Imagine their surprise when a mystery package arrived from China . . . filled with several hundred medical-grade face masks! But before we get to the end, let’s first go back to the beginning.
In 2018, Cocktail Sneakers was launched by Susan Hassett with the mission to create a sneaker line that could transition from casual to dressy and redefine sneaker culture for women. Their all-female team operates from the East Coast, and the sneakers are made in a female-owned and run factory in China (which is not the norm).
When their founder set out to find a factory that could produce Cocktail Sneakers, she was referred to a small factory in China that is owned and run by a team of women, and whose employees are all women. As a woman in the male-dominated sneaker business, this factory was the place where she felt most comfortable and which aligned most with Cocktail Sneakers’ mission and values. “As a woman in business, I wanted to also support other women in business who were trying to create opportunities for women. We may be in different countries with different cultures, but our goals were aligned: female empowerment,” says Hassett.
The mystery package from China was sent by none other than our friends at the factory! So, what did we do with those masks? We called Rosie’s Place women’s shelter to see if they might have a use for them, and it just so happened that they were down to their last three masks and were in desperate need of more.
“Women have always relied on compassion and kindness from our female social networks. In times of abundance or scarcity, our ability to give and receive is vital to our families, our communities, and our world,” continues Hassett. “We may speak different languages, but there is one human language. In these times, the best of humanity rises to serve.”
