FRIENDSHEEP

The story of Friendsheep is a story of Valeria Isaacs, a mother, wife, nature lover, disability advocate and a true inspiration to all of us.

Sustainable living and ecology are a big part of who Valeria is. She was forced to put those passions aside when a spinal cord injury left her quadriplegic at age 22. But she did not give up on her passions, they only grew stronger with time.

During her long and still ongoing recovery, Valeria has obtained a master’s degree in molecular biology, worked in contemporary art and enjoyed living life at its fullest. Her entrepreneurial aspirations, passion for sustainable living and desire to give new meaning to her life resulted in founding Friendsheep, back in late 2015. Her vision was to provide high quality products that respect animals, that are kind to the environment while also providing work and purpose to women and people with disabilities in underprivileged communities of Nepal. Her husband Alessandro came on board just a few months after she started.

Early 2016 came with such a wonderful and very unexpected surprise: a twin pregnancy! A pregnancy that was so rare that Valeria was the fifth known case of quadriplegic woman to give birth to living twins (and only the second one with identical twins!). As if her story was already so amazing.

Trent and Damon came into this world in summer of 2016, with an emergency c-section due to rare twin to twin transfusion syndrome. Their birth and the following difficult months in the NICU reinforced Valeria's vision of Friendsheep as a tool for equality and social justice.What started as a small operation on the dining room table in their house in California, turned into spacious warehouses that has been growing with every year that’s gone by - all while raising little Trent and Damon into two healthy, strong, eco-conscious and very active kids.Friendsheep now provides fair wages to hundreds of people in Nepal and our Nepali friends have become part of our family, just like our employees here in the US.