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As a part of the Morning Lazziness sequence highlighting empowering girls who’re making a outstanding affect with their concepts, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rebecca van Bergen.
At simply 24, Rebecca launched Nest in 2006 from her condo in St. Louis, impressed by the transformative potential of craft-based microentrepreneurs to drive social and monetary affect. As we speak, Nest companions with international manufacturers together with Etsy, Madewell, Patagonia, Goal, and West Elm to advertise transparency, enhance wellbeing, and increase financial alternatives for handworkers—starting from expert artisans to home-based staff throughout the globe.
Underneath her management, Nest has constructed a worldwide community reaching 250,000+ handworkers, 1,500+ artisan companies, and 124 international locations. Its initiatives, such because the Nest Artisan Guild and Makers United, present artisans with coaching, assets, and entry to markets whereas elevating the position of handcraft in constructing extra inclusive economies.
In 2017, Rebecca spearheaded the launch of the Nest Requirements for Houses and Small Workshops on the United Nations—introducing the primary trade device to enhance the rights and well-being of the world’s estimated 300 million home-based staff. This groundbreaking initiative additionally established the Nest Seal of Moral Handcraft, the primary consumer-facing certification guaranteeing handmade merchandise are ethically produced.
An award-winning social entrepreneur with a Grasp’s in Social Work from Washington College, Rebecca has devoted her profession to creating sustainable pathways for artisans worldwide—unlocking the facility of craft to remodel lives and communities.
On this interview, she talks concerning the obstacles she’s overcome, the milestones she’s achieved, and the knowledge she’s gained alongside the way in which.
What impressed you to start out your online business, and what downside have been you obsessed with fixing?
When Muhammad Yunus gained the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, enthusiasm for microfinance options exploded. New organizations and firms emerged to place Yunus’ ideas into apply, many too shortly and with out foundations in neighborhood constructing.
Having simply accomplished a Grasp’s in Social Work, I used to be studying about human-centered design approaches that focus and construct on the wants and alternatives that communities self-define, which is why this fast scaling of lending took me aback. In the USA, a mortgage creates debt not a enterprise in and of itself. The sudden conflation of those two ideas was worrying to me, notably when it was not coupled with enterprise schooling and different supportive companies.
I based Nest to counter this strategy. I used to be considering creating financial alternatives in creating economies with out the burden of debt. My imaginative and prescient was for a sustainable mannequin that supplied recipients holistic enterprise growth. I didn’t wish to merely finance a lady buying a stitching machine, however to provide her the abilities wanted to enhance her stitching to develop a sustainable enterprise.
How has your online business developed since its launch, and what key selections have helped drive that progress?
At Nest, we now have all the time believed within the energy of craft to drive social change and financial alternative. Over time, we expanded past targeted assist for international artisans and created Makers United, a program for U.S.-based makers, recognizing that inventive entrepreneurs in all places face distinctive challenges to establishing and rising their companies. One other instance of progress is that we now have lately added local weather as a programmatic focus space. We heard tales of artists and makers impacted by altering climate–from being devastated by pure disasters to uncooked materials shortage. We realized we would have liked to provide targeted consideration to understanding and supporting our communities adaptation to the altering local weather. Our evolution was, and continues to be, guided by listening to our constituents’ wants to make sure our work stays related and impactful.
Our enterprise additionally evolves because the trade round us modifications. Model and retail wants change based mostly on the worldwide social, political and financial context but in addition simply on client tendencies. Our work is feasible because of our deeply engaged community of name, retail, and philanthropic companions, whose purposeful collaboration permits us to focus on and scale our programming so we constantly pay attention and evolve alongside of them.
In your view, what really units your model aside in right this moment’s aggressive market?
In a world that’s turning into more and more tech-dependent, Nest goals to have fun handcraft as an financial driver and a technique to protect cultural custom whereas connecting us to our shared humanity.
Thoughtfulness and intentionality are on the core of what we do, from applications we develop alongside our international artisan neighborhood to the manufacturers and firms we select to work with. It’s this strategy and our confirmed affect that has led Nest to grow to be a trusted accomplice for main retailers, enabling them to confidently supply handcrafted merchandise and supply their clients with distinctive, high-quality items.
How do you keep linked to your perfect viewers and perceive their wants or behaviors?
As a corporation that serves artisans, makers, and inventive entrepreneurs worldwide, in addition to main manufacturers and retailers, and aware customers, we’re all the time listening.
Internally, our programming workforce hosts workplace hours to listen to from our maker and artisan companions in real-time and makes use of suggestions surveys to enhance our program choices. Our partnerships workforce meets usually with our model, retail, and philanthropic companions for collaborative planning calls, and our communications workforce retains up-to-date with trade and client tendencies by monitoring press and managing our social and channels.
We’re dedicated to working throughout groups to supply each other with the data and visibility wanted to do nice, impactful work.
What does success appear to be for you, not simply in numbers, however in goal or affect?
For me, success has all the time been about affect slightly than numbers. I outline it by tales of makers and artisans whose lives and communities have been improved by participation in our applications. It additionally seems like constructing partnerships rooted in respect and collaboration, the place everybody on the desk advantages. And, within the resilience, creativity, and alternatives we assist foster.
One instance of this affect is our work with the Gee’s Bend quilters. These artisans stay in a small city in Alabama known as Boykin, between Selma and Birmingham. This neighborhood is understood for its gorgeous, putting and uniquely trendy quilts. They’ve truly gained some notoriety for these quilts they usually can now be present in main museums and galleries. But, regardless of this rising status, Boykin is extraordinarily rural and the poverty price is excessive. The annual common earnings when Nest was first launched to the neighborhood was roughly $16,000 per yr.
What we discovered from these quilters is that regardless of the rising reputation of their designs, the ladies had no technique to promote them. They’d no brick-and-mortar store, no shops carried them they usually had no on-line presence. So, customers who had heard of them and needed to buy a quilt, needed to actually journey to Gee’s Bend and hope they ran right into a quilter outdoors her house. Finally, artwork collectors and sellers who made the trek to Alabama would supply to promote the quilts, however requested for such excessive commissions that little or no cash was left for the quilters themselves.
To help these quilters, we approached Etsy who shortly grew to become a accomplice. Nest helped the quilters type their very own e-commerce retailers on the platform and gave them the enterprise help they wanted to achieve success entrepreneurs. Etsy, for its half, waived its charges for the launch, guaranteeing that every one the income earned went immediately again to the quilters themselves and funded our enterprise teaching programs. Following the launch, the quilts bought out instantly and now the partnership has grown to incorporate collaborations with the posh style home Chloe, designer Greg Lauren and licensing agreements with Goal and Crate and Barrel. Collectively, these collaborations have yielded greater than 1 million {dollars} in direct gross sales for the quilters!
Are you able to share a problem or setback that in the end grew to become a turning level to your model?
Like so many (all?) companies and organizations, the Covid-19 pandemic was a serious turning level for Nest.
Nearly in a single day, we have been unable to ship our core programming, whereas our artisan companions, who usually function with razor skinny margins, reported their buy orders have been being delayed and canceled. They have been dealing with main layoffs which have been prone to ripple out into devastating incomes for his or her staff and households.
We knew we would have liked to do one thing to assist our companions on this essential second so we shortly pivoted our programming to supply funding to artisans producing face masks. We in the end produced greater than 200,000 masks which have been distributed to hospitals, the USA Put up Workplace and NYC Public Housing, making a magnified affect of each PPE manufacturing and wanted earnings for makers.
This program enabled Nest, and our artisan companions, to maintain our doorways open throughout this significant time. It additionally taught us the significance of being nimble in our pondering and program supply. On the finish of the day, our work is simply pretty much as good and impactful as it may be whether it is successfully supporting the individuals it’s meant to achieve. Generally, to make sure this, we have to step away from our typical method of doing issues and get inventive.
What every day habits or rituals maintain you targeted, inventive, and grounded as a pacesetter?
I’m an enormous believer in what I name “microtasking.” My husband calls it multitasking and whereas I’ve been sometimes recognized to do this, that is one thing completely different. Microtasking is the power to do a really small portion of labor in singular moments of time. Whereas I do actually have durations of prolonged work the place I sit at a desk for an unbroken size of time, the fact is that my days are extra usually damaged up by conferences or time-bound assignments. I usually discover that that is persona pushed as nicely. My mind is regularly shifting, brainstorming and ideating, and so, for me, small duties are perfect since I can give attention to one particular factor for a brief period of time after which detour as my consideration naturally strikes towards the subsequent factor.
However, I believe a part of what makes this philosophy so distinctive is that it has positively impacted my life outdoors of labor as nicely as a result of I apply the identical thought to self care. I’ve seen numerous individuals–usually girls–await that unicorn of a giant chunk of free time wherein they will squeeze in a yoga class, a future, or an uninterrupted telephone name with their finest good friend. When this magical time period by no means materializes (when you’ve got a younger household or a heavy workload, it usually gained’t), then self care by no means occurs. Even for these of us who work remotely or have a versatile schedule, it’s nonetheless tough to put aside an hour for an train class–particularly if you must add further time for commuting and showering afterward.
Ever since I noticed I may use the quarter-hour between calls to do a ten-minute stretch routine from YouTube or a meditation from Headspace, I’ve been capable of work these straightforward, low-commitment mindfulness routines all through my day and week staying extra grounded and current for my work and my household.
How do you strategy innovation and danger in your online business technique?
We’re working in a time in international historical past the place change looks like the brand new regular. Nothing is static and we should stay nimble in our strategy if we wish to stay efficient and impactful.
Innovation and danger–stepping outdoors what’s acquainted and cozy–can really feel scary, however are sometimes the place progress takes place. Leaning into change is crucial. Iteration is definitely a core worth of our group so we will strengthen our muscle mass of steady evolution, whereas enhancing applications based mostly on outcomes or due to bigger coverage shifts that require us to adapt and alter course.
To make sure we’re leaning into innovation and never taking undue dangers, I search the recommendation {of professional} mentors and actively have interaction our Board of Administrators. I look to the views and knowledge of those that are extra seasoned than me to take better-informed steps ahead.
What recommendation would you give to somebody beginning a enterprise in right this moment’s fast-changing digital world?
Don’t lose your hands-on connection to the world round you! Whereas a lot of contemporary enterprise occurs on-line, it is very important keep grounded and current in what’s taking place round us outdoors of our telephones, tablets, and pc screens.
As a result of we work with conventional crafts, I’m usually requested about the way forward for the handmade in a world that’s more and more robotic and mechanized. In truth, the extra the world turns into automated, the extra I believe the human psyche craves authenticity and humanity so I see a counter-revolution already underway–one which focuses on humanity and the handmade. I see a future the place we now have each AI and genuine craftsmanship sitting facet by facet–one displaying us the facility of the long run and the opposite rooting is our previous and our heritage.
The place can our viewers join with you and be taught extra about your work or choices?
You’ll be able to be taught extra about Nest at buildanest.org or comply with us on Instagram, and you’ll join with me immediately on LinkedIn.
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