By Julie Schlosser
SEATTLE, Washington — Like most Jewish people, each year at the High Holidays, I pause to look inward. It’s such a powerful window to stop, reflect and refocus. About six years ago, I remember sitting uncomfortably during Rosh Hashanah services. I was restless. I had a good job as a journalist at a national magazine, I had recently gotten married to a very smart and loving man, my family members were all healthy. Things were good. Things were really good. But I wasn’t living my mission, my purpose or whatever Oprah might label it. I wasn’t helping anyone and it didn’t feel right.
For several years I had been dreaming and talking with friends about creating a compassionate company—something with the mission of tikkun olam. I promised I wouldn’t let another year get away from me. A few weeks later, my office phone rang. It was my coworker, Lee, calling from our New York City office. Lee was a work friend but also someone I admired tremendously. We hadn’t talked much that year, so I assumed it was a work related issue. Fortunately for me, it wasn’t. Lee was feeling the same way. By the time we hung up the phone, we knew our lives were about to change.
Three weeks later, we both quit our jobs. Just like that! I called in my notice to the boss in New York City and a few minutes later, Lee walked down the hall and said, “I’m going with Julie to create something together.” We kicked around a few ideas but kept coming back to charms to change the world. This was before TOMS and a few other brands we now really love and respect had launched. By the following Fall, we had a company ready to launch and we were each pregnant with our first children. Our lives had been redirected.
We launched Altruette.com, a collection of charms that each benefit a different cause. We started with twenty causes we loved and we now have over 40 non-profits we support. Having worked at Fortune Magazine figuring out the donation aspect has been very important to us. With the original charms we created we donate 50% of the profits or a minimum of $15 per charm to the non-profit, whichever is higher. Some charities prefer to have a percentage of the purchase price donated – we’re happy to work with them if that’s the case. With new causes and with new charms, we’ve started to switch over to 10% of the purchase price. We like this model as it’s more transparent for our customers and it doesn’t depend on our profits.
One of the questions we get asked most often is, “How do you pick a cause?” We select each cause carefully—it must be a group we respect and have a leadership team we admire, but we don’t care if it’s a tiny organization or a global one. Change is change whether it be in one community or on the global stage.
Early on we knew we needed the perfect causes to link to the dreidel charm and cross (Lee is Christian). After weeks of research, we picked the refugee organization HIAS for our dreidel charm (link) and later added a Star of David. Why HIAS? Their tagline says it all. “Welcome the Stranger. Protect the Refugee.” My Jewish upbringing taught me the importance of helping others, especially those who we don’t know. I symbolically shared my Bat Mitzvah with a Russian child who wasn’t free to celebrate hers. My parents always have an open door for anyone in need of food, shelter or emotional support. And since my paternal grandparents immigrated to the country from Europe without anything and left behind siblings who did not survive the Holocaust, helping refugees (political or economic ones) has always been important.
As we read the headlines from the Middle East and Europe, we are reminded that this is not a problem of our past. This is a problem in our lifetime and one we can help make better. And as Hanukkah and the holiday season approach, we think of giving in an impactful way and teaching our children that holiday gifts can also help others.
We recently launched an entire line for young girls and for the holidays we are launching a subscription line to help girls learn about philanthropy and giving back while they build a bracelet. While adults love our collection, it’s the kids who really get it. They ask the smartest questions and they want to really roll up their sleeves and help these causes.
Altruette is about to celebrate our fifth anniversary. I can’t say I’m less restless about giving back—I want to add more causes, more charms and continue to grow our company. But I know that dedicating my life to building a brand that gives back was and will continue to be the right path for me.
*
Julie Schlosser is the Co-Founder of the philanthropic jewelry line, Altruette, and prior to launching the line she was a writer and editor at Fortune Magazine. Her website is http://altruette.com/