How SOULfox Farm Products Support Women

I have wanted to write and share this post for some time now but have struggled a little in how to tell you about our biggest news without sounding like a total d-bag all full of herself and her cause. Well those of you that know me well understand that my excitement is genuine and comes strictly from my heart...they also know that I am capable of being a d-bag too, we just call it balance!

It's impossible to both support and not support everything that you are passionate about so to pick just one that I could get behind was a challenge for me. But, like most things in my life it kind of just fell into my lap and once I connected the dots it became pretty clear what I needed to do for the business and for one of my lifelong passions. I have personally been through a hell of a life and I mean that both literally and figuratively, having made it through an abusive marriage and PTSD to becoming a spiritual consultant and healer, artist and now alapca farmer while maintaining a career in Information Management. Yeah, talk about a ball of weird!

So my lifelong passion has been to empower women, all women, no matter who they are or what their age or income is. I feel like I've spent a lifetime crusading against "the man" right from my father whose word was law, to the domestic violence group I spent time with while I was healing. It was obviously no coincidence when I met Ester this year and knew from intuition that her and I would somehow come together to do something great. That's just what happened.

Ester is the lovely woman that cleans our offices daily. She comes by everyday to pick up my garbage and chat a little. Even with a small language barrier she manages to make you feel good about your day, she is sunlight walking! She noticed that I routinely bring my alpaca products into my office for those who are interested in purchasing anything. She very shyly asked me one day if I would display some of the knit and crocheted products she makes on the side. I was thrilled to be able to do that for her and the very next day I had about half a dozen stuffed to the brim bags on my desk. I was a little overwhelmed! We put everything out on the desk to showcase and it was then she told me her story.

She immigrated here from Chile with her husband, a teacher by trade, the only work she could get in Canada was as housekeeping staff with a large company. Her marriage broke down and when her husband left her, he left her with nothing. She has a teenage son that has a moderately severe disability and she is now trying to make ends meet for both of them and to pay for his needs. The proceeds she is making from her products goes to pay the bills for her son. When she told me her story she told it to me with pride and sorrow and that's when I looked at her and told her that I want her to work for SOULfox Farm. She was not expecting that at all, quite frankly, neither was I but there it was, the universe unfolding in the most perfect way that it does.

So Ester now takes the alpaca yarn that I supply to her, she handcrafts these beautiful high quality products and I pay her for each completed product. She names her price and I pay her before the product even hits the shelf as I don't believe she should have to wait to see a profit. It means double the work for me but I'm just grateful that I can help someone who needs a hand up, especially someone as wonderful as Ester!

It's my goal with SOULfox Farm to earn a living in a fair and responsible way to the people that provide our products and to being environmentally proactive on our farm. I can't wait to share more news about the farm, our products, our alpacas and of course me! Thanks for reading friends, I'm happy you stopped by today.