Today Elegant Roots blog launches a new weekly feature, its Tuesday Tracts by profiling Nadine Storyk Curtis who creates sustainable improvements in the lives of many women. Plaudits to Nadine. Welcome to you to the first of our series on people who deploy the power of socially responsible business.
Be Sweet is a company that exists to do good. Founded to build; to support. Is it ironic, or thoroughly expected that the impetus for it was an act of an altogether opposite cast?
Nadine Storyk Curtis and her husband were married in late August 2001, she from Northern California and he from South Africa. They were living in the States, but savored a dream to live someday in South Africa. On September 11, 2001, Nadine’s father was scheduled on United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. He did not board that flight on 9/11. But that tragedy and the personal near-miss helped Nadine realize the importance of living life to the fullest. Within months they had packed up their life together and moved to Cape Town, South Africa.
In Cape Town, Nadine was enthralled with the mix of cultures in the area and fell in love with the beautiful handcrafted textiles created by women’s empowerment groups. She began to look into the whole process of mohair textiles. She wanted to help support these worthwhile endeavors and Be Sweet was born to tap the power of ethical business and her spirit of social entrepreneurship.
More than 65% of all the world’s mohair comes from South Africa. As the women brush the finished mohair scarves, tiny fluffy balls of brilliantly colored yarn drop to the floor. Nadine was particularly impressed to see that the women artisans, by scooping up these balls, were able to re-spin what would have been waste and create another product – “Knobby Ball” yarn, which was to become one of Be Sweet’s bestsellers. Today, Be Sweet’s yarns remain a large part of Nadine’s business.
Back in California, where she lives with her husband and son, Nadine now runs Be Sweet according to values and lessons learned from her stay in Cape Town. Her business goal is to bring to the marketplace gorgeous products that don’t compromise social and environmental integrity. And she has succeeded. Be Sweet’s beautiful objects, sublime yarns and designs from playful to exquisite, are enhanced by their responsible origins. Many of Be Sweet’s women’s accessories are created by women in job creation programs Nadine found when in South Africa. These programs not only provide opportunities to local women, but create a sustainable tradition of skills that can be carried on to the next generation, as it has traditionally been. Indeed, Be Sweet now works with seven different job creation programs in South Africa.
Elegant Roots is proud to support Be Sweet in its socially responsible business and its earth-friendly offerings: accessories made from eco-conscious materials such as mohair, bamboo and organic cotton and yarns hand-dyed with the highest quality, low-impact German dyes available and then hung to dry in the open air.
Be Sweet’s finest mohair shawls and mohair scarves and are hand knit by Xhosa women in the East Cape region, work that allows these dedicated artisans to support large extended families while battling poverty in a part of the world where running water and electricity are scarce luxuries.
Be Sweet works with the Miele Women’s Collective to bring to market one of Be Sweet’s signature handbags, originated by South African designer Adri Schultz. Each extraordinary eco-friendly Miele Bag is hand-hooked from vibrant, recycled t-shirts creating a unique colorful whimsy. Each is accompanied by a card signed by the artisan who made it.
Be Sweet continues to grow and employ more and more South Africans as Nadine continues her travels to and work in Cape Town, improving the quality of life for many struggling local families. But Be Sweet’s involvement in the lives of Africans doesn’t stop there. The Company also supports a local school by donating a portion of Be Sweet’s sales. And Nadine continues toward the goal of funding a modern media/computer center for the school. As Nadine and Be Sweet demonstrate, business can be a force to “do good vis-a-vis the workers and the environment.”
