Hannah Kay Herdlinger, Thread Talk

Healing Charlotte Podcast

Today’s conversation is with Hannah Kay Herdlinger, the founder of Thread Talk. The company came from her personal story as a domestic violence survivor who wanted to give back to other survivors and shelters. Thread Talk sells blankets with names such as “Confidence, Love, Serenity, Strength, and Resilience” with 10% of the proceeds going back to local domestic violence shelters through domesticshelters.org. This website includes many resources as well as “live wish lists” for individual shelters. It was important for Hannah Kay to share her story because of the power of telling your story and connecting to others who have been through something similar. When she opened up about her personal story she started hearing more and more stories of domestic violence. Currently the statistics are 1 in 4 women and and 1 and 9 men are survivors. Her mission was to help start that difficult conversation. She has also created a “Thread Talk Trailblazer” program to help spread the word, give survivors a way to give back, and to help develop a community around this.

"The way I discovered I could do that best was by selling cozy products such as blankets that everyone has in their home and uses all the time and then donating 10% of my proceeds back to domestic violence shelters."

The pandemic has created some shifts in the domestic violence space. Before last year, they had a hotline for survivors to reach out and since the pandemic started, created a texting/written platform. This was implemented since many survivors may be at home with their abusers and cannot call a hotline for assistance. Shelters remain overcrowded and underfunded but this last year they have worked with hotels and other programs for collaborations to support survivors.

"It feels so good to know that you are not alone and that someone else can relate to something that you are going through."

Domesticshelters.org has been influential in Hannah Kay’s work as she appreciates the resources they offer, the survivors stories, and inspiring songs. In Charlotte, there are resources such as Safe Alliance, The Umbrella Center, and Mecklenburg County Community Support Services all geared towards supporting domestic violence shelters. Hannah Kay moved to Charlotte after she literally picked it out of a hat. Since moving here she has found it to be an amazing place where people rally around each other. Her advice for those seeking healing is to let it be known to others that you are in that you will have someone who could listen to you and support you, not to mention may offer referrals. A healer in Charlotte that Hannah Kay is inspired by is Greg Jackson of Heal Charlotte. She has been amazed at the work he has done and most recently how he supported our neighbors at tent city.

You can purchase a blanket from Thread Talk on their website here.