How Pura Utz is Empowering Women Artisans in Guatemala

At Pura Utz, craft is not just a product; it’s a practice of preservation.

A way of keeping culture, dignity, and women’s independence alive.

Founded in 2018 by Anna Andres and Bernabela Sapalú in Guatemala, Pura Utz partners with local Mayan women artisans to breathe life into a centuries-old tradition of beadwork.

But it’s not just about beautiful accessories. It’s about agency. Stability. Pride.

The kind that comes from earning a full-time income, having creative control, and knowing your work is valued around the world.

When Pura Utz began, the team consisted of just six women. But it grew steadily.

Today, sixteen women work full-time at the brand, and during peak seasons, over fifty come together, forming a quiet network of purpose and possibility.

Their dream was never to scale fast. It was to scale meaningfully.

To give women in Santiago Atitlán the tools to provide for themselves, invest in their families, and pass down traditions that might otherwise be lost.

Walk into their workshop today, and you’ll see women stitching tote bags and pouches, each made from more than 30,000 glass beads, each stitch preserving a story.

In another corner, delicate necklaces and earrings bloom under careful hands, adorned with the brand’s iconic beaded fruit charms.

This is not mass production. This is a living heritage.

Pura Utz reminds us that not everything in business is meant to be scaled overnight.

Some things are meant to be honoured, protected, and carried forward, generation by generation.

The Storyteller’s Lens exists to share stories like these. Not because they shout, but because they stay.