Founded in 2017
Out of a calling to help women build new lives through dignified, artisan work, Sojourn Studio was founded in Mae Sot, Thailand on the Thailand–Myanmar border.
Dignity Over Charity
Every woman who works with us is paid fairly for skilled, meaningful work, not given a handout. We believe real change comes through opportunity, not pity.
Hope-Filled Forward Motion
In Myanmar, there's a blessing spoken over youth:lay le ya, hope-filled forward motion. It's what we witness every day, as women take sure steps toward healing and a brighter future.
Family, Protection and Restoration
Our work exists to keep families together. When a mother can provide for her children, she's able to raise them, and that's where lasting change begins.
Faith as Foundation
Everything we do is rooted in the belief that every woman holds immense, God-given value. It's the foundation beneath every piece we make and every life we walk alongside.
Verified, Transparent Impact
Sojourn Studio is a social enterprise of Global Child Advocates, a registered U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit and Thai foundation, not just a brand that says it gives back. Every purchase provides dignified, fair wages, educational scholarships, savings opportunities, healthcare benefits, free childcare, and a loving community of support for women from Myanmar.
Your Purchase, Her Path Forward
You choose a piece, hand-shaped and finished by a woman on the Thailand–Myanmar border.
She's paid fairly for her skill: real, dignified work, not a handout.
That income becomes savings, stability, and the ability to provide for her own children.
Families stay together, daughters stay in school, and a new chapter begins, hope-filled forward motion, one piece at a time.
" In a world consumed by fast fashion, I find Sojourn Studios to be a great source for mixing beautiful jewelry and sustainable practices. Sojourn goes beyond fashion and introduces the consumer to their purchase. It's hard to buy from anywhere else."
Our Founders
Sojourn Studio began with a simple belief: dignified work and community can change the future of a woman and her family.
For years, Global Child Advocates co-founder, Ashlee Heiligman, worked alongside vulnerable children and families on the Thailand-Myanmar border. Again and again, she saw how poverty and limited economic opportunity left women with impossible choices and families vulnerable to separation, trafficking, and exploitation. Protecting children meant strengthening their families and that required more than just preventing harm. Women needed safe, meaningful work and reliable income that could help them build stable futures for themselves and their children.
Ashlee dreamed of creating a social enterprise to meet that need, but didn’t know what it would look like. Then God began bringing together the right people and gifts at just the right time.
A connection with Austin ceramic artist Quinn Smith sparked the idea of handcrafted porcelain jewelry. Soon, ceramic artist Sara Harvel joined GCA in Thailand, and Quinn traveled there to share her craft with Sara and Sojourn’s first artisans. Art teacher Stephanie Melachrinos helped shape Sojourn’s early designs and creative identity and later led the studio until Gold Rain stepped into leadership in 2020.
What started with a few women and a shared vision has grown into a thriving artisan community. Today, women from Myanmar handcraft every piece while earning reliable income, building skills and savings, accessing opportunities, and creating greater stability for their families.
The jewelry is beautiful, but it has never been the whole story. Sojourn exists because we believe women deserve the opportunity not simply to survive, but to build a future, and that strengthening a woman can strengthen an entire family for generations.
Every piece is part of that story: beautiful things, made by remarkable women, brought together for good.
Shop Our Artisan's Favorite Pieces!
