LHO Creations - Women's Fashion Boutique in Noblesville, IN.
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Mombasa Raha Collection

1/7/2021

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This collection was birthed in Bentonville, Arkansas over Christmas and New Years break. 
We named it Mombasa Raha (good vibes/ happiness) because the seed beads were purchased in Mombasa, Kenya. Also because Mombasa has a way of just forcing you to let go of the stress in life. There's something about this historic city that forces you to slow down, relax and just be at peace with the fact that you can't control time and you cannot control the universe. Being there forces you to find harmony within yourself, even if the world is going through chaos. 

Given that it's only been six days into 2021 and there was already fracas at the US Capitol, we felt that the Mombasa Raha vibe is what we needed to put out there as creatives. We hope you enjoy our collection (there are several more pieces in this collection) and choose to settle your spirit despite all that continues across globe. 

To quote one of our aunts, it will be well. 
Cheers 
Miriam and The Empowerment Initiative Team 
PS: Enjoy the tunes from across the globe we selected for this blog post. This is some of what we listen to on the road as we travel from city to city for the various pop ups we attend.  


FACTS ABOUT MOMBASA #ForeverLearning (get to know the cities we frequent for raw materials and sales): Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya. Located on Kenya's Eastern coastline bordering the Indian Ocean, it's original Arabic name is Manbasa. In Kiswahili, it is called "Kisiwa Cha Mvita", which means "Island of War" due to the many changes in its ownership. Sourced from: http://www.mombasa-city.com/brief_history_of_Mombasa.htm

Video shot in Mombasa. Song: South African 

Nigerian Vibes 

Kenyan Vibes 

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Fashion Waste: Let's Start Small

12/11/2020

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A post shared by PrettyAuthenticated (@prettyauthenticated)

Happy Friday. 
We hope you are healthy in every way possible as we are typing out this blog.

A lot of our pieces are crafted from what we term as salvaged beads. These are beads that would have otherwise ended up in the trash. Why?
  1. They are spacer beads and are used to lengthen strands of beads by bead suppliers
  2. There aren't enough of them to make a complete mosaic piece of jewelry (a piece of jewelry that only one has medium/ style bead to it) 
  3. We sourced them from damaged or vintage jewelry (we clean and restore them for use before using any of them to create)

We all need to do something about the amount of waste being generated across the globe. This is what we are doing as an organization.

According to WVTOX (the sustainable fashion magazine - voicing the future of fashion),
 fashion is a massive contributor to the 1.2 billion tones of greenhouse gas emissions released each year. 

What are Greenhouse gases? 
For this, we turned to climatekids.nasa.gov. Nasa states that 
Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. They let sunlight pass through the atmosphere, but they prevent the heat that the sunlight brings from leaving the atmosphere.

So, along with what we are doing as an organization, you know 
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we love to highlight other creatives, makers and content generators that are sharing a perspective that might help inform and empower our choices. 

This week, we highlighted@PrettyAuthenticated. 
She is from Roatan, Honduras and based in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
She shared her seven tips on how to thrift like a boss. Simply click on her her embedded Instagram post to see what the tips are. Hassan Minhaj offered a thirty minute breakdown, based on facts and research, on how thrifting, which is essentially how we create salvaged beads, can impact the amount of waste we are currently producing. The entire episode is available beside our shoppable slideshow (yes, just click on each image to be sent to Shoptiques where you can shop the actual design). 

We also featured some of our left-over bead bracelets below. 
We'd love to hear what you are doing to care for the earth and how you are getting your community, or circle of influence, involved. Otherwise, we wish you health and wellness through the holiday season. 
Thank you for journeying with us, 
The LHo Team (The Empowerment Initiative)

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Wholesome Vibes

12/11/2020

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Happy New Week, 
I've been driving across America and I noticed a few things. 
I noticed that we went from Halloween to Christmas decorations in a heart beat.
I am not calling any of you out, including my big brother, my sister-in-law and their kids lol. To me, I took it as a choice to see the positive. 

A LOT has happened heading into 2020 and throughout the entire year.
Personally, there have been global hits as well as personal hits. Why not celebrate what is coming instead of feeling confined and actually stuck?

Given all that has happened, I decided it was time to bring back some more wholesome blog posts. 
Our minds and spirits need to be refreshed and cared for just as much as we need to care for our bodies and those we love. 

If you are online (Instagram) and wanted to connect with a yogi, consider Fatimaeliza Gonzalez. 
We like that she adds some personal reflection to each challenge/ routine. 
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fatimaeliza (@fagonzo_yogini_bear)

Here are some workout pieces you might like for yourself or for a loved one this season (click on item to purchase on Shoptiques). We also added two LIVE mixes that allow you to entertain cultural diversity through music. 
Cheers, 
The LHo Team (The Empowerment Initiative)
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Non Traditional: Being Inclusive Reimagined (Part 1)

10/29/2020

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PictureImage from www.indianexpress.com
Hello Beautiful People, 
Today we are speaking with Rosie Allenson. She is the founder of Non Traditional. 

I first met Rosie when she was barely in middle school. I met her with her mother Jodie (she's the owner and founder of Curvy Girl Studio in Noblesville, IN) at a Bead & Tea class we were hosting in Downtown Noblesville. Just as a heads up, we are offering jewelry and cultural immersion classes virtually now because we've received too many requests. Rosie and Jodie happen to be some of the clients I have been meeting with for cultural immersion classes. I digress.

I think Rosie is brilliant and a breath of fresh air. 
She is conscious and ready to work on making her portion of the world a better place. All this will be done while pursuing a higher education program that will allow her to pursue a career in acting, music theatre and business. 
She is open to new ideas and new voices and is ready to listen, learn and apply herself. 

I share Rosie's story today because we are never too young or too old to apply ourselves. 
I share Rosie's story because being inclusive and being an ally can take various shapes and forms. 

Today, we share a portion of our cultural immersion sessions as experienced through literature. 
We are reading Nervous Conditions by Zimbabwean novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga. Nervous Conditions was first published in the United Kingdom in 1988. It was the first book published by a black woman from Zimbabwe in English. The BBC named Nervous Conditions the top 100 books that have shaped the world, in 2018. 

We've had a wonderful time reading this book. Not that it has been an easy read, but rather that it has allowed us to have hard conversations. Now, pardon me for a bit while I am me and explain the usefulness of hard conversations as I mean it.

Hard conversations are unpleasant but can be immensely useful for mankind to have because the tomorrow available to others (most of whom would be considered minors or unborn), depends on what we do today as the living. We are all living in "borrowed spaces" or a "borrowed existence" of sorts. This borrowed nature will have to be passed on to others.

What we do, while here matters immensely.
Hard conversations, when birthed from ethical angles, allow for sturdy roots to be established. Those sturdy roots allow for shade trees to be established that we might never sit under but that others will one day be grateful we fought for and/ or established. Our borrowed presence is not a right, but a privilege. We need to be aware of this borrowed presence with the same attentiveness we might give to a tender houseplant that we want to live. 

I take it as a form of worship.
I take it as one of the most critical forms of worship.
So when I gather for these cultural immersion experiences, I am not just gathering for the sake of gathering. I don't know everything. I am open. I am willing. I am available. I am present. I want whatever divine power allowed me life to allow us a space for growth and human connection that can continue to do good long after I am gone. I attend those meetings with the same humility I might tithe before a deity I have reverence for. During those meetings, I am doing work that he/ she/ they might ask me about. 

What we do today as the living, requires an awareness birthed a lot of times by hard conversations. Jodi, Rosie and I have sat down together, shared with each other, taught and enlightened each other as we continue to find ways to establish the shade trees we are actively working to leave behind. 

Are you a reader?
What version of the arts do you consume (especially in these covid times, we are all consuming the arts somehow)... so, what form of the arts do you prefer?
Is anything you consume inclusive and/ or challenging of your view of the world?

We have a tendency to want to engage across social media when it comes to growth, politics, religion and any other major world views. Perhaps, the best place to start could be personally through the content you consume before reaching out to try and dialogue with others. Are you willing to engage in learning or viewing the world from a lens you might not prefer and/ or agree with? Why or why not? 

Happy Thursday and let's keep growing together,
Stay HEALTHY and safe, 
The LHo Team (The Empowerment Initiative)

About the shoppable pieces below: The artwork is from The Central African Republic, Western Kenya and America. 
All the selected artwork would fall under the non traditional banner that Rosie has chosen to embrace and highlight. We have artwork made from butterfly wings (no butterflies were injured), banana bark or people floating in umbrellas. The pieces capture artistic expression in an unexpected manner and we'd love for you to gift a non traditional art piece to someone you love or tell a friend about us. As always, if you have questions, concerns or comments, get in touch. xo. 

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Sustainable Living: It's Everyone's Responsibility

10/15/2020

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Hello Lovelies, 
We bumped into a story we wanted to share.

Traveling with a few of you (to East Africa) allowed us to reconnect with a lot of our East African upbringing.

Being on the ground reminded us just how much East Africans recycle, reduce, reuse, rot/ compost and upcycle.  We are actively returning to our East African roots/ values that remind us: waste not, want not. The saying was a constant reminder in school and at home. If you live to waste, you will eventually get to a point where you do not have. Be conscious of your usage as you are only a visitor passing through these earthly streets. Just as you are passing through, leave a world for those that will visit after you. East Africans are very much philosophical thinkers and we have been for centuries. That's why some of our traditional garb is littered with proverbs and sayings.

Now, as we reconnect with our roots and find new avenues to reduce our waste footprint, we wanted to share an exciting story from IKEA that we thought quite a few of you might appreciate or would like to pass on because we all know that one person that is IKEA obsessed. Remember, we are forever learning, growing and connecting and this felt like a push in the right direction from a big business brand. It felt like the kind of push that might normalize discussing sustainable living ideas. 

Here's what you need to know: 
  • According to BBC News, The Swedish giant, IKEA, will as of next month, launch a scheme to buy back some of your unwanted  IKEA furniture. 
  • Under the plan, it will offer vouchers worth up to 50% of the original price, to be spent at its stores.
  • The "Buy Back" initiative will launch to coincide with Black Friday in order to make sustainable living more attainable. 
This is GREAT news for the planet and for us, as a small social enterprise that was always BIG about reusing, it helps us become bolder about reducing our waste footprint (BBC BUSINESS, 13th Oct 2020)

Our shopping bags and shipping materials are now 100% upcycled. You might receive a jacket you purchased from us in Kate Spade packaging. We're upcycling and a lot of our customers and friends are ready to assist with this decision.

On average, we ship out thirty five packages a month (except over the holiday season and all the way to valentines day when our online orders triple) and if we are doing our normal circuit of pop ups, we have a sale every 1 1/2 -2 minutes. Instead of creating demand for new trees to be cut down so we have enough packaging and bagging material, we've just started collecting from our customers and friends. We're choosing to use what's already available in the community so that we can reduce our waste and especially plastic footprint. This is just one of the ways we are choosing to do our part as an organization. For more, visit this link: "About Us" . 

And we know, it might seem strange that a small business would write about a big business, but we are all winning in this instance. When we all do what we can, we all win. If we were more focused on caring for each other and this beautiful world we share, we'd find there can be enough resources to meet all of mankind's basic needs comfortably. 

Below, are a few pieces from us that include salvaged and upcycled beads/ creations. Others are included because they are eco-friendly. Click on each image to purchase it on Shoptiques and if you need to ask us questions etc message us: +17656060777. And yes, you can meet us to pick up pieces you are interested in. If you don't spot anything for you, please share this blog with a friend that might (sharing is caring). 

So in the future, should you see we've described a bead or finished design as salvaged know that either our suppliers or our team was working to reduce our waste footprint as an organization (contact us to find out how. Yes... we'll go into detail and no, you're not bothering us).

Lastly, we included a video from Ghana highlighting one social entrepreneur that is making bicycles from bamboo and in the process, creating dignified sources of income for others. How are you going to reduce your waste footprint in the remaining months of 2020? Here's the link to the rest of the IKEA story: please feel free to read the rest of the article (it's a 2-5 minute read depending on your reading speed). 

Love yous,
Wishing you HEALTH, safety and enough
The LHo Team (The Empowerment Initiative).  

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Forever Learning Series: Essential but "Illegal"

9/13/2020

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PicturePicture credits: Sorapong Chaipanya on Pexels.

​Do you know how the food you consume makes it to the grocery stores you shop from?
Do you know what farms supply your local grocery stores?
Is it possible to find out? If it's difficult to find out, should this be the case? How can you change this? 

There are a lot of subjects that we, as minorities, discuss in private. As part of our Forever Learning Series, we want to bring those subjects to our customer base. We will continue to present the information under a social ethics lens (this also means I am a heavy friend to have and a heavy dinner guest. I am also a heavy person to consume adult beverages with because I like to reflect and other people engage in social gatherings to decompress.
I just wanted to give a heads up because a lot of customers have actually reached out to dialogue with me... of which I appreciate. I digress).

What do you know about immigration to the United States?
How many immigrants do you know well personally?
How much of their story do you know and understand?
How many other minority group families/ individuals do you know well? 
Do you know who stocks your grocery store shelves at night?
Do you know how much any of these groups earn?
Do you know how many hours a week they work?
Do you know how they ended up in these fields? 
How does that compare with your story?
Do you believe in mission work? How do you feel about those who you might assist on missions coming here to better themselves? 
Have you been on a mission trip? What social justice/ equality issues have you tackled within America? 
.
Earlier this year, a former and fellow business owner and I had a lengthy discussion about our roles in the community as minorities that might be looked up to as leaders as well. We both concluded that one of our greatest sins had been silence. It made a lot of others believe, and yes... this was vocalized to both of us on various occasions, that a lot of the social justice cries we see across social media and in the news were made up, came from whiners and were given by those who just didn't want to pull themselves up via their bootstraps but instead might have preferred a handout. We just wanted our businesses to thrive. So we lay low and remained silent even though today, there are businesses I know I can't walk into in Noblesville, Indiana.

Currently, the other business owner stepped down and I turned our business into a small social enterprise because we want to do good as we turn profits. We now fall under the NGO and nonprofit banner (nonprofits do make profits, the money is simply directed to various causes and efforts across various communities selected for impact).

We want to empower. We want to inform and we believe, as an organization, we have a moral responsibility to all our customers and visitors to create a more enriching experience that allows for growth through various channels. 

Please join us in reflecting and do feel free to share what you might discover as you reflect. 
There shouldn't be shame associated with growing and/ or becoming a better human being. There shouldn't be shaming when it comes to inquiring for knowledge purposes (Kiswahili proverb/ African philosophical view). Admitting our faults becomes that much harder when there is shame surrounding the process. Be humble enough to notice your ills. Be humble enough to remember you will continue to make mistakes too. Forgive yourself (and others) and then become better. To fail to do this is to fail to worship That Which Allowed Us being. E. A. Wasonga

PS: We added a video from Insider News (eight minute video with subtitles) and a few sweet deals. Most pieces are $10. Happy shopping and sharing (click on image to shop design). 

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Global Foodies, Global Music and Deals Under $20

9/2/2020

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Hey there foodies, 
We have our dish for this week LIVE. 
You can place an order on our foodies page. 

We are giving you vegan curry on rice with grilled chicken and a side of kachumbari. 



Bags from South Africa 

Mayra Andrade: Cape Verde

Long Socks 

Hugh Masekela: South Africa

Curvy Girl Collection

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Challenge Accepted, Music and Our Latest Designs

7/30/2020

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Hey Beautiful People, 
How is your week going? 
I will openly confess I stood and cried about USPS. USPS not functioning (the way it should) impacts SO MUCH of what we do. I am me, I have found a solution, but I still needed to stop and allow my emotions room to be.

I took a moment to cry and then messaged a few people I feel shake things up across the globe. Confession complete, now, how are you doing? Are there any emotions you want to allow room? Make sure you allow them the room they need so that you can refuel yourself with better energy. 

As I pen about better energy, I also wanted to blog about what most of you might have noticed across social media. A lot of women are now posting black and white shots of themselves. Taylor Lorenz, covered the phenomenon for The New York Times, and stated... "The premise of the “challenge accepted” trend is that these photos promote female empowerment, and that nominating friends to take part in the campaign is a way for women to support each other".

I first noticed the images from a few of our customers in Vizag, India. Then, the tags started coming in. 


I didn't have the energy to post an actual image on Instagram (I have to use hashtags and I wasn't ready for all that action). I did however post a shot of me in our stories which I find way simpler to do. What about you? Have you participated? Do you think the campaign is useful? Do you think it changes or impacts anything?

Now, to go along with this theme of women supporting women, I chose songs that I feel celebrate women and sisterhood. Some support through lyrics while others support by having women just come together and SING. If you have any recommendations for this list, send them in. I listen to music while I do most of my life. Also, if you have any good recommendations from allies, send those in as well. I added Tarrus Riley to the playlist because he is the one artist I have seen perform live (I was in Dallas, Texas for business) and he invited people on stage to dance but he did not need the girls to do anything outlandish. When he saw one girl begin to dance a little to provocatively for him, he held her hand and asked her to step off the stage. She could have done WHATEVER she wanted to (I am in no way trying to censor her dance moves)... for me, it was just nice to watch a musician not expect it. It was nice to watch a man say, you can do that off stage, but let it not be because I asked you to come on stage. That wasn't part of the request. He just wanted company and hype on stage.

The song selection is full of older songs, but music to me is like wine. In between becoming grownup enough to travel from state to state for pop ups (alone... in a car or on a train), I found I didn't need the hippest, latest anything. I took comfort in either listening to thoughts through books, TED Talks, certain comedians doing stand up and/ or enjoying music that cemented a time in my life, a loved one's life or perhaps a song I bumped into while listening to a show. 

I was apparently no longer listening to music to prove anything. I select songs that in essence help me date and get to know myself, my thoughts and world views in a way. Music can do that.

I also added our latest designs because our team needs to be paid and the makers and interns that have gotten used to earning with us actually rely on that money to do portions of their lives.

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​So here you go. 

​...and until the next post, try as much as you can to be kind and thoughtful of others, even if others are not thoughtful of you... being honest to yourself and the path you were chosen to walk in this life is all you are required to do. So, be truthful to that journey and you will find that the rest settles as you return to dust. 

Cheers,
​E. A. Wasonga 


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Clicking on the Follow Us On Shoptiques button allows you to create an account or login via FB and just like that you, will follow our boutique on Shoptiques. Every new person that follows us helps move our boutique higher up on the list of over 5,000 global boutiques that are part of Shoptiques. Please help us continue to GROW!!


Playlists: 
Aretha Franklin ft Lauryn Hill: A Rose Is Still A Rose
Tarrus Riley: Just The Way You Are
Whitney Houston and Cece Winans: Count On Me
Yemi Alade, Waje. Vanessa Mdee and Victoria Kimani: Strong Girl 
Alicia Keys: Superwoman 
Brandy, Tamia, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan: Missing You 
Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston: When You Believe
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Woman by E. A. Wasonga

6/26/2020

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Reflecting is not a sin.
We wrote this piece from a genuine space and to provoke thought.

Sharing thoughts in a respectful manner can provoke reflection and growth.
So this was written so we can listen, reflect and share with each other.

Listening to each other is not a sin either.  

There will be more pieces written and shared through our platform that promote conversation and growth. 

If we do not speak with each other and/ or ask questions, while connecting as human beings (and allowing each other a listening ear), then nothing changes. 

We also wrote this piece to mark days... otherwise it's all just sunrises and sunsets jumbled together (especially in 2020).

We added various dresses that are still available for purchase online. 
Only dresses though they vary in style (may that provoke thought and conversation too)

Happy Friday 
Stay healthy, safe and open to The Universe
The LHo Team
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She. Is. Salve.

5/22/2020

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How Did We Get Here
Towards the end of 2019, I embarked on writing a book. I wrote the book because the more pop ups we did as a team, the more we answered the same questions across the US. 


I have lived in America for almost seventeen years, yet I am answering the same questions as when I first arrived here as a teenager in the early 2000s. 

I am aware that I have a unique role to play in regards to disseminating information and sharing global perspectives and marginalized experiences (voices), but the lack of global awareness or global connectedness in the US worries me. The first chapter in the book discusses this very issue.

I paused the book publication though. I had an editor and small business publishing house in place and then something dawned on me. I became concerned with usefulness.

I started considering the usefulness of this published piece. Would everyone have access to it that might need to read it if I released what I had to share as a book? Poverty and lack of access to resources (and information) are two factors that have often come up when I have been invited as a guest speaker. This is especially true when it comes to certain school districts.  

The other issue is, to me, books have a tendency to "get stuck". It might be my training in broadcast production and international studies, but I need fluidity. Information has to be fluid given the world we currently live in. Things change in a heartbeat. I am grateful for technology because it allows for that fluidity to exist. 

So given that we have this platform and we will use it as a living book. The chapters that would have made up the books will be shared here.  

We will add our merchandise to most of what we post because we need to sell in order to continue empowering, but... it is here where we will pour (creatively and otherwise). It is here where we will share. It is here where we will reflect, heal, grow and become. 

About Our First Piece 
She. Is. Salve. is the first piece I wrote about someone I love by blood and by choice. Their is an audio recording as well that isn't perfect but that I love and have decided to put up anyhow. Let us learn to cherish ourselves as we are and as we transform and continue to become (basically, forgive your mistakes). 

The music in the background is from another treasure we bumped into on social media (Instagram). Marul identifies Canada, Turkey and Algeria as part of his earthly story. When he's not busy being a doctor and saving lives, he makes music. Follow him, enjoy his musical vibes, leave lots of comments and tag a few friends to his posts. Connect with the world through him and his gifts.

The image of the woman in this blog is the creative genius of Jasvir. We interviewed her a few weeks ago. Contact her if interested in purchasing any of her work. Send the same kind of love you send to Marul to her. Connect with the world through Jasvir as well.

Special thanks to the clients, friends, former interns and fellow businesswomen who are featured either through their work or in person in this piece. We appreciate you. 
​
Also, if you dig the pieces we added to this blog post, help us tell a friend because that is how small businesses (social enterprises/ non profits) retain their pulse and presence. 
​Smooches
We love you 
E. A. Wasonga and The LHo Team (Mugeto)


Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel.  
LHoCreations 
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