The Art of Intentional Living

I grew up on the coast of South Padre Island. It is where I learned that the ocean does not care about trends and it only cares about what is resilient. But as a kid I mostly saw the mess we left behind. There was trash on the beaches and pollution in the water. Back then eco friendly felt like something only wealthy people did. It did not feel like it was built for families like mine who needed things to actually last.

The truth is we did not have a lot of money and we certainly did not have the extra cash to pay for heavy duty materials built for the long haul. No one taught us about sustainability. We survived with the little things we had and buying things cheaply seemed like the only way to take care of all our other needs. Back then it just made sense to get what we could afford today and worry about tomorrow when it came. But eventually tomorrow arrived and I realized that buying things twice was more expensive than getting them right the first time.

The Duty of Protection

That shift in mindset followed me into the military at eighteen. In the service you learn that protection is a duty. You look after your gear because your gear looks after you. But when I got home I found a gap between the things I wanted to buy and the things that actually worked for a real life. I wanted products that were kind to the earth but I also needed them to have a backbone. I found that many green options were built for a look instead of being built for a long day of work.

The Slow Stuff

I realized that the resilience I was looking for did not come from a factory line. It came from people who take their time. We do not believe in perfect because perfect usually means a machine made it. Instead we focus on the slow stuff. This is the kind of work that leaves a few marks and a lot of soul behind. Whether it is jewelry forged at a workbench or wool knitted by hand, every piece in this collection started as a raw material and a long day of work.

In a powerful turn of resilience skilled artisans even transform recycled bombshells which are remnants of wartime into jewelry that symbolizes strength. When you wear it you are carrying the hours and the focus of real life hands. Your purchase provides fair trade jobs and vital income for families. It is not just an accessory. It is a piece of work made with intention that is built to stay in your life for the long haul.

Built for the Years

I started Summit Select Goods with the most important little person in my life to end the era of good enough. We vet everything for endurance. If we are using recycled materials it is because they have been proven to hold up. If you are paying a bit more for something like our alpaca gear it is because you are only going to buy it once.

Your purchase also supports a collective of 80 workshops throughout Peru. This partnership preserves culture by supporting artisans with technical training and fair market access. Living intentionally is not about having more but about having better. These are just honest and earth driven goods that are built to stand their ground alongside you.