Growing Global Markets for Women’s Handmade Craft
Note: Thanks to our generous sponsors, this event is “no charge” but you must register to attend. By registering, you consent to Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global’s collection of information. The recording will be available to watch after the event has passed.
11 a.m. – 12 p.m. CST
Susan Hull Walker
Growing Global Markets for Women’s Handmade Craft
- How to build a global brand without sacrificing authenticity.
- Why purpose-driven businesses have a competitive advantage.
- The power of trust-based partnerships in global business.
- Practical strategies for scaling a mission-led business.
- How women entrepreneurs are reshaping the future of luxury.
Susan Hull Walker is the Founder and Creative Director of the Ibu Movement, which she launched in 2013 to create a marketplace for women artisans in developing economies. Her mission: put money directly in the hands of women and preserve endangered cultural craft traditions. Today, Ibu partners with over 100 women’s artisan groups across 50 countries, collaborating on design and selling their goods through a Charleston storefront, a robust e-commerce presence, and national trunk shows and salons.
Susan’s path here wasn’t linear. She spent 18 years as a ministerin Portland, Maine, and at Circular Church in Charleston, SC, and served as chaplain to a women’s psychiatric hospital in San Francisco. She later returned to school at the Savannah College of Art and Design to study Fiber Arts, becoming a studio weaver and dyer whose work sold to private and institutional collectors. That hands-on textile work led her to a realization that cloth carries women’s stories and history, which became the seed for Ibu.
Susan splits her time between Charleston, SC, and Santa Fe, NM, traveling widely to visit artisans and speak internationally about the movement’s impact.
