TWICE Giving Back

Downtown Others Shop Creates a Community of Giving

Words by Amanda Peterson

WHEN AUSTIN AND LAURA MORRIS, FARGO, BEGAN PLANNING FOR THEIR FUTURE FAMILY, THEY TOOK AN UNCOMMON

TURN . Instead of just buying a home and stocking up on parenting books, they traveled internationally. They met with leaders of established nonprofits, asked questions and dug for information. The young couple listened to the needs of people in struggling communities.

With visions of starting their own humanitarian nonprofit, they sought ways they could make helping others the very heart of their family. Even before they had their first child, they wanted to create a legacy of giving back.

Three years later, their dreams came together in ways they couldn’t have envisioned. In November 2014 - just a few months after the birth of their daughter, Camilla – the couple opened Others in downtown Fargo. This unique boutique features handcrafted products created by sustainable, fair-wage companies and nonprofits from around the globe. Each product gives a portion of its proceeds to a group of people in need. In addition, the shop donates its own proceeds to humanitarian organizations. Essentially, every item you buy – from a beautiful blouse to delicious coffee – gives back twice.

“We found many organizations dedicated to helping lift people out of poverty,” said Laura, 27, a pharmacist at Dakota Clinic Pharmacy, Fargo. “We realized we could help connect those organizations with people in the United States. We could build community around helping people in need.”

The Morrises were especially inspired by the work of the iF Foundation and Partners in Health in Haiti. The organizations’ emphases on community-wide education, fair jobs and healthcare aligned perfectly with their own values. As they discussed how they could start their own similarly focused organization, they realized they could help more by funding already established groups.

Later, when Laura took a trip with friends to Nashville and stumbled across a store that donated 10 percent of its profits, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together. By creating a store, she and Austin could use the proceeds to help nonprofits like iF. They could sell products from those organizations and spread awareness of their causes. They could also generate money through sales instead of needing to ask people for donations.

“It was three years of connecting the dots,” Laura said. “We read books, talked, traveled and tried to fit it all together.”

Fit together, it did .

Today, Others (18 8th St. S., Fargo) features products from more than 100 organizations. Shoppers can pick up a hand-signed men’s shirt from Krochet Kids, dresses from Raven + Lily, kitchen glassware from Usful Glassworks, greeting cards from Good Paper, candles from Orchard Farm and home goods from Nkuku. A quick glance at the product labels lets you know how each tie, baby hat, bar of chocolate or necklace helps free a family from poverty, provide a job for a person with a disability or benefit a community in another way. Local artists can consign their products at the shop with the promise to donate at least 20 percent of their proceeds to a good cause.

“They are very cool products that you would want to buy anyway,” said Others volunteer and frequent shopper Anne Johnson, Fargo. “I love that Others gives back by helping nonprofits and that each product in the store gives back.”

Johnson is one of several volunteers who help organize community events at the shop – another step in building a community of giving. Each month, Others hosts a workshop led by a community member. Recent workshops included mindfulness and yoga, coffee pouring, social media photography, and even a Noonday jewelry trunk show. The volunteers also plan kids' workshops, such as a recent one focused on giving and helping others.

The store is growing community in other ways too. A small community space with fresh-brewed coffee is open for people needing a quiet place to read or work on a small project. Monthly Local Give Back Days donate all of that day’s proceeds to a local nonprofit, such as Dakota Medical Foundation’s Lend a Hand program and African Soul American Heart. The store employees are also each given a small, free studio or of- fice space in the back of the store for their own creative pursuits. Erica Frank of Fargo, who recently joined the team as a retail buyer and artist, uses her studio space for her own artwork but also creates eco-friendly monthly window displays for the store.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Frank said. “I can work part-time on art concepts and buying for the store and spend the rest of my time in the studio.”

Frank was impressed with Others the first time she shopped in the store and its mission eventually drew her away from her corporate job.

“This store is so in line with my values it was hard to say no. It was meant to be,” she said. “Others is so important because it’s creating change and getting the community involved.”

That’s exactly what the Morrises had in mind.

“You can make a difference through little steps,” Laura said. “It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. The little things add up, especially across a whole community.”

For more information about Others, stop by the shop at 18 8th St. S., Fargo , or contact Laura Morris at laura@othersshop.com. You can follow along online at www.facebook.com/othersshop or www.instagram.com/othersshopfargo

[AWM]

Annual Proceeds to Benefit the iF Foundation

At the end of 2015, Others will make its first annual proceeds donation. This year’s goal is $15,000 for the iF Foundation’s Breakfast Program. The gift will provide daily breakfast for a year to the 180 students at Ebenezer School in Bordes, Haiti.

For more information about the iF Foundation, visit www.if-foundation.org.

One

Words by Alicia Underlee Nelson

AMY AND

AVERY NUBSON SPEND THE MAJORITY OF THEIR DAYS TOGETHER, BOTH AT HOME AND AT THE OFFICE.

And that togetherness is helping the couple’s design business thrive and bringing new books to children throughout the region.

The Moorhead couple runs two area businesses as a team. The first, Nubson Design, is a boutique design studio they founded in 2004. The pair spends hours side by side in their small and colorful West Fargo office as they create and implement new websites, promotional materials, logos and marketing campaigns for clients.

When the Nubsons aren’t working on design projects, they’re discovering new authors and promoting children’s books for their boutique self-publishing company, Over the Moon Books. Avery himself has written, illustrated and self-published three titles through

Over The Moon Books, including his newest work “Explorasaurus ABCs,” a colorful and informative dinosaur ABC book that appeals to a wide range of young readers. And both Amy and Avery work with other authors to help them self publish and promote their books through Over The Moon Books as well.

Constant contact isn’t a traditional business strategy, but it’s worked well for the Nubsons. “I know a lot of people ask, ‘How do you do it?’” said Amy. “I always answer, ‘It’s not hard and I wouldn’t do it any other way. We are a team.’ We have been very fortunate to work so well together that a lot of times we say it would be harder to work apart. We complement each other in all aspects of our businesses.”

Amy is the strategist, developing marketing plans, creating websites and cohesive designs for clients, and networking with potential authors, customers and the local business community. Avery spends most of his energy on the creative side of their businesses, focusing on his own design work and writing, illustrating and promoting his books.

Avery wants all of his books to be like the stories he devoured as a kid – fun, colorful and educational, with themes and images that readers can keep coming back to as they age. He’s a frequent speaker at schools and children’s events and takes his young fans’ opinions to heart.

“I hear stories from parents, aunts and uncles about how they read my books to their kids at bedtime, day after day,” he said. “It’s humbling to have that kind of influence with a kid.”

This passion for quality children’s literature is just another bond that brings this creative couple closer together. “Our goal is to create books with value,” said Amy. “Every child deserves to learn in an entertaining way.”

“I know that if I can just make one kid laugh, smile or frown from my work, I did my job as an author and illustrator,” said Avery. And what if they happen to learn something? This idea always makes him smile. “Even better.” [AWM]