International Women’s Day: Meet Stacy Hollingsworth of The Esther Project Shop

For International Women’s Day, we set out to do something simple for four weeks. We wanted to introduce you to women founders whose work we’re honored to carry through Threads by Nomad, and to make the story behind each product easier to see. Each week, we’ve shared an interview, highlighted the brand’s work, and offered a small, time-limited discount as a practical way to support what these founders are building.

This final feature is with Stacy Hollingsworth, founder of The Esther Project Shop.

The Esther Project Shop: a response to human trafficking in Kenya

Stacy started The Esther Project Shop after researching human trafficking in Kenya and realizing how tightly it is tied to economic instability. Many women are trying to feed their families on less than $2 a day. In that context, children become vulnerable, and trafficking becomes a weekly reality.

Stacy also saw something else up close: women with real skills who had no reliable way to sell what they made. They would sit all day in open-air markets, sell nothing, and return home to a heavy workload with no income to show for it.

The Esther Project Shop was born as an answer to that gap. What began with five women has grown into a 501(c)(3) that now supports dozens of families, along with a rescue home for children removed from trafficking, and a school where girls are trained in tailoring. It’s a model built on fair pay, clear commitments, and a long view of what sustainable income can change.

Founder Interview: Stacy Hollingsworth, The Esther Project Shop

Your story: What are you building, and what first pushed you to start?

I started The Esther Project Shop six years ago this month to give women of Kenya a sustainable income to help prevent human trafficking. It started because I was teaching on human trafficking in Kenya and had to research it. What I found is that due to economic instability there are over 50 kids a week trafficked in Kenya.

What matters most: What’s one value you won’t compromise on in your work (and why)?

That each of our artisans are paid a fair trade price for their products and that they are paid 100% of what they are owed when they deliver their order. Absolutely nothing on consignment.

A moment you’re proud of: What’s a win you want to celebrate?

The difference I’ve seen being made in the life of our artisans and their families. They are able to feed them and send their children to school. And the rescue home we have for the children we’ve removed from trafficking.

What you’ve learned: What’s one lesson you’ve learned the hard way that you’d share with another woman building something?

The work of starting a business is hard but if you keep on working you will succeed.

Just for fun: What’s your go-to snack/drink while you work—or a tiny ritual that keeps you going?

Coke Zero and chocolate.

This week only: The Esther Project Shop is 20% off through Saturday at midnight

To close out our International Women’s Day founder series, all Esther Project Shop products are 20% off on Threads by Nomad through Saturday night at midnight.

If you’ve been thinking about picking up a carved wooden piece, a gift that will last, or something that can live in your home and still tell a larger story, this is a good week to shop.

Your purchase supports fair trade income for women artisans in Kenya, and it strengthens the work The Esther Project is doing to help families build stability and resist the pressures that make trafficking possible.