my noondayversary!

This week I'm celebrating one year with Noonday Collection!!  I cannot believe that it has already been a whole year.  This journey has been amazing so far, and I'm so glad that I decided to dive in and get involved.  I have been enriched in more ways than I could have ever imagined when I started. 

 

 

Yes, the jewelry is fabulous, and I love getting to wear such beautiful and unique jewelry all the time.  It's been so fun to share it with my friends and to help style other women.  I love seeing my friends show up in their Noonday.  It's so fun to see people wearing their jewelry in pictures of their own special occasions....on their wedding day....anniversary date nights....graduations....with their Easter best....to formal events.  I love when I'm out at dinner or running errands and strangers recognize my jewelry as Noonday.  Yes, the jewelry is fabulous, BUT it's never been only about the jewelry!!!  It's about so much more!  Noonday Collection is about advocating for our artisans.  It's about helping provide sustainable income opportunities.  It's about bringing hope back to people's eyes and smiles to their faces.  And it's about true community.  A community of women encouraging each other far and near.  And that's the part I didn't see coming!  That's the part that has overwhelmed me and filled me up!

 

 

Being able to know these artisans by name.  To know their stories.  To know their joys and their sorrows.  To know when they meet the man of their dreams and get married to him.  To know when they have babies and what they name those babies.  To pray for them when they are in a serious car accident.  To pray when they ask us to for their family members who are very sick.

 

 

 

 

And there are the awesome women I have met from trunk shows, whether hostesses or guests at the show.  I have always loved getting groups of women together and connecting with them on a deeper relational level.  So, Noonday has been a perfect fit for me in this area.  I love getting to speak to other women regularly to educate them on issues of poverty, oppression, sex trafficking, and adoption.  I love to encourage them and help them see that they do have an opportunity to be world changers.  Their voice does matter, and they do have the potential to make a huge impact with the small decisions they make daily.  I have met so many amazing women, had so many life-changing conversations at trunk shows, and have experienced so many new ideas, projects, and partnerships (non Noonday related) be birthed out of a trunk show.  Great things happen when you get a group of passionate, like-minded women together!

 

 

 

 

And then there are the ambassadors.  Oh my, the ambassadors.  Never have I met so many spectacular women all in one little place.  These women have been so inspiring and encouraging, and I never saw that part coming.  They have supported me and offered very practical tips and advice for helping me grow my business.  They have taught me more than I ever thought possible about fair trade.  About adoption.  About orphan prevention.  About ways to help break the cycle of poverty and oppression in other countries.  They prayed for me and sent the sweetest and most encouraging notes when my sister lost baby Charlie.  They are women who "get me".  We talk about everything from this season's trends of colorblocking, geometric designs, ikat patterns, and fringe accessories to what happened on Downton Abbey to how we can help bring an end to horrors like the factory collapse in Bangladesh.  They are passionate about the exact same things that I'm passionate about.  They love jewelry and fashion and keep up with the latest trends, but they feel right at home roughing it or sitting on the dirt floor of a home in a third world country while sharing a homemade meal with the family living there.  And, I'm so looking forward to getting together with many of them in Austin in a few short months!!

 

via Paige Knudson

via Paige Knudson

 

Like I said, the jewelry is definitely fabulous, but it's always been about so much more than simply the jewelry.


**And don't forget to come back here on Friday.  I'll be hosting a Noonday giveaway here on my blog to celebrate our fall launch!!