Word Of The Year

by Dawn Manske
Word Of The Year

Dear all,

If you’ve followed Made for Freedom for the past few years, you’ll notice that we have grown mostly through in-person events and conferences. I’ve met thousands of incredible people at conferences across the country who were excited about the impact Made for Freedom makes globally in the lives of survivors of exploitation and marginalization.

Conference cancellations threw us quite a curveball. To be completely honest, I was wondering if we would have to shut down. We needed to streamline our processes, figure out how to scale, and create a better online customer experience in order to gain momentum for our mission. There is no denying that the past several months have been a roller coaster. I have a few contenders for Word of the Year that I think might best describe our triumphs and struggles.

Pivot

The first contender for Word of the Year is pivot. With all conferences canceled, it provided us time to really focus on our online sales. This has always been our priority but frequent travel ate up a lot of our time and resources. Could Made for Freedom make it as an online store exclusively? COVID-19 forced us to find out.

We started by updating our branding. You may or may not have noticed the subtle font change and layout of the Made for Freedom wordmark. We wanted to keep the branding fresh and also make a statement. 

We applied for and received a government stimulus loan to not only help us stay afloat, but also execute new online strategies. We hired a digital marketing firm to create awareness of our brand and increase online sales. They really believe in our cause and it shows in the incredible results we started seeing from the start of this relationship! We worked with them to load up on apps that would significantly improve the online buying experience, customer service, and communicate with amazing advocates like you.

Oops!

Some of these apps require a bit of a learning curve and getting them to work with each other can sometimes be tricky (just be friends already!). Which brings me to the second contender for Word of the Year: oops. We may have recently sent a welcome email to thousands of people from my personal email account rather than just to subscribers on our list!

That’s a huge oops on our part and thanks for being gracious and forgiving about this random email. We’ve had a few other glitches to deal with simultaneously, including supply chain issues and limited raw materials for suppliers, that just adds to this roller-coaster time we are in. 

Hope

We have also been taking this time to connect with new collectives that support survivors and those at-risk through dignified employment. We have several new partnerships in the works and are ecstatic to welcome Greenhouse 17 as a new supplier! Based in Kentucky, Greenhouse 17 nurtures lives harmed by intimate partner abuse with healing, job training and dignified employment by making bath and body products. This was an opportunity to continue to bring hope (our final contender for Word of the Year) to those who really need it, in the U.S. and around the world.

Liquid error (sections/pf-7d73a197 line 47): Array 'foundCollection.products' is not paginateable.

Test Out a New App!

With one of our newest app integrations, you can now seamlessly review products you’ve purchased. Online reviews from our fans are incredibly helpful in building trust and advocating our brand. We’d love to hear your feedback (hopefully how much you love what you purchased!) on one or several of our products. Pictures are really helpful too! Go to the product(s), click on Write a review next to the stars, and share some love today!

3 Ways to Empower Women this Women’s History Month

3 Ways to Empower Women this Women’s History Month

Dec 14, 2022Dawn Manske

“No, you can’t do that. As a woman, it is forbidden.” Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Susan Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, and Malala didn’t get the memo. They decided that enough was...

Read more
How Poverty Fuels Child Trafficking

How Poverty Fuels Child Trafficking

Jul 27, 2023Made for Freedom

Learn how poverty and other factors make children vulnerable to human trafficking and find out what you can do today to join us in the fight against this horrific crime....

Read more
We Can Do Better Than 1 Day of Human Trafficking Awareness

We Can Do Better Than 1 Day of Human Trafficking Awareness

Feb 14, 2024Dawn Manske

When Human Trafficking Awareness Day came around, and organizations were pushing the #wearblueday selfie to raise awareness, I did just that. I sported my favorite blue scarf, donned a lovely...

Read more
Warfare's Cruel Tool: Violence Against Women and Girls, Including Human Trafficking

Warfare's Cruel Tool: Violence Against Women and Girls, Including Human Trafficking

Jul 02, 2024Made for Freedom

Violence against women and girls, including human trafficking, is tragically prevalent in conflict zones worldwide, often employed deliberately as a weapon of war. This article delves into the disturbing reality...

Read more
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024: Protect Every Child

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024: Protect Every Child

Jul 29, 2024Made for Freedom

July 30th is the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, with this year's theme being: Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking. Safeguarding the most vulnerable is...

Read more
Celebrating 10 Years of Empowering Trafficking Survivors and Marginalized Groups

Celebrating 10 Years of Empowering Trafficking Survivors and Marginalized Groups

Oct 04, 2024Dawn Manske

It seems unreal that this small business is still going after all these years.You may have heard about the pieces that came together to start Made for Freedom. Still, in...

Read more

Related Posts

Your post's title

October 23, 2017admin

Your post's title

October 23, 2017admin

Your post's title

October 23, 2017admin

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published