Buy Beautifully, Live Beautifully: How Bought Beautifully's Marketplace is Creating a Brighter World
“Bloom where you’re planted” reads the hand-embroidered banner, made with love by a Haitian artist cooperative that partners with Bought Beautifully. When Emily and Colin Betzler created Bought Beautifully, they were doing exactly that: blooming where they were planted.
In a small town in Wyoming, Emily and Colin felt that it would be especially challenging for them to have a significant impact on the issue of human trafficking because, as Emily puts it, they were “geographically isolated from the rest of the world.” However, Emily and Colin were determined to find a way to make a tangible impact on the world of human trafficking.
“Our finances were our biggest blessing that could be a force for good,” Emily says regarding her inspiration for Bought Beautifully.
“Our heart is to use our blessings to change the world.”
“There are so many amazing organizations out there. I wanted to put them all together and make [ethical consumerism] easy for people.”
Through their dedication, Bought Beautifully became an online “marketplace that transforms lives,” featuring ethically made jewelry, bags, clothing, and more.
Bought Beautifully connects with 45 partner organizations in 23 countries across the world to create a marketplace that decreases the demand for sweatshops while actively making the world a better, brighter place. “Our heart is to use our blessings to change the world,” Emily says.
“There’s so much power in how people choose to spend their money. They’re investing their values and beliefs back into the world.”
Every Bought Beautifully product is ethically sourced and ethically made, so when you purchase an item from their website, you are actively benefiting the lives of the workers they employ.
One such worker is Mariela*, the youngest artisan that works for SutiSana, one of Bought Beautifully’s partner organizations in the Red Light District of El Alto in La Paz, Bolivia. At twenty years old, Mariela is beloved by her coworkers and known for her positive and playful demeanor that continues to shine despite her years of abuse and forced prostitution.
Before she was offered dignified employment at SutiSana, Mariela, who was born into multi-generational prostitution**, had to sell her body in order to raise her four younger siblings following her mother’s death. When Mariela’s aunt discovered her situation, she suggested that Mariela ask SutiSana for help. Mariela enrolled her four younger siblings in SutiSana’s child care program but was unable to find peace for herself. Restless, Mariela took a job at a sewing factory that ended up being a labor trafficking situation. Though she believed she could outsmart the system and use the sewing job as an opportunity to support her family, Mariela returned three years later, still financially unstable and with two children of her own.
Now that she has a safe and reliable job as a seamstress for SutiSana, Mariela has been able to establish stability, structure, and support in her life. “Our partners are caring for that individual on every level,” Emily explains. “We want to see them thrive. They provide jobs, but with that there’s usually counseling, holistic healing, and development.” Through SutiSana, Mariela has access to weekly counseling sessions with a professional psychologist, an in-house social worker, quality education for her children, and ongoing professional training. She also now has the chance to build a relationship with her children, a bond that is strengthened by SutiSana who gives them the opportunity to eat lunch together every day.
Because of SutiSana, Bought Beautifully, and every person committed to ethical consumerism, along with her life-changing job, Mariela now has a loving community and a life-giving support team.
“Our partners are caring for that individual on every level. We want to see them thrive. They provide jobs, but with that there’s usually counseling, holistic healing, and development.”
Bought Beautifully and their partner organizations are also putting a stop to the cycle of poverty and prostitution that Mariela and others in her situation are trapped in, ensuring that her children will have the education they need in order to have access to dignified employment in the future. For now, they will have the opportunity to enjoy their childhoods. Meanwhile, Mariela is able to plan her own future with dreams of finishing high school and potentially opening her own restaurant.
Sometimes it can be difficult for us to see how we can make an impact on an issue that seems so much bigger than all of us. However, like Emily and Colin, we can bloom where we are planted and use what we have to make a difference. Our spending money gives us an enormous amount of power, and it’s how we use that power that can change someone’s life for the better. When you buy beautifully, you’re helping artisans like Mariela to live beautifully by making the world a better, brighter place.
You can shop Bought Beautifully’s curated marketplace at 25% off until December 31, 2019 with code “dressember25”
*Mariela’s name has been changed for confidentiality.
**Multi-generational prostitution is a cycle of sex work that is difficult to break because it is passed down within a family from one generation to the next.
About the Author
Victoria Shircliffe is a superfan of the television show "Once Upon a Time," and when she’s not working at the public library, she’s travelling across the country to fan conventions! She recently graduated from Bellarmine University with a degree in English and Marketing Communication and hopes to pursue a Masters in English. She is passionate about feminism, fairy tales, and fighting human trafficking.