Exciting News! Mushmina has won a FedEx Small Business Grant. The funds will allow co-founders Heather and Katie O’Neill to complete the restoration of a 1974 Volkswagen (VW) Westfalia camper bus into a traveling Moroccan Caravan to showcase their line of handmade, fair trade accessories on the road across the U S.

The competition for the 2014 FedEx Small Business Grants was fierce with thousands of companies in the running. Mushmina’s many loyal fans and customers who cast their votes on Facebook, helped to propel them to finalists. One fan even admitted to trying to vote twice. He didn’t succeed but his enthusiasm and that of all the fans was infectious and appreciated. All the work and sharing paid off. On March 25^th Heather and Katie found out they had won a first place grant of $5,000 to help expand their message of the benefits of fair trade products with new customers in the U.S. and abroad.

Katie and Heather know they could not have accomplished their goal of winning a grant without the support of their customers. Sharing traditional rural artisan crafts with the world is one of their passions and when Mushmina’s products connect people across cultures it’s incredibly rewarding. When the traveling boutique gets rolling in summer 2014, they expect to meet and connect with many new customers like the ones that made it possible to win a FedEx Small Business Grant and all their customers whose purchases economically empower rural artisans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

– By Yvonne King