One of the greatest pleasures we’ve had here at BRANDED is the opportunity to work with artisan PB for almost two years now. She is one of the longest hires we’ve had, and this woman is not only an amazing artisan but also an unspeakably impressive individual. Her life has been riddled with great darkness as well as great light. The depths of loss she has endured and the courage she has found inspire us daily. We’d love for you to get to know her a little too. May you enjoy our interview with this powerful and humble young woman. Thank you, PB, for sharing a bit of yourself with us. And congratulations on almost two years of excellent work!!
Question 1: You’ve accomplished so much over the past two years here at BRANDED: getting into college, buying a car, getting to spend time with your son again, getting your own apartment. How does it feel for you each time you accomplish your next goal?
PB: It almost seems surreal, like it’s not really happening... ‘cause I never imagined any of this happening.
Question 2: So much of your story involves living without things of your own and having your independence taken away. What would you say is the material possession you are most grateful for now that you have accomplished a great deal of independence?
PB: My favorite is my car! I named her Tuli, after tulips, because the car makes me think of tulips! Honestly, having a car is the ultimate freedom for me. I can go where I want, when I want. I’m not dependent on others so much. I never knew if I would be able to have that freedom again. No more bus line! My favorite place to drive is on country back roads! I like to roll the windows down and listen to music.
Question 3: One thing that seems common for humans to do when life gets really hard is to give up, give in or make excuses. You don’t seem to do that. You’re like the energizer bunny. What’s your secret?
PB: (With a sneaky grin) I hide it very well.
Question 4: What motivates you most while you’ve pursued all your achievements
PB: More than anything, my ultimate goal has always been to have my son back with me. He is the reason I do everything. He’s my motivation and my ultimate goal.
Question 5: When you have a dark day or a moment where hopelessness seems really big, what do you do to get through?
PB: Usually if I’m having a really dark time, I will turn on really loud music and burn incense… I love nag champa. The music is usually Evanescense, Flyleaf or Lauren Daigle.
Question 6: What is the best part of your life right now?
PB: My son, always. My car and my apartment. I love that the apartment is mine; I finally have a place of my own. I can go home, lock the door behind me, and not worry about anybody else.
Question 7: What is one thing you have not yet achieved that you are excited to continue to pursue?
PB: My degree in social work! And my minor in criminal justice. And finally getting my son living with me again, at least some of the time.
Question 8: In five years, what is one more thing you’d like to accomplish?
PB: Either working at End Slavery Tennessee or Restore NYC, or somewhere in the anti-trafficking field. And I really want to make sure my son is moved in with me by then.
Question 9: Let’s say someone is reading this who is in a very hard place - a place they do not think will ever change. Is there any one thing you would like to say to them?
PB: If you’re in a dark place, like I’ve been, the biggest thing is to reach out. Extend that hand. Let someone inspire you. Don’t be embarrassed for needing help, because there’s nothing embarrassing about it. There are trustworthy people out there, and you’ve got to learn to accept their help. Don’t block good people out. Basically, if your head is telling you no, but you feel in your heart that you’ve met someone who can help... take it! Ignore your head and follow your heart. Go get that help.
Life has taken much from RO. She is not yet 25 and has already experienced more loss and abuse than most of us do in a lifetime. And yet, she shows up to work every day with one of the most sincere smiles and truest laughter I’ve ever witnessed. This morning in our daily gratitude check-in, in her broken English she said, “Thank you God for a new opportunity of life!” How amazing is that? Despite all the loss, all the pain, all the disillusioning disappointments, RO believes that with each day God gives her new opportunity. She’s a living example of empowerment. For her it is not about fame or money or social standing or even a happy past… it’s about today! It’s about looking at the blank slate of “now” and simply saying, “Thank you, God.”
In addition to this humble gratitude, RO has diligently taken a substantial portion of each paycheck to send money to her family. They live in a roofless dwelling in South America. But, with her BRANDED paycheck RO put a roof over her family’s head. And after that, she built them their very first bathroom. I don’t know about you, but I do not think she could have done this if she’d waited on life to show up for her.
Life told this woman a thousand times that she could not do much and was not worth much. Life has given her a thousand reasons to say, “I give up.” Yet, each day she chooses to refute these lies. Step by daily step, she moves forward. She whispers “little by little” while she works. And, “I can. I can. I can.” She shows us what empowerment really is. It is not flashy, it does not always lead to big money or big fame or big headlines. It’s really quite simple:
Make one piece of jewelry, then another, then another. And one day, you’ve made enough that you can put a roof over your family’s head and a bathroom in their house.
What’s really cool about this story? RO did this all by herself. She made the money and she chose to send it. This is what I love most about the work being done here at BRANDED and End Slavery Tennessee. The items you purchased allowed this young women to help herself. And from there, she chose to help her family. The smile on her face when she shared with us what she was able to do with her pay check… well, that was worth all the accolades and money in the world!
Thank you, BRANDED family, for helping us create a workspace where young women like RO can choose empowerment. Thank you for supporting our mission. Thank you for believing that each day is a new opportunity of life!
In case you like pictures, here are some photos RO’s very proud mama sent back from the construction site…
Lots of exciting things are happening at BRANDED Collective but we have been slacking on our blogging skills. :) For that, we apologize and we'll try to make it up to you. For starters, we just added three new pieces to our collection:
Sterling Silver Bar Necklace: $48
Medium Aluminum Cuff: $35
Large Aluminum Cuff: $45
We love the combination of all three of these pieces together. What do you think?
Also another HUGE announcement is that we just stamped our 20,000th product! We are continually grateful to each of you for your support of our mission to empower and employ survivors of trafficking in middle Tennessee. We love this moment from our #20,000 celebration:
We just updated and strengthened our story page, too. Check out the new and improved story page to learn why we do what we do.
Onward and upward!
One of the more difficult parts of the work we do is saying goodbye. Working with the incredible women at End Slavery Tennessee (EST) is a rollercoaster ride of high highs and low lows. They work hard, day by day, to heal from the past, the trauma, the pain of drugs and violence and haunting memories. They are without a doubt amongst the most resilient and determined souls we have ever met. We’ve learned so many lessons from the women at EST. One of those lessons is far from easy: At some point it’s time to move on to the next chapter, to say goodbye to where you are and take that brave step into tomorrow.
Lauren and I made cuffs with E and V for about six months. We’d sit on the floor of the offices at EST and stamp cuffs for hours. We’d play loud music and shamelessly sing along. We developed inside jokes and drank coffee and ate muffins and made fun of each other (V and I have a deep appreciation for epic film-scores, while E and Lauren would rather jam to 90's rock or hip hop).
E and V became our friends. We love them, we miss them, we are so proud of who they are. They may not know this, but they helped us build BRANDED Collective into something so much bigger than we ever imagined.
But seasons do pass and these two wonderful women have moved on. They have pursued full-time jobs elsewhere and new adventures are calling. We miss them. We always will. Thank you, E and V, for all you have done for us and for BRANDED. And in honor of all things epic, always remember what Sam said to Frodo when things got really stinkin’ hard… “There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”
Go get ’em, you two powerhouses!!!
Love, Emily
Dear BRANDED Family,
With this new year, we would like to start writing to you more consistently to share with you our journey and the stories of our precious survivors. They have such wisdom, such depth and kindness. The BRANDED Collective mission has taught us so much. It has changed us. We would like to offer you the same challenge. We are committed to excellence, so we will only write to you when we have excellent content. These will be stories of real people and real moments along our journey. Join us as we dive into this adventure. Together we will be “growing and learning and changing everyday” (Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking Glass).
Our first post will introduce you to a new survivor. We cannot share names, we will give you only an initial and a taste of her story. If you are among the 3000 plus who wear BRANDED cuffs, and yours is stamped with the letter “R”… this is her story…
R: Meeting R is like meeting a sunbeam. You cannot encounter her without leaving brighter. She is among the most gentle souls you will ever meet. Her work with BRANDED is excellent. She is conscientious, her quality is consistent, and her pursuit of excellence unwavering. She is an asset beyond the telling. Thank you, R, for your commitment to BRANDED! When asked what it is she likes about the work she says, “I love the whole idea. I find making cuffs peaceful and I wonder who the person is that’s gonna be wearing this.” She’s also Tennessee classy to her roots: her favorite food is venison, her favorite musician is Jack White, and if she could live anywhere in the world it would be in the Tennessee country in a big white house with a tin roof and a wraparound porch. This girl’s got soul! If she could have any superpower, she would want “an infallible photographic memory capable of erasing anything negative.” (Again, she stays positive.) If she could have any talent in the world she would want to be able to play any instrument. Her dream job is to be a veterinarian. She loves animals and if she could have any pet she would want something exotic…. “perhaps a Bengal tiger,” she says with a smile. Speaking of animals, she can make a spot-on deer noise. And her favorite quote is appropriately Emily Dickinson’s: “A wounded deer leaps the highest.” We asked her if there was anything she wanted to say to young people and our BRANDED patrons. Her answer: “What I would like to say is that things might seem really bad, but you can always get through it. And not to ever give up. Sometimes you don’t remember that in the middle of a hard time, but never give up. Because I can remember times when I would just pray for God to take my life, and I’m glad that He didn’t. I think never giving up isn’t always something you remember but it is something God does for you. ‘Cause I know I didn’t do it by myself.”
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