FROM BLESSING BASKET
TO TEN BY THREE

WHY WE CHANGED OUR NAME

Since the day she founded Ten by Three, our Founder, Theresa Carrington, who grew up below the poverty line in the Midwest United States, believed there was a formula to end extreme poverty. For Theresa, her deep belief poverty could be solved became the conviction that drove every decision, every partnership, and every basket sold. For 14 years, her quest to find a poverty-ending formula guided our mission, and in 2018, her theory was finally validated.

That year, The Blessing Basket Project (read our founding story here) was renamed Ten by Three. The name that built us, rooted in love, faith, and community, could no longer fully represent the innovation and impact we had achieved. After thousands of interviews with artisans and countless discussions with traditional leaders, we realized we had not only pioneered a formula to sustainably end extreme poverty but had built an entire economic model around it.

Through studying the artisans who achieved the greatest success, we discovered a remarkable trend. Those who had started at least three businesses were far more likely to graduate out of poverty and remain self-sufficient. This insight became the cornerstone of our mission: to empower every artisan to create multiple streams of income through entrepreneurship.

Next, we sought to answer a critical question: how many products must we purchase from each artisan to fund the debt-free startup of these businesses? Through careful analysis, we found the answer, ten products per month. This discovery gave us clarity and purpose, as well as a new identity that honored the model we had pioneered.

The name Ten by Three reflects the heart of our approach: purchasing ten handcrafted products per month from each artisan, by using our Prosperity Wages model,  empowered artisans to start at least three businesses in addition to their handcraft. Ten by Three is more than a name, it is a formula for creating generational wealth and ending extreme poverty sustainably.