Artisans

Every Chick Boss Glass Lei Necklace is handmade by one of our skilled jewelry artisans in Guatemala. Here at Chick Boss we believe that creators and consumers should be connected. In a world where items are increasingly made by cheap nameless labor overseas, we seek to establish a higher standard, both in our business practices and in the relationship between creator and consumer.

To this end, every piece of Chick Boss Jewelry comes tied with a colored bow that marks which particular artisan made it. To learn about your jewelry artisan just find their bow below.

Rubia Magali Quischan — ”Totopostes are always fried. After many years I’ve learned how to drop in the dough to avoid the beads of spitting hot oil but if you look carefully you can still see scars.

I used to make over 500 totopostes a day. I would get up before dawn and without taking a break, work well into the evening. Even with such long hours and working for years without a day off, I barely made enough to support my five children.

Chick Boss has been a greater blessing than I could have ever imagined. I now spend evenings and weekends with my children and when I look at my littlest, Glendy, who is three, I feel such hope that I will be able to give her a better life.”

 Silvia Lucrecia Quetzal Tzul — ”To me, the most beautiful sight in the world is my family gathered around the table sharing a meal. Maybe it is because we so rarely have the food for a proper meal, or perhaps it is because my husband is rarely home from work, but when it does happen I feel greatly contented.

My Husband, Ramiro, works in the cornfields and he leaves us for weeks or even months at a time. When he is gone it can be hard. We miss him and often I find that the money he leaves us runs out before he returns.

God willing, now that I have this wonderful job with Chick Boss, he will be able to spend more time here at home. Every evening we will gather around the table and share a big meal. Maybe I can even cook meat.”

Ana Sofia Acosta Panti — ”Although I rarely have had the time to watch, I very much enjoy the telenovela Los Victorinos. It’s a story about four men named Victorino who, at their birth, are prophesied to share a fate. The story is filled with love, and action, and intrigue, everything that makes for a great telenovela but what I really like about it is the idea that life is governed by God’s plan.

It reminds me that hard times in my life weren’t for nothing and that this wonderful new job with Chick Boss was meant to be. So each necklace I make I count as a blessing. I hope they bring beauty to the people who wear them.”

Edita Amanda Tzul de Galvez — ”San Andres is small. I know everyone and they all know me. It is nice because people support one another. We are like a big family. When you are going through hard times people will help you out. When you are going through good times you give back. It is the way we get by and also what we believe in.

Chick Boss is a perfect example of this. Most of us that have joined Chick Boss learned about the job through word of mouth. My own introduction came through my mother in law, Aurora. She knew I was looking for work and told me the moment she found out. Of course, this work will help me and my family but it will also help other people in my community because I can pass on some of my good fortune.”

Dolores Maas Maas — ”My feet know every crack, stone, and curve in the streets of San Andres. For years I walked them selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Probably, if you look there is even a path worn into the ground from me. Ha, ha, ha.

It is a small town so I went around and around many times every day. I used to wonder if this would be my whole life, just walking endlessly in circles. I am so happy to have found a job as a jewelry artisan with Chick Boss. It gives me many times the money that I used to earn selling produce and best of all, I can sit down all day.”

 

Severa Filomena Franco Acosta — ”The most exciting part of working for Chick Boss has been to glimpse the world outside of San Andres through Pat (Pannell). The best things about San Andres are also the worst. It is small, sleepy, and quiet. Nothing ever changes. Pat has inspired me to make a difference, first in my own life and then here, for the people of my hometown.

I now plan to save enough money to go study at University and learn to be a lawyer. This way I can defend the people in my community when they are unfairly treated. I have big dreams but I am sure I will come back to the place I love the most, little San Andres.”

 

Candida Teresa Acosta — ”Life has a way of wearing you down. Like masa ground in a metate. I shouldn’t complain though, I have been very fortunate. Three years ago I had surgery and the doctors were worried about me. They were worried that I would have to go back to twelve hour work days and days filled with walking, but here I am working for chick Boss, and things are good.

I can work from the comfort of my home, the hours aren’t long, and best of all I can afford my medicines. I feel good and pray that Chick Boss succeeds so that more people in my community can have this opportunity.”

Cleotilde Olivia Munoz — ”When you are always worried about money …when you must live day-to-day, meal-to-meal, you miss many wonders in life. There are big things, like spending time with your family but there are also small things like laughing.

Since I took this job with Chick Boss the house has been filled with the sound of laughing. My children, they are light hearted, and I have noticed that even when they do their chores, they play and joke. I sometimes turn down the radio just so I can hear them. There is no better sound for a mother to hear.”