KAZI: Handicrafts by the experienced artisans made to inspire your living

Alicia Wallace

KAZI employs men and women in remote areas of Africa (Rwanda, Uganda, and Ghana) enabling them to create unique handcrafted products from natural materials with global appeal and demand.

We invest and train men and women with a skill set that increases their wages 10x within a 12 month period.

What was the inspiration to start this business?

I went on a trip to Sierra Leone right after college and what I saw and experienced I couldn't forget when I returned to the US. Men and women with lack of jobs and opportunities stood in line for hours to access basic medical care services. Having studied economics,

I was interested and intrigued at the challenge of creating jobs and opportunities that would enable them to provide for their family's needs - education, healthcare, nutritious food, etc. I returned to the US with a passion and purpose to find a way to create jobs and income that created a lasting impact and empowered people.

When you started your business, did you ever envision that you would be where you are now?

Oh gosh. No. I didn't actually set out to start this company, I set out the help people and look around for the right company to work for, and not finding the right opportunity at the right time, it let me a place where I found a partner to launch AAA. I never envisioned myself as an entrepreneur.

Once we started the company, it was so all-consuming it was hard to lift my head up and look around and envision what was to come or where we were going at times. Much of the business has been built on both luck and hard work together, many opportunities coming by chance.

This journey has been moving a small grain of sand each day, continually, eventually adding up into a beautiful anthill that I and many others have built together.

Was there ever a time that things didn't fall into place, struggles, or challenges? What were they and how did you get past it and grow from the experience?

Two years into launching our business, Ebola-hit West Africa. Thousands of miles away, this really shouldn't have been an issue for our business. However, our one sales channel was direct to the consumer in person, with a big sign above that said "All Across Africa, from their hands to yours" Ouch. The news headlines at the time were "Ebola All Across Africa" as it was spreading from country to country in West Africa.

This crisis almost killed us. It totally decimated what we thought would be our holiday sales and our morale. We had to find a retail consultant to help us through that time, he coached us on how to create a brand and offering that brought us out of that time of just one channel and customer. We found great CFO/ financial mentors to coach and help us build a financially sound company (we needed that long before this, but never too late to start!).

I learned to listen to experts, but also to have my own discernment about my business as well. It's not a "you must know more than me" but a partnership and exchange of ideas where I was learning from them, but also vetting the info that was being presented.

What was the biggest lesson you learned while starting and growing this business?

The very essence of running a business means you're learning huge lessons at the start, in the middle, and throughout the growth periods. When I think back to the biggest early lessons it was that I had a bullish amount of confidence and that I needed to slow down and test my theories. We had a sales partner that we were very successful with and had a history of a certain level of numbers.

When we were approached by their competitor, we worked to create a new offering for them but also projected numbers at a rate that was similar to the first successful partner, but with a new assortment and really, a brand new retailer. I made so many assumptions that it would be similar to the first, brought in a lot of inventory and went big and aggressive on the growth strategy that it was an event and time period that almost put us out of business.

I later learned about 'lean testing' and wished all along that I had done it for that time period - I was way too confident and fast-moving at that time.

What would you tell a FEM that is struggling in her business and feel like it's too difficult?

Girl, business is tough. But there is no better feeling than knowing you are capable, strong, and needed. The world needs you - your ideas, your energy, your spirit and you can do it.

Perseverance is a lesson that grad school doesn't teach you, maybe sometimes corporate America can teach you - but there is nothing like being an entrepreneur and learning about perseverance and optimism.

I've found there is a hard line to find between when you're being stupid and should throw in the towel and when you just need to pick up yourself after falling and keep going. In order to see that line and trust it, I've found mentors and advisors that know me and my business and are safe to call and discuss that with. There have been a few times where I'm like "Is this the end? Am I being stupid to just keep pushing through this?" Obviously, I'm still here - so at this stage I've been pushed, encouraged, and motivated to stick to this path and battle, but it's been so helpful to just know that I need to put my head down and push through.

What continues to inspire you to keep on growing your business?

Right now we work with 3,625 men and women across East Africa. While I'd like to say it's the large-scale impact, the 3,625 men and women and their 5.7 depending on average that we support, it's really the individuals I can connect with and know more deeply that keep me inspired to keep going.

It's Jean Marie, my old guard, who made very very little money in Rwanda as a house guard, uneducated and with a very simple job that smiled a lot, was honest and loyal that I gave an opportunity to at our office and over time he's taken English courses, computer courses and now is a Center Manager, managing a location and operation for our business. Giving him a job and opportunity is a proud moment for me.

It's Seraphine, a mother of 7 who was a weaver prior to meeting her, her husband a rural farmer. Their kids were in and out of school since he didn't have a stable income, but after meeting her (I can still see her sweet and eager face and gorgeous skin the first time I met her) she earned enough to send her kids to school full time, get her daughter a scholarship to go to university and take out a loan to build a new house. Her daughter went on to graduate school through a scholarship and is now studying in Brussels to be a doctor.

For me, it's the real people, their real stories, and THEIR perseverance that drives me to continue to build this business.

Final advice for those thinking of starting a business or looking to grow their current business?

Building a business may be the hardest thing you will ever do in your life. Don't get me wrong, I have a husband and a family too, have had major health challenges ... so life isn't just cake. Raising a child and keeping a relationship strong and healthy is also a challenge, overcoming terminal illnesses, all these things are real and hard, no doubt.

For me, the ups and downs of years of building a business from the ideas, partners, cash management, culture creation, etc amidst regular life and challenges that can consume you - that's been where the challenge has come in. BUT - there is nothing as gratifying that I have experienced as knowing I am needed, capable, and valued and doing something that matters.

Find advisors, mentors, a business partner, a community, something to join you in this journey. It's going to take you and many others to make this vision you have come to life and you're so much better with others by your side.

Business is hard, but so so so worth it. Go get 'em, girl!

To connect: Email: alicia@allacrossafrica.org // Insta: @aliciamwallace