"Philanthropy is the Engine" of Business Founded by Kyle Smitley '07

March 21, 2011

March 21, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Kyle Smitley, a 2007 graduate of DePauw University, "created a business that is capturing national attention from publications such as the Huffington Post, Inc. magazine and Fortune, and garnering environmental nods from organizations like the National Green Pages," reports the Crescent-News of Defiance, Ohio. "Barley & birch, named for the barley fields near DePauw University and birch trees remembered from her childhood, is a rapidly growing, environmentally responsible children's clothing company. The company goal is to provide the safest clothing and to be as carbon neutral as possible in its production. However, the business of creating cute, environmentally neutral kids' duds aside, the main goal was to garner funding for improving the global community," writes Georgia Kohart. (photo courtesy Defiance Crescent-News)

An experience as a DePauw student planted a seed which led Smitley to create her company. "I went on a work trip to El Salvador with my university,"  she tells the newspaper. "We lived in homes with people there and it was not at all like living with a family here. A concrete house with a dirt floor, smaller than a two-car garage, was home to at least six. They live on rice, beans, and tortillas and sleep in hammocks. The people there are out of work, there is no longer any agriculture, which is what they know. They want to come to the U.S. simply because they want a chance to support their families. The father in the house I stayed struggled every day, worrying about having enough to feed his family. He is afraid they will starve."

Smitley adds, "I couldn't go back to my ignorant, blissful life. I really felt strongly about not doing anything about it. I needed to figure out a way to make it a little better. I want everyone to have the same shot at life."

Smitley founded her company in 2009. "By the end of the first year in business, without shelling out a penny for advertising, the company's kids' clothing was being carried in over 30 stores here and overseas, with proceeds from those sales helping fund schools and clinics globally. The word about barley & birch was largely due to parents who blogged about the products and the barley & birch mission. The work continues by using donating funds for educating rural farmers on sustainable agriculture to providing shelter to victims of abuse."

"Money doesn't motivate me," Smitley declares. "Money only makes me excited if I can give it away. The business is only a tool. It is the car and philanthropy is the engine."

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On February 11, 2011, Kyle Smitley was the Huffington Post's "Greatest Person of the Day".  Details can be found in this previous story.

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