And
on this week's Good Start.
Hey guys, and welcome to Good Start.
I'm Sally Turner.
Beer and dogs are the two things
that almost everyone can find joy
in. And two organizations in North
Dakota teamed up to bring them
together for a great cause.
4 Love of Dogs has partnered with
Fargo Brewing Company in the most
ingenious way.
The beer company has begun
The brewery wants to
I think we should all give a toast
to both companies for such a
heartwarming collaboration.
And now for our next story, one
Oklahoma community came together
in a surprising way to help their
beloved library transport some of
their most loved books.
More than 650
Old Norman Public Library Central
to their new center.
They even
What a great way to get the whole
community to share their love of
books. And now for our main story
this week, this Monday marks the
100th anniversary of Veteran's Day.
One sibling-owned business has found
an inventive and inspiring way
to give back and honor our nation's
service members.
Emily
but co-founders of their own
business, Sword & Plough.
Sword & Plough is a social impact
fashion company.
We work with veteran-owned
American manufacturers.
We incorporate repurposed military
surplus into our designs and
we donate 10 percent of our profits
or 2 percent of revenue, whichever
is greater to 10
really impactful veteran nonprofit
organizations.
The desire to help and honor
veterans is nothing new to the
sisters.
The business has been in the making
since we were kids, growing
up on military bases all over the
country.
We really wanted to try to find a
way to strengthen civil
military understanding, to
empower veteran employment, and
reduce waste through
fashionable bags and accessories.
Sword & Plough makes
and sells necklaces, purses,
backpacks, bags, and more
One that I really treasure is we
upcycle the army woodland
camo fabric that our dad wore when
he was in the army.
So that's the camo tote from
the Sword & Plough line that I carry
365 days out of the year.
Emily and Betsy launched the company
through Kickstarter in the spring of
2013.
It was amazing to see the interest
for it. We hit our goal of
$20,000 in just the first two hours.
We ended the campaign with over
1,500 supporters and over
$300,000 raised.
And then two weeks after Kickstarter
ended, I deployed to
Afghanistan for seven months.
And while getting any new business
off the ground has its own set of
challenges,
We have a lot of memories of
different Skype calls from when I
was in Afghanistan.
Once in a while they were
interrupted by mortar rounds, and so
not your usual startup environment,
but, you know,
it definitely taught us that if we
could make it through that, you know, Sword
& Plough could really
face any challenge.
But
Since launching Sword & Plough has
and
And to have companies like Sword
& Plough which is supporting
veteran-owned businesses,
it's really rewarding. And it's
nice that they give back to the
veteran community.
We wanted to incorporate veterans
into every single stage of our
business model.
They are incredibly hardworking.
They want to be part of something
that's much bigger than themselves.
They're amazing leaders who have
proven themselves under stressful
combat situations.
I served eight years in the military
and I was a truck driver
and 50 cal gunner in Afghanistan.
Partnering with Sword & Plough has
been really amazing.
You know, their mission struck a
chord with me and it just kind of
made sense for us to link up.
Emily and Betsy both agree that
despite its challenges,
Working with Emily on Sword & Plough
over the last seven years has been
probably one of the greatest gifts
that I've ever experienced in my
life. We get to experience so many
amazing moments together
and really watch ourselves grow and
learn as we're leading a team
and growing a business.
So there's no one else that I would
trust more than her.
To be able to
experience all of these incredible
moments together
is something that I am so
incredibly grateful for
and it truly is
the best gift.
If you want to learn more about
Sword & Plough, or check out their
products, we'll be leaving a link to
their website in the comments below.
Thanks to Nivea for partnering with
us this month on Good Start to bring
you inspiring stories that prove
soft can be powerful.
Rethink soft with Nivea.
And for some bonus good news for the
week,
we here at Good Start have just
gotten a very exciting
addition to our team.
Our audio engineer, Pedro,
and his wife, Valentina, welcomed
their first this week, Gustavo
Juan. We all can't wait to
meet little Gustavo in person soon,
and Pedro, we miss you so
much.
So that is it for this week's show.
Be sure to like our page and follow
us for more positive stories to
make your day.
Thanks so much for watching and
we'll see you back here next week
for another Good Start.