Our mission is simple: spread hope
I Thought of You was founded by Mandy Nagel after a visit to a small market in Indonesia led her to meet Yulia, a local woman who made and sold jewelry to support her family. Mandy was impressed with the beauty and craftsmanship of the styles for sale and purchased many pieces to bring home with her to the US. After learning that more than half of this population lives on less than $2USD per day, and that more than 80 million Indonesian children live in poverty, she felt compelled to do something more but hadn’t yet identified what that could be.
In 2014, I Thought of You officially opened its virtual doors. Mandy traveled back to Indonesia often to work with Yulia to craft styles that were on-trend with colors and styles popular in the US. What resulted was a collection of modern Fair Trade accessories that supported a family a world away.
Today, Mandy and her team continue to work with Yulia, who has expanded her business to hire more artisans to keep up with customer demand. I Thought of You now also works with many artisan groups each in 9 more countries as well as 3 all-women maker groups here in the US.
WHERE WE WORK
Meet our makers in: Colombia • Guatemala • India • Indonesia • Peru • Philippines • Thailand • Turkey • United States • Vietnam
You’re looking at the heart and soul behind our brand. We partner with women in 9 countries—women in at-risk communities, women who couldn’t otherwise afford to feed their kids, women who are at risk of falling victim to trafficking. We work alongside them as they craft handmade, gorgeous accessories that are eco-friendly. Your partnership supports, empowers, and gives hope to our makers. To put it simply: your purchase changes a life.
Our mission has grown to purposefully travel to find more artisans that can benefit from access to the global marketplace. These artisans are then able to craft styles with eco-friendly materials found abundant in their respective regions. Recent consumer shifts have shown why Fair Trade matters, and customer purchases have shown that they care about who made their styles.
These styles started out by providing steady work and a steady paycheck to 1 woman in Indonesia, who was now able to afford to send her children to school and obtain clean drinking water. This story has grown to create a movement which is paving the way to create a world in which we can all have a positive impact.
