Line of Sight Podcast · Don Heider PhD, Brigit Helms PhD

Building a Global Brand Rooted in Filipino Heritage with Nathalie Llorente-Lim

·48 min·2 clips

LICA began with a search for a mortar and pestle that became a question about artisans’ worth.

1. Founders of Impact features Natalie Llorente-Lim and LICA, a brand tied to Filipino heritage and handmade goods. 2. Karen Rundy, one of Miller Center’s directors, interviews Natalie Llorente-Lim, LICA’s CEO and founder, during a Miller Center visit in Santa Clara. 3. The episode asks how LICA became a lifestyle brand that connects artisans, customers, and sustainable livelihoods. 4. Natalie says LICA makes home decor and fashion accessories and frames them as pieces “with a story.” 5. She says the company was created to respond to demand for sustainable, thoughtful goods. 6. Natalie says she was born and raised in the Philippines and wanted to help artisans who had skill but no market access. 7. She explains that LICA is a Filipino word, Tagalog for “creation,” and links it to craftsmanship and art. 8. Natalie describes the logo as letters with a hand holding something up, and says her brother, a graphic designer, ultimately designed it. 9. She recounts a search for a mortar and pestle while cooking adobo in New York, then finding one in a Philippine town plaza. 10. Natalie says the low price triggered anger and disbelief because it seemed to undervalue the artisan’s work. 11. She says she bought about 300 items in four large suitcases and used craft fairs and festivals to test the market. 12. She describes approaching West Elm and Pottery Barn in New York and setting up small tables to show the products. 13. Natalie says people responded to the craftsmanship and the story behind each object. 14. She traces her founder mindset to poverty she saw in the Philippines, impact work in the U.S. and U.K., and a Jesuit education. 15. Natalie recalls organizing a fundraiser at age 11 for a classmate with leukemia because his family could not afford treatment. 16. She says that experience showed her that she had power to change things in someone’s life. 17. Natalie explains that LICA addresses market insights, logistics, and access to capital through co-creation and direct shipping. 18. She says Nest’s ethical handcraft program took more than a year and involved standards for wages, safety, working conditions, and child labor. 19. The interview style is warm, collaborative, and detailed, with Karen Rundy asking follow-up questions about systems, programs, and personal history. 20. Listeners interested in artisan businesses, impact measurement, and Filipino founders will likely get the most from this episode.

As heard by us

A warm founder conversation about handmade goods, artisan impact, and the long work of measuring change.

Natalie Laurent Lim presents LICA as a lifestyle brand that treats handmade goods as more than decor or accessories. The story is straightforward: the company grew from seeing a gap between artisan skill and the way those goods are usually valued, and it leans on the idea that…

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Hear how LICA turns handmade goods into a story-driven impact business.

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