Wearsos

I spent a summer volunteering at CATIE a couple of years ago and had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful Canadian lady whom I heard was doing amazing work. I would not have imagined that two years later, I would come back, living next door to the apartment I had lived in back then, and working with Lynne Corvaglia, the co-founder of Wearsos. 

Back in 2022, part of the responsibilities of my short stay was to undo the sewing of airplanes seats so that women from Turrialba, which is a considered a rural area in Costa Rica, could get trained to manufacture items out of the upcycled leather from retired Southwest Airlines airplane seats. Seizing the opportunity and leading Wearsos through values that I myself find much respect for, such as waste reduction, women empowerment, and community and education, Chris and Lynne created their own brand and were really kind to allow me to come back and contribute to the amazing work they do for the community of Turrialba. They have partnered directly with Southwest Airlines, and in their first two years, have employed more than 7 women artisans, reached more that 500 students, have been invited to more than five important events and have diverted from landfills more than 700 airplane seats!

This summer, I was an intern for about 3 months in collaboration with Luana, another intern from U of T. Personally, I worked on a series of responsibilities such as document translation, marketing visuals creation (such as catalogs), and workshop interior designs, putting to service the knowledge I have gained through my time at SLU. This internship gave me the opportunity to come back home after fours years abroad. It was a chance to expose myself and gain important insight  of business and marketing, which is something I have not formally been trained on. Lastly, it was a chance for a graceful easing into the working life and a wonderful experience to acknowledge my strengths and potential areas of improvement in my professional life.