Shownotes
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
Contact Links
Website Facebook Twitter YouTube Pinterest InstagramIf 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
Transcripts
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.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever Grande your products of
Speaker:your logo or print a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica Griffin,
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Speaker:seconds. Check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listen to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
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