International Women's Day Special

Jessica Honegger [00:00:03] Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Going Scared podcast, and today is a special day because I am actually here live with two amazing powerhouse women in order to celebrate International Women's Day. We're actually recording this live together at the Noonday Collection Shine conference, which is all about fashion, social impact, global gathering, business badassery. And really, I am with two special women to celebrate and honor this day. Melissa Russell is the President of North America International Justice Mission and Ana Hernandez is the founder and CEO of Baxter Textiles in Guatemala. And she and her organization have been partnering with Noonday Collection for about eight years now. So welcome to the show.

Melissa Russell [00:00:58] Hi Jess, so happy to be here.

Jessica Honegger [00:01:00] So glad that you are here. Well, I wanted to kick off this day by just talking about women. I know that we have a passion to empower women around the world, and that passion comes from somewhere. So first, I want to ask you, Melissa, who is a woman who has shaped you and inspired you?

Melissa Russell [00:01:22] You know, I will have to start and say, as so many of the survivors at IJM are literal heroes to me. And so over the years, there's just so many wonderful stories of women who, through really difficult situations, not only come out to the other side of that, but also encourage their communities. [00:01:40]And I'd say one of the women that stands out to me. Her name was Mary. She's from Uganda. You and I have talked about Mary before, but you know, Mary was, you know, she was farming land in Uganda, which is what so much of the GDP of Uganda depends on is the hard farm work of women. And she had family after her husband died, who came to steal the land from her. And this happens often. It's very violent, and it's not so much like Western society. There literally was nowhere else for Mary and her children to go, and IJM took on Mary's case. I got her back on her land, and one of the things she said to me was, you know, she was even before the violence came, she was so afraid to succeed because she thought that that would make her a target of violence. And so she was keeping her potential, even her growth at a minimum level so that violence wouldn't come so that she wouldn't become a target. And then what she ended up doing was profoundly going for it because she saw that she could be safe and protected, not only growing her own plot but working with other women within the community to do the same for themselves. And so I just find that so inspirational to me. [72.8s] That was really early on in my time with IJM. So it probably is one of those stories that had the largest impact, both on the need for the work, but also the resiliency of women. I mean, you said badassery like the women who work in IJM, the survivors we work with like total badassery, it's amazing.

Jessica Honegger [00:03:11] Yes, I draw so much inspiration from our partners as well. Ana, tell us about a woman who has inspired and shaped you.

Ana Hernandez [00:03:22] In the first instance, [00:03:24] I can say that on a personal level, it was my mother. She said something very important that every situation in your life doesn't matter. You need to move on and grow professionally. Go to school and have a job. Do something with your life first. [14.4s] And on a professional level, I can say that it's you, Jessica, because in the first event that I was here with Noonday Collection Sales Conference Shine, I could see that you were working very hard, creating a very large company to be able to grow small businesses like ours. So, there are two people my mom and you get a thank you.

Jessica Honegger [00:04:00] Anna, I'm really honored to hear that. Ana is an incredible woman in her community. She is the first woman in her village to obtain a master’s in business. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Really amazing. Let's talk about the last two years. You know, we've been fighting for the rights of women and children for many, many years now, and the last two years have been a setback. Specifically, how has this pandemic impacted women at a global scale, Melissa?

Melissa Russell [00:04:38] Yeah. [00:04:38] So UN women would have estimated before the pandemic that that women in poverty would have decreased by at least 2.7 percent over 2019 and 2020. And in fact, because of the pandemic, it has increased nearly 10 percent. Right. So, you were supposed to see a continual decrease in in women in poverty, given all the good work around the world, but instead, and this is just what happens. [24.8s] You know, we talk about this. These are these are people who live their lives on the floodplain like right on the edge of what can be dangerous. And so, if you have a natural disaster, typically the world's most poor are impacted first. When you have a global pandemic, whether it's economically. Violence has increased. You have so many women who at least for the first year, had to be quarantined in homes with their actual abusers. And so, once you add the stress, once you add the anxiety, you have just an increase of everything that is difficult. [00:05:40] And so therefore I'm excited to be here this weekend at Shine is to just really talk about there was meaning before and now there's an even greater need because of what especially women have been through around the world the past two years. [14.0s]

Jessica Honegger [00:05:56] I don't think we really have talked about this enough quite frankly, you know, on how has the pandemic affected women in Guatemala?

Ana Hernandez [00:06:08] Maybe because I work in business. My biggest vision about the pandemic was more economic impact. 90 percent of women in San Juan La Laguna work with handicrafts and mainly the biggest income they receive was selling these products to people from other countries. The pandemic completely closed that source of income because from one moment to the next, there were no more visitors. [00:06:33] Unfortunately, many businesses have closed in San Juan La Laguna some permanently, some temporarily. And they had to look for other sources of income to be able to continue supporting their families. The company that I have, fortunately, since the beginning of the pandemic until now, we closed the store for only a while, almost two years. But we continued with the work because we received Noonday Collection orders and so 100 percent of the 50 women, we work with did keep their work because of the requests and orders we had received. [34.0s] It is an aspect that we can look positively towards. Wow.

Jessica Honegger [00:07:14] So this last summer, I got to go and visit Ana in Guatemala. And in addition, I met with the team of International Justice Mission in Guatemala. And in order to celebrate International Women's Day and to help the women and children in Guatemala, we are actually launching a very cool bag designed by Leah Duncan, who's a local Austin artist. And the bag really represents how women rise up, and we only rise up when we can stand on one another's shoulders. And all of the proceeds from that tote bag are going to International Justice Mission in Guatemala.

Melissa Russell [00:07:57] We're so excited. Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much.

Jessica Honegger [00:08:00] Yes. So, on that note, you know, we hear these heavy stories. We hear the impact of the pandemic. What can we do as women in order to make a change, make an impact on women around the world?

Melissa Russell [00:08:17] I would say first, realize the power that you do have. And so, you know, especially if things seem far away, especially in in the United States and Canada, women have a tremendous amount of power. And so, I would say come along organizations that make systemic change. And that's why IJM loves partnering with Noonday. Because Noonday is a business and it's a business found on real business principles, and it's bringing real jobs and real work to women around the world. And so, drawing close to the work of Noonday, I think, is great. Becoming an ambassador would be wonderful. [00:08:52] For IJM, the systems we address are literally making sure laws are enforced against the vulnerable, typically women and children, so that the system creates safety for people. If laws are not enforced, crime goes rampant. But when you enforce laws, especially in places where we're talking about violence, once you start to do that, you see real system change so that women are safe to thrive and to move. And you can do that. You can go to the IJM.org. The best way to do that is to become a freedom partner and that sends rescue and restoration every day. But there are a lot of great organizations out there. Come alongside one of them, look for systemic change that look for the organizations that are creating not short-term solutions, but long-term deep solutions to what it is that you get passionate about. [48.7s]

Jessica Honegger [00:09:42] Melissa, tell us a little bit more about specifically the work of international justice mission in Guatemala. It is, IJM is all about rescue and also preventing violence against the poor and creating that systemic change. But that looks different, according to the context, the local context. So, tell us about the context of the work in Guatemala.

Melissa Russell [00:10:04] Yeah. So, you know, we started our office there in 2005 and before we went, we, you know, we did, you know, conversations, discussions with experts in the field to talk about creating sustainable change in the justice system, right? How can we strengthen the justice system? They said it would be impossible, literally. They said it would be like squeezing blood from a rock to ever get a conviction. And what we wanted to look at was child sexual assault. And that's what we focus on in Guatemala is children who are sexually assaulted and they're literally there are no ramifications for that in Guatemala. And over the years, we have seen especially systemic change in the places where we're working. There are now sexual crime units set up. The vice president of Guatemala signed a four-year MOU like a memorandum of understanding in investing in and supporting the, you know, the research, the investigations, the prosecutions, the enforcement of law in sexual assault against children. [00:11:02] And so truly, you know, I know we're talking about systemic change, but that's what you want to see because you that's the only entity that can enforce law is the government. And if the government isn't doing its job, it really is free rein, especially on the most vulnerable. [13.2s] So that's what we focus on in Guatemala. We focus on, you know, violence against women and children in other places, sex trafficking, bonded slave labor in in places also around the world.

Jessica Honegger [00:11:28] Ana, I know that your store has been closed, as you mentioned for two years now, but during that time you actually moved. You opened a new store and Noonday collection customers gave and helped give a small down payment to that place. It's absolutely beautiful, but when I visited, it was empty still, because we're waiting for tourism to pick back up again. When you imagine this really this crisis coming to an end, what are some of your dreams for your community and for your store in Guatemala?

Ana Hernandez [00:12:11] First, we reopened the store in November, and we feel very satisfied at a business level with greater stability because we are in a proper place. [00:12:20] I think this is going to help a lot for something that I want to do starting this year. The moment of the pandemic was a moment of reflection for me as an entrepreneur because I started to think about how much the business has grown, but mainly to plan what next steps I should take for the business. [16.3s] And I think that the biggest goal is to have built the workshop with the support of Noonday Collection. Now I know the importance of having someone else who trusts our goals like you did.  I want to continue this part also of trusting the goals and dreams of other people. We'll start with the artisans because they're working with us. The work itself impacts their lives, but we want to know more about them. What are their dreams to support them one by one? And part of the profits from our products can be focused on being able to meet their goals because they trust us and also follow us as leaders and entrepreneurs. That is why we want to be a part of them. We want at some point to also achieve the personal goals of each person who works with us. [00:13:24] It’s not easy, but it's not impossible. [3.3s]

Jessica Honegger [00:13:29] Amen. I want to just leave you guys with that. It's not easy. This work isn't easy, but it's also not impossible. And we can either focus on how devastating the last two years have been and the setbacks that it's created. Or we can see the opportunities that have been created, and we can truly believe that we have something to bring to other women. [00:13:54] And it really must start with that. For those of you all listening, you have to believe first that your presence matters, that you're not invisible, that you do have a voice, that you do have power. And once you can own that power in that agency, you get to go and use it. [18.8s] I love this quote by Warren Buffett. He says that you are sitting in the shade of a tree that someone planted a very long time ago. And as women, we get to be shade makers. We get to provide rest from the storm, and we get to provide a trunk for someone to lean against. And growing trees takes time. It's does not happen overnight. So go be a shade thrower.

Melissa Russell [00:14:42] Go throw some shade.

Jessica Honegger [00:14:44] And really use your power. Thanks so much, guys. Thanks, Jess. Thank you. To celebrate International Women's Day, Noonday Collection has designed in collaboration with Austin artist Leah Duncan a really, really empowering tote bag made just for you, and all the net proceeds are going to go to International Justice Mission to support their work in Guatemala. All of it so head on over to noondaycollection.com or email or reach out to your local Noonday Collection ambassador and grab the tote while they are available. I'm Jessica Honegger. Until next time, let's take each other by the hand and keep going scared.