So, it's been just waaaay too long since I started this blog and I'm feeling a little guilty about that. But in fairness, I've been absolutely crazy busy with the business of Laga! Knowing that blogging is an important part of getting the Laga story out to everyone, I am now committed to spending the time I need to do a lot more here.
Gosh, where to start is a daunting thing. Soooo much has happened since we started Laga. And the last post was from back in 2008... wow! It's hard to believe I let this sit for so long! OK, enough of the guilts... I'm back!
We finished 2008 with about 50 home show consultants. This is the way we started our business: through home parties. This was an amazing way to start... it gave us a platform to tell the Laga story, sharing the stories of the people who were so devastatingly affected by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami that literally rocked the world! We just were so blessed to be involved with such a "giving back" kind of project.
It was also in 2008 that we started participating in the wholesale trade show circuit. We began with Accessories The Show in Las Vegas, and then we grew into Accessories The Show in New York, Dallas Market Center, AmericasMart in Atlanta, San Francisco Gift Show, LA Mart and the New York International Gift Show. We got the attention of retailers all over the United States, as well as some outside the US such as Japan, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and Puerto Rico.
To quickly bring you up-to-date, we have now been selling our Laga bags in close to 400 retailer shops and we have almost 80 home show consultants. Can you believe it? When I look back, it's even difficult for me to believe what we've done in such a short amount of time.
In 2010, we have been blessed to have been exposed to yet another segment of society: celebrities.
To date, we have had enthusiastic endorsements from:
Pauley Perrette (actress, "Abby" of NCIS)
Mikalah Gordon (singer, season 4 finalist of American Idol)
Jimmy Palumbo (comedian, and his wife Stephanie, who is one of our Laga Consultants)
and Whitney Houston! (unfortunately, we were unable to take a picture with her but we'll be meeting with her again soon and be sure to check the celebrity magazines as she is sporting our large Laga Harapan handbag!)
What a wonderful response we have received to our Laga handbags, a traditional artform handmade in the area of Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. We are the first to bring this amazing artwork, indigenous to the Aceh area, to light in a major way here in the United States. And we are proud that we have been able to play a part in history having started with a small factory of 12 and now being able to help nearly 300 people with sustainable incomes.
The Laga Saga will continue. This I promise you...
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