Lauren Conrad And Hannah Skvarla Built Their Non-Profit The Little Market To Help Women Sell Artisanal Products

When Lauren Conrad and Hannah Skvarla met over 10 years ago at college in California, they didn’t initially think their friendship would blossom into co-founding a non-profit that would lead to helping marginalized artisans around the world. But that is just what they did.

 The world first met Lauren Conrad who quickly became a beloved icon of the silver screen through the reality hit tv show, Laguna Beach and spin-off that she starred in, The Hills. One of the first reality tv shows of its time. At the height of her visibility and fame, Conrad decided to leave the show behind to focus on her clothing line and New York Times Best Selling novels. But she knew that with her platform, she could do more to give back. “I was in a unique position where I had a platform and I wanted to make sure I was using it correctly and there were women all over the world who could make good use of that platform,” says Conrad.

Hannah Skvarla had a background in the non-profit space and in 2012, the two finally had a chance to take a trip to Uganda and Kenya. Something Conrad always wanted to join her in doing, finally with more time on her hands she could. The friends planned to visit non-profits across the countries that focused on helping women and children. An area both Conrad and Skvarla cared deeply about. “We met so many women that met so many incredible challenges and were facing so many obstacles. We wanted to find a sustainable way to help them,” says Skvarla. 

 It was on this trip, Conrad and Skvarla stumbled across markets with the most unique and beautiful handmade goods that held special cultural and traditional meanings, often made using techniques that were passed down from generation to generation. “We would always purchase what we could and bring things back for ourselves or our friends,” says Conrad.

 With plenty of time in the car driving between remote villages of Africa, they began to talk about what they wanted to create taking inspiration from what they saw in the markets of Africa.

 “We decided that if we were able to create an online store that would help us connect these incredible women with customers who would want to support the work they were doing and support a livelihood for them, we felt that with my background in the non-profit space and Lauren’s background in the design space, we thought it would be an incredible opportunity to be able to help women develop products in a way that would be a better fit for US customers and sometimes that means something as simple as adjusting the dimensions of a pillowcase,” says Skvarla.

 There is an undeniable opportunity and reach that the US market can afford artisans, and in recent years there has been an increasing demand for ethically made products that create sustainable social good. Conrad and Skvarla wanted to ensure that they could create a business model that would maintain the artisan’s cultural traditions supreme, not straying from their techniques yet also meeting the American taste and need. That may mean adjusting the dimensions of a pillow or a color scheme. “We are always working really hard to preserve the technique and the traditions, but our goal is to be able to create as many purchases of these handmade goods as possible. Through these purchases, women have access to a dignified income and better wages. What was so exciting about empowering women through economic opportunities is through the ripple effect it has on their communities and their children.” says Skvarla. 

 Trends come and go fast, but the growing interest of the consumer wanting to know where products are coming from and demanding transparency is a trend with real sustainable staying power. “I think that we are so fortunate that people have become so much more invested in their purchases and we have always really focused on storytelling. We have always wanted to tell the customer about where the product came from and the individual that created them, whether that be where the individual is from, the techniques used or a little back story on the groups we work with. That’s always been important to us, but I think it’s also becoming increasingly important over the last few years which has been amazing for us because it was so built into the way we already sold products.” says Conrad. 

 According to the United Nations, poverty cannot be eradicated without gender equality. Global Washington member Awamaki helps women’s associations start and run small businesses that create artisanal products. According to Awamaki’s founder and executive director, Kennedy Leavens, the organization was founded on the belief that “income in the hands of women is the best way to lift communities out of poverty.”

 “Women know what their children and their communities need, and they make those investments when they have the means to do so,” says Leavens.

 Over and over again, since the launch of The Little Market, women artisans have shared with Conrad and Skvarla how their lives and their communities’ lives have changed thanks in large part to the reach of The Little Market’s platform. “Women will share with us that when they have access to their own income, so many changes happen in their household and community. Women have often shared that domestic violence decreases, women almost always share that when there is the extra income they invest it in their daughters and send their daughters to school, not just their sons. So instead of girls just doing domestic work, now they are getting educated. And also, moms begin to buy healthier food for their families which can prevent diseases like worms. This keeps Lauren and I motivated to work as hard as we can on these women’s behalf. So we can reach more women all over the globe. To grow The Little Market as big as possible.” explains Skvarla.

 The Co-Founders explain how they work locally, nationally, and globally to seek out artisans. “For us, when we are looking for new artisan partners, we care about the story behind the makers. We seek out marginalized underserved communities and makers that wouldn’t have had these job opportunities because of discrimination. So, for example in the US we work with former refugees, formerly homeless women, individuals with severe mental illness, nationally and globally we work with people with physical disabilities. And the list goes on. But essentially we wanted to create an online presence so customers could feel good about the products they were purchasing and that they were transforming the lives of the people who made them.” says Skvarla.

Now, The Little Market is entering into new partnerships within the food category. Both Conrad and Skvarla are hot sauce lovers which led to their latest partnership with Black Mamba. An ethical producer of specialty food products, based in the African Kingdom of Eswatini (Former Swaziland). Started in 2010, manufacturing a range of chili sauces, pestos, pickles, chutneys, and jams, all made with natural and locally grown ingredients. The partnership between Black Mamba and The Little Market began just months before the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. Claudia Castellanos, Founder and Managing Director of Black Mamba explains how the partnership helped all the employees continue to work despite the pandemic. Not having to fire one person, unlike many other companies in the area.

 “Just months before Covid hit, we began our partnership with The Little Market, and it helped a lot with sales. It was a huge win for us to have the partnership when we did – when we needed it most. It helped us to provide more job opportunities and sustained existing job opportunities throughout a very difficult time. We didn’t have to fire anyone, while many others had to let employees go,” says Castellanos.

 “I am so impressed by our production team because they responded so well to scaling our company. Because it was a very big order. And I do also think that the partnership with The Little Market helped us to professionalize our production process, our managing processes, it helped us grow to scale but also organizationally.” 

 Castellanos says that the other key element that helped Black Mamba thrive amidst the pandemic was in part due to its farmer’s ethical farming practices which showcased the farmer’s built-in resilience. “Our farmers, because of the way we work with them, are trained in a permaculture method which is based on not needing external inputs to grow food, so in terms of our farmers, very little changed for them during the pandemic. They were already growing without fertilizers or any outside elements. Because that’s how we grow our ingredients. We were still able to provide work for them since we were online orders. But I think because they were trained in a permaculture philosophy, it allowed them to not be very affected. We were some of the lucky ones.” 

Without a doubt food, in all its nuances, thrived throughout the pandemic. “When you can’t leave your house, you start thinking of new ideas to cook. And from the very beginning, as borders were closing, we were losing a lot of our retail stores, so we started seeing we needed a different way to promote our product, virtually. I do believe this is also how we were able to successfully become seen as a partner for The Little Market. Showing new ways to use our sauces and pestos, people were interested. We have been very very blessed we were able to work, even more than usual.”

 It may be true that the hot sauce market is a saturated one, both literally and figuratively, but Black Mamba is doing a lot of fresh new things with its product, flavor profiles and with how it is giving women opportunities. “It is a growing market for hot sauce, and it’s expected to grow in the next 10 years based on market trends. I think it’s growing exponentially because it’s specialized. In the beginning, like 10 years ago, the market was only Tabasco and then Sriracha, but now there seems to be an appeal by the market- especially the younger market – like millennials and gen x to know where things are made and going from the massive food brands to small batch and handcrafted products are getting traction.” The fact that consumers can connect directly with the brand allows them to connect emotionally to the story of how it is made and the artisans themselves. Now, consumers have more ability to learn of small artisanal companies based in faraway places and directly purchase their products impacting and possibly changing local economies. 

One of the supervisors of Black Mamba is Nontobeko Hleko, she tells Forbes about how working with the family-owned company has helped her become the breadwinner of her family. “My role is to cook, but I am also a floor supervisor. I have been working with Black Mamba since 2018 and the company has helped me a lot in so many ways, my life has changed, even my cooking skills at home have expanded. Mostly, Black Mamba has helped me with my work experience because they help women like me, single parents, I can cater to my needs and my children’s. Now, my children can grow well.”