As a child, René enjoyed crocheting but like with many childhood hobbies, life became busy and she put down her crochet needles for many years. René took to crocheting scarves again for close family and friends, which led to orders and an exciting part-time money making opportunity. Recently, René decided it was time to hire assistance with production and chose fair trade producers to help with the increased demand. René is now part owner of Emily’s Fair Trade Company Ltd. with her father, Cedar artisan, Milton Hill Sr. and daughter, Reneeka Hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Describe your crocheted scarves.

"Some are made out of 100% baby alpaca, merino wool and kid mohair blend, alpine yarn, and a few items are made out of acrylic. The scarves have a unique style of crochet stitches, essentially, it’s not your grandma's crochet."

 

Do you produce on island or overseas?

"We have two local crocheters, who are helping me to deal with the demand locally, and abroad we use Fair Trade Producers and Manufacturers in Peru, Chile and the Philippines."

 

What challenges have you faced?

"Aside from the initial fundraising, shipping has been a challenge. Some of our yarn and samples are stuck in Peru and the Philippines as we speak. Another challenge is sleep depravation, as I am up at 5am talking to the people further east and there’s always something to do. The distance from the manufacturers makes it difficult to communicate and language-barriers don’t help much either. Thank goodness for Google translation services."

 

How do you market your product?

"Basically, we have our website, www.renehilloriginals.com, and we are also in the process of getting the items on Amazon soon. We plan to also use advertising on Facebook, Google shopping and other means of advertising on the internet and magazines. We also plan to attend trade shows in the summer, so that we can get our scarves in boutiques and department stores."

 

What business achievement by another do you most admire?

"I would have to say the owners of Amazon, as they started out with a simple idea of selling books on the internet. But that soon turned into hiring family and friends and then neighbours in an attempt to fulfill ever-increasing orders. This led to them getting larger and larger fulfillment facilities. With the above in mind, they understand how fulfillment for an internet business can quickly get out of control, so they now offer small and even larger companies across the world the opportunity to use their services. They now constitute for 45% of all internet sales.

 

What single piece of business wisdom would you give your successor?

"Get to know every aspect of the business, from the initial business plan to your product and everything in between. You never know when you’ll have to get your hands in and deal with whatever comes your way and it’s important to know what and how to do what’s necessary. Also have faith in the process and when things look really challenging, simply tell yourself that everything has already worked out. Believe it and watch it become your reality."

 

What is the vision for your business?

"I’d really like it to grow with many of my other crafts, from my jewellery design to the American-styled quilts that I began making a few years ago. I’d also like to add a summer line for 2012 and for the coming years."

 

What makes your scarves unique?

"I think it’s the fact that we have crochet stitches that don’t necessarily look like crochet. And these stitches are in designs that haven’t been seen before, so it’s exciting to see a scarf that looks like a Hawaiian lei without the pollen."

 

How do you react to failure?

"I don’t believe in failures, experiences are only failures if you crumble and accept defeat."

 

In ten years time, what would you like The Bermudian to write about you?

'Seasonal cottage industry turned mega manufacturing and retail giant. René Hill and Co. started Emily’s Fair Trade Company Ltd. in 2010 during one of the worst recessions to hit since the Great Depression. Against all odds, she proved that she could sell fair trade designer gear even within a recession, because people wanted quality and a winter warmer that wasn’t just another scarf, but a conversation piece.

She believed in fair trade producers, rather than cheap labour, even though it was much more expensive to produce her initial line of six of her most popular scarves.

She has turned her initial investment of $100,000 from Capital G Bank and the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation into a million dollar a year industry with thousands of fair trade producers around the globe."