Samantha Morshed Interview (Part Four)

Samantha Morshed Interview (Part Four)

By Ariana

In this forth and final installment of our interview with Samantha Morshed, founder of Pebble Child and Hathay Bunano, we learn more about what drives her success. 

Last week, I had the privilege of interviewing the empowering Samantha Morshed, the founder of “Pebble Child”, who holds a list of accomplishments that many people would consider extremely difficult to achieve. Although it was only 7 AM in Kuala Lumpar, where she was located during our interview, the time by no means hampered her enthusiasm! Giving us detailed descriptions of the nitty gritty of rural and city life, Samantha proved her passion for changing the artisans’ living conditions. I felt like I was being read a fun history book. A fun history book? No way! But, Samantha definitely deserved the title; we found her enthusiasm and stories so entertaining!

"According to your website, one of the goals of your organization is to provide employment that fits in with rural life and prevents migration to the cities. What benefits do you perceive in rural vs city life?”

To my surprise, Samantha’s explanation was quite simple. “You’re talking about really difficult living conditions here. Dhaka is one of the most dense cities in the world. It’s competing with places like China and India with much better infrastructure.” While living conditions in Dhaka have been steadily improving, diseases like cholera and typhoid are still common because of the water contamination and the poor sanitation. “My own son even had [cholera]”, she emphasized. Although the city life is “good”, it isn’t necessarily “easy”. While the conditions in both prove to be unsatisfactory, Dhaka can be considered to be

Pebble's adorable Monster Rattle.

just a step above the rural areas. “The problem is, though, that in Dacca, the population is so dense that is simply does not have the infrastructure to manage the people it has anymore,” Samantha explains. She envisions an effective, though difficult, solution - “Let’s create economic opportunity in the rural areas”. If the population of Dhaka thins out into the rural areas, overall living conditions would have a higher chance of improving in Dhaka and the rural areas. With less people packed into Dhaka, the government would have more reasonable numbers to work with in executing an efficient city improvement plan. On the other hand, a growing population in the rural area would serve as a motivation to improve conditions in a growing area. 

Because she seemed to have a goal in mind, I asked Samantha to elaborate a little bit more. She added,“Pebble continues to grow, and as it does grow, it is really beginning to demonstrate the value of alternative productive methods.” “Alternative production methods”, I thought to myself. When expanding, she referred back to the 2013 Savar Building Collapse in Bangladesh that killed nearly 1,129 people due to poor factory conditions in Dhaka. As a response to the tragedy, she noted that “we assume that these [Pebble] items need to be made in large factory buildings, but you CAN separate the production process.” From this interview, I discovered that Samantha is passionate about changing the norm from working in factories into more rural areas, which she said that “Pebble is really starting to demonstrate.” To me, her goal appears to be an extremely responsible one, illustrating the extent of her passion of her artisans’ safety and well-being. 

With the main questions aside, I decided to switch gears into Samantha’s personal experiences with Pebble...until our Skype call broke up.

As soon as we reconnected,  I asked Samantha about her favorite memories. The question got everybody laughing, as Samantha quickly blurted, “brand new babies!”. She always loved when new babies were born in the artisan communities. With all that Samantha has experienced and achieved, it’s hard to imagine she could top what we had already learned about her, but “in 2009 I went to Buckingham palace to receive the Members of the Order of the British Empire Award from the Queen, that was pretty special,” she recalled. Whattt, the Queen? ...Pretty special indeed!

As the conversation came to an end, we were all stirred by her poise and knowledge. Samantha, you have served as an inspiration to us all!

Hi all! I’m Ariana. Apart from being a junior in highschool, I am also an intern at Shopping for a Change this summer. I’ve learned so much about the marketing world and I look forward to the rest of the summer with Stacey and the rest of the interns. I love multicultural food, playing different instruments, and pretty much anything and everything Nintendo! I hope you enjoy reading our blog posts, we’ve definitely enjoyed writing them.

Samantha Morshed Interview (Part Three)

Samantha Morshed Interview (Part Three)

by Eleanor

In the third installment of our interview with Samantha Morshed, founder of Pebble Child, Samantha outlines all the work that goes into her typical day and describes the system that determines pay for the artisans.

Since Samantha Morshed’s move to Bangladesh in 2002, her love of crafts and her feeling of moral imperative led to the creation of Hathay Bunano and later Pebble Child. Her organizations have grown dramatically since then--helping more than five thousand women in the sixty-four centers they created throughout Bangladesh.

While today Samantha’s typical day consists of working in her home office in Dhaka, this was not always the case: “When I started all of this ten years ago, I did everything.” Samantha would pack boxes and label and send products, in addition to managing the office. Over the years as Hathay Bunano grew, Samantha set up systems to spread the workload throughout the office as “it was necessary that we make the head office run successfully without me.” Now she is able go into the office “very infrequently” and works mainly at home, on the computer. After handling the “one hundred and fifty to two hundred emails” she receives daily, Samantha continues the development of new products.

One of Pebble's best selling products,
the Octopus Rattle.

In addition to the creative, Samantha and Pebble must also factor in the business side when creating products. Product decisions were especially impacted during when the economic downturn struck in 2009: “at the time our bestselling product was the octopus rattle and so we made a positive decision to really stick at the price point.” The octopus rattle was priced at £10 (sold on SFAC for $14) and greatly influenced Pebble’s strategy: “the business decision at the time was to focus on products that came in at less than £10 and not to focus on the larger products because of the economic situation.” Now, as economic conditions are improving Pebble has “brought back a range of larger animals.”

As Pebble continues to add products, Samantha notes that it is important for them to “keep the range balanced so there is something for everyone.” For example, the latest catalog has been split into two: products made with non-organic or organic cotton as there are many stores that carry exclusively organic cotton products.

Another important step in the process of adding new products is determining how the artisans will be paid for creating the product. Pebble pays its artisans using a piece rate system, meaning each artisan is paid based on the number of products they make. After a new product is developed, the wage is calculated by “work[ing] out how long it takes to make [the] product. [...] From

One of Pebble's larger animals,
the Green Dragon.

that we then multiply it by the hourly rate, which is about 25 percent above minimum wage in Bangladesh. And then that becomes the piece rate.”

Samantha went on to explain the difficulties that arise when setting the pay: “within the village environment, whilst we can pay more than any other handicrafts are paying, it becomes very difficult when you get to a position where women are earning more than men. You can’t necessarily pay as much as you might want to pay because you need to balance with what’s going on in that community so that it becomes a gradual process of improvements and increases.” In order to ensure this “process of improvements” the wages of the Pebble artisans have  “an annual increase of either inflation or 10 percent, whichever is the higher.” This way both the prices of Pebble’s products and the wages of the artisans are steadily rising to match the world economy.

On the growth of Hathay Bunano and Pebble over the past ten years Samantha noted that Hathay Bunano, which handles artisan training and product creation, now runs without her. “In the early days, I taught every course [to the artisans] myself,” Samantha reflected, “I used to go out three times a week and sit cross legged on the floor and teach them how to knit while they were teaching me to speak Bangla.” Over the years, Samantha’s presence in the centers became “less and less necessary.” Samantha attributes Hathay Bunano’s success to the artisans’ feeling of dominion: “One of the reasons I think our handicraft model has worked so well is because the artisans have taken ownership of their production center and their work.” Samantha is still in charge of the design and marketing, or the “Pebble side,” but has “let go and let things happen as they should happen” for the artisans.

Hi! I’m Eleanor and I am a rising high school junior. I have two cats, I love drinking tea, and I’m obsessed with all the jewelry on Shopping for a Change (too bad I can’t afford it all). Interning with Shopping for a Change is an amazing experience filled with inspiring stories, great opportunities, and lots and lots of cheese provided by the founder Stacey. Cheers!

Samantha Morshed Interview (Part Two)

Samantha Morshed Interview(Part Two)
by Jessica

This is the second part of Shopping for a Change’s interview with the lovely Samantha Morshed, founder of Pebble Child.

Seeing two octopus toys give each other high-fives on the cover page of the Pebble Child website was already too cute to handle. After scrolling through pictures of various food-shaped rattles and animal-themed toys, I was almost ready to buy all of them for myself. When I finally had the chance to talk to Samantha, it was no surprise that I found her to be a funny and an all-around kind person. Her passion for helping out the women of Bangladesh was evident and her charming British accent was enough to win us over completely. During the interview, we learned a lot about Samantha’s past and her inspiration to start Pebble Child. In 1992, Samantha was first introduced to Bangladesh by her future husband Morshed, who wanted to show her where he had grown up. It was in her return trip of 2002 that Samantha started up Pebble Child to help out the women living there and improve their lifestyles. Though Samantha was faced with a daunting task, she was lucky to have her entire family supporting her. “My husband helps me – we work together as partners.” When she first started setting up centers, Samantha did not have the language skill to communicate with people, so Morshed stepped in to assist her. In addition, Samantha’s children (2 boys, 11 and 13 years old) are also involved in the process - I was surprised to discover that oldest son had even independently designed some of the products, including the Chubby monster toy.

Pebble's precious duo of boy and girl bunnies.

In the interview, Samantha filled me in on the significant changes Pebble Child has made in the artisan’s lifestyles. Normally, people in Bangladesh do not have many options when it comes to employment opportunities. Working in the season field, which is work usually done by the men anyways, is the only other job open to the women in Bangladesh. Samantha described some areas as “so poor that the women don’t even have a sari blouse -it's undignified for women not to have a sari blouse because it's like not having underwear.” Working for Pebble Child not only gave the women an opportunity to earn their own income, but also gave them the liberty to invest the money however they pleased. Many of the development aid programs had dictated how the women spent their money, stripping them of their freedom of choice. To Samantha, it is important that “when we start to help people, we are not disempowering them by making decisions for them - something that is overlooked in many large development aid programs that go on…” 

Fortunately, Pebble Child operates on better standards. “We don’t assume ourselves to be the experts in what the women need. These women have lived lives that have required enormous resilience and they’ve learned a great deal from that. While they might be illiterate, they are certainly not stupid and they know what’s required and what’s best for their family.” When given the ability to spend, women knew what they wanted.  Samantha notices huge changes in their lifestyles. First, the women started to buy additional protein for the family. They made improvements to their living conditions. A concrete floor took the place of the mud floor, making their houses more stable and resilient to floods and the harsh weather in Bangladesh. In addition, the women replaced the matted roof with a tin one and bought televisions for their houses. Then, the women started to make bigger changes in their lives. “Over time women make the decision not to give birth at home but rather go to the clinic to give birth” While schooling in Bangladesh is free, families need to ensure their children have uniforms and second hand books, so “we start to see that the women are able to afford these items and send their children to school.”

I had questioned Samantha about what inspired her to start the organization. She had graduated in physics from Oxford University, worked at BBC as a researcher, earned a postgrad diploma in financial economics, and spent eight years working in investment banking. It struck me as odd that she didn’t have a background that really connected her with her work in Bangladesh. Seeing my confusion, Samantha answered with:

"You haven’t been to Bangladesh. It's impossible to go to Bangladesh as an educated person feeling that you have some skills, and not get involved... to be honest with you. The need is all around you even if you live in the smartest area, in the capital city you step out of your house and there are beggars, there are people with real needs, there are people living in the streets....it's impossible just to turn your head away and not to try and do something... you can’t sleep at night feeling like you're not do something when in actual fact you do have some skills that maybe would enable you to do something… it’s compulsory, really. There is no choice in it--you just get on with it.”

Hey guys, my name is Jessica. I'm 16 and an upcoming senior at high school. I really loved talking to Samantha Morshed, and this Pebble Child blog was probably my favorite one to write...so I hope you guys enjoy this article as much as I did!

Samantha Morshed Interview (Part One)

Samantha Morshed Interview (Part One)

By Niki

Samantha Morshed, founder of Pebble Child, an organization that works to create local employment for rural women in Bangladesh, speaks about her inspiration and the business model she chose to create. (And some fun facts: Why the name Pebble? And what’s the Broken Needle Register?)

My pre-interview preparation for speaking to Samantha Morshed, founder of Pebble toys and the nonprofit Hathay Bunano, was mostly limited to staring and longing at pictures of Pebble’s food rattles – oh, how I still crave cupcakes every time I think of them! However, aside from learning that Pebble sells adorable and creatively designed hand-knitted toys, I also learned that the organization works for an admirable purpose: creating local employment opportunities for rural women in Bangladesh.

Then the day of the interview came along, and, waiting for five o’clock, I created a mental image of Samantha in my mind – I pictured a native Bangladeshi who wanted to give back to her country. Naturally, I felt surprised when I found myself looking at the cheerful face of a Caucasian from England with her charming British accent. I wondered, What made her forsake a comfortable life in England to dedicate herself to the impoverished Bangladesh?

What inspired you to move to Bangladesh and start Hathay Bunano?

Samantha clarified that she originally went to Bangladesh in 2004 for a six-month visit, for the purpose of showing her children “the other side of their culture” (her husband is British-Bangladeshi). What came next, however, was completely unplanned. “When we started to live there,” related Samantha, “it became clear that there was so much need…we felt morally obligated to do something about it.” Drawing from her love of arts and crafts, Samantha, believing that she “had some solutions to some of the problems” in the handicraft business model, “decided to just start up a small handicraft setup” herself. Thus, the nonprofit Hathay Bunano, meaning hand-knitted, was born.

How did you go about creating Hathay Bunano, and then Pebble?

Samantha immediately introduced her first “big problem” to be the aspect of Pebble’s work that I admire most: design. Samantha explained that, “One of big problems with handicraft projects was that everything was fine as long as one of the big donor organizations was paying for a designer… As soon as the designer’s contract finished and the money ran out, you could no longer make designs that people wanted.” Instead of giving in to periodic downfalls in design, Samantha “set about taking what you could learn from the readymade garments industry…after all, Bangladesh is one of the largest suppliers of T-Shirts and things in the world.” She took what she could learn from that large-scale industry, and worked to “apply it to the handicraft industry.” And, apparently, she took in a lot.

Pebble's delicious looking cupcake rattle,
 coming soon to Shopping for a Change!

The toys originally produced through Hathay Bunano were originally private labeled for other companies, but as Samantha explained to us, she decided to create the Pebble brand, “really because…the story behind the women at Hathay Bunano was not coming out. The large companies who were taking our products were very keen to keep it a secret, to avoid competition. It was never my intention originally to create a brand. It was my intention to increase employment through the handicraft model.”

Are the women working at their homes, or are they working at set locations?

“One of the biggest problems with the traditional handicraft model and working out of homes is that you can’t guarantee basic health and safety. This goes back to the way that we started…selling to large organizations. We needed to demonstrate that we were able to maintain basic health and safety requirements. One of the most important ones is the Broken Needle Register. We can’t guarantee that if women are working in their homes. We also can’t guarantee that there’s no child labor involved. If you sell into fair trade stores, the child labor issue is smaller. There is an understanding that if children are going to school…it’s considered okay if they are working two hours a day after school. But with larger companies it doesn’t work.”

Well, I was now wondering, as I’m sure some of you are as well, what the “broken needle register” is. Though I was afraid that it might just be common knowledge, I took a leap and asked anyway…

What is the Broken Needle Register?

It turns out that the Broken Needle Register is a factory requirement “worldwide.” Though I myself found it both interesting and slightly ridiculous, in hindsight, it seems like a good safety measure. “If a needle breaks…you need to find all the pieces of that needle and stick them into a register.”

And, finally, for the sake of curiosity…

How did you come up with the name Pebble?

“There’s nothing emotional attached with it. A good name should be two syllables maximum so it can sell in any country. A ‘pebble’ is a little thing, but at the same time it’s strong and soft. It just seemed to fit.”

Hi, I’m Niki, and I’m an intern this summer at Shopping for a Change! I’m a rising junior in high school, with a passion for singing and playing the piano. So far, I’ve had a great experience working, learning about marketing, reading inspiring stories, conducting interviews, and now blog-writing. Hope you enjoy reading the installments of the interview!