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| Credit: Danielle Chiel |
I learnt that women could do anything. I learnt that if you wanted to know something, go and find the answer. This was role modeled by all those around me. I was constantly asked questions such as: what is it that you would like? What is stopping you? Why aren’t you doing anything about it? Who is it that you need to ask? Speaking up is in my DNA. My mother was a pioneer in her own right in so many ways.
What realities do you believe are overlooked within developing nations pertaining to the female population? How did India result being the main focal point for your entrepreneurial endeavors?
If women in rural Indian villages don't comply with something that someone else tells them to do, especially a man, they often face detrimental physical consequences that can leave them with lifelong psychological conditions. They could be beaten or hit, screamed at, and many times this could be amplified even more if they have a father or patriarchal figure in their life who abuses substances such as alcohol, as well. With my endeavors being focused on these women, you know, when they come to work with us it can be the first time that they've ever been taught - not told - what or how to think. Doing so helps them foster and nurture their identity outside of what the forces around them growing up told them it was. They are more than just their family or their job or their upbringing. These aspects of recognizing your identity are common in people in the Western world, but these women in rural villages and developing countries don't often have that balance. So it's my mission to ensure that these women don't stay invisible, to ensure that they have a voice, and to ensure that people know about them.
How can developed nations do a better job contributing their resources and talents to nurture the mental, emotional and physical well-being of these women as valuable members of society?
Well, the first thing we can do is acknowledge that these people are valued members of society. Their role is not just to be subservient; their role is to contribute to the betterment of the world, the same as it is your role and mine. In order for the developed world to contribute to that role, we can support businesses that employ and offer products made by women in these under served areas. We can also ensure that these ladies are offered full-time employment so that when they come to work, we know that they are compensated well enough to send their children to school and to nurture their own emotional and physical well being, which trickles down to their children and family to offer them opportunities these women may not have had in their youth. We can also offer programs where anybody from the West can meet these women and talk to them about their lives so that we can connect with them and show the world that they're real people with real value. If developed nations don't want to have hands-on emotional or physical support for these ladies, they can still offer their support through avenues like fundraising donations.
Women are educated and guided to take better care of themselves through The Artisan Nation as they become self-sufficient working professionals. This includes the engagement of dietitians, psychologists, physical movement leaders, and advisors that provide financial literacy.
What was the biggest challenge for your team when executing this specific business plan in the field?
The biggest challenge really was knowing where to stop. Many of these women have never been given regular work. If they've eaten a predominantly rice-based diet for all their lives, which most of them have, they can come to us malnourished. Those of us in the West know that if we're lacking in vitamin B, vitamin C, or magnesium, that has consequences on how we feel physically and mentally, and can impact our output. If you could imagine some of these ladies feeling this way all the time, they don't know that they’re missing out on a healthy and balanced lifestyle, so it was simply a brainstorming session with a group of people around our table to work out how we could most support these ladies, more than just financially. So, in order to lead a very fulfilling life, we just made a whole list of everything that humans need to flourish like love and a non-toxic support system. They need a roof over their head. They need regular meals and a balanced diet, so the biggest challenge here was actually working out how to connect the separate professionals who can provide all these needs with these women. That's why the Artisan Nation was born because, in reality, we act as a bridge to connect skilled professionals with women living in developing countries.
How do these Indian women transition from being compliant, subservient women into self-thinking respectable beings in society? Do they face any hesitation in embracing these valuable discoveries through learning about self-worth and self-love?
Most of these women absolutely face hesitation in embracing self-worth and self-love, because they were never able to embrace those values in their daily lives. They are told since childhood that whatever they say or do or think is of little value compared to what the men around them think, say, and do. Breaking that cycle of what these women perceive as “normal” is difficult and should never be done alone. That’s part of why Artisan Nation strives to connect these women with the skilled professionals who can help them unlearn their old mentality, instill newer and healthier values of self-worth and self-love, and help them understand those values are not only good to have, but they need to have them in order to live fulfilling lives and help others around them.
Presently there are two villages participating in The Artisan Nation program. What variables were used to determine which villages would initially participate in the program? How do you forecast the future participation of additional villages joining this worthy cause over the span between now and mid-2022?
We don't discriminate between any of the villages that engage in the program. It's simply a matter of finding people in developing countries to support them. The more people in developing countries we can support, then the more villages come across our board. The only probable variable in determining which initial villages we wanted to participate with was the location because it's really hard to support one village in the north of India and one village down in the South of India with the same programs at the same time with the size we are now. We're starting by supporting all the villages within one geographical area, because that way the professionals we work with to help the women in our program, such as dietitians, can travel from one village to another close by instead of having to travel all over India.
What are some entrepreneurial challenges you faced when setting up KOCO's presence in the first 90 days in India? Were there any new challenges you embraced when implementing the mission of The Artisan Nation during the Covid pandemic?
Implementing the Artisan Nation was a no-brainer because I knew these women needed help. Having the artisan nation as a bridge to link the skilled professionals and corporations with these women was the easy part. As far as challenges go, it's finding the right corporations and the people within them who believe that giving these women a voice is an important part of their company’s core values, but even properly communicating to corporations the many ways they can help us can be challenging.
The biggest challenge is to actually find any size company, whether they have 10 staff, or 1000 staff to come on board and take an interest. They just need to actually contact us to find out more about what's going on, even without a commitment up-front. Getting involved is how businesses begin to impact the future, and most customers today are becoming more conscious about whether or not the people and companies they do business with care about other people, even people and communities they aren’t directly involved with. I’m sure there are millions and millions of women around the world that would resonate with our mission and support us within the blink of an eye; all we need to do is find them, to find those people who believe in our mission as being worthwhile. I believe if more people and companies have beliefs similar to ours and truly want to connect with women in these developing countries, the world would be a much more colorful, interesting, and grounded place as a result.
The Covid pandemic disfranchised about 16 million workers within the fashion industry in India. On a global level, what are a few realities about the fashion industry that are misunderstood regardless of the economic climate?
The fashion industry has the potential to have a significant influence on women and specifically on women in developing countries. Most of these women are highly skilled and earn their living using their hands. Artisan products are highly valued and these women have a very strong drive to send their children to school (an opportunity that they themselves didn’t have). I have a very strong background in connecting with others, especially women from developing countries and areas, and helping them to achieve their goals. I believe that, if the fashion industry got behind women from under served and developing areas having a voice and helping them to achieve their goals, even something as simple as a woman being able to send her children to a safe school in order to obtain a proper education, the fashion industry would have the potential to change the world enormously.
The fashion industry, regardless of economics, still has a lot of catching up to do as far as sustainability and human rights. It’s doing better than it was even 5 or 10 years ago, but improvements can still be made for the good of the industry, employees, and customers. I wouldn’t say the barriers to entry for entrepreneurs in India or anywhere else are necessarily high, but climbing over or breaking through those barriers still takes a lot of work, especially for women entrepreneurs in traditionally patriarchal communities. It’s not something anyone should take lightly, but they can be overcome through dedication and passion towards a mission greater than yourself..
Danielle, you uplift and inspire women around the world, who are the women whose wisdom has contributed to your strength?
The women that I work with are my greatest role model. They are resilient, highly intelligent and it is an equal two-way exchange of skills.
Working in the field and partnering with different personalities demands time and energy. How do you nurture your self-care and emotional growth when not actively working on KOCO and The Artisan Nation?
Besides supporting the women that I work with I swim and make artisan chocolates. Both enable me to totally switch off. I also have 2 grown sons that I love to cook for.
What is the best entrepreneurial advice you've received from another female entrepreneur?
It’s from Emma Isaacs who runs a large women’s networking group here in Australia. It was, “always say yes and work out how later”. If my memory serves me correctly, she got this from Richard Branson.
When in doubt, who or what do you turn to that allows you to melt these doubts away?
I have always had mentors around me, so I either turn to my sons, my mentor or the swimming pool.
You're also an author. Danielle, do you have any favorite books that you enjoy reading?
The most recent book I read was Powered by Change by Jonathan McDonald. It has a subtitle of, How to design your business for perpetual success. I’d highly recommend it. It’s a fantastic basis for thinking and structure.
If you were to reincarnate and return to earth a 100 years later, what changes would you like to see in society?
That all women are empowered and independent and the relationship between people are of mutual respect.
Please share with audiences how they can support your work.
Learn how the inception of KOCO & The Artisan Nation is driving positive change in India through empowerment of women.
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