's just really unique effort where women

267
00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:19.960
can take classes in our program in
every development category and maternal health and family

268
00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:26.000
strengthening and gender based violence and savings
and loans and business creation to help them

269
00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:30.960
again learn how to use their income
to create meaningful change for themselves and for

270
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:33.960
others. So we're really proud of
that, and I think that's something a

271
00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.599
lot of people don't know that makes
us really unique. And that's why we

272
00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:41.279
are a nonprofit and run a business
through that framework. Is we want all

273
00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:45.400
of our profits were invested in efforts
like that, beautiful Brittany, and a

274
00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:48.359
great way to take us into our
first break. I'm your host, Alice

275
00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:52.160
Cortez. We do on the air
with Brittany Meryl Underwood, who is the

276
00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:56.759
CEO of the Acola Project. It's
a nonprofit social business design to empower women

277
00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:02.359
in disadvantage communities throughout through training,
employment holistic cares you into today from Dallas,

278
00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:04.680
Texas. We've been talking a bit
about how she got into this business

279
00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:08.200
and how it really is her purpose
and her passion. After the break,

280
00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:11.240
we're going to talk more in depth
about how it is that she raises her

281
00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:26.119
revenues through jewelry sales. Stay with
us, Friend us on Facebook to keep

282
00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:33.559
up with what's empowering the world.
Voice America Empowerment. Elise Cortez is a

283
00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:38.480
speaker and engagement and development catalyst.
She designs and delivers professional development, leadership

284
00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:44.200
and engagement workshops and can bring her
expertise to your organization. She will help

285
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:49.240
ignite meaningful development within your workforce that
will increase employee engagement, performance and retention.

286
00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:53.119
To learn more or to invite Elise
to speak to your organization, please

287
00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:59.759
visit her at www dot Elise Cortez
dot com. She would welcome the opportunity

288
00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:04.839
to help get your employees working on
purpose. Have you friended us on Facebook

289
00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:08.599
yet? Why not? Just go
to Facebook dot com, forward slash Voice

290
00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:12.039
America or search for the keywords Voice
America. Once you are part of our

291
00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:15.799
Facebook network, you'll receive daily messages
about what's happening with our shows, this

292
00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:19.680
week's feature yes, and new happenings
of the Voice America Talk Radio Network,

293
00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:22.799
and you can add your voice to
be always active discussions on our wall.

294
00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.799
Just go to Facebook dot com Forward, slash Voice America or search for Voice

295
00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:32.519
America. If you're ready for big
changes in less than one month's time,

296
00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:37.720
you're ready to tune in for Radical
Change Now with Doctor Mary Oz. It's

297
00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:41.039
where healing meets the law of attraction
in an engaging package. You'll hear from

298
00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.759
guests and callers as they share their
stories, offer solutions to life's challenges,

299
00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:51.400
and much more. With Doctor Mary's
approach, even a child could effectively learn

300
00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:56.039
and apply the concepts discussed on each
week's show. Listen live every Wednesday at

301
00:20:56.039 --> 00:21:02.119
one pm Eastern Time, TENNYM Pacific
on Voice America empower find out what makes

302
00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:06.599
the most successful people tick. Keep
listening to the Voice America Empowerment Channel.

303
00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:22.680
Voice America Empowerment dot com. This
is Working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.

304
00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:26.000
To reach our program today, please
call in to one triple eight three four

305
00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:32.000
six nine one four one. Again
that's one triple eight three four six nine

306
00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:37.079
one four one. You may also
send an email to Elise ali Se at

307
00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:47.359
Elise Cortez dot com. Now back
to Working on Purpose. Thanks for staying

308
00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:49.480
with us and welcome back to Working
on Purpose. If you're just joining us,

309
00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:53.359
my guest is Brittany Meryl Underwood,
who has made an extraordinary impact through

310
00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:56.839
her dedication over the last fourteen years
to transform the lives of impoverished women and

311
00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:02.599
families through the Accola Project, a
nonprofit social business designed to empower women in

312
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.680
disadvantaged communities through training, employment,
and holistic care. I'm your host,

313
00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:10.319
Alice Cortez. So, Brittany,
you and I were chatting a little bit

314
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:11.519
on the break that I want and
I wanted to be able to cue this

315
00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:15.880
up for our listeners because I think
it's important. You mentioned something about the

316
00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:19.599
actual Accola programming. Would you say
a little bit more about that for us?

317
00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.440
Yeah, when we were talking about, you know, dis the goal,

318
00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.960
purpose of my life and also the
goal of Accola is to empower women

319
00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:33.920
to become agents of transformation and their
families and communities. So much of that

320
00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:38.960
goes beyond programming and beyond the infrastructure
investment, and even beyond our training and

321
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:45.079
opportunities we offer it. It's how
we do it so often that makes it

322
00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:48.279
empowering or disempowering for women. So
something else that's been pretty unique about a

323
00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:55.759
Coola and I think it's really beautiful
is we not only you know, train

324
00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:59.480
women in all of these different areas
and offer them courses, but the way

325
00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:03.400
we do it is participatory, so
we actually train them to teach these courses

326
00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:07.480
and they can kind of grow in
leadership and sort of unlock their potential to

327
00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:12.079
become the trainers and teachers. So
instead of us sort of imparting knowledge that

328
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:17.200
we think, you know, we
know what that even is and you've gone

329
00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:21.519
to address all of these different areas
of their lives, we work with them

330
00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:25.759
to develop a curriculum and train them
to teach it. So they're sort of

331
00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:30.160
becoming an army of development practitioners and
their own right with the ability to train

332
00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:34.839
and teach others. And I think
that's what makes something empowering or dis empowering.

333
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.000
Sometimes it's not even what you do
it, it's how you do it.

334
00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.119
That sounds like, you know,
teaching a fish philosophy, teaching how

335
00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:47.559
to phish philosophy kind of yes,
versus just giving the fish. Yes,

336
00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:52.079
okay, good, So applaud that
and I appreciate that. Years ago,

337
00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.799
I had the chance to live in
real divisioneer of Brazil, and I studied

338
00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:00.240
what was happening there and really wanted
to be part of the effort to be

339
00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:03.200
able to empower and be participatory,
as you were saying, in the efforts

340
00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:07.599
to develop. So I get that, and I just really applaud that,

341
00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:14.440
Brittany. That's fantastic. Yeah.
Well, let's let's get at what I

342
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:17.880
think is maybe the heart of how
you drive your results to make an impact

343
00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:21.119
for women, and that is really
the creation and sale of jewelry, if

344
00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.400
I understand it. So I heard
you say that you, you know,

345
00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:27.000
maybe kind of stumbled on this idea
and it made sense because it was light

346
00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:30.440
to ship, et cetera. But
help us understand how did you get the

347
00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:36.319
idea to actually make jewelry and make
that be the financial driver of your organization.

348
00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:40.720
Yeah, so, I mean it
was plissed by chance, which again

349
00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:47.559
is wanting because we've built this pretty
successful business that kind of fuels our impact

350
00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:52.119
for Colon. You know, when
we were wrapping up the Orphanage project,

351
00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:56.400
we you know, we're thinking of
ways we could have an impact without having

352
00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:00.920
to spend you know, hundreds of
thousand dollars on a building and then having

353
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.640
to raise that every year. How
could we do that sustainably? And there

354
00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:10.160
was a group of women where we
were working, and they were rolling these

355
00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:14.640
paper beats and selling them in little
shops in their town, and it sort

356
00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:17.599
of had the idea of like,
what if we could actually design the as

357
00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:22.640
well, What if we could you
know, turn paper into basically gemstones,

358
00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:29.319
and if there were because local techniques
that were already here that we could build

359
00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:33.160
on to create a really unique product
and products line. And that was sort

360
00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:36.200
of the initial idea. And I
mean, I can't even pretend that it

361
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:38.160
started out well. We used wood
varnish, So for any of your listeners

362
00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:41.720
who had our story back in two
thousand and seven, I'm apologizing now,

363
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:47.079
we didn't know. We didn't know. And then the wood barners on the

364
00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.839
beads, they had dirt and them
because women were making them on the ground,

365
00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:53.039
and you know, they were certainly
a charity purchase. But I think

366
00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.559
we learned pretty quickly. And that's
what I think it's kind of set us

367
00:25:56.599 --> 00:26:00.079
apart from other organizations who were doing
this at the time timeless. If we

368
00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:06.359
don't if we don't figure out how
to do this in a high quality way

369
00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:08.319
with high design, and then this
thing is never going to work and we're

370
00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.759
not going to be able to support
any women, and we work with close

371
00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:17.039
to five hundred women now, so
that's pretty We have a lot of distribution

372
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:22.160
channels to make that happen and work, and so I think we really not

373
00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:26.680
only prioritized our mission, but also
we're realistic that if we didn't have a

374
00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:33.480
high quality product that we could produce
with volume and really great designs like this

375
00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:37.000
thing again, was never going to
work. So we created unique designs.

376
00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.279
And it's funny our classic collection,
if people on our website today our collar

377
00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:44.319
necklace and our Demi necklace, there's
still two of our best sellers, and

378
00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:48.160
they were our best sellers seven years
ago, and we just designed, you

379
00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:52.200
know, these unique products that still
if you're wearing them, you know someone

380
00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:56.160
you could be in an airport in
Chicago and someone would say, oh my

381
00:26:56.200 --> 00:27:00.039
gosh, there's that Nicola necklace.
Like they just they're branded well. And

382
00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:06.039
so I think we learned that and
put that into action and kind of created

383
00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:11.039
these unique designs where we combined kind
of paper beads, horn local anacuali cowhorn

384
00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:14.440
and bone. Don't worry, I
always have to preface us when we talk

385
00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:18.400
about horn and bone. They're cowhorn
and bones. So these are recycled materials

386
00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:23.359
that would otherwise be in the garbage
and we've repurposed them into beautiful beads that

387
00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:29.000
our women create that sell on our
jewelry line. And what's been really fun

388
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:32.920
about that is when we expanded to
Dallas, which I'll talk a little bit

389
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:37.039
about now because that really kind of
jives with the evolution of our products line.

390
00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:41.240
We were selling in twenty fourteen.
We were selling in several hundred boutiques

391
00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:45.480
across the country and had some national
accounts, and the business was growing,

392
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:52.039
and we had a incredible community leader
in Dallas and ask us, why is

393
00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:55.839
this not in our city? You
know? And it was funny because I

394
00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:57.680
was thinking, well, it's not
in your city because this is something that

395
00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:02.519
works in agrarian village in Uganda.
I don't know how it would pump work

396
00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:07.599
in a nerve and context and in
America. But actually that's an interesting point,

397
00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:10.279
like I wonder, you know,
if there's a chance this could work

398
00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:12.359
here. And she said, well, here's the deal. Our foundation supports

399
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:18.000
all these great nonprofits that are rehabilitating
women in Dallas who've been for first rate

400
00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:22.240
and actually traffic and women in poverty
and they were going back to prosstitution,

401
00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:26.519
back to poverty, back to jail, even though they had these great programs,

402
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:30.279
because they just didn't have an economic
alternative. They had no pathway to

403
00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:33.440
employment. And because they had been
so highly marginalized, you couldn't just throw

404
00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:37.920
these women into a job transition program
like they needed flexible hours so they could

405
00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:41.319
continue to heal. They needed people
to believe in them and kind of hold

406
00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:45.759
their hands through their first work opportunity, and that's something we believed we could

407
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:49.359
offer, and so we did this
pilot in Dallas, and I mean everything

408
00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:55.400
it worked basically except for a living
wage because we were still having the women

409
00:28:55.480 --> 00:29:00.200
make our mass market products and that
sold for under one hundred dollars that we

410
00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.839
sell on our website and in our
store, and we wanted women to make

411
00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:07.119
a fifteen dollars living wage in Dallas. So that's when we pitched this.

412
00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:11.599
Neiman Marcus and I had a ten
minute meeting with the CEO of Neiman's and

413
00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:15.880
Dallas and said, hey, look, we've got all of these nonprofits in

414
00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:19.240
Dallas who want to refer women to
us in their program who need a job,

415
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.359
and we want to put a hundred
women to work, and in order

416
00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:26.039
to do that at a fifteen dollars
an hour living wage, we've got to

417
00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:30.319
sell more expensive jewlry, like would
you help? And no one knows this

418
00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.920
about Neman Marcus, but I mean
they are incredible and their CEO is one

419
00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:37.440
of the most amazing women I've ever
met, and she said, you know

420
00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:41.799
what, let's do it and we'll
help you along the way. And they

421
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:47.160
launched us in every single store nationwide
in twenty sixteen, and I didn't realize

422
00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:49.640
until a little bit later that it's
really unprecedented for them to launch a new

423
00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:53.480
brand through their store. And what
made that jewlry so unique And that's really

424
00:29:53.559 --> 00:29:57.240
the time, you know, in
our brand that had been in boutiques across

425
00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:02.839
the country really hit the national stage
and they helped kind of get us there.

426
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:07.480
And what made those products unique is
we just combined all of these beautiful

427
00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:11.559
beads that our women were making in
Uganda with kind of higher end gym zones

428
00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:15.720
and pearls, and they were all
fully as symboled in Dallas, so it

429
00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:21.319
had that local impact and to make
that product, so we had this unique

430
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:23.759
product line that still looks like a
Cola, but it was more elevated and

431
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.920
expensive, and that really took the
jewelry line to the next level and I

432
00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:32.400
think allowed us to fuel our business
to help so many more women. In

433
00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:34.559
just one year in our partnership with
Nemans, we had one hundred and seven

434
00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:38.319
women in Dallas go through our programs
and about four hundred women in Uganda.

435
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:42.319
So it was it was an exciting
impact and that's kind of how the product

436
00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:49.119
and kind of our businesses evolved.
I think that is what we call brilliant

437
00:30:49.160 --> 00:30:53.400
problem solving is what I would call
that just plain brilliant problem solving. And

438
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:57.880
the fact that you were able to
really enlist the heart and soul of New

439
00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:02.920
and Marcus is incredible. Do you
have any other sales outlets? So I

440
00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:04.720
think you sell on your own website
and then through nam and Marcus any other

441
00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:10.680
sales outlets. We knew we actually
selling local boutiques still around the country,

442
00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:14.720
so we are all of our products
two hundred and ninety five dollars up are

443
00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:18.960
exclusive to Neman Marcus, so we
exclusively sell through every Name and Marcus store,

444
00:31:18.519 --> 00:31:23.160
online and catalog, every distribution channel
for them, and they have an

445
00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:27.559
exclusive on those elevated products, but
anything under two hundred and ninety five dollars

446
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:33.119
is sold in our store and home
and parking Snyner Plaza and Dallas. We

447
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:37.640
have a store online. We have
great online sales, so definitely go visit

448
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:41.160
our website. It's a great kind
of guilt free persons of what you need

449
00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:45.759
to buy gifts, their teachers,
gifts, their holiday presents. You can

450
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.319
do that in one hundred percent of
our profits as a nonprofit or we invested

451
00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:52.200
in our mission, so it's the
same as giving a donation, which is

452
00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:56.240
pretty exciting. But then also we
sell these amazing boutiques around the country,

453
00:31:56.359 --> 00:32:02.319
so you know, if you're in
you know different places Monkey, you'ven Copper

454
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:07.559
Penny in these great boutique chains that
have you know, worked with us for

455
00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:13.319
years with Steria and their national catalog
as well as their stores, and yeah,

456
00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:15.880
a lot of great kind of mom
and pop stores that were the first

457
00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:21.480
ones to adopt our mission. We're
still retailing in those as well. M

458
00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:25.279
Well, I find it it's when
I listen to you talk, and I

459
00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:29.519
mean it from both the standpoint of
those in Uganda as well as those people

460
00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:32.279
here in Dallas. I find it
a little more than compelling that the creative

461
00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:37.599
hands of women are literally powering the
revenue of this project. There's something about

462
00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:42.119
that when I first looked at you
as a business that I found really compelling.

463
00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:45.400
Thank you. Yeah, it's it's
been. It's incredible, And I

464
00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:51.680
think what is so fun about a
COOLA and really being the first brand that's

465
00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:57.319
kind of hit this level of scale
that gives one hundred percent back, not

466
00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:00.799
ten, not one percent, not
five percent, not one for one,

467
00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:06.359
but transparently as a nonprofit, all
of our revenues go back into just feeling

468
00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:08.960
our social mission to help more and
more women in need. And I think

469
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:13.319
it's so neat when you buy the
necklace, you're like, oh my gosh,

470
00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:15.279
all these beds are made by women
in Yugna. It's as symboled in

471
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:20.759
Dallas. Even our distribution centers run
is a second Chance JOP program, So

472
00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:23.960
even the way our products are packaged
makes an impact on women's lives, and

473
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.000
then all of that money goes back
like it's just a great feeling. It's

474
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.640
a huge impacts and women are touching
our products and their lives are changed at

475
00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:36.880
every single point of our value change. I did want to distinguish that for

476
00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.880
our listeners if we can. Brittany, so, I certainly have read and

477
00:33:39.960 --> 00:33:45.480
understood that one hundred percent of your
revenues go back thought profits revenues. Yeah,

478
00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:51.240
yeah, that's and that's that's different
than profit. So can you crisp

479
00:33:51.319 --> 00:33:53.319
that up for our listeners so they
really understand what you're doing? Please?

480
00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:59.119
This is amazing. Yeah, so
actually, and people are just blown away

481
00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.920
when they realize there's products that newmans
that do this or you know, in

482
00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:06.279
the kind of stores that we're selling
and with the quality. But we are

483
00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:08.760
fully a nonprofit. We do not
have a business sub city or we run

484
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:14.320
the business through a nonprofit framework.
So when you buy a Cola jewelry,

485
00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:17.480
it's the exact same thing as if
you gave us a donation, which is

486
00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:22.480
pretty amazing that you can feel really
great about the purchase you made, but

487
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:24.559
all of that goes back. All
of the revenues, not just the profit.

488
00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:30.639
All of the revenues go back into
our mission to help more women in

489
00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:34.440
need. So again, if you
if you buy a Nicola necklace, it's

490
00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:38.400
the same thing if you gave twenty
five dollars to Red Cross or It's United

491
00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:44.440
Way or the same thing. So
it's you get a beautiful product and you

492
00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:50.599
get to transform women's lives in a
fully transparent way. Well, I'm going

493
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:52.039
to park that for just a second
because I do want to get more into

494
00:34:52.039 --> 00:34:55.880
actual business model and peel that back
a little bit more. So I'll save

495
00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:00.440
my other set of questions that are
going to come to that and to second

496
00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:02.920
And I do want to get a
little bit more at this whole Second Chance

497
00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:07.719
Job program that you mentioned earlier.
I don't know if that's related to what

498
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:10.440
you said before about the women that
you're helping who had baby been in through

499
00:35:10.519 --> 00:35:16.599
trafficking situations. Would you distinguish that
for us? The Second Chance Program we

500
00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:22.840
give women work opportunity in Uganda and
seven different villages in northern and Eastern Uganda

501
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:29.360
through either making the beads that go
into our jelry or assembling our necklaces or

502
00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:34.320
packaging them and distributing them. And
then here in Dallas, we give women

503
00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:38.960
a second Chance job program their first
work opportunity coming out of tough situations,

504
00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:45.199
and they are able to assemble our
jeory for Neiman Marcus at an average of

505
00:35:45.280 --> 00:35:47.400
a fifteen dollars. And how we're
living ways, which is pretty amazing.

506
00:35:49.559 --> 00:35:52.760
And then they also have a chance
to kind of grow in leadership and work

507
00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:59.320
in our distribution center where they can
learn kind of hard skills like inventory management

508
00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:02.079
and customers service. And we're also
trying to create a pathway where they can

509
00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:06.000
work in our store as well,
so they can kind of grow up through

510
00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:10.320
our program or transition to another work
opportunity. And once they've kind of gained

511
00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:15.960
their confidence back, they've they've kind
of seen the value of generating income and

512
00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:20.400
what it can do for their family
and will help them transition into something that

513
00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:24.199
they're really passionate about. So yeah, it's a it's a second chance job

514
00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:29.360
program for women in Dallas, and
it's it's the only work opportunity for these

515
00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:32.000
women we work with in Uganda.
It's a little bit different in both places.

516
00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:36.639
Okay, So Brittany, hold on, just hold on. I heard

517
00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:38.280
you talk about this before, but
I didn't catch it then. So here's

518
00:36:38.280 --> 00:36:43.239
what I think is brilliant about that
particular point is not only are you really

519
00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:47.480
empowering transition in women in Uganda,
but back here in your own backyard in

520
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:52.679
Dallas, to women who have gone
through horrific situations and just may not have

521
00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:57.559
any access to somebody who can give
them a chance. And I am now

522
00:36:57.679 --> 00:37:00.119
even further blown away by you and
your organ station that I can see that

523
00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:05.880
you're really working on both ends of
this spectrum. It's it's really really amazing.

524
00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:08.639
Well, it's all because of our
partnership with Neman, so our entire

525
00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:13.760
Neman Marcus line, which isn't every
single one of their stores online and catalog,

526
00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:20.599
it's fully assembled by women in Dallas, so it's offered here's opportunities.

527
00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:22.960
Again, one hundred and seven women
went through our program just this past calendar

528
00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:28.960
year, and yeah, it functions
more as a second chance job program here,

529
00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:32.079
so we're really just looking to help
women have that first work opportunity and

530
00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:36.719
get them back into the workforce in
Dallas, whereas in Yugna we are the

531
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:40.079
only opportunity and so women generally staying
in our program for years and years because

532
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:45.719
there's no other place they can generate
income. And so yeah, both are

533
00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:50.760
equally as important for each place.
So it strikes me when I think about

534
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:52.760
what must go into being able to
support those women, and you mentioned,

535
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:55.440
you know, even just being able
to care for them, and hear their

536
00:37:55.559 --> 00:38:00.079
stories and give them, you know
you and just emotional support or I can't

537
00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:05.920
even imagine what it must the crew
that it takes to be able to provide

538
00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:08.079
that program, and the different kinds
of skills that it takes to be able

539
00:38:08.119 --> 00:38:12.880
to do that. It's all and
that's why, you know, we so

540
00:38:13.000 --> 00:38:15.239
many people when we started to grow
rapidly, they said, why don't you

541
00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:20.400
take a part of this for profit? You could tap into venture capital,

542
00:38:20.639 --> 00:38:24.159
you could get you know, better
financing, and you know also they said,

543
00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:28.480
look like, on on my side, I've worked for this for fourteen

544
00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:30.920
years and it's some of my life
building this, And I'll never have any

545
00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:34.440
equity in the company because it's a
nonprofit and all of it goes back to

546
00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:38.079
remission and I'll never have any ownership
even and they'll never be this kind of

547
00:38:38.199 --> 00:38:43.000
exit where I can kind of cash
out on anything that I've done. It's

548
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:47.320
it's it's really just for the women
and and we we've intentionally structured it that

549
00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:52.800
way, and it's it's it's pretty
unique. And there's not many, certainly

550
00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:57.559
no retailers at our scale as a
nonprofit, you know, competing and these

551
00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:00.519
kind of larger retailers and that's why
we're the first to be able to say

552
00:39:00.639 --> 00:39:05.039
hey, fame as our donation,
one hundred percent of our revenue gets back

553
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:07.800
into our mission to help more women, which is which is really exciting.

554
00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:10.960
It is exciting, and I do
want to talk more about that after this

555
00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.039
break. And here we are just
in time. I'm Alice Cortez, your

556
00:39:15.079 --> 00:39:16.920
host. We've been on the air
with Brittany Meryl Underwood, who is the

557
00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:22.320
CEO of the Accola Project. It's
a nonprofit social business designed to empower women

558
00:39:22.599 --> 00:39:25.920
and disadvantage communities through training, employment, and holistic care. She joins us

559
00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:29.679
today from Dallas, Texas. After
the break, we're going to get more

560
00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:34.079
into her business model and how it
scales and how she's inspiring other initiatives through

561
00:39:34.119 --> 00:39:49.039
it. Stay with us, we'll
be right back. It's your world,

562
00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:58.719
Motivate, Change, Succeed, Voice
America Empowerment dot Com. Alice Cortez is

563
00:39:58.719 --> 00:40:02.960
a speaker and engage and development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

564
00:40:04.199 --> 00:40:08.239
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She will

565
00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:14.599
help ignite meaningful development within your workforce
that will increase employee engagement, performance,

566
00:40:14.679 --> 00:40:17.239
and retention. To learn more or
to invite a lease to speak to your

567
00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:22.800
organization, please visit her at www
dot Elise Cortez dot com. She would

568
00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:29.760
welcome the opportunity to help get your
employees working on purpose. Are you ready

569
00:40:29.880 --> 00:40:34.079
to tackle the rules of business?
He may think you're doing everything by the

570
00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:37.960
book, following your own best practice, believes bringing in endless consultants, only

571
00:40:38.039 --> 00:40:43.320
to find that your business is not
moving forward. That's where you need to

572
00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:47.280
stop and figure out where things are
going wrong. Enter business Rules with host

573
00:40:47.400 --> 00:40:52.400
Peter Feinstein. Peter and his guests
will break it all down for you to

574
00:40:52.519 --> 00:40:55.559
help you and your business succeed.
Listen Wednesdays at eight am Pacific Time e

575
00:40:55.639 --> 00:41:01.079
love an am Eastern Time on Voice
America Empowerment. The White House Doctor makes

576
00:41:01.119 --> 00:41:06.920
House Calls. Listen every week for
House Calls with Doctor Conny Mariano. Doctor

577
00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:09.920
Connie has served as the White House
Physician under three US presidents. Now she

578
00:41:10.119 --> 00:41:15.360
joins the Voice America Empowerment Channel to
help you enrich yourself physically, emotionally,

579
00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:20.719
and spiritually. Our guests will include
professionals from a variety of fields who will

580
00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:23.119
bring you tips that you can apply
to your own life. Listen for house

581
00:41:23.239 --> 00:41:29.320
calls with Doctor Connie every Thursday at
four pm Pacific time seven pm Eastern Time

582
00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:34.400
on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.
Follow us on Twitter for more great ideas

583
00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:46.599
at Voice America Empowerments. This is
Working on Purpose with Elise Cortez. To

584
00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:52.199
reach our program today, please call
into one triple eight three four six nine

585
00:41:52.320 --> 00:41:55.639
one four one. Again, that's
one triple eight three four six nine one

586
00:41:55.800 --> 00:42:01.960
four one. You may also send
an email to Elise ali se at Elise

587
00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:12.920
Cortez dot com. Now back to
Working on Purpose. Thanks for staying with

588
00:42:13.079 --> 00:42:15.920
us, and welcome back to Working
on Purpose. If you're just tuning in.

589
00:42:15.079 --> 00:42:19.719
My guest is Brittany Meryl Underwood,
who has made an extraordinary impact through

590
00:42:19.760 --> 00:42:22.519
her dedication over the last fourteen years
to transform the lives of impoverished women and

591
00:42:22.599 --> 00:42:28.400
families through the Akola Project. It's
a nonprofit social business design to empower women

592
00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:31.760
and disadvantage communities through training, employment, and holistic care. I'm your host,

593
00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:37.760
Elise Cortez, so for this last
bit of time together here, Brittany,

594
00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:40.239
I really want to make sure that
our listeners understand your business model and

595
00:42:40.280 --> 00:42:43.559
how you've been able to scale it, and I know there are people out

596
00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:46.320
there who have some semblance of business
knowledge and saving her saying, hold on

597
00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:50.239
just a second, one hundred percent
of your revenues, How in the world

598
00:42:50.360 --> 00:42:52.039
do does Brittany eat? How does
she put a rope over her head?

599
00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:58.280
How does she take care of her
staff? So would you help distinguish for

600
00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:02.639
us how you do that? Yeah, So what's great is in deciding to

601
00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:08.119
keep our entire business and nonprofit frameworks
that one hundred percent of our revenues and

602
00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:14.920
profits and go back in pushing our
social mission forward. So that includes operating

603
00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:19.079
costs for our business and our nonprofit. But the way we're able to make

604
00:43:19.159 --> 00:43:22.320
that work is we actually raise donations
as a nonprofit to fund all of our

605
00:43:22.360 --> 00:43:27.159
social services. So that's why we
can do it in so many different categories,

606
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:31.199
maternal health and family strengthening and small
business creation, water wells, training

607
00:43:31.280 --> 00:43:36.400
centers, and we raise the money
to do that part of the work we

608
00:43:36.519 --> 00:43:39.760
do, and our donations are restricted
to our social services and then our business.

609
00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:44.480
What's really great about jewelry is you
can mark it up, so we're

610
00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:50.000
able to kind of mark up in
our cost of goods majority and be able

611
00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:53.119
to cover our operational costs as well
as the living wage employment for women,

612
00:43:53.639 --> 00:43:58.320
as well as our ability and capacity
to kind of grow it to help more

613
00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:01.039
women in need. So it's a
pretty unique model. It's it's a hybrid

614
00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:07.400
but within one organizational structure. And
it's interesting because I really believe it's kind

615
00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:14.559
of the nonprofit of the future because
we have a pathway to self sustainability as

616
00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:17.039
a nonprofit. We have an earned
income stream. There's a certain threshold and

617
00:44:17.079 --> 00:44:22.559
I think it's at ten million in
revenue that we can fund all of our

618
00:44:22.599 --> 00:44:28.519
social service programs as well through our
profits because we won't have shareholders since we're

619
00:44:28.679 --> 00:44:31.360
a nonprofit. So it's really exciting
on that side. And if you're wearing

620
00:44:31.400 --> 00:44:37.519
your business pad, it's really exciting
because we're sort of the first and this

621
00:44:37.159 --> 00:44:42.920
again at this scale that reinvests all
of our profits in our mission versus just

622
00:44:43.760 --> 00:44:46.599
you know, giving back one percent
or one per one or five or ten.

623
00:44:47.400 --> 00:44:52.320
We can reinvest all of the revenues
and profits that we have to further

624
00:44:52.400 --> 00:44:57.079
our mission, which means it just
grows and grows and grows. So that's

625
00:44:57.199 --> 00:45:00.360
kind of the structure. So technically, if you're total dorc like I am

626
00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:06.239
and I love social innovation, are
exact organizational structures. We're a nonprofit with

627
00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:09.280
a mission related enterprise, so that
would be kind of structurally, but we're

628
00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:14.599
very much just a five O,
one C three. So I want to

629
00:45:14.639 --> 00:45:15.400
talk a little bit more about that. I have a few more things that

630
00:45:15.440 --> 00:45:19.159
I want to peel back about how
you scaled and such, but I want

631
00:45:19.159 --> 00:45:22.199
to get to this notion here that
when I think about you know what impact

632
00:45:22.239 --> 00:45:25.119
you're having on and some of the
students that both you and I touch,

633
00:45:25.239 --> 00:45:30.320
and as we both said earlier,
we teach at the Southern Methodist University,

634
00:45:30.400 --> 00:45:35.920
and I know that this high impact
hybrid model that you've been working through is

635
00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:40.159
also really having an impact on the
millennial population coming into the workforce. They

636
00:45:40.239 --> 00:45:44.760
see this as Wow, that's something
that I could do. That's you are

637
00:45:45.159 --> 00:45:50.360
literally shedding light on a possibility a
business framework that I think is probably very

638
00:45:50.440 --> 00:45:53.559
appealing to that to that generation.
So can you speak a bit to any

639
00:45:53.719 --> 00:45:58.119
organizations that maybe been that have been
inspired by your model that are out there

640
00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:00.920
that you know of, or is
students that you that you know a bit

641
00:46:00.960 --> 00:46:04.800
of done something kind of similar,
Yeah, a lot. There's actually a

642
00:46:04.960 --> 00:46:08.880
great new everyone should check it out
on Vickery Trading Company and they do children's

643
00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:15.320
clothes and they are able to employ
women refugees in Dallas. They're doing that.

644
00:46:15.480 --> 00:46:19.039
And she came to me when she
was starting at the Social business and

645
00:46:19.119 --> 00:46:20.960
she said, I just don't know
what to do. Should it be a

646
00:46:21.039 --> 00:46:24.639
for profit or a nonprofit? And
I kind of center some Stanford Social Innovation

647
00:46:24.840 --> 00:46:29.239
Review articles that like, help you
think through what are your goals? Is

648
00:46:29.280 --> 00:46:31.960
your mission your most important thing?
Is it? Is it sort of your

649
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:37.119
primary motivation or is it your secondary
motivation? And how do you decide what

650
00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:40.639
organizational structure which means so much.
It really determines where where your revenues go.

651
00:46:42.760 --> 00:46:45.719
And she ended up deciding to do
it as a nonprofit. And the

652
00:46:45.880 --> 00:46:52.800
greatest struggle we've had, and what's
hard about having a rapidly growing business within

653
00:46:52.880 --> 00:46:57.039
a nonprofit framework. If you look
at Goodwill, they're a highly profitable nonprofit.

654
00:46:57.639 --> 00:47:00.079
They're the same structure we are,
but they don't have a rapidly growing

655
00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:05.119
retail business and they're kind sort of
at the whims of in that framework.

656
00:47:05.159 --> 00:47:08.679
So our biggest hurdle was how do
we get the capital to grow because obviously,

657
00:47:08.880 --> 00:47:13.239
you know, our business is making
money, but not enough money to

658
00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:16.159
kind of facilitate a full Neman Marcus
launch, right, And we could have

659
00:47:16.280 --> 00:47:21.400
raised money and donations to kind of
build capacity for that, but we also

660
00:47:21.440 --> 00:47:23.840
wanted to restrict those to our social
services so our donors really knew where their

661
00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:28.880
money went. So there's this new
thing called impact investing and it's something we've

662
00:47:29.079 --> 00:47:32.880
totally tapped into. And our model
wouldn't be possible without this sort of explosion

663
00:47:34.519 --> 00:47:38.360
in the social finance space. But
it's where philanthropists as well as banks and

664
00:47:39.320 --> 00:47:45.039
others are saying, how can we
actually use our capital to make investments and

665
00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:49.440
organizations that have a social impact.
And so we've done that through impact investment

666
00:47:49.519 --> 00:47:52.599
structured as low interest lens. So
when we expanded into evens, we had

667
00:47:52.639 --> 00:47:57.599
this incredible bank and come to us
and they said, you're never going to

668
00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:00.159
be able to do this without financing. Said, but we're a nonprofit,

669
00:48:00.239 --> 00:48:04.199
we you know, we we can
only take on debtor donations. And they

670
00:48:04.239 --> 00:48:07.639
said, okay, well we're going
to give you this capital repaid in five

671
00:48:07.760 --> 00:48:12.480
years. And they did it at
point zero seven percent interest so we're just

672
00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:15.880
repaying the principle, which is incredibly
generous because they knew and they wanted to

673
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:19.400
help us achieve our mission, and
they knew we wanted to, you know,

674
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:22.920
reinvest that money into our into our
mission to help more women, and

675
00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:29.119
so we've kind of grown that way. So it's been I kind of sometimes

676
00:48:29.119 --> 00:48:30.559
I explain it to people. I
feel like we're going up Mount Everus with

677
00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:37.760
a toothpick. We're trying to grow
a business with it with very little resources

678
00:48:37.280 --> 00:48:42.440
because we wanted to go back to
the right place and we have limited ability

679
00:48:42.480 --> 00:48:45.599
to access capital because of the organizational
structure we're in. But we've been able

680
00:48:45.639 --> 00:48:51.320
to make it work and it's never
stopped us from saying us to big opportunities.

681
00:48:52.079 --> 00:48:54.559
So again, I love inspiring students
and others to kind of think in

682
00:48:54.639 --> 00:49:00.920
bigger ways and say it's possible to
kind of take the best say of nonprofit

683
00:49:00.400 --> 00:49:07.119
and the best of the business world
and to harness you know, capital markets

684
00:49:07.159 --> 00:49:08.880
to create change and how do you
do that? And you can come up

685
00:49:08.920 --> 00:49:13.079
with a lot of creative ways to
kind of blend those to have a high

686
00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:19.880
impact. Your business document is is
quite impressive. It reminds me that I

687
00:49:19.920 --> 00:49:22.920
probably should have asked you, why
were you a business major at SMU or

688
00:49:22.039 --> 00:49:29.239
communication the journalism major. So no, okay, that's amazing. It's really

689
00:49:29.239 --> 00:49:32.599
even more impressive. Thank you.
I went back and got my master's degree

690
00:49:32.639 --> 00:49:37.719
in international development. But I still, yeah, I've had to learn as

691
00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:40.880
I go, and I've had incredible
advisors. Are board chairs and Kiptendall,

692
00:49:40.960 --> 00:49:45.440
the former CEO and founder of Container
Store, and he kind of was one

693
00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:51.400
of the pioneers of the conscious capitalism
movement with his actual roommate in college,

694
00:49:51.480 --> 00:49:54.719
John Mackie, who started Whole Foods, and they started this idea of businesses

695
00:49:55.199 --> 00:50:00.280
that also care about people and give
back and why he became our board chairs

696
00:50:00.320 --> 00:50:06.039
who said, you'll are joined something
even more incredible. You're creating a business

697
00:50:06.280 --> 00:50:09.440
to give back, not just a
business, creating a business and thinking about

698
00:50:09.440 --> 00:50:14.239
how can I give back also,
which is also incredible. But what we're

699
00:50:14.280 --> 00:50:19.679
trying to create with our new model
is a business that's only purpose is to

700
00:50:19.880 --> 00:50:25.519
give back. That's why it's created
and sort of harnessing capital markets to propel

701
00:50:25.559 --> 00:50:29.760
a mission forward. And it's been
really exciting and that we've just kind of

702
00:50:29.880 --> 00:50:32.679
learned as we go, but had
incredible mentors that have helped us kind of

703
00:50:32.719 --> 00:50:37.320
stink through all of this really well
and really blessed to have that. I

704
00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:42.440
really appreciate that, Right, we
really have to be able to get a

705
00:50:42.559 --> 00:50:46.960
hand up from people who have skills
and abilities and temperaments and qualities that compliment

706
00:50:47.079 --> 00:50:51.239
and extend our own. And I
think that's brilliant that you've been able to

707
00:50:51.320 --> 00:50:54.000
tap such incredible sources to help you
with that. Brittany, that makes even

708
00:50:54.039 --> 00:50:59.079
more sense to me. We're almost
out of time, so I want to

709
00:50:59.119 --> 00:51:01.719
get two more things out of if
I can before we dash one. I'm

710
00:51:02.039 --> 00:51:07.159
really wondering how in the world,
and this is I know it's probably too

711
00:51:07.239 --> 00:51:09.079
much to ask in this amount of
time, but just scaling your business,

712
00:51:09.159 --> 00:51:13.000
I mean you I think you said
something about what did you say, five

713
00:51:13.119 --> 00:51:16.119
hundred or something stores or anyway,
I want to understand how it is that

714
00:51:16.199 --> 00:51:21.280
you've been able to scale this production
to be able to have the impact in

715
00:51:21.320 --> 00:51:24.679
the reach that you've had. Yeah, we're really lucky that we started to

716
00:51:24.760 --> 00:51:29.880
grow, I mean the Newman Marcus
opportunities when we really took off, and

717
00:51:30.079 --> 00:51:31.719
I mean we were growing slow and
steady up till then. I mean it's

718
00:51:31.719 --> 00:51:35.800
really one foot in front of the
other and adding new stores and boutiques every

719
00:51:35.880 --> 00:51:37.840
year. But Newman's really put us
on the map, and we became a

720
00:51:37.920 --> 00:51:42.480
top ten doory brand at Neeman Marcus
in our first season, so that really

721
00:51:42.800 --> 00:51:46.519
propelled us forward and was very exciting. But how we've been able to scale,

722
00:51:46.559 --> 00:51:51.320
So we've built an incredible infrastructure.
You know, I've worked for you

723
00:51:51.400 --> 00:51:54.199
know, ten years to put these
pieces together. And I remember, like

724
00:51:54.320 --> 00:51:59.199
year three or four, there were
some other organizations that started when we did,

725
00:51:59.239 --> 00:52:01.559
and they really gough and I remember
thinking like, gosh, like we're

726
00:52:01.639 --> 00:52:06.119
doing great stuff, Like why isn't
you know, this is just going slow

727
00:52:06.320 --> 00:52:08.320
and it's not you know, taking
off like they are, and they're not

728
00:52:08.480 --> 00:52:14.119
around anymore. And I realized the
reason for that is they grew before they

729
00:52:14.159 --> 00:52:20.159
were ready to grow and before they
had that kind of crucial infrastructure in place

730
00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:22.800
to do it well. And I
think we were really blessed that when we

731
00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:28.800
got the Nieman's opportunity, we had
already you know, we've been on the

732
00:52:28.840 --> 00:52:31.239
ground and you've gone for you know, ten years at that time, and

733
00:52:31.320 --> 00:52:36.159
we were able to build on what
we knew to create an even bigger impact.

734
00:52:37.519 --> 00:52:39.480
Okay, so distribution channel makes a
huge difference. Totally get that.

735
00:52:42.400 --> 00:52:44.599
The next thing I want to ask
you is, you know, when I

736
00:52:44.679 --> 00:52:46.599
think about what you've already done,
You're thirty three years old and you've already

737
00:52:46.639 --> 00:52:52.519
had an incredible impact across the world. Now, but I am curious.

738
00:52:52.559 --> 00:52:54.960
I mean, I'm somebody who's been
investigating how people experience meaning on their work

739
00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:58.360
and their lives for years. I'm
writing a book about that. I host

740
00:52:58.440 --> 00:53:01.480
to show what is it that you
ache to do in the time on the

741
00:53:01.519 --> 00:53:07.480
planet, what's next for you as
you continue all along? I am so

742
00:53:07.599 --> 00:53:10.840
committed to this mission and I would
love to see it grow. And I

743
00:53:10.920 --> 00:53:15.079
mean people ask all the time,
are y'all going to stay in Uganda and

744
00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:17.800
in dallast you know, are you
going to going to grow outside of that?

745
00:53:17.960 --> 00:53:22.239
And I'm so passionate about helping women
start businesses in their own country that

746
00:53:22.360 --> 00:53:27.239
they locally own and run. And
I think we can help do that through

747
00:53:27.440 --> 00:53:30.719
our supply chain and encourage other businesses
to start up and give them buying power,

748
00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:36.800
and you help them get on their
feet and really tap into the global

749
00:53:36.880 --> 00:53:39.480
market. And so I just see
this growing and growing, and I'm committed

750
00:53:39.639 --> 00:53:44.280
to this. And I remember I
had a mentor of mine and Uganda after

751
00:53:44.360 --> 00:53:46.920
the Orphanage project, and we had
learned some hard lessons through that, and

752
00:53:46.960 --> 00:53:50.119
I just said, like, what
am I even doing? I feel like

753
00:53:50.159 --> 00:53:52.000
I'm hurting more than helping. I
was twenty five years old and a little

754
00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:57.079
bit disillusion and he said, Bertie, that's a problem with your generation.

755
00:53:57.280 --> 00:54:00.079
You never stick to something right,
something's hard, and bounce to the next

756
00:54:00.159 --> 00:54:04.599
thing. And he was like,
I challenge you to commit to this country.

757
00:54:05.199 --> 00:54:07.079
You know, you're twenty five now, you've been working here for you

758
00:54:07.159 --> 00:54:10.199
know, six years. What if
what if you committed to this country,

759
00:54:10.360 --> 00:54:15.360
what would you be doing at sixty, sixty five, seventy You know,

760
00:54:15.199 --> 00:54:19.079
what kind of change could you have
been and how much will you have learned?

761
00:54:19.159 --> 00:54:22.840
And and I there's so much value
to that, to committing to something

762
00:54:23.519 --> 00:54:29.639
and continuing to innovate and make it
better and help it grow. And I'm

763
00:54:29.719 --> 00:54:34.079
committed to that and I really see
that as as as my purpose in life,

764
00:54:34.119 --> 00:54:40.960
and and it's my passion talk about
taking constructive criticism while Brittany, that's

765
00:54:42.039 --> 00:54:45.639
fantastic, Okay, Well, I
always like to give my guest, if

766
00:54:45.679 --> 00:54:47.719
you will, a bit of the
last word here. So we're down to

767
00:54:47.800 --> 00:54:51.480
the closure of the show, so
say, you know, in about thirty

768
00:54:51.519 --> 00:54:54.079
seconds here. So knowing this show
is all about helping listeners across the globe

769
00:54:54.079 --> 00:54:58.760
more meaningfully and productively connect with their
work, what would you like to leave

770
00:54:58.760 --> 00:55:01.400
the listeners with today, I would
just say, I mean, again,

771
00:55:01.480 --> 00:55:06.639
I think I've learned this through this
journey, is we are so much more

772
00:55:06.679 --> 00:55:08.320
than we know. The women that
I work with are so much more than

773
00:55:08.400 --> 00:55:13.480
they know. I think every person
who's listening to this, there's so much

774
00:55:13.599 --> 00:55:19.840
inside you and that can change the
world and transform and create. And I

775
00:55:19.960 --> 00:55:22.199
think just dive in, you know, take that risk, you know,

776
00:55:22.360 --> 00:55:28.639
take that first step of faith and
and don't be afraid and stay committed and

777
00:55:28.760 --> 00:55:34.559
persevere, and amazing things can happen. And so I've seen that with so

778
00:55:34.639 --> 00:55:37.440
many people, and again women in
our program who come through some of the

779
00:55:37.519 --> 00:55:44.559
most difficult situations just been sort of
this rebirth where they're you know, unlocking

780
00:55:44.599 --> 00:55:47.840
their potential in the world. And
it's amazing to see and I've experienced that,

781
00:55:47.960 --> 00:55:52.480
and just hope everyone on this radio
show has the courage to do that

782
00:55:52.599 --> 00:55:55.400
as well. Wonderful way to finish. Brittany, I want to thank you

783
00:55:55.519 --> 00:55:59.440
so very much for joining me on
the program. It has been an absolute

784
00:55:59.480 --> 00:56:01.760
privilege to have you here and hear
your story. Thank you, Thank you

785
00:56:01.880 --> 00:56:06.519
so much. If you want to
learn more about Brittany Merril Underwood and the

786
00:56:06.559 --> 00:56:08.599
work she and her team are doing
at the Accola Project, visit their website.

787
00:56:08.719 --> 00:56:14.320
It is Accola Project dot org.
So that's a k O l a

788
00:56:15.199 --> 00:56:20.000
Project dot org. Next week we'll
be on the air with tahar Ali and

789
00:56:20.440 --> 00:56:23.000
hear him about his incredible life story
and his message about failing our way to

790
00:56:23.079 --> 00:56:27.239
success. So see you then.
Remember that workers at least one third of

791
00:56:27.280 --> 00:56:36.719
our life, So let's work on
purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this week's

792
00:56:36.719 --> 00:56:40.480
program. Be sure to tune into
Working on Purpose featuring your host Alice Cortez

793
00:56:40.840 --> 00:56:46.159
every Wednesday at six pm Eastern time
freepm Pacific time on the Voice America Empowerment

794
00:56:46.280 --> 00:56:50.679
Channel. This week, find your
life's purpose at work