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Our story
I founded my company Oy Sophie-International Ab in 1994. Sophie means wise woman, and I want with the name to emphasize
the importance of women in the business world. Before starting my own business, I had a long career in international marketing. As an entrepreneur I continued as a consultant.
Being a biologist by education, I had a big dream of one day exploring the Galapagos Islands and the unique
nature of the Amazon jungle. I finally got the chance when I made my first trip to Ecuador in 2009.
Ecuador, as its name suggests, is located on the equator and turned out to be a very fascinating country in terms of culture and geography. The central highlands are intersected by the Andes Mountains, which divide the country into a coastal region and the Amazon jungle. The diversity of the country's animals, plants and cultures stole my heart. Speaking Spanish, I was able to communicate with the indigenous population, made up of Inca descendants and mestizos. I could not help but notice the injustice of the indigenous people, who seemed to have no documented rights to the land that was once promised to them, but was instead sold off by the state to the Chinese, for example, for oil exploration and agriculture.
Since then, there have been many more long trips to Ecuador.
In Ecuador, ecotourism is a very fast-growing industry, but the poor indigenous population does not have the resources to invest in it. They make their living by selling tourists their traditional handicraft products, which they make either by hand or in their small primitive factories.
The idea came to me: could I directly support small indigenous businesses with my marketing experience? That would be the best development aid.
I thought that many traditional indigenous products, with a little modernisation, could also be very suitable for Western consumers. I started the development process with products made from alpaca wool.
The project was not easy. Neither small businesses nor people had bank accounts. The colours and quality of the products were completely different from the European taste. We just had to trust that together we would succeed, and here we are.
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