Cartier Women's Initiative - Carol Chyau

In 2006, Carol and a team of students traveled to Western China seeking inspiration to start a social enterprise. "We discovered the United Nations' handbook on yaks, and one sentence really stood out: 'The fiber of yak down is extremely soft'. But 15 years ago, we saw no products made from yak fiber," Carol says.

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This inspired Carol to launch her business Shokay and to begin purchasing yak fiber directly from the region's herders. The company has now evolved into a B2B textiles supplier of major global fashion brands.

The human aspect of the business continues to inspire Carol. "Many Tibetans have told me, 'We just didn't think yak fiber could be made into such gorgeous products.' [...] We've inspired a lot of young Tibetans to start their own brands and their own cooperatives," Carol says.

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The story of Carol Chyau has been selected as one of the Impact Awardees in Cartier Women's Initiative.