Blossom Inspirations is a FAIR TRADE company, working directly with artisans & their communities based on circular economy models to produce toys, home décor and women accessories. Member of 1% for the Planet, Chicago Fair-Trade, Fair-Trade Federation & Marca Peru.
Founded in 2009, with the mission to connect consumers to artisans through high-quality, eco-friendly products crafted under the tenants of Fair Trade. Developed on the idea of mutually benefiting everyone involved from the selected of raw materials to production to sale of the eco-friendly, fair trade products (women and kids accessories and home décor). In this way, we impact positively artisans in Peru (coast, mountain & rainforest) and Mexico, wholesalers, retailers, consumers and our environment.
Recently, Blossom Inspirations adopted 16 hectares of the rainforest in Peru, as part to giving back 1% of their sales to protect the environment, reforestation and avoiding biodiversity loss, thanks to its membership with 1% for the Planet.
Founder’s/Owner’s story and what motivated them to start the business
Rosa Chang Claro was born in Lima, Peru, to Chinese-Peruvian parents. Her career and postgraduate studies took her first to Mexico, where she finished her master’s degree in finance and, along with her partners Jeffrey Hansen and Jorge Cam Rosell, founded the fair-trade company, Blossom Inspirations in 2009.
Blossom Inspirations started with Rosa’s homesickness. Being away from her native country for more than two decades, has exposed to different experience, cultures, communities professionally and personally. It allowed her to reflect on her values, roots, and culture to understand the traditions of Latin America. Therefore, she found herself channeling her homesickness, passion and her way to fit in society through Blossom Inspirations.
The fair trade company has evolved based on Rosa’s diverse corporate experience, working between US and Latin America in different industries like Financial Services, Airlines, Professional Services and IT from Sales to Delivery.
Her passion for swimming and travel led her to support many charitable initiatives including the NGO Inspira from CNN in 2018 by swimming 14 miles in open water Peru, Por Ellas México, Swim across America, and Laboratoria.
Since 2013, Rosa and her husband Jeff have been raising their two bilingual girls in Naperville, IL. In 2020, as her COVID’s response to support the artisans, she published her first bilingual book (English & Spanish), “Cuyita Wants to Know the World”, promoting diversity, inclusion, and empowering women to follow their dreams. The book has been blessed by Pope Francis and inspires both the young and the old to live and love beyond any and all borders.
The challenges the business/market is facing
As a fair trade company, Blossom Inspirations always has the responsibility to support the artisans that it works with directly. Therefore, it takes most of the risk from production to sell, giving in advance to the artisans 50% of the whole production cost and completing 100% when the production order is ready.
Actually, if they finish on time, with the right quality, we agreed to offer 5% – 10% in addition, as a bonus.
However, COVID 19 arrived and there were no orders from customers, therefore no production orders and the supply chain were completely disrupted: Peru was in complete lockdown and with extended curfews.
Until now, there are many factors that the artisans are facing and that impact the supply chain and distribution: lack of raw materials, weather conditions, inflation, Peru – country risk. We continue working with innovation on diversification and training to have a competitive differentiation that allows more work to the artisans and access to other markets.
The opportunities the business/market is facing
The way that we thrive to the pandemic, supporting artisans on their basic needs was with innovation and technology.
We decided to publish a bilingual book for kids that encourage girls to follow their dreams, promote biodiversity from Peru and ask the artisans to produce a little guinea pig in recycled alpaca fur, named Cuyita to attach to the book. We included on the book a QR code, where the kids can watch a video about how Cuyita was made by the artisans and in this way promote culture and inclusion.
The bilingual book gave as the chance to enter the local market Peru, USA and expand us internationally.
Advice to others about business
It is important and today more than ever, that we rethink and reinvent our business based on understanding our impact to the environment and how we can contribute to a more sustainable future. Reviewing our supply chain to know where the raw materials come from, understanding the people involved in the process and the impact of the production to the environment in terms of waste, carbon emission, energy, water and biodiversity is part of our responsibility as a Fair Trade company and to be a good citizen.
GP
The work of a family doctor includes a wide range of clinical diversity, which requires extensive knowledge and erudition from a specialist. However, I believe that the most important thing for a family doctor is to be human because the cooperation and understanding between the doctor and the patient are crucial in ensuring successful health care. On my days off, I love being in nature. Since childhood, I have been passionate about playing chess and tennis. Whenever I have time off, I enjoy traveling around the world.
- Learn to Enjoy Self-care Routine - September 21, 2023
- Jonathan Aufray’s Story - July 29, 2023
- From Public Housing To Ivy League: The Inspiring Journey of Crystaltharrell.com and its Founder - June 7, 2023
