All posts filed under: Feature

Scaling v Multiplying | NYC Design Week

It’s been a while since we’ve written. JLee very recently finished up her MBA training, I’ve been living the startup life in NYC. We are both headed back on the road this summer with Turkey, Solvenia, Croatia, Ireland, Morocco, China & Netherlands on the itinerary. The Socient Life continues in our search both philosophically and through product and real business models that are making impactful good in the world. For myself, I’ve been interested in seeing the evolution of social impact becoming generationally an ethos within entrepreneurship. Lately, discussions with my business partner have revolved around scalability, the magic word that has become an ethos in of itself within the startup world, particularly in Silicon Valley. As we wandered Brooklyn artisanal markets for NYC Design Week, perusing the “slow foods” equivalent of craft goods, she became increasingly nonplussed about lack of scalability for any of the products we saw. From marble-hand-chiseled-glazed cups (personal wabisabi favorite of mine, costing its creator 120 hours of work, selling for $34), to art print transfers of surely a graphic student’s …

Bright Shoes, Bright Future

MLo investigates a mysterious shiny shoe fashion phenomenon in Kampala and discovers a spirit of entrepreneurship and aspiration among young Ugandans.

It wasn’t immediately apparent during my first two days in Kampala that there’d be a substantial fashion story to cover. In fact, my initial wardrobe assessment after checking out red soil roads crowded with black-smog spewing trucks and plaintains transported on bicycles, was to go grunge. Read on…

Upcycling to Uplift

A year ago, JLee announced to MLo, “I’ll pack you up in my suitcase when I work in Africa.” Little did we know that we would reunite this Easter in South Africa. JLee is working in Kenya to bring change through small scale farmers while MLo is wandering countries on the X-Ordinary project.

LeeandLo is dedicated to blogging about the “Socient Life” – Social Entrepreneurship lifestyle. Our mission is to bring you stories and ideas from around the world in the areas of Fashion, Design & Tech with a social impact mindset.

Today, we wanted to celebrate the official launch of LeeandLo by showcasing one of the more creative Socient businesses we discovered during our reunion in Cape Town. Read more…