We were lucky to catch up with Vena Lewis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Vena, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Although homelessness, especially in Los Angeles, disproportionately affects single Black women, with my lived experience of being unhoused as a senior Black woman I know what it feels like to be invisible. That’s why I utilize my skills and lived experience to advocate for unhoused women through volunteering, donating and fundraising as well as meeting with business and political leaders to help influence and evoke change.

As a mother, I also remain keenly aware of the ever present climate crisis and implement sustainability into my lifestyle and the Vena Vena brand. Our products are all created from end and deadstock luxury designer leathers, locally sourced in Los Angeles. We have inserted more and more canvas and Japanese denim into the product lines and are working towards sourcing plant based leathers to prototype soon.

Being values and mission aligned is not just about throwing around words, it’s about planning and taking sustainable actions which also impact the growth of the company over the long term. We see a lot more of this type of innovation in the future for Vena Vena Handcrafted, especially with support from the community through each new phase. Support our plant based leather future with our logo merch, featuring the cactus and pineapple, on our website.

Vena, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been sewing my whole life but hadn’t utilized it for my profession until I became homeless as an adult with a daughter going into college. Since launching my business from a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles in 2017, I’m proud of the fact that my skills got me housed, my daughter graduated school and my bags are everywhere from The White House to television series. I’m most proud that I can lead by example and help other unhoused people know that they can make it out of their situation. I’m a success story of city programs and I enjoy sharing my story with others as well as using my voice to guide committees and legislators with my lived experience perspective.

By that extension, our clients and wearers support the brand identity of a founder that is formerly unhoused who is not only surviving but in business too. The Vena Vena wearer loves our eye for minimal, lightweight design that is packable and chic. Our products travel and mix-n-match very well together, whether handbags and wallets or bottle bags and totes.

I design and create everything myself, and I do custom work as well. We just redid our website so that folks can create an account and start a collaboration through that platform. The astrologer Chani Nicholas did a wholesale order of custom canvas totes recently. Staying values-aligned is super important here, and we tend to partner with brands that feel the same way too.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I pivoted my business during the Covid pandemic, when people weren’t going out as much, which impacted the sales of my handbags. Since people were staying at home a lot more, I began crafting leather home goods like wrapped vases, molded bowls and nesting trays, items that paired great with my coasters and wine lifestyle collection. Once business reopened in person, I began to do individual pop ups inside of West Elm.

This winter, we’re partnering for the upcoming Vena Vena x West Elm Artisan Holiday Markets where I’m curating local vendors and their goods such as candles, spice blends, ceramics and more starting on Small Business Saturday at the Santa Monica West Elm located on Fourth Street on Saturday 11/25 11a-5p, and DTLA Market at Broadway West Elm on Saturday 12/02 11a-5p. Each event benefits a charitable cause, such as the St. Jude Children’s Hospitals. My pivot not only allowed me to set my sights on a new sector, but open up to a new partnership which grew into a curatorial role that affects the exposure that other small businesses receive as well.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner Anita “Anu” Hodges and I met while volunteering. We struck up a friendship based on similar values and experiences despite having different backgrounds and our conversations evolved into a working partnership which has helped me achieve my goals and more. Anita’s creative consultancy called The Genuine Article focuses on connecting emerging BIPOC founders with resources and relationship building, and her strategy has had a tremendous impact on my mindset as an entrepreneur who is seeking growth.

When we spend time together, we’re working on the business but we’re also laughing a lot and we’re talking about our lives and bringing it back to the business. Whatever problem we’re solving, it’s all a big metaphor, and there’s usually a lesson to be found in what we’re going through. We love a lesson.

Contact Info:

• Website: venavena.com
• Instagram: @venavenahandbag
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghywuBqZ9YE
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ek-S4EPEi4

Image Credits
Anita “Anu” Hodges for The Genuine Article