I don’t do a lot of interviews. Not because I don’t want to share the story — I do, deeply — but because finding the right context matters to me. When the team at When You Come To Chicagoland, A Small Business Podcast reached out, it felt right immediately. A podcast dedicated to small businesses in the Chicagoland area, told by the people building them. That’s my community.
The conversation covered two things I could talk about for hours: why I started Petite Protea, and the artisan communities behind every piece we carry.
What surprised me was how natural it felt. There’s something about being asked good questions by someone who’s genuinely curious that makes the story come out differently than when you’re writing it. Things I’d thought about for years came out in ways I hadn’t quite said before.
We talked about the path that led here — two decades across fashion and travel, years spent visiting artisan communities in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Nepal, and the moment becoming a mother made everything click into focus. About why fair trade isn’t a marketing term for me — it’s the only way I know how to do this. About the women behind the pieces: Maasai beaders in Tanzania, knitters in Kathmandu, weavers in Rwanda. About what it means to carry their work into a market and watch someone pick up a piece and feel something.
If you’ve ever been curious about the story behind Petite Protea — the real one, not the edited version — this episode is probably the most honest version of it I’ve shared.
Learn more about our story and mission, or if you’re ready to explore the collection, start here. 🌿