We were lucky to catch up with Anne Drane recently and have shared our conversation below.
Anne, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
SAWA SAWA means ‘it will be okay’ in Swahili. We are a sustainable, conscious, ethically made fashion brand in Austin, Texas. Our mission is to empower artisan women in Kenya make a sustainable, dignified living using skills handed down through generations. We harness skills in beading, weaving, basketry, art and more. This creates unique, intricately handcrafted bags and accessories that are made from organic, natural materials.
We are a sustainable, impact driven fashion brand that is good for the people and the planet. We believe what we wear and the choices we make is a vote on our values and the future we want for future generations. SAWA SAWA is a bridge for women on different sides of the world to empower, appreciate and spread love to each other.
We consider our work a calling and a humbling opportunity to be of service to a bigger purpose.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Hi all. I am Anne. Co-founder and CEO of SAWA SAWA. I am also a wife, a mother, a friend and an Austin woman. The journey of being a female founder has been rewarding, exciting, revealing but also challenging and overwhelming. I was born and raised in Kenya. I migrated to the USA in my early twenties in search of higher education. Life had a better plan than I had for myself. I started working with artisans as a hobby in 2014. It became a going concern when I reconnected with our Co-founder, Catherine on social media. We were new to being a stay-at-home mom. Everything started to fall into place. I have come to learn that when you commit to doing something with a purpose and in service of others, the universe opens the right doors and builds the right relationships. It has not been easy. We are a black, woman founded social enterprise. These are all factors that seemed to work against us but where there is a will, there is a way. It has been a walk of faith for us and for the artisans in Kenya that welcome us into their homes and their communities.
We use the revenue from our sales to fund reproductive health education and menstrual hygiene kits for girls. 65% of girls do not have access to period resources and don’t have the knowledge of the changes happening in their bodies. Our passion to empower the next generation of women means that we keep them in school today. We have also partnered with other nonprofits to bring water, drought relief and medical camps to the women. It has been such a beautiful journey. We look forward to a future of sustainable, earth conscious fashion and empowering women.
Please reach out to me with any advice, questions, partnership ideas, Kenyan tourism questions and anything else. info@sawasawausa.com. We are also available on Amazon, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and text.
We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
Catherine and I were high school classmates in an all-girls boarding school in Kenya many years ago. Fate brought us back together through Facebook in 2017. We shared in our passion to empower women. We created SAWA SAWA together. It is our vision of the world we want for our daughters. It is a platform for the artisans to share their craft with the world and an avenue to pass our culture to our daughters. Catherine works directly with the women in Kenya. She leads the team that helps make the beautiful, handcrafted fashion and the nonprofit impact programs. I work with the American commerce side that creates a self-sustaining going concern.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
We sell our products through our website sawasawausa.com and through our Amazon brand store Amazon.com/sawasawa We are also in various stores and boutiques. We are available for private label for various sustainable and conscious brands. We partner with Faire and Hello Abound to reach boutiques and small businesses. We are on Range Me as an avenue for private labels and retail store brands.
We benefit from a Google Ads grant that helps us reach more customers, shoppers and donors.
In the age of ecommerce, it is a pro to use the affordable technology to build businesses and nonprofits that help us make a living doing things we love. It allows the current generation to live a life free of cubicles and building the dreams of others.
The con of this approach is the endless need for hard work, consistency, drive and initiative. Technology changes when you begin to figure it out. It takes a special kind of person to keep the momentum going.
The key is to meet and connect with like-minded people that share their experiences and help you remember why you do what you do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sawasawausa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawasawausa
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sawasawausa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annedrane/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sawasawausa
Image Credits
Summer Miles