OUR STORY      

HOW IT STARTED ...

"One paper bead.
Two women.
One conversation."


A Lifelong Connection To Empower Women.

With their mother's inspiring wisdom guiding them to care deeply for others and give back to the world, sisters Tera Herman and Heather Ditillo became connected to BeadforLife (BFL) in 2007. BeadforLife was a non-profit whose mission was to create sustainable opportunities for women in Africa to lift their families out of extreme poverty by selling handcrafted beaded jewelry.

To educate others, as BFL volunteers, Tera and Heather hosted speaking engagements in their communities. Here MAHENDI Founder, Tera, met Robin, a kindred spirit working on a model to build remote maternal health clinics in Nepal. After hours of discussions, the two combined their passions with the BFL model, and MAHENDI was born. Each lacked essential traits, skills, and resources that the other possessed or could access, making their partnerhsip a powerful force for change.

While the universe has taken BeadforLife and Robin in a new direction, they remain the heart and the reason MAHENDI exists. Anchored by Robin's original symbol design, MAHENDI products represent a philosophy and mission to empower women.

Our Founders


Tera Herman

Heather Ditillo