Written by Vi Bella Founder and CEO, Julie Hulstein.

I recently returned home from a wonderful trip to Vi Bella, Mexico. Our first order of business was to celebrate the good work and dedication of the Vi Bella team by enjoying a day out in the city of Monterrey. We ate delicious food, took in many of the beautiful sights of the city and topped it off with a lovely canal ride in a gorgeous park. To make the day even more special, artisans shared how having a job in a safe environment has blessed them personally and their dreams of expanding the reach of Vi Bella to more women like them. Days do not get a lot better than this!

Enjoying the sights of Monterrey via canal boat.

The Mexican leadership team has been working hard for many months laying the groundwork for a new expansion project in their country. I am so proud of these talented and dedicated individuals!  While in Monterrey, we had amazing meetings between Vi Bella leadership and Mexican leaders in government, higher education, philanthropy, church outreach, social reconstruction, and social enterprise. I could hardly believe I was blessed to meet all these movers and shakers who have a passion for helping people live their best life.

Vi Bella Mexico Leadership Team

At this point, we have plans to move forward in a joint venture with several of these leaders to give employment with dignity to more women who come from backgrounds of poverty and gender abuse. Women who receive these jobs as artisans will also be given access to therapy from a licensed, Christian therapist. The leadership of the project will work to create and deepen connections between artisans and others in a caring, uplifting community.

Vi Bella artisan, Beatriz, and her daughter

As we move forward with this new project we are excited to announce that we are working on new designs that highlight the artistic and cultural heritage of Mexico and capitalize on the many resources of this wonderful country. Stay tuned! There is much more to come!

-Julie