Jennifer joined BLB in 2015 after a search to find a local seamstress who could take Rebecca’s bag designs from her head and bring them to life in prototypes. She has lived in our community since 1993 and can often be found with a backyard full of neighborhood kids after work and on weekends. She loves being a part of making beautiful bags and interacting with the women who work here as well as our customers when they pop into the storefront.

Nadia was our very first seamstress we hired at BLB in the summer of 2012. She was born in Texas and moved back to Yemen when she was five years old. After getting married, she moved back to the states when she was 17 and now has five children. She and Rebecca met and became fast friends through the common connection of their kids and their love for sewing. She loves working with a bunch of women from different cultures and enjoys seeing everyone act that family in a world where most people don’t interact with people from different backgrounds.

Karima was born in Afghanistan and came to America in July of 2014. Initially, she had to leave her husband and eight kids behind in Afghanistan with the hope that she could bring them over in a few years. She started working at Better Life Bags in December of 2015. In the summer of 2021 after many years of praying and hoping, all of her family was able to immigrate to the United States. She loves working at BLB because of the people and that it feels like family.

Sabah came into our workshop one day in 2018 to ask for some change for the parking meter. She was coming to interview for a job down the street, but fell in love with our company and came to work for us instead. She has five kids and is from Yemen. She loves that she can be herself at work and that the schedule is flexible for her to still be involved in her kid’s lives while also doing something for herself. 

Roushanara has six kids and was born in Bangladesh. She came to America in 1988 and started working at BLB in October of 2013. She loves the people she works with and that she can wear her hijab to work and be able to work freely in a workplace. Having a job has allowed her to spend her own money whenever she needs to as well as give money back to needy people in Bangladesh.

Shaheda was born in Bangladesh and has two children. She moved to America in February 2010 and started working at BLB in October of 2013. She feels really happy when she’s working here and her family is proud of her that she can earn an income while doing work she loves.