inspire me {Wild Olive Tees & Lisa Leonard Designs}
This week we started back to school and my iPhone course began. It has been a little bit nuts, but pretty great too. The kids only sit at the table together for about five minutes, but each morning it makes me smile. I love pictures like the one above that show how small they are. I hope in 10 years I can find them gathered around the table together and look back with fondness at this time. By then I’ll probably forget all the hard parts and the fighting over markers. Right?
I’ve been taking a few Fridays this year to share about some friends and companies that inspire me. Today I wanted to share about two of my online friends and how they are using their gifts not only to support their families, their employees, but many others.
The first is Stefanie of Wild Olive Tees. I ‘met’ Stefanie last year when we were waiting to bring home Little One. At night I would find myself scouring the blogs of other mom that had adopted from China. I’d study their timelines, how the transition was going, what the challenges they faced included. Stefanie is momma to twelve beautiful children, 8 of which were born in China. She writes a blog called Ni Hao Ya’ll and was such a sweet encouragement to me over the past year. She continues to inspire and encourage me through her blog.
Stefanie and two friends began Wild Olive Tees. 10% of their profits go towards An Orphan’s Wish in China, Sixty Feet in Uganda, and Eyes Wide Open International in Haiti. Wild Olive Tees also works with adoptive families for fundraising efforts.
Lisa Leonard was one of the first women I can across online that was successfully running a blog, a business and positively impacting the lives of others. She’s been known for years for her stamped jewelry, but her business continues to expand. A few years ago, Lisa sent me a beautiful pennant banner that said “whole” after my oldest daughter was finally healed from a broken femur. It is still a treasure to me, reminding me of that long month in the hospital and the road to healing for my girl.
Recently Lisa launched her Hope{full} line – a fair trade line giving work to Ecuadorian women. I was so, so excited to see Lisa do this. I’m more of a bead necklace kind of girl, so I was pretty thrilled when Lisa sent me a mustard yellow necklace. It’s super cute! A portion of the proceeds from the line goes to Jungle Kids, a lunch for a child in need is provided with the purchase of each item.
She has a new handmade stamped baby spoon too…I’m thinking once Little One starts eating from a spoon, she might need one of those to celebrate! The photos below are from Lisa’s Hope{full} Fair Trade line.
What I love about Stefanie and Lisa is I know they are both just normal moms. They deal with all the hard parts of being a mom, a wife and running a business. I’m inspired by their commitments to their families and the way they actively pursue ways to use their businesses to benefit others. They both write words of encouragement to moms, inspiration to business owners, and kindness to all. I’ve watched them both consistently respond with grace in tough and challenging situations. They are pretty much awesome in my book.
