THANK YOU

I woke up to a 150K followers on Instagram and all I could think was - THANK YOU.  Going to Thailand back in January has led me to reflect a lot on this entire journey because, as I've mentioned, Thailand is sort of where this all began.  

Back in the summer of 2012, I did an internship for my university working with a small nonprofit organization in a very rural part of Northern Thailand.  We worked with different "Hill Tribes;" groups of immigrants from surrounding nations such as the Lahu, Akha, and Karen Long Neck tribes. It was a life-changing experience and I grew to love that country and its people SO MUCH.  It broke my heart to see the poverty and struggles these Hill Tribe people had to work through.

A little over a year later, after a string of events that included getting engaged and calling off the wedding (don't worry it worked out in the end but that's a story for a different time haha!) I ended up deciding to serve an 18 month voluntary mission for my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  When you volunteer to serve, you don't get to choose where you go. You're assigned by one of the leaders of the church.  I was beyond surprised when they called me to serve in Thailand! 

For 18 months the only thing I did from sunrise to sunset was work to love, help and support the people of Thailand and it was the most amazing experience!  Throughout that time I got to be fully immersed in the culture and began to notice how beautiful their textiles were. I hadn't ever seen anything like them in the United States.  That thought persisted when I got home and was trying to decide what I wanted to do next with my life. I had a passion for International Development, and a love for Interior Design, and slowly I started to realize a way that I could bring the two together. A way that I could help my friends in Thailand expose their craft to a larger market and help provide for their families in a much bigger way.  And now, almost 4 years since I returned home from my mission, here we are. Helping to support families in countries throughout the world to bring their beautiful, hand made work to you. 

None of this would be possible without YOU.  So THANK YOU.  Thank you, thank you thank you!!!! Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. Thank you for taking a chance on me, for shopping small, for liking our posts, commenting on our pictures, giving us feedback and love and support.  THANK YOU.

As always, we want to improve and grow and make sure we are meeting YOUR wants and needs! Leave us a comment below letting us know how we're doing! Is there anything you would like to see more of in the shop? On Instagram? Or this blog??  Your feedback matters and we want to hear your opinions!!

xoxo,

Ally

In January when I went back to Thailand for the first time since my mission, we visited an Akha Hill Tribe and got to see the women hand print beautiful indigo batik fabric.  Each is truly a work of art.