Gallery Asha Lands Business Grant from American Express

Los Angeles–based textile importer Julie Ward was one of the recipients of a Micro to Millions award, which provides funds and business assistance to women-owned companies in a variety of fields.

Ward is the owner of Gallery Asha, which imports textiles from Africa and South America.

The program is one of two sponsored by Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence and OPEN From American Express. Micro to Millions and Make Mine a Million $ Business were founded with the mission to help 1 million women entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses to reach $1 million in annual revenues by 2010.

Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence is a not-for-profit organization that provides micro loans and business education for women-owned companies. The organization provides access to financing up to $45,000 as well as other business resources for women entrepreneurs.

Ward and other West Coast recipients received their awards on Jan. 23 at a presentation at the Globe Theater at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.

“For me, it’s a matter of business support—and it would be great to become a million dollar business,” Ward said, adding that she’s planning to apply for the Make Mine a Million $ Business award next year.

Gallery Asha was founded five years ago when Ward, a lifelong traveler and collector, began importing textiles from Africa and Peru. Ward plans to import fabrics from other countries, as well, including Indonesia and Uzbekistan—“countries that have a base in handmade fabrics.” Most of Gallery Asha’s fabrics are handmade by local artisans. Gallery Asha was founded “to showcase the real beauty of the local culture from around the world,” Ward said. Her goal is to find “unique designs from around the world and bring them back [to the United States] and integrate that with Western functionality and style.”

Many of her company’s fabrics are integral to the country of origin. For example, her Peruvian tapestry fabrics are used by Peruvian women of the Amazon to make skirts, and the designs on the fabric represent prayer songs from their ceremonies. Her printed voile fabrics from Mauritania are worn as traditional dresses and headscarves by Mauritanian women.

Ward works with a women’s cooperative in Mauritania, which reinvests money from the fabrics she imports back into the local textile business.

“[The business is] free-trade and supports communities around the world,” she said.

Last year, Ward expanded her business to include finished garments, including T-shirts, dresses, and a Peruvian denim and leather line. Her tees are made from organic cotton from Uganda, dyed in Mauritania and cut, sewn and silk-screened in Los Angeles.

“It’s truly a global T-shirt,” she said.

The next step for Ward is to find a showroom in Los Angeles to carry her finished garments.

“Everything we do is focused on women who shop specialty boutiques for something unique,” she said. “We are taking traditional classic styles and using our fabrics to turn them into new fashion statements.”

For more information about the program, visit www.makemineamillion.org or www.countmein.org.

For more information about Gallery Asha, visit www.galleryasha.com. —Alison A. Nieder