Great Barrington — Sue Fish’s face practically glows when she talks about her upcoming trip to Guatemala, where she will tour the country with “Sharing the Dream,” a nonprofit organization that promotes fair trade. In Guatemala, she will have the opportunity to exercise her fluent Spanish while connecting and collaborating with local artisans.
Guatemala is just one of the countries represented in Fish’s Women’s Peace Collection, a web-based company that sells fair trade jewelry and other items hand-crafted by women in underprivileged and conflict-ridden regions of the world. Berkshire-based life coach and entrepreneur Amber Chand started the Women’s Peace Collection in 2005. Fish, a social worker and psychotherapist who moved to the Berkshires in the late 1980s, took on the collection in April 2014, and has expanded it to include items from many countries in Latin America, a region where she has personal history, having travelled extensively in Peru after graduating from college.
A bracelet that is one of at the items available through the Women’s Peace Collection.
Fish says that her ongoing practice as a social worker has deeply informed the way she approaches her business. “I have a passion for helping women become able to support themselves and get fair wages and a source of income,” she says. She advocated for underprivileged women prior to taking on the Women’s Peace Collection through her work with immigrant and refugee populations. Although her company has a nationwide customer base, she has “found the Berkshires to be a very supportive and progressive community. People here get what fair trade is” and want to be involved in conversations surrounding it.
This community support has come in multiple forms. The Woman’s Peace Collection received a grant from Berkshire Enterprises, a Pittsfield-based organization that was looking for a woman or a minority to assist in starting a small business. Taking charge of this company has been a learning opportunity for Fish, who has already begun to share the knowledge she has gained by mentoring young women in the Berkshires. Sierra Warren, a photography student at Simon’s Rock College of Bard in Great Barrington, completed an internship with Fish over the summer, photographing items for her website. Aniela Gottwald, a Berkshire native who was inspired to start her business selling fair trade cashmere scarves, after traveling in Nepal, has forged a connection with Fish and the two will be working together in a mutually supportive fashion in the future.
When asked what advice she would give to young women, or anyone interested in starting a small business, Fish is encouraging. “If you have an idea, and it’s something you’re passionate about, go for it,” she says. “It takes a lot of perseverance but I find that I’m always having fun.”
To learn more about the Sue Fish and the Women’s Peace Collection (and explore options for holiday shopping!) visit: https://www.womenspeacecollection.com/