The Simmons Family: Trades of Hope

I've been a Trades of Hope customer for a couple years now through one of my high school friends, and I have always loved what they do in helping to provide and create jobs for women in desperate poverty situations all over the world. This summer, after realizing I would not be able to teach in the Summer and Fall semesters due to my pregnancy complications/bed rest, the thought of actually joining Trades of Hope as a compassionate entrepreneur crossed my mind. It was a way for me to help others and help my family, even while on bed rest.

After praying about it, I decided to join Trades of Hope as a Compassionate Entrepreneur, and I am so excited that I did! It's so nice to work with a company where I can say that I am 100% behind what we are doing. It fits with my passion and beliefs in helping people in need; not just in giving them handouts, but instead by providing them with jobs that will last and allow them to actually leave poverty behind and be able to now take care of their families with housing, food, healthcare, education, etc.

If you are not familiar with Trades of Hope, they are a fair trade, missional company founded by two mothers and their two daughters in 2010. Trades of Hope works with women and artisan groups in other countries and in our country to help women and families who are living in abject poverty, fleeing the sex trade industry, recovering from acid attacks, and much more by providing a way for them to earn a safe, sustainable, fair trade living by making jewelry, scarves, handbags, journals, and home decor products. We then sell their products here in the U.S. market. Our artisans are given the opportunity to use skills that they already possess OR to learn a new skill to make beautiful products that we sell for them in the U.S. market. The artisans make 100% of what they ask, which is approximately 3-6 times more than they would make if they were working independently in their town.

The mission of this company completely aligns with my heart and passions too. I have a huge heart for people in need and a desire to help in any way that I can. Coming from a missionary family on my mom’s side, I grew up listening to my great-grandmother, my grandparents, and my mom tell me stories of their time on the mission field in Peru, Haiti, Jamaica, and Ecuador. I have also had the opportunity to go on short term international mission trips in Mexico and Bolivia, and I have served locally in my town too, primarily by bringing food to the homeless. As I have been watching Trades of Hope videos and reading more about the work that they do, I have found myself in tears because I love that they are helping people who have so much need and hopelessness in their lives. Trades of Hope is helping them to leave desperate lifestyles behind in order to build new lives filled with hope and dignity. Honestly, I could go on and on about how much I love what Trades of Hope is doing.

My hope right now is that you would be willing to help support me in this new venture, in whatever way you feel most comfortable. How can you help? Any and/or all of the ways below would be great! :)

Several Ways to Help:

Prayer Support – Please pray for the LORD’s blessing and guidance in this new journey and my role in this business. I really want this to be a successful way for me to bless these women and provide support to their small businesses by selling their products for them here in the US, while at the same time being able to help support my family too; as a CE I am able to make 20-30% commission on sales.

Receive my Monthly Newsletter – I send out a monthly newsletter with information about Trades of Hope missions, products, deals, etc. Please let me know if you want to receive my newsletter and I will add your email address to my list. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Shop at My Store - If you ever need to buy gifts for anyone, would you remember me and consider checking out my Trades of Hope store? There are so many cute items that would be perfect for birthday presents, Christmas presents, wedding gifts, etc. Not only would you be getting a quality, handcrafted, fair trade gift, but you would be helping the women who made the item (and my family too). Check out my store here: www.mytradesofhope.com/carissasimmons. Make sure you see my name in the top right corner before you purchase anything.

Host an Online Party – This is super simple. You just send the party link to your friends with the dates of the party, usually 2-3 weeks, depending on what you want, and then they purchase products on their own time. If you host a party you can earn free product and discounts too. All while helping to support the artisans who handcrafted each of the products sold.

Host a Home Party – This could be at your home, a restaurant, coffee shop, etc. where we would meet for about an hour. I’d explain the Trades of Hope mission and some artisans’ stories, then you and your friends browse the product I have on display, make your purchases, and decide whether or not they want to also host a party or join my team. If you host a party you can earn free product and discounts too, all while helping to women in need.

Join my Team – If you want to join me with this awesome company, let me know. I would love for you to sign up with me to be a Compassion Entrepreneur with Trades of Hope too! We could work together to help empower women out of poverty.

Spread the Word – Tell people about Trades of Hope, me, my store, etc. If you haven't already please like my Trades of Hope Facebook page HERE…it’s where I will post my Trades of Hope information. Please share it on your own timelines and please share my actual Trades of Hope website (www.mytradesofhope.com/carissasimmons) with your friends too. Or if you know of anyone who would love to host a party or who is looking to make a career change or help people out of poverty situations, let them know about me and Trades of Hope. Any way that you could possibly get the word out for me would help so much! I can even send catalogs to you that you could place around your town or pass out to your friends.

If you have any questions at all, please let me know. I can go into more detail about why I am joining with Trades of Hope, or more detail about the items above, or provide more information about anything that you are curious about.

Here are some videos that also help to share what Trades of Hope is all about and how it is impacting the lives of the artisans. Enjoy!