139: Rebecca Smith, CEO and Founder of Better Life Bags

June Sponsor: KimArt Designs If you are a mom, expecting mom, or just want a unique and personalized gift for someone you love, KimArt Designs can create a piece of art specialized just for you. Kimber is a hand embroidery artist & designer who creates intricate and one of a kind pieces that you will cherish forever. Her embroidery art is perfect for nurseries, weddings, and housewarming gifts. You can personalize the size, shape & colors to make the perfect gift for yourself or someone you love. To see all of Kimber’s embroidery hoops, or to request a custom piece of art, please visit kimartdesigns.com All orders within the United States ship free and arrive gift wrapped at kimartdesigns.com. Sign up for Amazon Prime! Free Two-Day Shipping, unlimited photo storage, plus exclusive access to movies, music and Kindle books. shepercolates.com/amazonprime   Better Life Bags started as Rebecca Smith's hobby.  To beat boredom during the last month's of her first pregnancy, she made herself a diaper bag and posted pictures of it on Facebook.  After hearing feedback on how many people wanted to buy one, she opened an ETSY shop in August of 2009 and decided to give 10% of every bag sale to a low income entrepreneur overseas through microloans.  She named the ETSY shop "Better Life Bags" and sent a picture of the person the loan was going to help with each bag purchase - to show customers how someone's life was being made better as a result of their bag purchase. In 2010, she and her family moved to a low income area of Detroit, Michigan and her eyes were opened to what poverty, unemployment, and blight can do to a city and the people living there. When orders experienced a boom in 2012, she turned to her neighborhood for help.  She hired a woman originally from Yemen, named Nadia, to start sewing bags alongside her.  After a few months of spending time with Nadia and paying her for the work she was doing, Rebecca saw a shift in her attitude and economic status.  Her family was finally able to afford bed frames for their four children and a dining room table.  Better Life Bags was making lives better in Rebecca's own community. Better Life Bag's mission is to hire women who have various barriers to employment to make our custom leather and fabric bags.  They are adopted into our Better Life family and given a chance to succeed in life, family, and friendship. Rebecca's thoughts on success: In the past year I've learned how to extend grace to myself and to celebrate the small wins in a day. things we chat about with Rebecca: 2008 being newly married, not having a care in the world and being a teacher 2009 making her first diaper bag Success varies day to day, sometimes it is all about just getting the kids to school on time learning how to extend grace to herself, being okay with NOT having pinterest worthy parties turning a hobby into a company with a mission and purpose thoughts on being a business owner, "the older I get the less I care if people laugh." hiring women from the community in Detroit, Michigan taking time off to spend quality time with family Books Rebecca mentions The E-myth Anne bogel's podcast, what should i read next