“Knowing that Jalia and Daniel were counting on me to get out there and sell their amazing creations inspired me to dream BIG, and their trust in our partnership has kept me going. The beauty of this story is that it’s not just mine. It’s ours. And as it has unfolded, it has proven time and time again that we really are better together than we are alone.”
-Jessica Honegger, founder of Noonday Collection
Do y’all know about Noonday Collection?
They’re one of my favorite companies because I am SO inspired by folks who feel passionate about equipping their community to love people better. Jessica Honegger (Noonday’s founder) created Noonday Collection to do just that.
It all started when she and her husband went to Africa to meet their son, Jack:
While she was there, she met Jalia and Daniel- two talented jewelry designers who dreamed of using fashion to create dignified jobs in their community.
Long (beautiful) story short: Shortly after that trip, Jessica and her friend, Travis, launched Noonday Collection as a way to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship, and today, Jalia and Daniel own a thriving business in Uganda that employs 100 Artisans in their workshop and 300 Artisans in their community!
And Daniel and Jalia are not alone. Since 2010, Noonday has partnered with 30 more Artisan Businesses in 13 different countries. Together, they have created employment opportunities for more than 2,000 Artisans, and are impacting almost 9,000 family members in vulnerable communities around the world. Praise the Lord!Â
Jessica hosted the first-ever Noonday Trunk Show in her living room six years ago, and today, women all over the country are hosting them in their homes, too. I hosted my first show this past weekend, and y’all, I am officially hooked. 🙂 I had been wanting to host one for the past couple of years, and now that I’ve done it, I’m not sure why I put it off for so long. All you have to do is open your house and your heart. Or in this case, my neighbor’s house- ha! My friend Jenny was so sweet to let me host my trunk show at her place after church on Sunday afternoon. The weather was gorgeous and preparation was super simple…just some grocery store goodies paired with Jenny’s pretty plates & bottles.
Jenny served sweet tea, and water, and my friend Laura’s coffee…
…and we all had WAY too much fun playing with everything our Noonday Ambassdor Stacy brought for us to try on.
One of my favorite things was this leather necklace extender:
It comes with the gold necklace in the bottom left, but you can literally use it on any extra-long necklace. My friend, Alicia, and I had fun pairing it with several other Noonday necklaces that day. 😀
And, y’all, the party’s not over yet.
Nope, it’s open online until February 10th. Here’s a link if you’d like to have a look-see:
Like I mentioned, everything you’ll see is handmade by Artisans around the world who have partnered with Noonday through Fair Trade.
And speaking of trunk shows, my show is an adoption trunk show because we’re still raising funds to bring Sweet P home. With an adoption trunk show, Noonday allows me to keep 10% of the proceeds from my show to help with our adoption expenses, and because they’re running a special extra rewards program right now, they’re actually giving us an extra 5% to help out! So if you decide to purchase something, (THANK YOU!! 😀 ) just enter LAYLA PALMER at checkout to let Stacy know you’re shopping my show. XO
And because Stacy is so sweet, for every purchase made, your name will be entered in a drawing for a $50 Noonday gift card. (Thanks again for offering that, Stacy!) I’ll announce the winners name in a blog post here sometime after that, and Stacy will also email the person who wins.
And while we’re talking about Stacy- do you remember her from the very first Blog Threads fundraiser we did? (She and her husband are adopting a little boy from Haiti too!) Well, she wanted me to let y’all know that if you’re interested in launching your own from-home business with Noonday, you can click here to learn more about how it works: Ambassador Opportunity. It really is such an easy way to make an extraordinary global impact!
Thanks for listening to me gush about Noonday today, y’all. I told you they’re one of my favorite companies. 😉
“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
-Isaiah 58:10
What a beautiful business! Too bad these businesses are not more well known but of course you all are doing your part about that.
I received some gorgeous hand-made “angel” earrings made by some artisans in Uganda this Christmas. I helped a church add 6-11 year old angel dancers to their Christmas presentation and the woman who asked me was a Pastors Wife and Teacher and had done mission work in Uganda and set up a school and this program.
I pray you both get enough funds to bring your little ones home soon! My niece is from Ethiopia, adopted when they thought she was 3 but hard to know since she grew so fast but that 9 years ago!
I also love the Scripture that the business is based on. It is not one I was familiar with.
Blessings to all!
Thank you, Debbie! And how Wonder-full about the work being done in Uganda and the adoption of your niece from Ethiopia! I am so inspired by stories like the ones you shared!
Hi its me again, I was walking in my house and thinking about things and thought how silly of me…I am going to share this on Facebook and perhaps there will be some more orders or interest in hosting a party. I am going to dinner this evening with friends who just got back from a mission trip to Cambodia. I’m sure they will be interested to hear about NoonDay Collections.
Maybe it’s just me, but the Noonday website freezes when I use your link. I’ll keep trying though. Gorgeous items!
Hi Peg!
Stacy and I check the links from our computers and it worked, so maybe it’s just a temporary glitch? Stacy said she’d be glad to help you via email if that works better. You can find her at [email protected]! XO
I can’t get on either. A box comes up asking for my e mail, which I enter, but nothing happens. I also tried to close the box, but nothing worked.
Hi, ladies! I am so sorry to those of you who are having trouble with the link. I have no idea why that is happening. If you cannot purchase from the link, please just go to http://www.stacygruhn.noondaycollection.com and at check-out, it will ask you if your purchase is part of a trunk show. Click “yes.” And, then you should be able to enter “Layla Palmer” as your trunk show hostess. This way will work as well.
If you still have problems, please email me at [email protected] so I can help! Thank you!
Love it! The collections are beautiful, and such a lovely cause. I have a friend doing something similar. She lives in India and for the last 10 years has recruited women out of the red light district. They are given jobs making handbags out of old saris. The symbolism is beautiful as are the purses, baby blankets, etc. Check out saribari.com
Layla,
While visiting the link I became interested in becoming an ambassador. However, I have a major question that I can’t find an answer to. How much money actually gets to the businesses? I never found a clear or simple answer.
Thanks,
Terri
Hi Terri! I’m not exactly sure about the *exact* financial breakdown, but I do know they operate in through the Fair Trade Federation. Here’s a link about that partnership:
http://www.noondaycollection.com/pws/homeoffice/tabs/fair-trade.aspx
From what I’ve read, Fair Trade members work closely with small farmers and artisans to ensure good wages, safe working conditions, environmental responsibility, and economic growth. They’re screened and verified based on nine Fair Trade Federation principles and uphold the highest standards of fair trade business practice. I also know that the small business owners and the company who partners with them (like Noonday) agree on a fair price, and I’ve heard that that price is often 2-4 times greater than what the artisan or farmer would normally be able to charge locally. I hope that helps! I’ll see if I can get Jessica or Stacy to help answer this more clearly, too. XO
Thanks for explaining fair trade. That does help. I guess I just need to see in writing the economic difference it makes for these artisans. They spell out clearly what percentage an ambassador makes, so I thought maybe they could show the percentage the artisan makes. Maybe even a breakdown of the whole business would be nice. Percentage for administration, operating costs, etc. not trying to be difficult, just want to make sure I’m making a difference and not exploiting these artisans further. Thinking of some other charities that weren’t really helping those they said they were. I realize this is a for profit business, just curious where the profit goes.
i love the pieces and the idea behind Noonday! Just want to defend what I’m talking about.
Love following you, and can’t wait until Sweet Pea is home with you and Kevin.
Blessings,
Terri
Hi Terri!
I just sent messages to Nicole and Jessica from Noonday Collection, so hopefully they’ll be able to pop on here and answer your question. I *think* the wages vary based on each individual handmade item, but I’m sure the Noonday gals will be able to shed more light on exactly how that works.
Thanks for the sweet comment about our Sweet P, too…I’m so excited to share the next update with you! XO
Hi, Terri! I would love to talk to you about being an ambassador! And, I so appreciate that you would like to know more about the integrity of the company and how it works and that you have a desire to educate yourself about Noonday before signing on to be an ambassador. Would it be possible for you to email me? My email is [email protected] and I would love to answer any questions you have as specifically as I can, and I would be happy to find out the answers to any questions I cannot personally answer. We can talk on the phone, as well, if that works better. I will say that I have met 3 of our artisan partners in person, and I have heard them share how Noonday has been a positive influence on their lives both in a personal and financial way. I would love to share more about that with you.
While Noonday isn’t a multi-level marketing (MLM) company, I lead a team of ambassadors whom I mentor in their businesses, and I would love to have you as part of that team should you decide to become an ambassador. One of the most unexpected benefits of being an ambassador for me has been the incredible sisterhood of strong, world-changing women that exists within this company. I’m always happy to answer questions about becoming an ambassador even if people decide it isn’t a fit for them. I would love to talk to you more about it!
Thank you both for understanding my questions. I will email you Stacy.
Terri
I just love this! And the jewelry is stunning! I went through the items and made my list – but then thought I should check the shipping info as I live in Canada. Sad to say that I can’t help on this one.
I hope this helps with your adoption costs!
Jennifer
Oh, I’m so sorry about that, Jennifer. I didn’t realize they didn’t ship to Canada. I wonder if Stacy could give it to me, and then I could mail it to you? I’ll check with her! XO
That would be awesome, I don’t mind paying extra shipping costs. Let the know. thanks
PS – I am really excited to get the baseball shirt from your last Blogthread post! It is so beautiful!
Jennifer
Thank you, Jennifer! 😀 And I’ll get Stacy in the loop here about the Noonday goodies! XO
Hi, Jennifer! If you would like to contact me by email, we can work out an arrangement to have it shipped to me. Then, if you would like, you can PayPal the money to have it shipped directly to you! You can email me at [email protected] and I can give you my address and info!
Thank you Stacy and Layla!! I will email you Stacy.
Jennifer
LOVE everything about this!! Thanks for sharing. I hope to order something, Lovin that it not only helps others but also supports ‘Sweet P’s’ homecoming!
Thank you, Miranda! I am wild about Noonday too, and we are so grateful for your enthusiasm about Sweet P! XO
I’m having trouble finding the gold necklace with the leather extender on the site… Any suggestions?
Here’s a link to it, Miranda! 🙂
http://www.noondaycollection.com/Pws/StacyGruhn/store/AMUS/product/Golden-Rivers-Necklace,2461,395.aspx
Noonday is such a great cause with a really great product to boot! You and your “shoppers” are so cute : )
My daughter is a Noonday Representative and I LOVE the products. I can tell you I just purchased the lovely bag you have pictured here–and adore it…and I get compliments almost daily on it!!! As I sit here typing I am looking done at my Noonday scarf and bracelet….great products with a true meaning and purpose……
Sad day! From my computer it looks like the site has crashed. It says I’ve caught them with their jewels off. I sure would love to order!
Hi, Kathy! The site is just down temporarily for some scheduled maintenance, and it is supposed to be back up and running soon! I will try to post here as soon as I see it is working again! Thanks for asking about it!