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"She stood up in our meeting and said that was exactly why women are afraid of taking loans in India, but with Nest, because it's interest-free and they can repay in their necklaces, they didn't have that kind of fear. That was one of those profound moments when you know you're onto something."
Nest is a nonprofit organization that empowers female artists and artisans around the world. It's founder, Rebecca Kousky, started Nest when she was only 24 years old!
I've posted an edited transcript of my conversation with Rebecca during her interview for the Big Vision Podcast. You can listen to it on the little player below, on the Big Vision Podcast website, or download it from the iTunes Music Store.
Our conversation began with Rebecca describing how Nest works. Enjoy!
Rebecca Kousky: We do a very unique, specialized form of micro-lending. I coined the term "micro-bartering ," where we work with women artists, but unlike traditional micro-lending that has really high interest rates, we provide them with interest-free loans and allow them to repay those loans in product that we then market and sell in the United States. So, it provides them with both the loans needed to start their business, but also with access to the Western marketplace. They have increased sales, learn how to export, and can also grow their businesses at the same time.
Britt Bravo: What is one of your favorite Nest success stories?
There are several, but one of the reasons I started Nest was because in a lot of countries loan sharks are very prevalent. In countries like India there are predatory loan sharks that go into poor communities and offer these women, who are illiterate, loans that they can't read, and they charge really high interest rates. When you can't repay those loans, you essentially have to pay back the loans with yourself, which is how trafficking begins and how forced manual labor in the mines is. I mean, that's essentially just a step above slavery, which is really problematic. We wanted to create a model that had nothing to do with that so that the women weren't terrified to take our loans.
When I was in India about six months ago, we were having a meeting with the group we were just about to give loans to, and one of the women stood up to tell us her story. Her name was Lolita, and her husband had committed suicide during the financial collapse that also hit India.
They were poor already, and he couldn't find work, so that left her the primary breadwinner for all of their children, and because she was living with his family, which is traditional in their society, also for his unwed siblings and parents. She was going around selling beads that she made, necklaces, and on one of her trips to sell them she got hit by a car and shattered her leg. She had all these mouths to feed, and also medical bills.
One of these predatory loan sharks came into their community. She was desperate and poor and needed money, and so she took a loan. She couldn't read the paperwork, and it had really high interest rates. He came back week after week after week, and one week she came home and found her house boarded up and her family on the street. The loan shark was demanding repayment.
She went door-to-door and begged, and was able to get the money she needed, but many women aren't that lucky. She stood up in our meeting and said that that was exactly why women are afraid of taking loans in India, but with Nest, because it's interest-free and they can repay in their necklaces, they don't have that kind of fear. That was one of those profound moments when you know you're onto something.
What is the biggest challenge for your organization? I'm sure it changes over time, but at the moment, what is the biggest challenge you face in reaching your mission?
There is a balance of wanting to work with artisans who are highly skilled - most are - but ones who make market-ready products, and then most of the artisan communities that really need our help also need product design assistance and quality control and lessons on pricing. There is
