Sew Powerful Podcast

Meet a remarkable woman with a passion for helping others. Using her own life experiences and her deep and abiding faith in the Lord, Barbara Stroup has compassion for those who find themselves in challenging circumstances. Listen as Barbara shares her life story, amazing world travels, words of wisdom and surprising connection to Sew Powerful.

Our guest this week has been with World Vision for nearly 30 years, and currently serves as their Chief Development Officer. Kathryn Compton is a dynamic and innovative leader who developed and leads Strong Women Strong World — a global Women’s Empowerment initiative focused on bringing together influential and affluent partners who are dedicated to empowering women and girls through gender reconc...

Deborah Peterson is the Sew Powerful Chapter Leader of the Oly~Lacy Crafty Sewers. In this episode we learn about Deborah's interesting background but really delve into what it has been like to form a Sew Powerful Chapter. We talk about how she found new members, what materials she found helpful and how, through her outreach, she has brought more than a dozen new purse makers into the Sew Powerful...

Impressive credentials aside, Philippe Ayivor has been at the forefront of economic and social development in Africa since 1995. Whether it is working on water treatment infrastructure for impoverished communities or spearheading the work to bring vocational training to build a strong middle class in Africa, Philippe's work resonates with our Sew Powerful mission to bring the dignity of work to th...

Living life to its fullest in her adopted country, Myra Lehmann shares her interesting background and the path that took Myra, her husband and daughter to Sweden many years ago. What was intended to be a one year stay has turned into almost a 50 years residency. Myra explains her volunteer activities as well as her devotion to Sew Powerful. She even greets us in Swedish to start our talk.

Putting her passion for sewing to good use, Chris McMullen has found a very creative outlet for marrying Sew Powerful, her teaching experience and reaching out to her own community. Listen as a very new Regional Coordinator inspires us with ideas to help, not only the girls in Zambia, but how that same vehicle trains women in her home town who need to learn to sew as a way to support themselves, b...

Another, in our series, 'The Real Husbands of Sew Powerful', features the husband of our CFO/HR Director, Sue Kirby. Doug has a very specific expertise that he has put to good use to help Sew Powerful. Listen as Doug recounts his life growing up in Oregon, becoming an entrepreneur, and his return to ranching. He shares with us how he and Sue decided to spend their retirement, making a difference i...

If you are considering forming a Sew Powerful Chapter, or maybe you are just curious about the process, you won't want to miss this episode. Jason, Sue and Jan have a lively conversation about marketing your newly formed Chapter. We share a long and growing list of proven ideas for finding Chapter members and expanding Sew Powerful. If you love making Sew Powerful purses and notecards, why not sha...

A Navy wife finds herself facing a very challenging situation. With grace and determination, our guest, LaQuita Herrin, not only survived, but turned her own hardship into advocacy for others. LaQuita is a brand new Sew Powerful purse maker and by witnessing her determination with making her first purse, we can easily imagine how she uses that same tenacity in her personal life. We also talk about...

Amy Brooks came to our attention at Sew Powerful because she wrote a story for the second edition of the We Are Sew Powerful book. I hardly know where to begin in describing this remarkable woman. She is an artist, author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, independent, determined woman and a very strong Christian. But another part of Amy's identity is that she is differently able, having been bo...

Have you ever been sitting in church listening to a sermon and had the urge to raise your hand and ask questions? That happened to me yesterday. Our pastor's sermon was titled 'Fear of Public Speaking' and I began to wonder if he was speaking to our congregation or to us at Sew Powerful. Using the Apostle Peter as an example, Pastor Mark Plunkett listed situation after situation where Peter found...

Attending Sew Powerful's virtual Spring 2021 Summit is going to be one of the most rewarding experiences you've had in the past year. In this episode, Sew Powerful co-founder Jason Miles, walks us through the who, what and when of the May 13-14, 2021 virtual Summit. A bevy of keynote speakers will share how they were activated by God to serve the poor. Perhaps the Summit can help us all answer, "W...

In this episode we are introduced to the many talents of Peggy Creighton. We journey through Peggy's early childhood, her career in education and library sciences, her advanced degrees, her publications and her life, post-retirement. Peggy brings these life experiences to Sew Powerful, realizing God has been preparing her for this work since early childhood. Peggy currently wears several Sew Power...

It seems Judy Ann Kennedy has been running a parallel course to Sew Powerful but it wasn't until the Spring of 2021 that our paths crossed. Judy is an accomplished bag maker, notecard maker and most importantly has a heart for mission work. Her missionary work in Russia and the Phillipines involved educating children living in poverty, affected by natural disasters and those who never had the oppo...

I thought it was about time for you to meet my husband. In this episode, Chris gives the inside scoop on being married to a slightly obsessive Sew Powerful volunteer. Chris talks about the role he plays in supporting Sew Powerful and provides some great suggestions for ways spouses and family members of our volunteers can also contribute to the success of Sew Powerful.

Say "Hello" to Millie McKerley. Millie is a native of Alberta, Canada but now lives just outside of Washington, DC. Millie worked in Finance until she decided to homeschool her son all the way through middle school. An avid gardener, quilter and generous contributor to a number of charities, Millie brings her love of sewing and helping others to Sew Powerful. You've seen photos of her many purses....

Today's podcast comes from Mumbai, India. We meet Asha Merchant, who has made a very impressive number of Sew Powerful purses. Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Asha has also lived in India and the US. She earned a degree in Fashion Design, which was a natural fit for her creativity. Not in the podcast, but Asha shared with me how she has involved many others in Sew Powerful including the shipping com...

If you think Lynne Johnson's name sounds familiar, you must be a fan of the monthly Sew Powerful Live events on Facebook and YouTube. It seems every month Jason Miles calls out Lynne's name a time or two, recognizing her for submitting boxes of purses. You will enjoy getting to know Lynne and learn about her varied interests and accomplishments. Besides being a registered nurse and owning a small...

This week we talk to our Omaha, Nebraska Regional Coordinator, Laura Ostdiek. Laura has a fascinating life story, including a history of decorating floats for the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. This has to be one of the most unusual hobbies we have encountered. Listen carefully because Laura reveals a very surprising secret about float decorating that you wouldn't suspect just by watc...

Our purse makers are a wealth of knowledge and that knowledge was right there in front of us, untapped, until a light bulb went off. Instead of guessing, why not ask our purse making community what they would want in terms of forming local groups. Viola! The Local Growth Survey was born. Hundreds of you participated and you are probably curious about the results. Wonder no more. This episode provi...

Eavesdrop on Session 1 of "Speak Up for Sew Powerful" training. In this orientation for the 6-part program you will hear instructor, Betty Johnson, provide background and techniques for delivering a 30 second elevator talk about Sew Powerful. Participants relate personal anecdotes about situations we have all experienced that make having an elevator speech in your 'back pocket' so important. This...

In these challenging times, having a purse challenge may be just what the doctor ordered. Two of our UK volunteers, Ginny Buckley and Louise Ambrosi, take us on a delightful journey as they explain how they will revive the purse challenge, what it is, who it is for and how often they will issue the challenge. Lots of laughs and giggles in this episode so be prepared to share in the merriment.

Kylie Gersekowski may be in Australia but she had a vision that Sew Powerful would need her talents globally. And she sure was right. As the founder and original member of the Sew Powerful Purse Project on Facebook, Kylie pulled together other Aussie bag makers to sew for Sew Powerful. But soon the word spread far and wide and behold, we now have a 4000 member Facebook group that supports and enco...

Listen as the founder and dedicated members of TELAS (The East Los Angeles Stitcher) share how their organization came to be and the passion they have for Sew Powerful. They seemed to appear out of nowhere, sending in 292 purses in 2020. But it turns out they have been there all along, finding and supporting worthy causes every year. But Sew Powerful struct a chord when a few of the members happen...

With a degree in Fashion and Merchandising, it is no surprise that Natalie Wellman was instantly drawn to Sew Powerful back in 2015. Since that time she has challenged herself to make many, many purses including making a purse a day during the month of January. Don't be fooled by the quantity of purses Natalie sends to Sew Powerful every year. She is all about quality and the photos of her purses...