Ethical Yarn Community Becomes a Co-op: Looking for a Third Director

As we draft our articles of incorporation and our bylaws, it has become clear that we need a third person to join our ever-increasing band of fiber processing nerds.

In our ad asking for a director, we ask candidates to answer the following questions:

·        Why does this role sound interesting to you?

·        What’s your experience with meeting deadlines?

·        Do you have nonprofit, co-op, or marketing experience?

·        Do you have pets? If so, what is your philosophy about caring for them?

·        What types of eco-friendly/sustainability-minded changes or organizations do you support?

We want our candidates to get to know us better as well so they know the kind of people they will be collaborating with, so Andra and Paige answered the questions as well.

See below.

Why does this role sound interesting to you?

Andra:

I started crocheting during 2020 as a way to get back in touch with my roots and my magic. Both my western and eastern European lineages have strong backgrounds in fiber arts, and my mother crocheted me a blanket when I was young that I still treasure.

After I started, I was going through so much yarn that I stopped to ask myself where it all came from. Turns out, acrylic yarn is made with fossil fuels and is often imported from other countries, which makes the environmental impact very high.

As a result, I started trying to make my own yarn, and the whole operation has taken off. Now, I want to make yarn-making and fiber processing a more accessible hobby for anyone interested.

Paige:

Co-op is a structure that is a huge draw—less hierarchical and less focused on profit above all else. The timing is a draw as well—there is a foundation to build off and guiding mission. To get to join this early and help shape the direction and areas we branch into excites me. 

What’s your experience with meeting deadlines?

Paige:

Lots in my professional life working a 9-5 office job. For my personal life, I take on commitments carefully, and having clear expectations for tasks and response time are details that help me prioritize and manage my time. 

Andra:

I’ve always worked in very fast-paced environments, from class-action lawsuit firms to plasma donation centers. Honestly, it’s been an effort to slow down and drop out of the capitalist mindset that everything needs to happen on a timeline. Fiber happens on its own schedule, and it’s been crucial to listen to that call. That said, give me a strict deadline, and I’m your person.

Do you have nonprofit, co-op, or marketing experience?

Andra:

After years in marketing writing and editing as well as several somewhat successful but unfulfilling attempts at running my own businesses, I decided to co-found a nonprofit with a good friend of mine, First Matter Press, which seeks to publish new authors and authors doing genre-breaking work. Due to shifts in the directionality of the organization, I decided to leave, but I am good terms with everyone there and very much support their endeavor.

This is my first time in a co-op environment, but it feels like the best middle ground between the pitfalls of nonprofit work and the predatory nature of capitalistic business models.

Paige:

No formal experience with any. The past year, I have started to volunteer at least once a season with orgs I love such as the ReBuilding Center or via finding one-day events through HandsOnGreaterPortland. Marketing-wise, I unofficially learned the ropes while running a print-on-demand Bernie Sanders t-shirt business with my best friend and will soon have more skills since I recently started a marketing role at a technology company.

Do you have pets? If so, what is your philosophy about caring for them?

Paige:

Yes! I currently have one cat named Norman. He's a loooong sleek black cat adopted from CAT in town. My philosophy is that pets are not lesser beings than humans and are deserving of dignity and the best life possible. While they do not speak human languages such as English, animals communicate in many other ways, and I find an observant eye and building a trusting relationship are key to "listening" better.

Andra:

I currently have two Satin/German angora rabbits. They have a huge bunny barn/mansion and lots of outdoor space in addition to their indoor space. I do everything I can to keep them happy, stimulated, and healthy. I collect wool from them as collaborators and agents of their own destiny. An animal treated like they are intelligent will in turn reflect intelligence.

What types of eco-friendly/sustainability-minded changes or organizations do you support?

Andra:

I currently work at SCRAP, a creative reuse nonprofit, as the donation department liaison. I also do everything I can to make sure that the mill we are creating is sustainable in terms of diversity, land use, energy use, water use, animal rights, and human labor. Many of those shifts have come into my personal life such that it’s rare that our household wastes anything. I am also getting involved with Extinction Rebellion, and the mill regularly donates to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde.

Paige:

Ultimately animals are not the cause of climate change, and I do feel a responsibility as a human to help wildlife where I can with my resources. Right now, I do not have capacity to foster animals but have been keeping an eye on the AQI and offering the wildlife in my neighborhood fresh water and shelled peanuts.