Hey Amigos - Its Hanna!
As the newest addition to the Teysha team, I thought I would introduce myself so everyone will know who is writing these crazy stories from afar. My name is Hanna and I am originally from Houston, Texas. I met Travis, the co-founder of Teysha, in our first week of college at the University of Georgia. As fellow Texans, we hit it off in our Ultimate Frisbee class and became fast friends. The next year, we decided to study abroad together and we narrowed our destination choices down to Austria and Costa Rica. After deciding that Austria would be too cold, we made the best decision of our lives and made our way to Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, we fell in love with the laid-back, friendly nature of Latin Americans. We learned to appreciate the slower pace of life, the Tico Time, and the benefits of a simpler life. After studying in Costa Rica for five months, we traveled by bus to Guatemala - a grueling, slightly dangerous journey that we were relieved to accomplish
In Guatemala, we visited some of the most beautiful places in Central America - Semuc Champay, Tikal, Rio Dulce, and Antigua - a beautiful colonial city. In Antigua, we explored the extensive markets and we filled our bags with the amazing textiles and artisan goods we found. It can be said that the seeds were planted then for what is now Teysha - a project of young entrepreneurs trying to empower people around the world through cultural connection, artisan appreciation, and quality craftsmanship. So here I am today, four years after our initial trip to Central America, back for an indefinite amount of time.
My job description could be paragraphs long, but for the most part I am here to facilitate the Guate Boot-making process. I will be traveling around Guatemala searching for beautiful textiles, supporting the artisans I meet, working with our boot-maker Carlos and the rest of his team, and I will eventually be dreaming up new products that we can bring back and share with the world.
As a lover of travel, culture, funky clothing, and new experiences, this opportunity with Teysha is a dream-come-true. I am so excited to be working with friends that have amazing visions for how each one of us can improve our world through cultural understanding and appreciation. I will be posting at least once a week, updating my progress down here in Guatemala and sharing the amazing stories of the people we work with and my ideas for our growing organization. Teysha believes in Keeping Earth Weird, so let's keep this spirit alive and shed our pre-conceptions of the world as we travel this crazy journey together. If anyone ever has any questions for me personally, I can be reached at hanna@teysha.is - I would love to hear from you. Hasta luego, amigo.