Can we do more than we think we can?
Do we have the resolve to go for it when uncertainty exisits?
If we're knocked off course - where do we turn?
What began as two Military spouses in a small attic, with a big idea, a little bit
of canvas, and one sewing machine, is growing into something that's making
noise across the country.
Rosie the Riveter in World War II; What a great
story. All the men go off to war and the women really show things that we can get
done when we have a mission and a purpose.
The company doesn't hire
military spouses to make handbags. We make handbags to hire military spouses
and create that greater sense of mission.
We are in a situation where we move every few years, and it's very difficult
for us to, let alone transition and unpack and repack our boxes every few
years, but to unpack and repack our professional lives is even more
difficult.
I mean when you think of the statistics I think it was like 49% of military
spouses are out of work. And then again, you can lose yourself in that too, being
married to somebody and moving constantly.
The idea behind R.Riveter came way before handbags. We knew that we wanted
to create an opportunity for others in our same shoes.
So many of us have spouses who are gone. We're all struggling with that at home.
We miss them, but we can come here every day and it's like home.
All of the parts and pieces are made all over the country, so no one handbag is
going to be the same. So you can always take that thing and link it back to
somebody.
My name is Sarah. I'm RR076. I'm pregnant with twins (Laughs) I work for
R.Riveter. They provide me with all the materials and I just have the space to
do it, and I have my sewing machine and my thread. And I can just sew on,
maybe, nap times. (Laughs)
It's a remote Riveter that is working from home, has what we
call an RR number. And they stamp their RR number on their piece of the bag
that they're making. And those pieces then are sent back to the shop.
Whoever assembles the bag puts her stamp on there. And the bag goes out into the world.
When you talk about the canvas and leather coming together to make a handbag,
it's so much more than that. There's so much more stitched into that. It's about
a mission, about everyone's sense of purpose, and how all those things come
together and carry our own sense of purpose forward.
What's really special is why we're here. I mean we're not here to
manufacture handbags. You know, we're here to provide income and stability for
these women, these spouses who otherwise have so much instability in their lives.
And, to come together with all these women on a daily basis to make something
and create something really unique and special is..is it just makes me want to come
to work every day.
It's always been so much more than just the bag. It's every person, every feeling,
emotion, memory wrapped up into that bag.
Every individual that comes into this
company has their own story, their own chapter, their own background and they're
putting all those experiences and history into every part that they make. And then
all those parts are coming together. All the different backgrounds across the
country coming together into one mission.
I was having a conversation with my dad
and you hear so much about "Where is our country going?"
And he said, "Lisa, like, that was a conversation when I was a kid. Where's the country going?"
But you, as an individual; "Of many, one," is playing and doing your part to make sure that the country is going in a direction that the next generation can be proud of.
No comments:
Post a Comment