This is Jillian. You may have met her here before. Since then, she’s become even more of a treasured friend to me.
We “get” each other.
On the rare occasion we get the chance to meet up for coffee, I feel like I’m sitting down with a long-lost friend. A fellow pilgrim on the journey to do business. . . for good. See, like me, Jillian started Marie Mae out of a passion. Very unlike me, she spent 10 years as an international business advisor, specializing in emerging markets.
(in other words, she’s a business genius!)
During her international travels, she was struck by the spirit and drive of the women entrepreneurs she met, but saddened to see the gap between what they were trying to do and what they could accomplish if someone (with her business knowledge) could invest in teaching, mentoring and training them.
During that time, the idea of Marie Mae was born in her heart.
In all her years in business, she’d been annoyed by the lack of fabulously designed, quality office products and paper goods. So Jillian merged her knowledge of international business, with her heart to empower these women, into a sustainable social enterprise. She created expertly designed, ethically made office products that set you apart from the crowd, while empowering women entrepreneurs around the world to do the same through the Marie Mae Business School.
Each item purchased equals one hour of training at the Marie Mae Business School.
Her school includes classes and training for entrepreneurs each year in an emerging market – such as Rwanda, where we hosted the inaugural Marie Mae Business School in 2015. Armed with practical business skills – like public speaking, business planning, market research and contract negotiation – these women improve not only the quality of life for themselves and their families but of their communities as well.
It’s such a beautiful win for us all.
I love this girl and I can’t wait for you to meet her in person to hear even more about her behind-the-scenes on her journey to live her HeartStories. She’s joining us in two weeks at the August 4th, HeartStories Girl’s Night Out in Frisco. I sure hope you will too! You will learn from her astounding smarts, connect with her generous heart and get a chance to shop her gorgeous products.
If you can’t make it, I encourage you to follow what she’s doing and buy her products when you can.
The world needs more women who are committed to doing good business, and I believe you’re one.
to more love,
Crystal
