It’s a wonderful feeling going on a trip with the one you love.
I am on my way to Bali, David at my side. We are currently in Tapei on a stopover.
Within six hours we will land on the dreamy lush tropical paradise where my designs are made by talented artisans.

The trip plan is to work on new designs, spend time with the artisans I work with there and also to work on the clean water project I started there two years ago, which is now getting additional support from Waterkeeper Alliance.

We also hope to catch a few waves!

Stay tuned for more!

Smiles from Taipei,

Donna

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I’m a big fan of Seth Godin and his blog about marketing. In fact, his is the only blog I actually subscribe to in this busy life of too much email. His often short and to the point blog posts are very thought provoking and educational for progressive business owners like me. Today he wrote about something that has been irking me for quite some time about something we call “greenwashing” in his blog post The Coming Backlash of Green Marketing. THANK you, Seth!

“The easiest marketing promise to make is to say you’ll do something green if people consume what you sell. That you’ll support one green cause or another. No one is in charge of checking out your story, and my guess is that 90% of the time, it leads to a net negative–more landfill, more carbon, more waste.” Read on…

Those of us who have had environmentally and socially responsible businesses from the start have been seeing this coming. It’s a frequent topic of discussion in the Coop America Green Business Network my company belongs to. We call it Greenwashing. It’s nice to see companies wanting to “do good”, but there are many companies like my own that were actually founded on a model of social and environmental responsibility from the very start because business can’t be just about making money. I personally knew starting my business back in 2003 that I would never be able to sleep at night if my life and business model were solely based on profits, so I built giving back and ethical manufacturing into by business model. I just don’t see the point of doing business without giving back.

Another concern is that in the race to be green, social responsibility often gets put on the back burner. I believe ethical manufacturing and business practice is almost more important than “greening”. Ideally, a company should practice both, and all of the COOP America screened and approved Green Businesses do, but there are many who, as Seth pointed out, simply buy their credibility by outsourcing with an organization that plants trees.

The people who come in my brick and mortar shop every day get it when they walk in and feel the good energy in the place. They sense it when they touch a belt or a necklace and put it on. They even sign the petition on my counter that is to help prevent a Walmart from coming to our beach town. They just get it.
I wish everyone could see the difference between the real deal and the ones who are just jumping on the green bandwagon.

(sigh)

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This was a really neat to find today. Green Girl wrote a little article about Betty Belts and me, the owner/designer:

GREEN GIRL LOVES:
Betty Belts
April 27 2008
by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff

There is nothing cooler than a woman who surfs. She’s always jetting off to exotic places like Mexico and Malibu, board-bag in hand, devil-may-care attitude in full effect, trailing the scent of wax and patchouli… Okay I may have gotten a little carried away there. The truth is, most women who surf seem to be like my friend A, who got on a board one day and just felt like she was home. Like the rest of us, she takes care of her life, kids, job—but she also gets up a five a.m. every so often to dive into freezing cold waves that pick her up, toss her around, and occasionally rub her nose in the sand. Sounds painful to me on all fronts, but still, I envy her. It takes so much courage to go out there in the dark! And she’s got this self-possession now, that probably comes from the fact that she got back up and rode that m-f-ing wave to the sand—she takes that with her all the way through her day.

So I imagine Donna von Hoesslin is a lot like my friend A, except instead of going to a desk job after surfing in the wee hours she shakes the salt out of her hair and ambles over to the Ventura, CA-based headquarters of Betty Belts, where she designs and imports hand made belts and jewelry featuring beadwork, sustainably farmed mother of pearl, recycled glass and wood bead designs. Here’s how…
(Read rest of article here and check out the Green Girl Guide Blog)

Betty B. Cuff made from Sustainable Sono wood.

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Please come visit our booth at Earth Day in Santa Barbara Sunday, April 20th!
As a sponsor of the Community Environmental Council, Betty Belts was invited to participate in this very special Earth Day Festival which is located in the beautiful Sunken Gardens behind the courthouse in downtown Santa Barbara. Donna and Allie will be there to greet you and sell Betty Belts and Betty B. Earth Friendly Style
There will be a selection of belts and jewelry made from recycled glass, coconut wood, palm wood and other sustainable materials. Everything is ethically made, no sweat shops, no bad vibes!

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Our Mary Osborne, pro surfer and sports personality, is the cover girl of the current issue of Ventura Life Magazine! Come meet Mary at the Betty Belts Booth at the Ultimate Boarder Block Party Friday Night. Meet Mary, Donna and more of the girls from the Betty Belts Surf Team!
Get your free copy of Ventura Life with Mary on the cover autographed!

Where: Downtown Ventura, 400 Block Main Street
When: Friday April 18th, 7-8 PM
Look for the Shiny Red Betty Bus!

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Here are some pictures from a fun little street shoot the Betty Belts Surf Team did here in downtown Ventura with photographer David Pu’u. Six Betty Belt Surf Team riders came together, got dolled up and struck poses. All the girls are wearing Betty B. jewelry and looking HOT!

Betty Belts Team Surfers Strike a Pose. Right to left Sierra Partridge, Jeanette Ortiz, Mary Osborne, Bo Stanley, Hailey Partridge. Mary (center, is wearing my Sula Lariat in pearl black as a necklace and matching Sula bracelet), photo copyright David Pu’u

Mary Osborne on the street with her fish. Photo copyright David Pu’u

Sierra Partridge, Mary Osborne and Hailey Partridge posing with some Navy dudes who decided to join our street shoot. Photo copyright David Pu’u.

Sierra looking like a rockstar in her zebra dress and the Jeanette recycled glass necklace along with my matching Jeanette bracelet and leather bangles in black and special edition white. Photo copyright David Pu’u

That’s me, Donna, in the front with my girls! I’m wearing the Chelsea Heart necklace. Photo copyright David pu’u

Jeanette is looking way too HOT. Don’t get burned!
Photo copyright David Pu’u

The Betty Belts Surf Team wants you! Hailey on the far right wearing the Adonia belt in black. Photo copyright David Pu’u

I love this shot of Mary and I walking down the street. Photo copyright David Pu’u.
Bo Stanley is looking sweet and stunning in Navy. She is wearing the Silver Ball Necklace and the Open Heart Cuff. My favorite red hoop earrings in my collection are named after Bo, the “Bo” earrings. Photo copyright David Pu’u

Mary’s friend Alex showed up and decided to play. That’s the Betty Bus behind them, my 1961 Chevy Corvair Greenbrier, lookin’ cherry! Photo copyright David Pu’u

It’s always so much fun getting everyone together for a shoot like this.

We’ve done others in the past year that I will try to post soon!

Smiles and Aloha,
Donna

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Another Benefit for one of my favorite nonprofits, SurfAid International.

This one sounds like a lot of fun and worth checking out Thursday, Feb. 21st from 5-8 pm.

Tantalum Restaurant and SurfAid International will celebrate the beauty of Bali at the Tantalum Bali Surf Sanctuary! Enjoy food, drinks, entertainment & an astounding auction including Betty Belts gift sets made in Bali, of course!

The Tantalum Bali Surf Sanctuary will feature a silent auction and select items will be highlighted as part of the first-ever mobile bidding process presented by 3Screens, a boutique mobile marketing agency based in San Diego. 3Screens’ founders have been in the forefront of several mobile innovations and have developed a mobile bidding silent auction application, a concept that has never been seen in the United States.

Find out more details here.

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This arrived in my mailbox on Valentine’s Day.

Sweet deals inside? Hmm, I see a piece of chocolate.
I LOVE chocolate.
Let’s open it and find out…

Hmm, nothing sweet in here.
I’m peeved.
A few free inspections to lure me in so they can tell me I need to have some work done on my vehicle. This is obviously targeted at women. Women love chocolate, right?
Designed to bait with a piece of chocolate then switch to feeding our fears with “better safe than sorry” offers. Where’s the offer for a free box of chocolate when you come in for an oil change?

And to add insult to injury…

Yes! There is something missing! I want the chocolate!

Marketing like this is beyond stupid.

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“If the guy down the row at work buys a Mac Air, it counts.”

I couldn’t help but be amused when I read this in Seth Godin’s blog today. Not because of the desirability of the Macbook Air, but because the picture I get in my mind of a guy sitting in a cubicle in a long row of them is so foreign to my own world.

It makes me realize how truly blessed I am to work for myself. Betty Belts is my own small (and creative) five year old business. I’m blessed because I still get to close up shop and go surfing if the conditions beckon me. I work hard and work long, but decide for myself when I’m going to work on my website, my designs, my marketing, my sales, decorating my retail store, or (yes) crunching numbers…

Here’s a toast to independent small business! As we say in the COOP America Green Business Network: Small is beautiful.

Wouldn’t it be nice is there was a tipping point of growth in independent businesses in which our society finally stopped supporting some of those corporate giants like Walmart and co. that are hurting us more than helping us in the long run?

For what it’s worth…

Smiles,

Donna
Owner
Betty Belts / Betty B.

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Giving, it’s the new getting at Sundance this year.

Sundance Film Festival started today and I am honored to have my company be a part of it.
No, we did not participate in one of those “gifting suites” where celebs go pick up free swag.
Betty Belts instead is a part if “The Giving Suite” .

Together with other eco-oriented businesses carefully chosen by event organizers Econscious Market and RE:VOLVE, Betty Belts will be displayed and sold at Sundance for a good cause. Celebrities can BUY the products in the Giving Suite and choose from several nonprofits to donate the proceeds to.
This will make for a lot of good press for conscious consumerism.

“For like Redford and his pals, the new green-eration is all about the independence—saying what you mean in your own way, free to do your best (or worst) to realize an artistic vision not beholden to backseat vulture capitalists. For, at the end of the day (and the Festival), the hype is fast-forgotten, and all that remains is the connections you’ve made, the inspiration you’ve taken in—and given back. It’s not about how much schwag we can grab—it’s about what we have to give.”
-Waylon Lewis, Elephant Journal

Let me know if you see any Sundance press that includes Betty Belts!

Smiles,
Donna

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