Jackee Kasandy is an African Canadian originally from Kenya, where her entire family lives.
She has 18 years of experience in the corporate sector. Her career took her from wildlife and people conservation to the big, wonderful, fast and crazy world of advertising and branding.
In nearly two decades of work experience, she learned so much about products, brands and customers. She has been a part of teams tasked with launching major products in Canada, like Loblaws Blue Menu Line, Joe Fresh style, Mcdonald’s Angus burger and Mac Mini, the BC Ferries Vacations brand and much more.
While advancing through the corporate ladder and gaining business knowledge, she dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur, following in her mother and grandma’s footsteps.
In creating a bigger network, she realized her love for fashion, dressing up for work and events, and giving advice on looks.
She never anticipated that her idea of style modern, trendy, infused with hints of Africa, largely on the handmade side of African accessories, would be interesting to people she encountered.
She realized people’s interest when she noticed that the items she bought during her visits to Kenya would be gone, hijacked or “borrowed” by friends in a few weeks or months. It became clear there was something special here, giving her the idea to start Kasandy.
Designed With Quality and Sustainability
Kasandy is a fair trade store where customers can buy handmade products made by artisans in Kenya, East Africa, local artisans, and other groups worldwide. These wonderful products connect East African stories to global fashion consumers while making a difference and making them look good.
Each item is of great quality, with the environment in mind and always with design at the forefront.
Kasandy collaborates directly with artisan entrepreneurs to develop, introduce, or advance their product design and quality to meet current market trends, build their enterprises, and sustainably boost their income.
Kasandy aims to introduce and expand the reach of East African small, micro-economy artisans to earn enough to support their families, businesses, and communities.
They provide a platform for under-employed artists to share their beautiful, high-quality, design-led, ethically produced, and environmentally friendly one-of-a-kind products with the global marketplace. They believe that buying small, supporting one another, and creating opportunities empower people, their art, and their communities.
Collaborating With Fair and Ethics
Jackee Kasandy travels to meet and cultivate artisan groups directly. Quality is most important to Kasandy, inspecting working conditions and ensuring that the business and artisans adhere to fair trade standards.
She collaborates with creators on design, keeping an eye on current market trends, and the artisans charge her a fair price for the products produced. The best part of her job is when artists introduce her to new ideas and materials, which she buys and ships here for the store.
In the shop, Kasandy decides on the items and brands sold in the store from other vendors along with Kasandy products. They have to meet fair trade standards, be unique and interesting and have a measurable positive impact on artisan groups or communities.
Kasandy considers it important to know the craftspeople and tell their stories while focusing on recycled, up-cycled or ethically sourced materials. Most importantly, everything they stock has to be practical and cool.
Kasandy is where creativity, craftsmanship, impact, and design meet. To learn more about their products, visit their website at https://kasandy.com/.
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