But she was… a woman.

The key to changing the world rests in just one thing. The empowerment of women. “Empowerment” can be  kind of a vague term, but when you boil it down it means to “give power”. When a women attains knowledge and skills, she then gains power to change her situation. She gains the power to increase her income, provide for her family and live a better life. Education is the key to ending the cycle of poverty.

Our mission at Girls Can’t WHAT? is to help women around the world break that cycle of poverty by donating a portion of our profits directly to women who need it most through microlending organizations like KIVA. While it often seems like throwing money at a problem in a foreign country doesn’t do much to help, it’s stories like these that remind us that we can make a difference right here, right now with the resources we have.

Meet Seidy

Seidy Marí has a medical problem that prevents her from being able to work a standard 9 to 5 job. Rather than limiting herself to a life of poverty, this single mom saw a business opportunity. A skilled seamstress, Seidy started a sewing business focused on the manufacturing school and work uniforms.

But she was… a woman.

And in rural Costa Rica where she lived, it is generally considered unusual for a woman to be a wage earner for her family. She had a hard time securing contracts needed to keep her business going. She had no startup capital and society was not as accepting of her role as a business owner. Talk about having a  Girls Can’t WHAT? moment. Seidy had more than her fair share of them.

But Seidy persisted, going from school to school and business to business, letting her work speak for itself. Soon, no one paid any attention to her gender. She had proven herself to be a reliable and hard-working. Her business grew so large she couldn’t keep up with the demand.

How did Girls Can’t WHAT? play a role in her success? By investing a portion of our profits each month, we provide microloans to hard-working people like Seidy, who used her loan to expand her business and hire employees during periods of high demand. She now makes enough money to not only provide for herself and her daughter, but also to accomplish a bigger purpose.

Just like we did, Seidy took her Girls Can’t WHAT? moment and turned it into her life’s passion. She took her difficulties and struggles as a young female entrepreneur and decided to hire only women to work for her in order to give them the same opportunity to grow as she had.

Seidy also recognized that many women need flexible hours. Some have children and need to work different or irregular hours. Others are in school and must work around their class schedule. Seidy is not only providing jobs to her community but she is specifically helping women work around the obstacles that otherwise would have left them without education and most likely in poverty.

In her own words: “For me, work isn’t work, it’s therapy. It’s the way that I have to feel well… I figure that I wouldn’t even be able to be without working. I have to be dedicated to something.”

At Girls Can’t WHAT?, we salute Seidy and the wonderful work she is doing to help women and their families in Costa Rica. She is a true inspiration for us all.

As I prepare to send this month’s donation, I will be thinking about how a single $25 loan to someone like Seidy can impact so many others. I am thankful that we have the ability to provide multiple loans each month. I am grateful for the fans and customers that continue to make it possible for us to help women like Seidy. Thank you so much for your support!