What is like to meet at the intersection of travel and eco-friendly design? Cindy Rangel, Founder and CEO of Ella Pocketbook, a child of immigrants and first generation Latina, takes us on a journey through how visiting Ecuador and meeting her extended family at a young age sparked her passion for travel, inspiring her to design an eco-friendly handbag that works well for women in terms of functionality and how they move in the world.
What is like to meet at the intersection of travel and eco-friendly design? Cindy Rangel, Founder and CEO of Ella Pocketbook, a child of immigrants and first generation Latina, takes us on a journey through how visiting Ecuador and meeting her extended family at a young age sparked her passion for travel, inspiring her to design an eco-friendly handbag that works well for women in terms of functionality and how they move in the world.
Timestamps:
[00:53] Meet Cindy Rangel
[01:40] The Process: Design and creation of a sustainable handbag inspired by the global woman, her story and trajectory
[03:44] Accelerator program and the cactus-based handbag design
[04:45] Daughter of immigrants – Family travel to the motherland
[06:40] How did travel influence the design of this handbag?
[11:24] How does your background include tour creativity?
[13:04] Visiting Machu Picchu: Witnessing sustainable travel and sustainable fashion
[15:51] The beauty of travel
[16:46] What’s next?
[18:30] Connect with Cindy
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Life is better when we live it at💯 !
Rosie - Life 100 Podcast 0:11
Welcome back to Life 100 Podcast. I am Rosie, and it's so great to share with you this bilingual space featuring insightful stories, remarkable guests, and everyday tips for life. A space in where we celebrate our diversity, our creativity, and all things that are possible when we live to the fullest, by living life at 100. Today's episode is a journey to the world of possibilities when passion and purpose meet at the intersection of sustainable travel and design. Our guest, Cindy Rangel, is a fashion designer, a passionate storyteller, a community organizer and the founder of Ella Pocketbook, in where her designs are brought into reality with our input in mind, giving us the opportunity of participating on the journey of creating a sustainable travel handbag for today's global woman. So Cindy, thank you for being with us today.
Cindy Rangel - Ella Pocketbook 1:23
Thank you, Rosie for having me. I'm so excited to be here and to share my story.
Rosie 1:29
Your journey is so inspiring. When I see your visual progress designing this sustainable fashion like you have done in Instagram, it takes us to the world of what it's like to create these meaningful designs with us in mind. So share your journey with us.
Cindy 1:49
Thanks, Rosie. I'm so privileged and honored to be on here. My name is Cindy Rangel and I am the CEO and founder of Ella Pocketbook, a sustainable travel handbag for today's global woman. And I love that you mentioned my Instagram and my process because Ella Pocketbook is all about the process. It is a sustainable travel accessory business for global women and women of color who travel extensively abroad and even locally by enhancing highly functional compartments with cactus fabric, and ethical labor standard. I'm really honored to share this process as you refer to because it has been such a journey. It's been long, but I respect this process. Part of how I created this was thinking in mind of that global woman, her story and her trajectory. And so when I thought of this company, I really thought of three pillars and those three pillars that encompass the travel bag, health and wellness, self love and beauty, and the one that's in development stages is the fashion tech pillar. It's been such an amazing journey to come to this point as we are ready to go to production, which means we are ready to make a bag for people interested in this.
Rosie 3:13
When I go to your Instagram, I see the thoughtful process of bringing forward something that we benefit, with us in mind, with the things that benefit us. And not only us, but it's good for the environment. I learned that on your creation, on your developing from the beginning, you were part of an accelerator program back in 2016. How this influenced your design for this pocketbook for us?
Cindy 3:44
Well, that program allowed me to gather more information about how to position myself as a storyteller, and really capturing the process from the beginning stages of fabric sourcing because it wasn't a cactus fabric. And to elaborate a little bit further, cactus fabric is from the actual cactus plant in Mexico. So I'm working with partners who have manufactured fabric from the cactus plant. And so it didn't begin with cactus fabric in mind. It started with cork, but then it moved to a canvas fabric, and now I'm in the cactus fabric phase. It has its stages, I started developing that part and really gathering knowledge on how to position myself as a storyteller, and as this person on this travel blog creating this one crossbody bag. And at the end of the day, it really took me back to where it all started. And that was with myself in my family and my parents as immigrants. Just to kind of give you a little bit of background, I'm the daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants who came to Chicago. My mom was 17 when she arrived to Chicago looking for more opportunities. And so she was the true traveler and the person that really introduced me and provided the foundation and opportunity in travel. And most of my experiences were in my early childhood. And before I turned 18, I had the privilege of having parents who were avid travelers and eager to show me their motherland, I was able to travel to Ecuador, and Quito, and meet my extended family on both sides of my parents. That was a privilege and adventure in it of itself, and it laid that foundation of my passion in travel, how I saw the world and how I saw myself in that world moving, I just knew this product was going to be a travel product for women, more than anything, it really began there. And there are so many stories, I don't even know where to begin.
Rosie 5:57
I know. I share that with you, because travel is one of my passions. My mother, I remember since I was I think nine years old, she took me with her in her travels, in her journey. She was a school teacher, so in the summer she will go to different countries, to different continents, and I was lucky enough I would go with her. And that was something that is so normal to me, is part of me, it's an extension of my expression as a human being. And I love and respect the experiences and the beauty about what you do, what you just said. And what I have learned from traveling is that we can start where we are with the resources that we have. Start very simple, and then ideas will come and you can make it possible. So based on this travel experience that you have Cindy, how travel influenced the design of this handbag for today's global woman?
Cindy 6:53
Well, I really thought of my story. But then in the end, when I was doing my research, I really turned to women that have always been traveling like your mother, yourself, women that showed that their history was indrenched in travel and encompass the courage, the adventure, the love of travel. And so I turned to them in their focus groups, if you will, and really started asking them what they needed, what were their ideal bags. And from there, I collected my research, and I knew that women needed to move freely. And that's part of my mission and in with functionality in travel, so they can accomplish their personal and professional travel endeavors. And so that's my intention and purpose is to really provide and launch with one crossbody travel bag that it's good for the environment, and really good for the people. And so I started doing these live Instagram stories, and it's now turning into its own community. Also, thinking about that 80% of the global garment workforce are women of color. So really creating a win-win product.
Rosie 8:10
Absolutely. I have seen your Instagram Live episodes, and I love them. I love them because I learned so much. Just when you think that you have a very good understanding, you learn even more. And the guests that you bring to your Instagram Live, they are so knowledgeable as well, and they bring so much information, things that we didn't even imagine sometimes, and give us ideas to all the places that we can go, the experiences, is a beautiful partnership, the same way that you are creating this. It is a beautiful partnership for our global community because the world is open for us. We just need to go and take action and enjoy it. Correct?
Cindy 8:51
Correct Rosie and I can't agree with you more when you say, you start where you are, no matter what. And that's the kind of lesson my mom showed me. She was a mother of four daughters and she took us to Ecuador. She was the true traveler and the adventure, and she did it and the bravery and the courage honing in on where you could be knowing what you have, and leveraging that knowledge is critical because we all come with a story. We all come with our ability to do things and initiate things and really move forward in what we want to do. So we begin with that one step, we travel to connect with one another. And we travel to get kind of a rejuvenation for oneself, but at the end of the day, we really love connecting with others. We can never forget that we are natural storytellers. But we also can learn from others and learn from their stories. And so I really wanted to bring this product to ease and to facilitate women who are already moving in these spaces, create that community of safe spaces to be seen, to be heard, and then to move forward into what we really want to do. Because there's nothing like seeing someone that looks like you. And watching them accomplish that, that modeling is really paramount. And so I wanted to see more of that-- one of my reasons of bringing this community together, because there's nothing like bringing what you're doing on your podcast, what other women are doing with food and travel, what other women are doing with the phenomenal travel stories, I really wanted to highlight that and bring that forward, because I believe we've always been part of the travel narrative.
Rosie 10:45
And you are doing it in such a significant way, because even when you are in the process of design and creativity that is so important, you are taking us into consideration when you ask us, what do you think about this, and about that in your Instagram. So by the time that all these come to completion, we are part of the story, and we are so eager to share. So I just thank you for giving us the opportunity to contribute to these beautiful designs that benefit us and many others along the way, now and in the years to come. How your background influenced this creativity that you have thinking about a concept and making it happen?
Cindy 11:34
I have influence from my family, my travel trajectory, but I also had women like my aunts who were very passionate about creating things with their hands. My aunt, my mom's oldest sister was a huge knitter, and she loved making things with her hands. And when I traveled to Ecuador, the first thing that she did with me was go to the fabric store and make me a skirt. I will never forget that.
Rosie 12:04
Yes, I can imagine how exciting that was.
Cindy 12:08
It was a small token of her natural abilities of creation. And just a welcome embrace of this is your motherland, and let me create something for you with my natural abilities that really impressed upon me on how we as women are creative. And so that intersection, if you will, of sustainable fashion and creating your own things from your own hands. And then this travel component really merged and I really felt literally at home. I felt at home, and I felt this calling that I can create something that works well for women in terms of their functionality and how they move in the world.
Rosie 12:50
Talking about that, we have so much in common. Our experiences in travel, you're an avid traveler, and one of the favorite places that you mentioned you have, is visiting Machu Picchu. How was that experience for you? Tell us all about it.
Cindy 13:06
That was one of my formidable amazing opportunities. I think it was one summer, or one winter, I was nine years old. I love telling this story because I had the opportunity to go with my three sisters. I'm one of four and so I have an older sister, a twin and a youngest sister, and my parents decided that Cusco and Machu Picchu was going to be the wonder that we experienced as a family. I was so taken aback by this because it really brought me front and center to the sustainable travel intersection and the sustainable fashion. I was amazed. We landed in Cusco and we took the train…
Rosie 13:48
The train, that's one of my favorite memories, the train!
Cindy 13:52
I think the biggest impression I had was when the Indigenous women were selling their hand knit alpaca sweaters. And the downtown was just bustling. This downtown commerce of --- their creation and me as a young child in this bustling travel mecca of culture, I was floored with the opportunity, I was floored with the culture and the women. The indigenous women that had what they had, and went after what they needed, what they wanted for their family. And my dad was leading us through this bustling downtown and here I am thinking, wow, this is where I feel the most like myself. And I was like the identity of who I was, and my ancestors and this freedom of travel. Whoa, I can do anything right now.
Rosie 14:56
Anything. The possibilities; and it made such a great impact because you were nine years old around that time, and I was nine years old when my mother took me to my first trip, and it just leaves such a memorable impression. And it helps define the person, how you approach life, how you connect with others, because the more we travel, the better we become in understanding, connecting with the world and bring perspective that perhaps we didn't have before. And that's your community, what it does is showing the possibilities, what is available, what is there for you to enjoy, to take, to grow, to share with others. And let them know that yes, it is possible, you can even start small and then expand, but start. Start to travel because you never know what places you will go. Right?
Cindy 15:51
Yes, the beauty of travel is the gift that keeps on giving. It's such a transformative process, it gives you more of personal growth. There are so many takeaways, that when even if you're traveling local, it's this mindful process where you can go anywhere and be there in that moment, and then come back and be completely different. Completely transformed.
Rosie 16:19
Completely transformed. Yes. People say, “Oh, Rosie, you get so excited,” because you just have to experience it. You can read about it, you can watch it on TV, on the big screen. But in my opinion, there is nothing like being there at the moment. This has been a beautiful journey. So what is next for you, Cindy? I know, congratulations on your TV segment. I am so excited. I can't wait to see it. What is next for you?
Cindy 16:52
I think that when you set intentions, and you really come to a space of creativity and purpose, things start opening really quickly. And I'm thankful that I'm on this podcast with you, Rosie, because I can share my story about moving in the world. We are meant to move in the world, we're not meant to stay in one place. Right now there's lots of behind the scenes, I'm going to have a TV segment in New York. Also, I'm going to apply to be part of this incubator, where they're going to guide me in terms of my financials and a mentor, and I'm ready, I'm going to show up and do my best.
Rosie 17:34
That's what happens when passion meets purpose, and it meets opportunity. And that's what I tell people-- just take your passion, take that purpose, and take the opportunities because when the opportunity comes like somebody told me the other day, when an opportunity comes your way, it means that you are ready, even if you believe you are not. And I remember that. And I said that is so true, because the opportunities that are presented to me today, it didn't present five years ago because I wasn't ready for it. And now even if you might think, Am I ready? Yes, you are, you are ready for this. And that's why it came your way. So I am so thankful and honored that I was able to spend this time with you. And what's next? Where can we get in touch with you?
Cindy 18:26
I am at www.EllaPocketbook.com, and I am at Instagram @ellapocketbook. Also @womenofcolourintravel. And this is the message I want to share with your audience. Trust the process where you're going, no matter where you are, sit in the process. I know it's going to sound very cliche, but trusting that process is almost like trusting yourself and knowing that you are going to do what's best for yourself. Right now, like you said, in the moment, for what you can do and to prepare yourself for the next moment, because then when you come with purpose, and the opportunity's began, you know that you that your intentions, and this is where you're meant to be.
Rosie 19:17
This is where you meant to be. What a beautiful way to conclude this episode. I am looking forward to learn more about what you're doing, the process, go into your Instagram and travel with you in this beautiful journey that you have set for us to participate. Thank you so much, Cindy, for being with us. And I can't wait for you to come back and tell us more about your journey. Thanks again.
Cindy 19:45
Gracias Rosie. Un placer. Thank you. Such a pleasure.
Rosie 19:50
What a great insight and information Cindy shared with us. She is a visionary who embraces opportunity and inspire us to travel the world. So until next time, thanks for listening, and like, comment, subscribe on your favorite listening platform. Leave a review, and you can even invite us to a cup of coffee. Just follow the link on the website, www.Life100Today.com, or on our Instagram bio @life100podcast. Hasta pronto, and like I always say…Life is better when we live it at 100!
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