Rosa Chang

Rosa Chang Claro Rosa  was born in Lima, Peru, to Chinese-Peruvian parents. Her career and postgraduate studies took her first to Mexico, where she finished her master’s degree in finance. In 2009, along with her partners Jeffrey Hansen and Jorge Cam Rosell, she founded the fair-trade company, Blossom Inspirations. The company was founded under fair trade principles and with elements of circular economy, working directly with artisans from her native Peru and Mexico.

Blossom Inspirations is member of Chicago Fair Trade and Fair Trade Federation, and it has evolved based on Rosa’s diverse corporate experience, working between the U.S. and Latin America in different industries like Financial Services, Airlines, Professional Services and IT from Sales to Delivery.

Since 2013, Rosa and her husband Jeff have been raising their two bilingual girls in Naperville, IL. Recently, she published her first bilingual book, Cuyita Wants to Know the World, promoting diversity, inclusion, and empowering women to follow their dreams. The book has been blessed by Pope Francis and inspires both the young and the old to live and love beyond all borders.

Why was it important for you that sustainability and eco-consciousness be at the core of Blossom Inspirations’ business model?

Today it is more important than ever due to the impact that everyone is making on the environment. At Blossom Inspirations, we are inspired in the Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) from the United Nations for 2030. Being members of the Chicago Fair Trade and Fair-Trade Federation, we follow principles of fair trade and sustainability using elements of circular economy.

Our concept has always been to empower the artisans, especially women artisans and to optimize our carbon footprint, meaning to use as much as possible recycle, discarded, reusable materials in all the process of our product from design to production, sales, and distribution.

How does Blossom Inspirations help local artisans?

Knowing the artisans and their family by names, visiting them in their homes and workshops, allows us to make a strong connection. This connection helps us to understand their needs, their issues, their goals. Therefore, we can make sure that in every ecofriendly product that we design together with them, we are helping artisans to achieve their dreams, bringing them a competitive differentiation, giving them access to other markets.

Also, by working directly with the artisans, we can understand where the raw materials come from and the impact of our handmade products to the environment in terms of waste, carbon emission, energy, water and biodiversity.

How has your culture inspired your entrepreneurial journey?

Blossom Inspirations started with my homesickness. Being away from my native country for more than two decades has exposed me to different experiences, cultures, and communities both professionally and personally. It allowed me to reflect on my values, my roots, my culture to understand the traditions of Latin America. Therefore, I found myself channeling my passion through my homesickness, it is my way to fit into society through Blossom Inspirations.

All the products we develop at Blossom Inspirations have a storytelling aspect through the talented artisans with whom we work. The traditional techniques they use for generations and their cosmovision, that we recreate together to bring them access to other markets.

We use technology to communicate those stories and connect the artisans to the world, to promote our heritage with the intention to preserve the Peruvian and Mexican art and people can be more openminded and explore, talk, try other cultures, also promoting in this way diversity and inclusion.

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