We were lucky to catch up with Fabiola Lara recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Fabiola thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

When my husband (and co-founder) Sabith and I dreamt up tlali•pani, we knew that it would be a socially-driven business, also known as a social enterprise. We were on a mission to share our vision of a lifestyle that is conscious, beautiful, (and delicious) rooted in respect for others, the environment and a commitment to economic empowerment, specifically women.

Sabith and I are both educators, published authors and researchers so understood at a deeper level the lack of marketing opportunities, gaps in access to the global market that women artisans and female entrepreneurs uniquely face across the globe. We responded by founding tlali•pani and presenting a model of business that promotes equitable supply chains, sustainable consumption, direct trade and ethical processes.

Fabiola, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am most proud of the fact that we have built a company on our own, from the ground up. Our approach to our business is a reflection of our backgrounds and who we are as people. Personally, I have decade-long experience in international development working across international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and agencies in areas of children, education, and gender equity.

It fills me with pride that currently, we are partnering with 100% women-led artisan families and female entrepreneurs (including a women’s cooperative) in Oaxaca, Mexico. We have developed caring and respectful relationships with each of our partners, pay them a fair price for the products that we create together, and are deeply invested in their growth.

Together, we co-create thoughtful, beautiful and delicious home and pantry goods such as handwoven textiles as well as artisanal cacao and chocolate of the highest quality, rooted in sustainability and conscious living.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I mentioned earlier in this interview that I happened to be married to my co-founder and COO Sabith. Before we birthed tlali•pani and officially became business partners, we were a married couple who decided to make Southern California home back in 2017 (near my hometown) after having met late summer 2011 at Syracuse University. Sabith had just finished graduate school (as an international student from India) and I was a junior dual majoring in International Relations and French and Francophone studies. He came back to ‘Cuse to attend and help facilitate a peace-building retreat in the stunning Adirondack Mountains, which I also decided to attend. We’ve been together since and married for 7 years and counting!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

We launched our company and continue to be self-funded. Last year, we were grateful to have been selected as a recipient of an Incubator Grant from California Lutheran University. Thanks to the grant, we were able to launch a delicious line of products– premium artisanal cacao and chocolate made by our partner women’s cooperative in Oaxaca, Mexico.       

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tlalipani.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tlalipani
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tlalipani
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tlalipani
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tlalipani9796

Image Credits
Sabith Khan Eva Lépiz Yaquelin Hernandez