For Belmont junior Sophie Lasher, change starts with a few stickers and a drive to make a difference.
Stick Together, her online business three years in the making, raises money for charity by selling handcrafted, eco-friendly products and donating 15% of the proceeds.
Today Lasher is making more of a difference than ever, growing her product line and working to make her business “as philanthropic as possible,” she said.
Though the official Stick Together store launched Dec. 1, 2020, it began as a passion project back in 2018 when Lasher began selling handmade stickers and donating all of her proceeds to Planned Parenthood.
“I’ve always had an internal need to help people,” Lasher said. “I ended up sending those stickers all across the country and making over $1,000 to donate, and that felt like what I was supposed to do.”
Fast-forward to November 2020, Lasher was looking for a job when her dad presented her with another option: “I dare you to make your stickers into a whole business.”
So she took the bet and jumped right in.
“This was all a bit of an impulsive decision,” she said. “I had no idea how to do any of it.”
Despite the learning curve, she stuck with the project, motivated by her dream of running a nonprofit and her desire to help others make a difference along with her.
And her hard work has paid off. The Stick Together shop now stocks more than just stickers, with Lasher’s designs featured on sustainably-made T-shirts, tote bags, and art prints.
Lasher has also created an opportunity for customers to feel more involved in the company mission by allowing her social media followers to choose the charities that are supported through their purchase.
The charities change every season based on a voting bracket she sets up on her company’s Instagram page: @sticktogetherstore.
This season, her customers have selected Planned Parenthood as the charity of choice.
“I let my followers choose where we’re donating because I want it to mean something to other people too,” she said. “The more the business takes off and grows, I want to donate more and more.”
Looking forward, Lasher seeks to do even more for charity and the environment.
“As the business grows I want it to become more philanthropic and more sustainable,” Lasher said. “What can I do? Not much, but I can make these products that I am going to sell out of completely organic materials that come out of the Earth and go back to the Earth without hurting anybody or anything in between.”
In the end, Lasher is happy to see that she is making a difference.
“This is not about me. This is about the people and the Earth.”
—
This article written by Alyssa Sotiros.
Comments