Miao women embroider flowers onto bags. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Now the Lacy's company has 30 employees, with seven working full-time and 15 or 16 women who work part-time at home. Most of the Miao women who embroider for the company have children, and they can travel to the company once a week to take embroidery materials back home so that they can work while taking care of their families, they said. 

The Lacys said that their products have been selling well in the US market because Americans love ethnic handicrafts. They noted that the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 took a heavy toll on sales. At that time, their customers were largely from South China's Guangdong province and Hong Kong.