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Name: Wendy Bird

Business: Pearls With Purpose, online jewelry store

Industry: Apparel & Accessories

Location: Provo, Utah, U.S.

Reason for starting: As a mom of five, I know firsthand the desire of every woman, no matter her circumstance, to want the best for her child. These products are all handmade by women who strive for self-reliance on a daily basis. I have slept on their dirt floors, showered with a bucket for weeks on end and know these women individually and personally. Once you interact with women in developing countries, you can’t look back, you can only move forward in quiet perseverance seeking for ways to make their life just a little bit easier.

Related: Read about another female entrepreneur empowering women in the developing world here. 

How do you define success? Knowing you have lived your life outside of your comfort zone and been the best person you are capable of being, regardless of the challenges you were faced with.

Biggest Success: On a personal level, skydiving over a beach in Australia and hiking through the largest cave in the world (Son Doong,Vietnam). Most recently, completing LOTOJA (a 206-mile bike race from Logan Utah to Jackson Hole Wyoming.

On a business level, rebuilding the libraries of several schools in the Philippines, being part of the accomplished education of dozens of students, supplying the necklaces and earrings to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Currently our top challenge is launching a direct-selling opportunity with socially minded values. It has appeared in the form of an elephant in the office, and we are addressing it the only way we know how: one bite at a time. On a more personal level, my son was diagnosed with terminal illness in 2006 and given 90 days to live. Due to me diving into a combination of Eastern and Western methodologies, he is still alive today. During this time, a company embezzlement also occurred, which I persevered through.

Related: Strength is Harnessed Through the Struggle

Who is your most important role model? On a business level, Mother Teresa and Ghandi. On a personal level, Brendon Burchard.

[box_light]Website   www.pearlswithpurpose.com
Twitter   @pearlspurpose
Facebook   www.facebook.com/pearlswithpurpose
Pinterest   Pinterest.com/PearlswithPurpose[/box_light]

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Edited by The Story Exchange