Seriously, though. It's all about the photo.

This Slim Outside Pockets Tote was one of our lowest selling bags online.

It sold SO well when we’re doing in person markets, but online - nope.

Practically zero interest despite being a great price point + very practical tote.

Do you know why?

It’s because of these photos.

For the one on the left with the model, I hired a big box photography studio that was definitely low budget. They didn’t notice the bag blended into the model’s pants & there’s no storytelling element that brings you into a bigger story. And these bags definitely have a bigger story

For the one on the right, I took this one myself. I’ve got a nice camera & have taken a photography class at the local community college. Sometimes I can absolutely nail a product shot, but with black leather, it always gets washed out or is overly shiny. You can’t even see that it has outside pockets, which is the best feature of the bag!

But then take a look at this beauty:

This photo tells a story.

It shows that the bag is available in two different leather colors.

It shows the front of the bag & the side.

It has a VIBE that I know I want to be a part of!

For this photoshoot, I hired an incredible photographer out of Chiapas, Mexico. We used a mix of professional models & women in the community. Maria, who runs production for us with this artisan group was the stylist & was intimately connected with every aspect of the making of these gorgeous bags. And it shows.

So why am I talking to you about product photography? : )

I want you to know how important it is to the success of our artisans.

With photography, as it true with most things, you get what you pay for, which means that doing big, excellent photoshoots isn’t cheap.

But the impact on sales & therefore on the impact we can make by continue to employ artisans in Mexico, India & Ethiopia can’t be understated.

And that’s the why behind our upcoming Warehouse Sale.

Usually our annual summer sale is a nice way to celebrate the summer & clear out a little room for new fall designs coming, but this year it feels different. More important.

This has been a year of big leaps for us as a company. I've been trying to wrap my mind around how to actually scale our impact by supporting more fair wage jobs for years & this is the accumulation! 

I'm taking the time to do things right as we expand our Fall line: I hired an incredible designer to go work directly with the artisans in Ethiopia. 

These things take upfront costs before we can start to see the long term impact. It's getting over the hump. AND we're so close! 

Every dollar from this Warehouse Sale is going to further this big jump into a new level of impact.

Here's how our impact is going to scale: I've been partnering with a handful of incredible boutiques to create custom branded handbags for their adorable shops. Basically we take care of all of the ethical production side of things & they choose their favorite designs of ours to put their logo on.

It's a win/win/win - my very favorite kind of partnership! 

Last spring I got brave & asked a few of the boutique owners what it would take for us to take over production of their entire leather handbag selection. 

They all said they needed larger breadth. Basically, more design options.

I said how many & they said at least 20.

For reference, we usually do 2 - 3 new styles a season.

I pulled up a spreadsheet & started running the numbers. 

I contacted Lori, the handbag designer I'd been connected with for 10+ years & always dreamed of hiring one day. 

I estimated design trip costs, samples, timing & what I had in the bank. 

It was do-able.

A stretch, but possible. 

So this is me making it happen!

And this is where I'm really feeling that stretch - I want to be able to hire a photographter for an editorial shoot that will blow everyone's socks off. 

That will really capture the hope & dignity & joy in this new line. 

I found the perfect local photographer.

We just sat down & dreamed up the most incredible photoshoot! 

We need to have the budget to do an entire editorial shoot really, really well. And since we always pay everyone involved including models, creative directors, etc a fair wage AND since we've got over 50 items (hello THREE leather colors!) it’s going to be a big shoot. 

These photos would be what our boutique partners would see to decide if they wanted to order the item for their shops. 

They're the photos that they would also get to use on their (and our) websites & social media platforms to sell through the products so quickly they need to place a reorder for the artisans, which is where the exponential impact takes place! 

The faster they sell through their products, the more products they order & the more work that is provided. As this continues to grow, we have to hire more people which is EXACTLY our mission. 

I’ve got some amazing surprises in store, like whey we’re calling this a Warehouse Sale instead of our usual annual Summer Sale, but this newsletter is long enough as is so I’ll save the fun details of the sale for next week’s newsletter.

So for now, just mark your calendar for June 12th at 8am CST : )