049 – Empowering Maasai Women with Katy Leakey
Founded in 2002, Katy and her husband Philip are the owners and pioneers of the natural, African-made, sustainable jewelry and elegant, handcrafted products called The Leakey Collection.
Based in the Rift Valley of Kenya, East Africa, these renowned designers use natural elements of fallen wood, sustainable grass and “bush fired” porcelain to create uniquely exotic products. Each colorful piece contains vibrant design appeal while giving back to those that produce it.
Katy’s motto: Nature Is Our Inspiration – People Are Our Purpose
Purchasing a product from The Leakey Collection helps create women entrepreneurs. This in turn, helps educate children, raises the level of health in communities and brings pride and power to rural East African women.
One product you may recognize are the Zulugrass necklaces that you see in gift/accessories shops all across America.
Business Inspiration
Identifying the vision [4:00]
Zulugrass is identified/R&D [5:02]
The Zulugrass strands impacting women in America [16:30]
A Candle Flickering Moment
Employees Kidnapped! [12:32]
Most difficult part of the production process [8:12]
Business Building Insight
Fair Trade [9:11]
Point of differentiation and why it matters [11:31]
International sales [25:02]
About the Maasai People
Lifestyle of the Maasai [18:58]
Value of the grass – past and present [15:15]
Insight into Maasai cultural values [20:44]
A heartwarming must hear story [23:15]
Success Trait
Refusing to give up when searching for solutions for both Katy and her husband Philip was the most important mindset for achieving their vision.
Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Basecamp -Trusted by millions, Basecamp is the leading web-based project management and collaboration tool.
Valuable Book
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Contact Links
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
Gift biz unwrapped episode 49.
Speaker:You're helping change a life at a time in each one
Speaker:of those lives is valuable.
Speaker:Hey, this is John Lee Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gifted biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast. Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am super excited to have Katie leaky.
Speaker:Joining us founded in 2002.
Speaker:Katie, along with her husband,
Speaker:Philip are the founders and pioneers of the natural African made
Speaker:sustainable jewelry and elegant crafted products called the leaky collection based
Speaker:in the rift Valley of Kenya East Africa.
Speaker:These renowned designers use natural elements of fallen wood,
Speaker:sustainable grass,
Speaker:and Bush fired porcelain to create uniquely exotic products.
Speaker:Each colorful piece contains vibrant design appeal while giving back to
Speaker:those that produce it.
Speaker:Katie's motto.
Speaker:Nature is our inspiration.
Speaker:People are our purpose.
Speaker:When you purchase a product from the leaky collection,
Speaker:it helps create women entrepreneurs.
Speaker:This intern helps educate children,
Speaker:raises the level of health in communities and brings pride and
Speaker:power to the rural East African women.
Speaker:One product that I think you all would recognize are the
Speaker:Zulu grass necklaces that you can see all across America in
Speaker:gift and accessory shops.
Speaker:That's what we'll be talking about a little bit later today,
Speaker:but for now,
Speaker:welcome to the show,
Speaker:Katie, Thank you very much,
Speaker:Sue. It's such a pleasure to be here and I'm very
Speaker:impressed with the work that you do Well,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:And I am just so thrilled to capture all of this
Speaker:information just right before you go back to Kenya.
Speaker:Yes, it's perfect timing.
Speaker:Yes. Your listeners know,
Speaker:we like to revolve the conversation around the life of a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:We light the candle and this shines on you and you
Speaker:share all your stories,
Speaker:your experiences,
Speaker:and everything having to do with the leaky collection.
Speaker:Are you ready to light it up?
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Well, let's talk a little bit and get somewhat of a
Speaker:subtle view into Katie leaky.
Speaker:If you were to have a motivational candle,
Speaker:what color would the candle be and what would the quote
Speaker:be on your candle?
Speaker:Mm, I love white candles and the quote.
Speaker:I would probably say strive with everything that you've got and
Speaker:be gentle and kind to yourself as are to others,
Speaker:such A compassionate quote that really follows through with everything you're
Speaker:doing with your business.
Speaker:You have to take everything in stride.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:sometimes it gets very,
Speaker:very difficult out there in the Bush.
Speaker:And I'm reminded actually by the women,
Speaker:they'll say to me,
Speaker:you just have to remember that you're helping change a life
Speaker:at a time.
Speaker:And each one of those lives is valuable.
Speaker:Don't look for much more than that.
Speaker:If you're really struggling,
Speaker:sometimes that's what you have to focus on.
Speaker:Let's start out with talking about the leaky collection.
Speaker:This is so interesting.
Speaker:I think for all of our listeners,
Speaker:because often we're talking about products that are made state side
Speaker:or, you know,
Speaker:even if they're made in Europe or somewhere else,
Speaker:certainly not in the Bush in Africa.
Speaker:And I will also say,
Speaker:and you know,
Speaker:when we met,
Speaker:I was telling you how much I love them,
Speaker:OSI people.
Speaker:So I'm so interested in just hearing all of this and
Speaker:I it'll be so new to all of our listeners.
Speaker:So I'm really excited to jump right in.
Speaker:Talk to us a little bit about how the leaky collection
Speaker:got started.
Speaker:What happened originally is that when I moved to Kenya in
Speaker:2001 to be with Phillip and we got married,
Speaker:it just so happened to coincide with the closing of a
Speaker:very terrible drought.
Speaker:And we found ourselves financially supporting over a hundred families.
Speaker:The men had taken the cattle elsewhere to try and find
Speaker:grazing and didn't want to,
Speaker:but had to leave the women and children behind.
Speaker:So they didn't have any means of support.
Speaker:And it was a real struggle obviously when it got to
Speaker:a hundred families or so it wasn't sustainable for either Phillip
Speaker:and myself or for the women.
Speaker:They didn't like being independent in that way.
Speaker:And Phillip had always had a career in politics and in
Speaker:the environment.
Speaker:So he was the one who came up with the idea
Speaker:of creating work for the women from using a local grass.
Speaker:And that was really what started the ball rolling.
Speaker:So we went ahead and designed some products and got that
Speaker:off the ground and gave the women work and it just
Speaker:exploded. It took off from there.
Speaker:Okay. So you've got all these natural environment opportunities and use
Speaker:zeroed in on the grass.
Speaker:How did you know from that grass that you could make
Speaker:something out of it?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:how, how did he know that He had worked with it
Speaker:before? He's a sort of a Jack of all trades and
Speaker:a MacGyver all woven into one.
Speaker:And he used to use the grass and making furniture years
Speaker:ago and he knew how resilient it was and how strong
Speaker:it was.
Speaker:You have to process it in a certain way,
Speaker:a certain way of drying it properly to get the strength
Speaker:out of it,
Speaker:but he had the knowledge to begin with.
Speaker:And then how did you know that that was going to
Speaker:be able to be a piece of jewelry that could be
Speaker:sold? Well,
Speaker:we turned it into beats.
Speaker:We knew that the women were beaters and that's the work
Speaker:that they love to do.
Speaker:So we thought,
Speaker:well, okay,
Speaker:let's put together beat a jewelry.
Speaker:And actually we did start very short time though,
Speaker:only about a month or two work with their traditional jewelry.
Speaker:But we quickly found that there wasn't enough of a market
Speaker:for it,
Speaker:for all of these families.
Speaker:So we had to come up with something that worked for
Speaker:global marketplace and started looking at the grass.
Speaker:And then it was a long process of learning.
Speaker:How can we color it and dye it?
Speaker:So it has the color of different beads and how can
Speaker:we get it small so that they can bead with it.
Speaker:And there was a lot of R and D research that
Speaker:we had to do to be able to make a piece
Speaker:of jewelry out of it.
Speaker:So You tried one thing and then if it didn't work,
Speaker:you adjusted it or tweaked it a little bit.
Speaker:And then you moved onto something else.
Speaker:And finally ended up with now what we call the Zulu
Speaker:grass necklaces,
Speaker:correct? Yes.
Speaker:And we even started out with different designs of it in
Speaker:the beginning,
Speaker:but ended up coming around to this one,
Speaker:contemporary, globally appropriate strand that you can use many,
Speaker:many different ways.
Speaker:What Do you mean when you say globally appropriate?
Speaker:Well, it's wonderful to have jewelry that reflects the region in
Speaker:which it's made,
Speaker:but often that doesn't translate outside that region.
Speaker:So what we tried to do is come up with something
Speaker:that would have a life and an interest to people anywhere
Speaker:in the world and as wide a age group as possible.
Speaker:Cause we needed to generate a lot of work.
Speaker:We had hundreds of women who needed work.
Speaker:So that's what we tried to do is come up with
Speaker:something that would go to the 20 set,
Speaker:30 set,
Speaker:the 40 set,
Speaker:and we feel pretty confident that that's what we hit with
Speaker:this one elasticated strand that can be worn as a bracelet,
Speaker:necklace, anklet,
Speaker:hair tie,
Speaker:that type of thing.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And give biz listeners.
Speaker:If for some reason you do not know what these Zulu
Speaker:grass necklaces look like,
Speaker:jump over to.
Speaker:If you want jump over to my Instagram page at gift
Speaker:biz gal,
Speaker:and you'll see a photo there and I'm thinking Katie also
Speaker:on your website,
Speaker:the Leakey collection,
Speaker:there's probably photos of it there too.
Speaker:So if you need to check that out real quick to
Speaker:understand what we're talking about,
Speaker:you can certainly do that or do that after the show.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:if you're driving your car or doing something.
Speaker:So how long in terms of a timeframe,
Speaker:would you say it took you from this initial conception of
Speaker:the idea of using this grass to getting the product that
Speaker:we now know is Zulu grass.
Speaker:Well, how long did it take to go through some of
Speaker:the different evolutions to finally land the product?
Speaker:That's a good question.
Speaker:A couple Years or was it faster or,
Speaker:Yeah, so it was faster than that.
Speaker:I would say probably less than a year,
Speaker:but it did take a while.
Speaker:One of the most difficult things to do was to find
Speaker:a dye that was colorfast and environmentally sound and that worked
Speaker:so that we could get the wonderful array of colors.
Speaker:We've had as many as 275 colors.
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:Of this.
Speaker:Yeah. It's quite amazing.
Speaker:But we finally ended up with a EU approved low-impact dye.
Speaker:That is a textile dye,
Speaker:but environmentally sound and that's what we use.
Speaker:So it's color fast,
Speaker:but that was the,
Speaker:that was the most difficult.
Speaker:Okay. So give biz listeners think of this.
Speaker:If you're developing a product,
Speaker:it's not necessarily that you're going to land it right away.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you start with an idea,
Speaker:you test it,
Speaker:you tweak it,
Speaker:you test it again and you tweak it just like Katie's
Speaker:talking about here.
Speaker:So a year actually to me sounds pretty fast because I
Speaker:know that the Zulu grass,
Speaker:necklaces have been around now for quite a while,
Speaker:and I've always seen them in this manner.
Speaker:So you landed it pretty quick.
Speaker:Let's get into the life of the people who are producing
Speaker:the product for you.
Speaker:And to the extent that you're willing to share how it
Speaker:all works,
Speaker:production wise.
Speaker:Well, we're a fair trade company and the tenants of fair
Speaker:trade is some of your customers may not know,
Speaker:first of all is a living wage.
Speaker:And so we worked with the women to determine what that
Speaker:was. Well,
Speaker:maybe I should,
Speaker:I should rewind even a little bit further back.
Speaker:What we do is we create work opportunity over vast areas.
Speaker:So we came up with a working system where women will
Speaker:come to a work site and check out kits and assemble
Speaker:the kids.
Speaker:Then they turn the strands back in and we tie them
Speaker:and size them and you know,
Speaker:do all of that.
Speaker:And then they check out another kit when production is up,
Speaker:those work sites can be scattered across the rift Valley so
Speaker:that you can take more work to more women.
Speaker:And the reason I want to give you that picture in
Speaker:your head first is it then understand that within each of
Speaker:these areas,
Speaker:there will be communities around them of Messiah that live in
Speaker:the BOMA surrounding say a particular work site.
Speaker:So those women are involved with us in helping set the
Speaker:living wage and working with the company on their schedules and
Speaker:how they want to interface with the work that opportunity that's
Speaker:available. We are very careful and very cognizant of the cultural
Speaker:needs of the women.
Speaker:They have a lot of needs within their culture.
Speaker:They have a work to do.
Speaker:They have ceremonies to go to,
Speaker:they are set to keep the social business of the community
Speaker:alive and thriving.
Speaker:So what we do is we set it up so that
Speaker:they can come work a half a day,
Speaker:a week,
Speaker:a day,
Speaker:a month,
Speaker:six days a week,
Speaker:whatever they want,
Speaker:whatever their needs are to come and go.
Speaker:So that's our primary focus on setting up the business that
Speaker:way. Does that help explain and starting out?
Speaker:Yeah, it certainly does.
Speaker:And that's really interesting because it's an element that we wouldn't
Speaker:usually consider.
Speaker:If you're looking to produce something over here in terms of
Speaker:their culture,
Speaker:with the ceremonies and other things that are family responsibilities,
Speaker:I'd say within their culture is something that we don't necessarily
Speaker:consider over here.
Speaker:Although we probably consider whore,
Speaker:but I really like what you're talking about because you're really
Speaker:honoring what they need to keep sacred for themselves and allowing
Speaker:them to be able to work and have a sustainable income
Speaker:around that.
Speaker:For us,
Speaker:it's easy to do because we live among them.
Speaker:I think that's one of the biggest defining differences that we
Speaker:have as Fairtrade producers is that we actually live there and
Speaker:not many people do most people live here in this country
Speaker:and then interface with their producers once or twice a year
Speaker:by physically going there.
Speaker:The point of that is,
Speaker:is not that ours is.
Speaker:I don't mean that at all.
Speaker:What I mean is we see impact and change immediately.
Speaker:We live it.
Speaker:We are neighbor and we build our business as a neighbor,
Speaker:not as some company coming in from outside.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:not saying that that's better,
Speaker:what I'm saying is we can make changes immediately and adapt
Speaker:immediately with what is necessary for the people on the ground.
Speaker:Right. Cause we are,
Speaker:we are one of them.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:Have you ever had a situation where you haven't had enough
Speaker:people working?
Speaker:Yes. And what do you do in that situation?
Speaker:I am very funny story for you.
Speaker:Oh, good.
Speaker:We love stories.
Speaker:So go for it.
Speaker:Okay. For all your listeners out there,
Speaker:imagine this as being something that you have to contend With
Speaker:that, Oh,
Speaker:we Were,
Speaker:I forget how many women.
Speaker:It was a lot.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:not that much in the beginning,
Speaker:but a lot for us at the time.
Speaker:And there were probably about 350 women working to produce some
Speaker:orders and they would walk to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:these general sites and the message comes in one day that
Speaker:the women aren't showing up and you know,
Speaker:of course we ask,
Speaker:well, where are they?
Speaker:What's happened?
Speaker:And we'll say,
Speaker:well, they've been kidnapped no way.
Speaker:Yes. And I said,
Speaker:what, what are you talking about?
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:well, they've all been gathered together by the warrior class to
Speaker:go off and build them in yatta,
Speaker:which is a ceremonial village,
Speaker:temporary ceremonial ability to take care of the elder ceremony for
Speaker:the region.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:So he said,
Speaker:okay, this is going to play well in America.
Speaker:How do we tell our stories that we're going to have
Speaker:trouble fulfilling their orders?
Speaker:Because our workforce has been kidnapped?
Speaker:Oh, my,
Speaker:One of the things we quickly learned that we had to
Speaker:Institute for ourselves was to hold a high inventory where we
Speaker:were so that when these cultural requirements came along,
Speaker:that we were able to keep the business flowing without any
Speaker:hiccups or breaks.
Speaker:Wow. Yeah.
Speaker:Clearly something that we wouldn't necessarily identify with here,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:So that's what you do now is you have inventory over
Speaker:there, just waiting,
Speaker:waiting to go as much as possible.
Speaker:Yes. Excellent.
Speaker:So one of the things that I found absolutely incredible when
Speaker:you and I were talking in your booth,
Speaker:I met Katie at the New York.
Speaker:Now show,
Speaker:I asked you Katie,
Speaker:because I see these Zulu grass,
Speaker:necklaces everywhere,
Speaker:and the bracelets and you know,
Speaker:all the different things that you can do with them.
Speaker:They're so flexible in terms of different options of the ways
Speaker:to wear them.
Speaker:And so I asked you,
Speaker:well, how many people have copied what you're doing?
Speaker:Because I see them everywhere.
Speaker:What percentage of these out there are the real official,
Speaker:yours, Zulu,
Speaker:grass versus other.
Speaker:And what did you tell me In the early days actually
Speaker:funny enough,
Speaker:China tried to knock us off.
Speaker:They came out with a product that was made of plastic
Speaker:the following year after our first trade show.
Speaker:And it didn't last.
Speaker:I didn't even see him the second trade show season in
Speaker:six months,
Speaker:time, they were gone and they weren't successful,
Speaker:but it was such a blatant,
Speaker:obvious try to poach our idea.
Speaker:Their packaging was similar.
Speaker:They tried to do similar things with little plastic tubing and
Speaker:it didn't work.
Speaker:It looked awful anyway,
Speaker:but no one's been able to duplicate the work that we
Speaker:do with the grass.
Speaker:And that is one of our protected secrets within the company
Speaker:for that reason.
Speaker:And we did it for another reason as well to keep
Speaker:that proprietary information.
Speaker:This grass does come from the wetlands and we want to
Speaker:protect the wetlands,
Speaker:which this jewelry actually did.
Speaker:The Messiah used to burn the grasses around the wetlands and
Speaker:they stopped burning out when it had a value.
Speaker:So the wetlands came back,
Speaker:the wildlife came back and everything else.
Speaker:So it was a real success story by keeping that information
Speaker:proprietary as well.
Speaker:Sure. Cause it goes full circle then because they want to
Speaker:preserve the rope wetlands for the product that they're going to
Speaker:use to make money,
Speaker:to keep their life going.
Speaker:So the whole thing circles through beautifully and again for our
Speaker:listeners, I just want you guys to understand too,
Speaker:there's no machinery involved here.
Speaker:These are all hand done and it's just amazing,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:taking grass right out of the wetlands,
Speaker:cutting it into these small pieces,
Speaker:dying everything.
Speaker:And then I guess you'd call it beating,
Speaker:but stranding the grass,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all of it is done by hand,
Speaker:by these wonderful Maasai women.
Speaker:And to know that and to purchase necklaces like that or
Speaker:any Fairtrade products that come like that is such a valuable
Speaker:thing that we are giving back really to the world,
Speaker:I would say.
Speaker:Yes. And I want to say one of the thing about
Speaker:this that has been the most inspiring part,
Speaker:I guess for me about the jewelry itself is that it's
Speaker:become like a consumable for women in the sense that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I, I always wear,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:five or six strands around my wrist at any given time.
Speaker:And they do last by the way for about six years
Speaker:where you can wear them in the ocean and in the
Speaker:sea and yeah.
Speaker:Oh yeah,
Speaker:they're great.
Speaker:You can wear them in the shower.
Speaker:There are super sports jewelry.
Speaker:People use them all the time in yoga.
Speaker:You can wear them in a steam bath.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I just wear them in the shower and everything.
Speaker:They become like a consumable princess.
Speaker:If I'm at the airport and don't want to get bumped
Speaker:from a flight or whatever,
Speaker:or I need my seat changed and the woman's working really
Speaker:hard behind the counter to help me out,
Speaker:I will pull off a strand and thank her by giving
Speaker:it to her.
Speaker:And I say,
Speaker:I just want to thank you so much for what you've
Speaker:done. And I asked a wrap around her wrist and I
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:And then I tell her the story about the women.
Speaker:And I say,
Speaker:this is made by what you just said.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:the Mussai women in East Africa and they do all of
Speaker:this by hand and it helps them educate their children and
Speaker:have better health care for their families and put food on
Speaker:the table.
Speaker:And I just want you to think of them and know
Speaker:that they put this together with love and get power from
Speaker:it. And I'm hope a little give you love and power
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:And that's what women do with this jewelry.
Speaker:That's why it's had such a wonderful long life.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:Well, I only have I think five strands,
Speaker:but I'm going to have to buy more and I'm going
Speaker:to start spreading the love like that because that's a great
Speaker:story. We get cards and letters all of the time coming
Speaker:into the company who say,
Speaker:so-and-so gave me this piece of Zula grass jewelry.
Speaker:We have women writing from hospitals where they've been sitting in
Speaker:oncology units,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:with a husband or a child.
Speaker:And they begin talking to each other.
Speaker:And one of them has given the other pieces of the
Speaker:grasp to help keep the woman's strong.
Speaker:And it's just,
Speaker:it's so moving and so warm and just,
Speaker:I don't know how to describe to you the feeling that
Speaker:that gives me,
Speaker:especially knowing the women in Kenya who put them together and
Speaker:the love with which they do put them together.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I've been to Kenya,
Speaker:my husband and I took the family on vacation there several
Speaker:years back now,
Speaker:the best vacation we've ever taken mind you.
Speaker:And as I'd said earlier,
Speaker:I just love them.
Speaker:Mussai people in general,
Speaker:could you share a little bit with our listeners,
Speaker:just what their life is like,
Speaker:how they live?
Speaker:Just give an insight into the world of the Messiah.
Speaker:Sure. Where we live in the rift Valley,
Speaker:they still live a very traditional lifestyle.
Speaker:And what that means is the men are involved in the
Speaker:business of cattle trading with each other.
Speaker:That's their primary work in business still today in the rural
Speaker:areas. And the women are mainly responsible for taking care of
Speaker:the homesteads.
Speaker:The morning starts with the women,
Speaker:getting the children off to school for those children that are
Speaker:in school.
Speaker:And that starts very early.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we're talking four 30 in the morning before the sun comes
Speaker:up and they'll make tea and a porridge and get their
Speaker:children fed.
Speaker:And not all children go to school.
Speaker:Some are kept behind to take care of the cattle and
Speaker:the goats.
Speaker:And even as young as,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:five, six,
Speaker:seven years old,
Speaker:the children will take the livestock out to the Bush to
Speaker:graze for the day.
Speaker:And then those that work for us will come and work
Speaker:for the day or however long they want.
Speaker:And then be back home in time for the children coming
Speaker:home from school,
Speaker:the children will do their homework or whatever.
Speaker:Like most children will bow again before the light is lost
Speaker:because nobody has lights at home.
Speaker:And then the men,
Speaker:if they're not away,
Speaker:trading cattle will come back in the early evening.
Speaker:And the children will usually play with the men and that
Speaker:sort of thing.
Speaker:And the women will visit with each other and then they'll
Speaker:have a light meal for dinner and go to bed and
Speaker:it starts over again.
Speaker:That's roughly how it goes.
Speaker:The women do build their own houses.
Speaker:They do walk to collect water.
Speaker:They do do what's considered to be the work,
Speaker:but I will say that they are not tried upon.
Speaker:It's a very loving society.
Speaker:It's a very respectful society.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:I can tell you really interesting story about that too,
Speaker:if you want.
Speaker:Yeah. I don't want to drone on about it,
Speaker:but this fascinated me one day,
Speaker:we, to do a story about beauty.
Speaker:Do you remember when Lapita won the actress here in America?
Speaker:Who's Kenyan won the Academy award and then people magazine put
Speaker:her on their cover as most beautiful woman.
Speaker:So we decided that we would take a copy of that
Speaker:magazine and ask the Mussai women,
Speaker:what they thought did they think she was really the world's
Speaker:most beautiful woman.
Speaker:And that opened up this wonderful conversation about beauty.
Speaker:And you're not going to believe what's your guess on what
Speaker:the men said about beauty,
Speaker:beautiful In terms of what beauty is to them.
Speaker:Yeah. What to a man there,
Speaker:what would he say makes a woman beautiful?
Speaker:I would say I'm going to cheat a little bit because
Speaker:you already told me this story when I was with you,
Speaker:but I'm going to tell you what I would have answered.
Speaker:Had I not known the answers and that would have been,
Speaker:I would have said their eyes,
Speaker:like what they see in their eyes in women's eyes.
Speaker:That's what I would've said.
Speaker:And as I explained to you before,
Speaker:I was absolutely stupefied stunned.
Speaker:When they said her presence,
Speaker:when she walks into a place,
Speaker:her stature,
Speaker:her presence,
Speaker:her physical being,
Speaker:how she carries herself,
Speaker:how she feels about herself.
Speaker:And I just thought that was the most gracious and deep
Speaker:answer I have ever heard.
Speaker:And that is what I'm.
Speaker:I tell that story in a description about their culture,
Speaker:because I think often people have,
Speaker:are told this misunderstanding that,
Speaker:well, you know,
Speaker:the men just stand around on one leg and stare off
Speaker:into the Bush and the women do all the work and
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I can see where they get that,
Speaker:but that's actually not how it is played out within the
Speaker:culture itself.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:it's just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's less understanding I think from us in terms of what
Speaker:intricacies of the tribal cultures are.
Speaker:I don't even know if TRIBE is the right word,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:these are people who are live so much closer to the
Speaker:land than we do now.
Speaker:And you seem to think that if it's,
Speaker:if they live closer to the land,
Speaker:they're a lot more primitive,
Speaker:but in many ways they are deeper,
Speaker:more feeling,
Speaker:more culturally sound than we even are because they're so close
Speaker:to nature.
Speaker:They rely on each other as communities to get things done.
Speaker:And it's a very rich life.
Speaker:And I would say far from primitive,
Speaker:depending on what your definition of primitive would be.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:I agree with you completely.
Speaker:And I can give you another example that your listeners might
Speaker:find. Interesting.
Speaker:One day I was working in my tent and someone came
Speaker:running to me saying that my good friend needed help.
Speaker:Her cow had fallen off a cliff.
Speaker:And so I got in the truck and drove there to
Speaker:make a very long story short.
Speaker:It was an all day ordeal,
Speaker:but what had happened is she only had one cow,
Speaker:her husband had died.
Speaker:She didn't have a lot wherewithal.
Speaker:So it wasn't,
Speaker:this cow was desperately important.
Speaker:And it had a calf that was back at her homestead.
Speaker:11 men had come in the afternoon,
Speaker:the day before,
Speaker:when they found out that the cow had fallen down this
Speaker:cliff and the cow had broken its back and it was
Speaker:lying down by,
Speaker:at the bottom,
Speaker:by the river.
Speaker:They had come that afternoon and they lit a fire next
Speaker:to the cow and stayed with it all night long to
Speaker:keep it from being taken by the leopards or lions.
Speaker:And then painstakingly lifted that cow back out and up to
Speaker:my truck,
Speaker:which is what took all day long.
Speaker:We took it back to her BOMA and then hand-fed it
Speaker:for her for a week to keep it alive long enough
Speaker:to get the milk,
Speaker:to make sure that her calf was stable.
Speaker:And then they,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:humanely put the cow down,
Speaker:but it was all the men that did that.
Speaker:Wow. I don't even know what to say to that story.
Speaker:Yeah. So they're very,
Speaker:it's a very loving community that works very closely together and
Speaker:that's life there for them.
Speaker:And it's just wonder,
Speaker:it's a beautiful thing to watch.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:every culture has,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:its ups and downs and everything else,
Speaker:but I would say overall,
Speaker:it's a lovely,
Speaker:wonderful culture,
Speaker:which is why it's lasting so long,
Speaker:even in modern times.
Speaker:Sure. What types of challenges or any advice that you have
Speaker:or insights that you have in terms of making the product
Speaker:and then dispersing it over to the different countries,
Speaker:how did you figure out what exactly you needed to do
Speaker:to be able to get all of the product into different
Speaker:stores? I think the biggest,
Speaker:the first thing we learned was we had to shift from
Speaker:America. We hadn't taken that into account when we started Wait,
Speaker:but you're in Africa.
Speaker:You had to send everything to America first.
Speaker:Yes. We had to have a company in America that we
Speaker:shipped to and then dispersed it from there.
Speaker:The individual stores across the United States did not want to
Speaker:deal with companies in different countries.
Speaker:They wanted to get their shipments from the United States and
Speaker:that we hadn't thought about.
Speaker:So we quickly put that together.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we just rented a little storage unit and started from something
Speaker:small like that.
Speaker:So that was the first.
Speaker:And I think the other thing that is a challenge is
Speaker:to marry the rural workforce,
Speaker:to the high demands of what we call main street shopper.
Speaker:There's a lot of quality control.
Speaker:We do.
Speaker:There's a lot of steps and quality checks all along the
Speaker:way that have to be in place all the time.
Speaker:And it is relentless.
Speaker:You never,
Speaker:ever get away from that.
Speaker:No matter how many years we've been in business,
Speaker:no matter how simple the strand is,
Speaker:you really have to stay on top of quality control.
Speaker:Part of the reason why you started doing the packets,
Speaker:right? So that you have all the tones of the colors
Speaker:the same,
Speaker:so that you're going to have consistency throughout the line.
Speaker:Yes. And then also quality control poly with the dying process
Speaker:and the sizing of the beads,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:Interesting. And that's just because the market demands,
Speaker:that type of quality is what you're saying.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Well, let's move on.
Speaker:Now, Katie,
Speaker:into the reflection section,
Speaker:I want to talk about you specifically and what's helped you
Speaker:to be successful.
Speaker:Is there something you have a trait in yourself that you
Speaker:can identify,
Speaker:that's helped you to just move all of this forward and
Speaker:have it become the success that it is.
Speaker:I'm not sure that some of the traits that have had
Speaker:to rise to the surface are necessarily positive ones.
Speaker:I would say stubbornness.
Speaker:Well, would you say tenacity?
Speaker:Maybe. Yeah.
Speaker:That's probably a better word,
Speaker:but yeah.
Speaker:Refusing to give up refusing to be beaten and you just
Speaker:have to find a solution,
Speaker:right? You don't give up.
Speaker:And I actually really learned that more from Phillip,
Speaker:from my husband than anything else.
Speaker:I have never met a person in my life who has
Speaker:more drive and determination and natural born curiosity.
Speaker:He just doesn't see any challenge as anything other than an
Speaker:excuse to learn something.
Speaker:And you guys were determined not to give up and it's
Speaker:such a gift back,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:which is the other thing is you're not just doing it
Speaker:for yourselves.
Speaker:You're doing it for The people.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:And that's challenging.
Speaker:It's really challenging.
Speaker:Like for instance,
Speaker:during 2008,
Speaker:when the whole world went into a financial slump,
Speaker:it was really,
Speaker:really challenging and heartbreaking.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:during those years we just didn't have the sales to support
Speaker:work for as many women.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you go through things like that,
Speaker:but you do it together,
Speaker:at least in our situation,
Speaker:you do it together.
Speaker:So you all work together and learn Coming back from there.
Speaker:So 2016,
Speaker:where is it at now?
Speaker:Or are you up and thriving and needing more workers all
Speaker:the time and growing,
Speaker:or what's the status now?
Speaker:It's interesting what we're going through as a,
Speaker:how would I describe it?
Speaker:We're changing.
Speaker:We're I'm trying to Morphisec is the right word.
Speaker:I'm, I'm stumbling here.
Speaker:I apologize.
Speaker:But work with new technologies to reach out further is what
Speaker:I'm trying to describe.
Speaker:So much of the purchasing has moved online.
Speaker:Number one,
Speaker:and so much of the youth or the younger say 20,
Speaker:30 year old set are no longer brand loyal.
Speaker:And they also are not very well versed on fair trade.
Speaker:So what we're trying to do is to get the word
Speaker:out more about fair trade.
Speaker:And what we're trying to do is to access those people
Speaker:who shop online.
Speaker:I think that's a challenge that we all meet right now.
Speaker:Yeah. It's happening everywhere.
Speaker:Fair trade or not.
Speaker:But it's interesting because a lot of the younger generation also
Speaker:are very concerned about the environment,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:having natural things.
Speaker:And I think some of these be like fair trade really
Speaker:resonates with them.
Speaker:They just haven't had a lot of exposure to it,
Speaker:I guess I would say.
Speaker:Yeah, I think that's probably the case,
Speaker:but I do find it curious how few in this country
Speaker:in America really understand what fair trade is and how few
Speaker:people in general understand.
Speaker:And I think that's probably the biggest mission that our industry
Speaker:faces. We need to make it simpler for people to understand
Speaker:not only what it is,
Speaker:but the value that it brings,
Speaker:not only to these communities,
Speaker:but to the world.
Speaker:Right. Well,
Speaker:let me help you with that through this podcast.
Speaker:How about that?
Speaker:That's wonderful.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:What tool do you use regularly since you're all the way
Speaker:on the other side of the world from us and living
Speaker:in a different environment than we're accustomed to,
Speaker:but what do you use to keep productive or to create
Speaker:some type of balance as you're going throughout your day?
Speaker:The balance for me personally,
Speaker:is to take a walk out in nature and to just
Speaker:be there.
Speaker:The biggest thing that helps me in doing the business is
Speaker:base camp.
Speaker:It's not something I use to balance myself,
Speaker:but as far as bringing the business together and being able
Speaker:to control projects and work on projects,
Speaker:I use base camp as far as relaxing and imbalancing myself
Speaker:personally, it's just the love of nature.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And base camp I could see is a perfect tool when
Speaker:you're having to communicate or work on projects with people all
Speaker:over. Yes.
Speaker:Yeah, it's fantastic.
Speaker:I just,
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:I couldn't do many of the projects without it.
Speaker:And when did you go onto that platform?
Speaker:Hm, three years ago,
Speaker:I think.
Speaker:And you saw a real difference once you did.
Speaker:Yeah. It's I don't know if anyone uses it,
Speaker:but I would highly encourage people to go to it,
Speaker:check it out.
Speaker:You can sign up for free and then do some of
Speaker:their tutorials with it.
Speaker:And you'll see what I'm talking about.
Speaker:It holds everything in one place.
Speaker:It makes it easy to organize.
Speaker:You can stay on top of communications.
Speaker:You're not fielding through countless emails trying to say,
Speaker:Oh, where did Steve say that?
Speaker:And I remember somebody said such as such,
Speaker:but I can't find it.
Speaker:It just keeps it all in one place.
Speaker:Very organized,
Speaker:easy to work.
Speaker:I totally agree.
Speaker:I do use base camp myself too,
Speaker:and I love it.
Speaker:So yeah.
Speaker:Gift biz listeners.
Speaker:If you have any type of team situations,
Speaker:even within your own office,
Speaker:if you have certain projects that you're doing,
Speaker:you can put a project into base camp.
Speaker:And anything related to that project,
Speaker:like Katie saying is all,
Speaker:just stays together.
Speaker:So you don't have random pieces here and there and everywhere.
Speaker:It's all just in one place.
Speaker:So really worthwhile.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:What book would you pull out and recommend to our listeners
Speaker:that would be valuable for them as they're starting business or
Speaker:just overall?
Speaker:Well, I do love business books and I would say in
Speaker:business, I thoroughly enjoyed lean in.
Speaker:That was probably the last business book that I read.
Speaker:And I do enjoy that type of reading.
Speaker:I also found Steve jobs very inspiring,
Speaker:and I was not a Steve jobs person.
Speaker:I didn't pay attention to him.
Speaker:He was not on my radar at all.
Speaker:And when the book came out,
Speaker:somebody had recommended it and I just pulled it out and
Speaker:started reading it.
Speaker:And I literally couldn't put it down.
Speaker:I've found not only his work ethic awe-inspiring,
Speaker:but I found his creativity inspiring.
Speaker:And I really had no idea how he changed our world
Speaker:until I read that book.
Speaker:It's pretty incredible.
Speaker:Isn't it?
Speaker:Yeah, it is.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:I have my iPhone now and I can't tell you how
Speaker:many times that has saved me out in the Bush,
Speaker:because it's the only thing that will get the email when
Speaker:everything else is shut down.
Speaker:So the only thing that we'll have reception,
Speaker:when all else dies,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:Wow. Interesting.
Speaker:Yeah. I'm sure the Android phones are just as good,
Speaker:but I had this antiquated little thing with a P you
Speaker:know, the flip,
Speaker:open screen,
Speaker:which laughed at me and I said,
Speaker:yeah, but I can leave this in the airport and no
Speaker:one's going to pick it up.
Speaker:I can come back and it'll still be there.
Speaker:Oh, there a point.
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:They'll laugh at me,
Speaker:but I finally did go get the smart phone.
Speaker:I just that's saved me.
Speaker:Well, I think both of these books that you mentioned just
Speaker:demonstrate your commitment to having a vision that's possibly different than
Speaker:anyone's had before and just the commitment to making it become
Speaker:a reality.
Speaker:So give busy listeners just as you're listening to the podcast
Speaker:today, you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get audio books just like lean in or Steve jobs book
Speaker:for free.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:we are going to move into now my favorite question of
Speaker:the day,
Speaker:Katie, and that is my dare to dream question.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights
Speaker:that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:I love this.
Speaker:This is absolutely fantastic.
Speaker:I know exactly what is in my box.
Speaker:Oh, do share.
Speaker:I would love before I leave this planet,
Speaker:I would love that fair trade is understood and embraced as
Speaker:the wonderful mechanism.
Speaker:It is for elevating women around the world,
Speaker:elevating rural women,
Speaker:getting them in a place of power,
Speaker:in a place of social equality within their world.
Speaker:And I would love for everyone to know and to support
Speaker:that work that it does.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:And you are certainly dedicating hours and hours.
Speaker:I know to making that dream come true,
Speaker:where would be the best single place that someone would go
Speaker:to find out more information about?
Speaker:I would say our website,
Speaker:leaky collection.com.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And then as you guys all know over on the show
Speaker:notes page,
Speaker:we'll have all the different sites for you.
Speaker:We'll have Facebook and Instagram and anything else that Katie has
Speaker:given me in terms of being able to connect with her.
Speaker:Also, as you all know,
Speaker:I'm always looking for interesting guests to be on this podcast.
Speaker:And so if you have a great story to talk about,
Speaker:or if you know somebody who has a great story,
Speaker:what I want you guys to do is go over to
Speaker:my Instagram account.
Speaker:That's at gift biz gal comment on any photo.
Speaker:And just give me the information of who you think I
Speaker:should be looking at as a potential guest for the future.
Speaker:Okay. Katie,
Speaker:as I knew,
Speaker:when we first started talking about this podcast,
Speaker:you have just given us such great information and insight into
Speaker:what you're doing,
Speaker:which is so different than a lot of the guests that
Speaker:I have on.
Speaker:So it's so great.
Speaker:As you start talking about wanting fair trade to be understood.
Speaker:Hopefully we are making here a little small step in helping
Speaker:you to have that become a reality.
Speaker:I appreciate your joining us today.
Speaker:All the information you shared,
Speaker:the stories are spectacular.
Speaker:I just love all of them,
Speaker:safe trips,
Speaker:traveling back to Kenya.
Speaker:And I know we'll stay in touch.
Speaker:May your candle always burn bright.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Sue. And I just respect,
Speaker:But you're doing so much.
Speaker:It's just wonderful,
Speaker:wonderful work you're doing.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your business
Speaker:in life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available@giftbizonrap.com
Speaker:slash tools.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the
Speaker:next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
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Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,