Are You Going to Have a Job for Me? Creating and Growing a Freedom Business in Bolivia

Cara Strauss Contreras had moved from the United States to Bolivia and spent the last 13 years pouring herself into creating a freedom business she named SutiSana. SutiSana employed women who had left sex trafficking and trained them to make fine leather handbags and accessories, which were then marketed to women in the United States and around the world. Cara felt like she was finally in a position to grow her business, but she struggled with identifying the right strategies for growth. She felt like she needed to make some improvements in the company’s distribution channels and an increase brand name recognition. But she had no idea how to go about making these changes with her limited budget and whether these changes would actually increase sales.