Katy Leakey Interview (Part Four)

Katy Leakey Interview (Part Four)

by Niki

The finale of the interview with Katy Leakey, founder of the Leakey Collection. Covering an exploration of the principles of fair trade, a little business advice, and an awe-inspiring dream for the future.

I recently spoke with Katy Leakey, founder and owner of the Leakey Collection, for the final segment of an interview hosted by Shopping for a Change. To remind you, the Leakey Collection is an organization that operates in Kenya, and sells natural, African-made, sustainable jewelry and handcrafted products to a global market. Its principle goal is to give economic opportunities to local communities in Kenya, especially to women.

What does it mean for a company to truly embody the principles of fair trade?

Before I talked to Katy Leakey, I thought “fair trade” just meant that the buyer gave the seller his/her money’s worth for a product – in other words, no cheating in an exchange of goods. Though I had the gist of the concept, the degree to which companies such as the Leakey Collection go to ensure that “fair trade” is carried out astounded me. Here are Katy’s thoughts on the principles of fair trade:

“There are three basic tenets of fair trade…

1)   The Living Wage: It’s relative to the area in which work operation is set up. We make sure that the person working in an average week is able to feed and clothe their families, and have basic medical attention. Even for American families, that’s a lot.

2)   Protect Workers’ Rights: The company works with the employees to set prices, schedule working hours, etc. We always consult our workers to make sure they approve of our decisions.

The Zulugrass Single Strand Necklace, like all
of the Leakey Collection's products,
 abides by all of the fair trade principles.

3)   Give Back to the Community: This one’s optional, but we do it anyway. We believe the company has the responsibility to build infrastructure, schools, etc. – and strengthen the community that works for them.

And, recently, a fourth tenet has been added as well: The Environment.  Your company agrees that the work it does isn’t detrimental to the environment.”

I can only imagine how much improved the average quality of life would be if every company in the world embodied these principles of fair trade. Hats off to the Leakey Collection.

Did you make any mistakes along the way?

I was surprised to find that the advice coming from a Kenyan organization working to improve local women’s quality of life was what I would expect from any ordinary store or business: “Check with customers to see whether they want to buy it.” But, then again, “A business is a business.” The Leakey Collection engages not only in marketing, but also in communication with their costumers, especially through Facebook. If you ever plan to start a business with a consumer market, take an expert’s advice to be sure that you “communicate” with customers, and that your “products speak correctly” to them.

What are your goals for the Leakey Collection?

“I had a dream,” said Martin Luther King Jr. Most of us do. But only a few have a selfless dream like Katy Leakey’s – a dream to make a difference. When I asked Katy about her goals for the future of the Leakey Collection, she immediately responded that “We would like – love – to be big champions of fair trade around the world.” The Leakey Collection is already a “big champion” of fair trade, but Katy wanted to spend even “more time on being international proponents of fair trade – spreading the word and carrying the banner.” If that dream is not inspiring enough, Katy’s second goal for the Leakey Collection is to “expand developing systems, modular systems, that other countries could use” She talks about the “possibility of writing programs for schools” that would help train in business endeavors so that others can replicate her work in the future.

Overall, I found the experience of speaking with Katy both awe-inspiring and educational. Always pursue your dream.

Hi, I’m Niki, and I’m an intern this summer at Shopping for a Change! I’m a rising junior in high school, with a passion for singing and playing the piano. So far, I’ve had a great experience working, learning about marketing, reading inspiring stories, conducting interviews, and now blog-writing. Hope you enjoyed reading the installments of the interview!

Katy Leakey Interview (Part Three)

Katy Leakey Interview (Part Three)

by Eleanor

The third part of the Interview with Katy Leakey, founder of the Leakey Collection, explores the newest and very popular addition to the Collection: Marula Oil.

While most of The Leakey Collection’s products are jewelry pieces made out of Zulugrass or Zuluwood, in 2012 they added Marula Oil to their lineup. Billed as “the ideal moisturizer” Marula Oil has gained popularity throughout the US, being featured in media from the New York Times to Vogue. During our interview, I was able to ask Katy about the process of creating Marula Oil and its ongoing success in the US Market.

The process of bringing Marula Oil to The Leakey Collection began about five years ago, when Katy’s husband, Leakey Collection co-founder, and botanical expert Philip Leakey began exploring Marula Oil’s potential. Because of Philip’s botanical background he “has worked with many plants

over the years and [...] knew about Marula Oil.” Once the Leakeys decided to move forward with the Marula oil, it “took about three and half to four years to develop it.” The Leakeys had to set up the structures and methods to harvest the nuts that produce the oil from the wild.

The entire operation is incredibly eco-friendly, as evidenced by Katy’s description of the harvesting policies: “All of the nuts are gathered from under trees; they’ve already fallen [and] animals and people have already eaten the fruit. Everybody has done everything they want with [them]--these are just the waste nuts.” The nuts are gathered by Maasai women, who then sell them to the Leakey Collection, at “the same price as fair trade coffee.” Next the nuts are individually cut open by hand, in a process called decorticating, and the kernels are picked out. Only the fresh kernels can be used to make Marula Oil, so about 15 percent of the kernels are discarded. In the last step before being shipped to America, the nuts are put through a custom cold press filtration system, which the Leakeys had to design and build themselves. Once the nuts, now an oil, reach the US a “light, fresh fragrance” is added.

http://shoppingforachange.org/Marula_Oil.php

In the past year and a half, Marula Oil has earned a plethora of media attention and has become immensely popular in the beauty community and beyond. When I asked Katy what she attributes to Marula Oil’s success, she responded without a pause, “It’s efficacy.” Marula Oil is extremely versatile and its uses date back more than a century: “The women of South Africa have used it traditionally for healing burns and scars for about 150 years or so.” According to Katy it is “absolutely amazing” at this as she cited her own need for Marula Oil: “I fell and got a scrape on my lip, and I normally scar very badly, I would have had this mark for three weeks, [but with Marula Oil] it was gone within a week. And I mean completely gone, no trace.” In addition to its healing properties, Marula Oil is also high in antioxidants and omega six and nine which allow it to be absorbed deeply into the skin and to be classified as a “medical grade hydrator.”

The rapid growth of Marula Oil has caused Katy to have to spend less time in Kenya and more in the US. While the Leakeys “normally [...] spend one to two months a year in the States for trade shows and business” they have had to remain in the US for more time in order to keep up with Marula Oil’s growth. Katy hopes to be able to return to her normal schedule and spend most of the year in Kenya in near future.

When asked why The Leakey Collection decided to make the move into skincare, which certainly took a considerable amount of time and resources, Katy discussed the benefits of a consumable product, something a customer will need to use repeatedly, “with a consumable we see the possibility of expanding work opportunity to tens of thousands of women, not just a few thousand women.” With Marula Oil the Leakeys would like to “expand work opportunity out throughout East Africa. We are well down into Tanzania now with it and we’d like to keep expanding.” As the Marula nut is available throughout Sub Saharan Africa and Marula Oil is rapidly expanding in popularity, Katy’s goals seem to be within reach.

As Katy said,“It’s just fabulous--you have to try it!” If you want to try Marula Oil for yourself, click here.

Up Next: The final installment of our interview with Katy, discussing fair trade and The Leakey Collection’s goals for the future.

Hi! I’m Eleanor and I am a rising high school junior. I have two cats, I love drinking tea, and I’m obsessed with all the jewelry on Shopping for a Change (too bad I can’t afford it all). Interning with Shopping for a Change is an amazing experience filled with inspiring stories, great opportunities, and lots and lots of cheese provided by the founder Stacey. Cheers!

Katy Leakey Interview (Part Two)

Katy Leakey Interview (Part Two)

by Jessica

The second part of the interview with Katy Leakey, founder of the Leakey Collection, explores the improvement in the lives of the women of Kenya and Katy’s experience in not only starting but also continuing her work.

When Stacey informed the interns that we would be interviewing Katy Leakey, I immediately tried to imagine what living in Kenya would be like. But to picture living in a country I’ve never been to is extremely difficult because I associate my thoughts with memories and experiences. With none to reference, I sifted through various movies, books, and news articles I had seen about Africa in my mind; to my frustration, none of them gave me a satisfyingly coherent feel of what the lifestyle in Africa was like. As a result, I was excited to see if what Katy had to say about her experiences in Africa would help me understand life in the country better.  While at first afraid she would respond to my questions with predictably generic answers, I was amazed by the vivid pictures she painted through her incredibly intricate details and stories.

How has the Leakey Collection changed the lives of the Maasai?

Katy’s efforts were primarily met with resistance as the people of Kenya feared she would try to dictate change in their culture. Luckily, as the natives saw that Katy was bent on improving their situation, more started to partake in this new enterprise.

“Since then, it's changed dramatically.”

The women were able to have a secure financial base for the first time. Many began to open bank accounts and some even started their own businesses.

“They started things like micro financing; they have their own herds of cattle and goats; they’ve started sewing operations, hotels, little restaurants, and all sorts of things.”

I was impressed that most of the women were capable of managing their hard-earned money responsibly–a skill that many privileged people have not perfected.

The Multi-Strand Zulugrass Bracelet in Angani. 

“The women are more independent and they have more respect within the community.”

Another change was the domestic relationship in families of the natives. At first, the men were reluctant to accept the fact that their wives were working for money.

"For the first couple of years, the men REALLY fought it”

First demanding that Katy pay the men for the work instead of the women, they then tried to take the money from the women, and finally resorted to hassling the women at their workplaces.

"At that point we were closing worksites and opening them somewhere else, and then closing those too."

Katy had confirmed my belief that strife continued in the household and the domestic relationships in Kenya were founded on the understanding that the men had to be the breadwinners of the family. But as she continued, I discovered that this was not the case at all.

"Finally one day, about two years after we got started, Philip and I were driving down a dirt track towards the house and our car was surrounded by Maasai warriors called Moran... and they were fully suited with their spears and clubs and everything.”

The male warriors had demanded Katy to reopen the worksites for the women, but Katy refused to do so. When the men questioned her response, she explained that since the men continued to harass the women she would not be a part of that. After Katy refused once more, the warriors admitted they realized how much the women’s’ income was changing their communities.

"We understand now that they are paying school fees. We understand they are paying medical fees, they are buying food, they are clothing the children; therefore, we no longer have to sell the cattle, so we are getting wealthier - the wealth of the entire family is improving as a result of our women having work. So we really want you to open the worksites."

Maasai women who work with The Leakey Collection
 beading jewelry for the Collection.

Realizing that she could not change their minds on the case, Katy decided to get rid of the men by saying she would comply on one seemingly impossible condition.

“You must walk the lengths and widths of the Rift Valley and get all the Moran warriors to agree that they will no longer hassle the women and then come back… And we thought we'd never see them again."

Thinking that she had successfully deterred the warriors from trying to get the worksites, Katy didn’t give the subject another thought. However, she was in for quite a surprise.

"We were so shocked... 10 days later the same group of young men walked up to our place and said, “Okay we've done it."

Katy didn’t have any other choice but to open up the worksites again, as was requested by the Moran warriors. Fortunately, the men seemed to have learned their lessons about discouraging the women from working.

"…And from that day forward we haven’t had a problem."

Nowadays, conditions are really improving for the women in Kenya thanks to the Leaky Collection. Not only is there less domestic violence in the families but also men now even prefer to marry women who have jobs.  As Katy herself even said:

“It's been fantastic.”

Hey guys - my name is Jessica. Interviewing Katy Leakey and writing this blog have both been new experiences for me, so I'm excited to see how it's all come together! Thank you - and I hope you guys enjoy reading my article!


Up Next: Part three of our interview with Katy discussing the Leakey Collection's newest addition, Marula Oil.

Katy Leakey Interview (Part One)

Katy Leakey Interview (Part One)

By Ilana

On June 27, 2013, four of our summer interns had a wonderful opportunity to interview Katy Leaky, co-founder of the Leaky Collection, an organization which provides economic opportunity to local communities in Kenya. We hope you enjoy reading about their experiences and what they learned.  It will be presented in four parts, and will be followed by a short biography of each intern at the conclusion of their portion.

-- Stacey

I just recently had the opportunity to talk to Katy Leakey the founder of the Leakey Collection, all the way from Kenya.  The Leakey Collection is an all natural, sustainable jewelry and home decor line handcrafted in Africa. Inspired by her amazing company, I wanted to learn more about her job, daily routine, and life in Kenya.

Katy and her husband Philip Leakey live in the Rift Valley and have the Maasai tribes as their neighbors. In 2001, a terrible drought in Kenya left the Maasai's cattle without water and the ability to graze. The men were forced to leave behind their families and relocate their cattle elsewhere, leaving the women and children without a steady income. Before long, Katy and her husband found themselves supporting over 100 families providing food, medical and school funds. "Once it got up to that number it was no longer sustainable," stated Katy. The Leakey Collection evolved out of necessity.

Ilana models a Multi-Strand Zulugrass Bracelet
and Necklace. 

Coupling Katy's background in the arts with Philip's mechanical expertise and experience setting up enterprises in rural areas, the Leakeys turned to their environment, looking for a way to develop an economically sustainable means to earning a living for the Maasai women. By drying and dying an abundantly available wild grass that was otherwise not used, and then mixing it with Czechoslovakian glass beads, Zulugrass jewelry was born. 

Provided by the Leakey’s, the Maasai women check beading kits on a weekly basis and assemble this beautiful jewelry. 
The women work at remote work stations, often with their young babies at hand.  With a preference for sitting on the ground with their legs outstretched and beads in their laps, they enjoy singing while they bead.  They can work as much or as little as they want, after which the Leakeys buy back the completed products and connect them with a very sophisticated end market. This provides the women with access to a fair trade job, a stable income for themselves and their families.The Leakeys chose to keep their collection contemporary and well placed for the global market. Katy likes to think of the Leakey Collection as the “Ralph Lauren” of fair trade.

A normal day for Katy Leakey begins around 5:30 in the morning. Leaving her sleeping tent and walking 82 steps down a rock carved slope to reach her kitchen tent.  Making tea and watching the morning sunrise is a daily joy for her. Living out of tents for about 7 years, Katy enjoys living the “rustic life” in Kenya.

Often Katy has unusual days. A good friend of hers had a cow who had fallen off a cliff. Katy then jumped into a pickup truck and drove to the top of the mountain where the cow had fallen. They built a track down to where the cow was stranded. Finding the cow had broken its back,and needing to bring it to safety this took an entire day and about 17 men. With all their determination and efforts they were able to save the cow and reunite it with its nursing baby calf.

Up Next: Part Two of our interview with Katy, discussing the life changing impact the Leakey Collection has had on the lives of its artisans.

Hi, My name is Ilana, and I am a senior in high school. My two passions are Fashion and helping others. While interning at Shopping for a Change I have gained insight in marketing , social media, interviewing, and now blogging!