Every once in a while, time and place confirm that in fact you have aligned with destiny. Sometimes, the universal confirmation is elusive. Other times, our numbness leaves it dormant. And a rare and beautiful time, the nudge is heard and responded to – prompting the courage, boldness, and authentic engagement necessary for the transformation of the spirit and ultimately, of the world.
For Jessica Glowaki of Seal Beach, this came on an unsuspecting day in Malaga, Spain while attending a conference for her husband’s chiropractic business. After making rounds at the conference, she noticed a family in the corner wearing sweatshirts that said, “Nalu.” For reasons unknown, she felt a deep urge to talk to them. She learned they were the Schonfelder family.
At first she resisted, “I don’t even know them” she thought, “Why am I so attracted to them?” Their kind eyes met with her curious spirit, eager to discover what seemed to be beckoning her towards them. The Schonfedlers began to tell Glowaki a compelling story that took her out of Malaga and into the dusty lands of Central India in 2011.
The Schonfedlers had gone on a family trip to offer yoga, mediation and free chiropractic services to women and children in a local village. At the time, the kids, Dali and Finn, were just 11 and 8 years old. While their parents were working, they became friends with the local children. The trip was such a success that the Schonfelders committed to returning, eager to preserve the strong bonds that they had formed.
However, upon their return, some of the friends that Dali and Finn had made were no longer at school. This is when the Schonfelders discovered that once children turn 13 in India, the government no longer pays for their uniforms or educational fees. Unable to front the costs themselves, many kids drop out of school.
When Dali and Finn heard about their friends, they knew they had to help them. They created Nalu, a clothing brand for kids by kids, held together by one simple law: get to give. For every four products Nalu sells, a school uniform is given to a child in need. Employing local women to sew the uniforms, the pilot school has already seen a 78 percent increase in enrollment; a 23 percent increase in girl’s grades and a 20 percent increase in boy’s grades. Teenage pregnancy is also trending downwards in the pilot village.
Nalu in Hawaiian means wave. Hoping to create a wave of change that empowers children with the education necessary to break the cyclical nature of poverty, the idea is simple but the potential is massive. “I read once that when you make loving others the story of your life, there’s never a final chapter, because the legacy continues,” Glowaki shared.
Perhaps it was this love story that pulled Glowaki in so intensely. She left Malaga knowing that she had to be a part of Nalu—a part of the legacy. And, that is precisely what she did. Sharing the cause with her family, her daughter Georgia became inspired and at just 15 became the U.S. representative for the company.
Apparel was shipped to their home and they began to sell Nalu wherever they could. Before they knew it, they were speaking out about Nalu at conferences around the world; Georgia even flew out on her own and gave a speech in London. “Nalu has been such a wonderful experience for me. It has taught me greater responsibility, to be more independent, to love more deeply, and be more appreciative of what I have and the things I get to do,” Georgia said.
Raising up a new generation of advocates in the U.S. as well as using their privilege to empower change around the world, the Glowakis are becoming one with the wave. “It’s not only our responsibility as parents but also our obligation as human beings to seek out ways to empower our children to recognize that we are all connected to the energy of all creation,” said Glowaki. “Once this realization has been made, children stop only thinking of themselves and find deep fulfillment in giving back to others.”
Perhaps it is this deep, inner fulfillment that has transformed an overwhelming, unmet need into a space where hope and possibility rest at the forefront. “We are simply helping kids be kids” said Georgia. Nalu is not just about uniforms. It’s about freeing kids by empowering them with the resources necessary to be all that they can. And ultimately, it’s about freeing one another from the rampant illusion of individualism culture projects in order to embrace the reality of our togetherness.
“We must share our uniquely special light to one person, and he or she shines it on another and another and then another.” Glowaki said. “In the final analysis of our lives—when the to-do lists are no more, when the frenzy is finished, when our inboxes are empty – the only thing that will have any lasting value is whether we’ve loved and helped others flourish and whether we’ve been loved in return.”
Earlier this month, the Glowakis and the Schonfelders went on a trip back to the pilot village in Central India to give uniforms to children in need and spread that uniquely special light and love.
Stop by Brad Glowaki’s chiropractic office to purchase Nalu products and become a part of a wave of liberation that started in the hearts of kids, rising from the wonder of I to the wonder of us.
Editor’s note: Nalu products are available for purchase at Brad Glowaki’s chiropractic office on 13001 Seal Beach Blvd. from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays as well as from 3-7 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays.
