Entrepreneur Ellen Dorsch - A Most Creative Woman

By Roberta Nubile

Some people start to dream about early retirement when they turn 60. Not so Ellen Dorsch, founder and owner of Creative Women, a Vermont importer of elegant hand-woven home goods and fine clothing accessories from Ethiopia and Swaziland. When she turned 60, Dorsch decided she would switch careers as a non-profit consultant in the public health sector to realize her dream of owning a business, particularly one that added to the world in a positive way. She just didn't know which business.

The idea for Creative Women was born during her travels to Ethiopia as part of her consulting business. She observed that many women were economically disadvantaged. She also noticed many beautiful embroidered goods in need of a more global market. The idea of importing these under marketed textiles to the rest of the world began to emerge.

She met Menbere Alemayehu, who owned an established dressmaking business called Menby's Designs, and eventually partnered with her to help build employment opportunities for Ethiopian women.

Menbere, who was educated in the U.S., recognized the opportunity through Dorsch to export her designs, which include hand-woven pillows, wall hangings, table runners, mats, shawls, scarves and handbags, made of cotton and rayon, with traditional tibeb, an intricate hand-woven border.

"I didn't know how to run a business, but I knew I wanted to work in the private sector," says Dorsch, who saw in the work a way to help stabilize a fragile Ethiopian economy. "I consciously didn't want to do charity work - this was about creating a good business and paying fair wages to the workers." Five years later, her business sells products in over 150 museum shops, stores and catalogs throughout the U.S. and Canada. Dorsch has learned about how to run a business from mentors and a course or two, but mostly from mistakes and experience.

"I recall instantly answering 'yes' to a customer who asked for 'net 30' - the customer is always right you know - and learned later that meant he could buy now and pay later. You don't do that with a non-established customer! Luckily, it turned out all right," smiles Dorsch.

"There were some transferable skills in going from working in non-profits to running a business - I can write a budget - but thinking as a business person is a new area for me. I am responsible for the bottom line - if a product doesn't sell well - it's my responsibility." Dorsch is not totally alone running the company - her husband, Bill, offers his help in their offices in Winooski and Grand Isle, and has found his niche in customer service. She also has a part-time employee and hires freelance graphic designers and other consultants as needed.

There are economic benefits, recognition and awards that define a successful business - all of which Creative Women boasts. Then there are the stories of how steady work has tangibly improved the lives of several women. Dorsch describes witnessing the transformation of an untrained worker at Menby's Design from cleaning and sweeping the daily litter of threads on the floor to becoming a skilled seamstress, with enough company security to be welcomed back after several miscarriages - a benefit not often seen in developing countries. Another was able to afford false teeth after years of hiding a toothless smile. It is stories like these by which Dorsch measures her success.

Dorsch also partners with Kathy Marshall of Sabahar, a small silk production and weaving business that trains and employs women weavers, sewers, and dyers. Marshall, a Canadian, previously worked in development through Oxfam Canada before starting her company and according to Dorsch, became convinced that "real change doesn't happen through development, but through creating jobs through business." Dorsch was drawn to this company because "while they could easily import commercially spun silk, there are 65 women spinning silk and raising cocoons - it is more than a production company."

Dorsch has much praise for Marshall, who makes a concerted effort to provide training and work to young unemployable women when she can. There is a deaf woman who works for Sabahar, which is unusual, as historically the physically disabled in Ethiopia are often unemployed.

Marshall also works with women at a local fistula hospital in Addis Ababa. This hospital treats women with unrepaired perineal tears from childbirth (an all-too common condition that results in urinary and fecal incontinence), where Marshall teaches them to spin, as many have spent years being marginalized and lost marketable skills. Marshall also trains men in a local prison to weave (men are the traditional weavers in Ethiopia), so they can send money home to their families.

Further south in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland, Dorsch imports products from Coral Stephens, a three-generation family-owned business that weaves mohair, raffia and other raw materials into home goods and personal accessories. In Swaziland, the weavers are women. Coral Stephens employs about 60 women and offers housing and daycare for workers, and periodic free anonymous HIV testing, as Swaziland has the world's highest rate of HIV infection. Dorsch met Murrae Stephens, the granddaughter of Coral, at a trade show in San Francisco.

Dorsch recounts a story of a woman who works at Coral Stephens, a dyer who is in her 80s. Several years ago, a woman who worked as a cook lived across the street from the businesses' founder Coral Stephens, and one day remarked on Coral's use of a Swedish loom for weaving. As a girl, the woman had lived in a Swedish missionary and learned to use those particular looms; Coral asked her if could weave, she said yes, and then if she could dye. She has been with the company ever since.

Dorsch describes her business philosophy as "respectful relationships". She values the direct trade approach and the stories and friendships she has gathered along the way. She has seen the working conditions for the companies she exports from and finds them all favorable.

Dorsch recognizes the need to expand her market, and to take a hard look at her product lines and how they are selling. She recognizes that these textiles sell to a limited taste - they are elegant and understated, and appeal to those who appreciate fine weaving and natural fibers. Professionally, Dorsch would like to take more time now to meet more people in business. "Ninety-five percent of my friends are from the non-profit part of my life - I want to know more people doing what I am doing," she says.

Dorsch is amazed at how much she loves running a business. "I was not raised to be to be a businesswoman, my brothers were groomed for that. I was raised to be a giver, and to do good, and I especially didn't know how to make that into a successful, sustainable, business," she says. "A prison worker in Addis Ababa who met Dorsch confirmed that she is right on track, by telling her amasagnalahu, which is thank you, in Amharic.

For more information, visit www.creativewomen.net.

Roberta Nubile is a freelance writer living in Shelburne.