Today we’d like to introduce you to Nell Green.
Hi Nell, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have worked cross culturally both here and abroad as a minister for forty years. My children were raised overseas. Upon a return to West Africa with our daughter, she had the idea of starting a business. Most of my experience has been working with refugees and other displaced people. Her experience is in communications, marketing and retail. I am also a seamstress. She had the idea to begin a clothing design business. She would design and market. I would hire and work with refugees to create our designs. As a public speaker, I would also work to raise awareness about displacement.
We began in Houston, Texas with Threads by Nomad in 2016 and hired a tailor from Iraq. He had been working at a car wash. After three years we began the non-profit, The Off Ramp. Threads is for profit but the nature of working with refugees is that there are many areas of need that do not fit with a for profit business. Having both a for profit and a non profit allows us to meet needs holistically and with dignity.
The pandemic changed many things for us as it did others. My husband took early retirement and we relocated to the East Coast.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Early on the biggest struggle was learning finances. We also took a long while to build a market. Helping the American market understand and appreciate the cultures represented in by Threads by Nomad and the needs of those who are displaced is a time consuming and difficult task.
One of the key values for Threads by Nomad is to pay fair wages. This means we are not a bargain basement shopper. We are also careful about where we source goods from to determine if they are exploitation free.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an ordained minister. In 1986 just after the birth of our first child, our daughter, we moved overseas. Since then we have lived and worked among the impoverished and the displaced in Senegal, West Africa, Miami, FL, North and South Carolina, Houston, Texas, Brussels Belgium. We raised our two children overseas. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and was licensed as an RN until my retirement in 2023.
Though I retired from employment in 2023 we have continued our work through Threads by Nomad and The Off Ramp.
Forty years of living among and serving other cultures has helped me learn the felt needs of those who are displaced. Having lived overseas and learning two other languages in order to live and work, raising children in other countries has helped me understand the challenges faced by those who are displaced.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Rock Hill is a southern welcoming culture with a smile. It has a heart to support the members of its community. The city is growing in diversity and welcomes it.
Rock HIll is in desperate need of more services to support the marginalized and neglected in the community. A transit system that covers the city and access to low income housing are two of the greatest needs.
Pricing:
- $190 – high
- $12 – low
- $70 – medium
Contact Info:
- Website: www.threadsbynomad.com and www.theofframp.org
- Instagram: @threadsbynomad and @theofframp_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threadsbynomad/ and https://www.facebook.com/theofframphtx/
