An interview with Candy Maaka-Stoten
Eco-Business Owner of KSKYE
Tell us a little more about
yourself! I’m an ex-pat Kiwi, now living in
Sydney, Australia. I have lived here for over half of my life,
but I grew up in beautiful Hawkes Bay,
New Zealand. I have an I.T and design background and work
as an ethical designer behind my label, KSKYE.
I am also a power yogi, a long time vegetarian turned raw vegan and a
‘conscious living’ advocate behind theconsciousblogger.com.
What are your three favorite
eco-products? I love the ocean and am very conscious about
what goes down the sink (which ends up in the ocean); a few of my favourite eco
products are eco-vegan cosmetics and cleansers; lippy and eyeliner, shampoo and
conditioner and everyday household cleaners.
I also try and buy organic everything - food, cosmetics, clothing,
towels and bedding.
I’m also
a huge fan of upcycling. I love what
businesses can do with used products that would otherwise be waste.
What was the first step you took
to a more eco- friendly lifestyle? I became vegan. Just eliminating all animal products from my
life drastically reduces my carbon footprint.
This is in my personal life and in business. Livestock farming is responsible for extreme
amounts of environmental damage and pollution – from mass deforestation, water
depletion, ocean dead zones and species extinction and literally has the
highest carbon footprint on the planet; more than all transportation in the
world, put together.
A branch
off livestock farming is leather production.
Leather production is listed twice on the world’s ‘Top Ten Pollutants’,
from livestock farming and leather tanneries.
Leather tanneries release millions of tons of toxic waste and chemicals
into the air and into our waterways – which ends up poisoning the workers,
nearby villages and the environment.
India and China
are the world’s leading leather exporters; Kanpur,
India is the
leading city. To give you an idea of how
toxic leather production is; 50 million litres of highly toxic wastewater (a
slurry of poisons including chromium, lead and arsenic) is generated by Kanpur’s tanneries alone,
on a daily basis. What is even more
frightening, is that only 20% of this wastewater is treated properly before
being released. This wastewater ends up
in crops, farmlands and in the River Ganges.
Becoming
vegan was literally my first step towards living a more eco-friendly lifestyle
- and it just naturally increased from there.
I became more curious about conscious living and started living an
organic, greener and compassionate life.
Can you tell us how you got
started in your business? I left I.T in pursuit of design and
creativity. In 2009, I launched my
high-end fashion footwear label, KeilanaSkye.
For a young label, it did really well pretty much straight away. In its first 4 years, I had shown at
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Australia;
in LA and NYC. I had international
stockists and clientele; I won a very prestigious Qantas fashion award, had
numerous national and international press editorials and was also named a ‘Top
Ten Independent Designer’ in 2012, by a UK Magazine. I also supplied shoes to Australia’s
Next Top Model and dressed quite a few celebrities - my customer base grew
really quickly, everyday.
We saw that you recently made
some big business changes/revamped some products. Why did you decide to make
the change? Behind all of KeilanaSkye’s success; my
awareness about how polluting the leather and fashion industry is, started to
grow. I wanted to rebrand to eco-vegan
then and there, but I knew that I had to execute the rebrand properly and over
time. It was really tough; my career no
longer aligned with my ethics and financially, it drained everything we had. I spent most of 2014 rebranding, prototyping
and designing new product lines; which affected our sales because we did not
have a new collection to sell. We made it through that and now in 2015, my
label has completely rebranded to KSKYE; an ethical, eco and cruelty-free
fashion label.
I love
animals and I love the planet – but what I was doing was destroying both. At the time of launching KeilanaSkye; I had
no idea of the environmental damage, pollution, waste and cruelty involved. I wasn’t happy or proud of what I was doing -
and if you’re not proud of what you do, it’s time to change.
What is the best piece of
business advice you ever received? I have learnt by experiencing it,
researching what I didn’t know and trial and error. The first two years were my biggest learning
curves, but I still learn something everyday.
My best pieces of business advice to offer are:
- Don’t stop collaborating. No matter how big or successful you may become; keep collaborating and networking with like-minded people and businesses.
- Spend money on things that matter first. Stock and marketing should come over buying the ‘best of everything’. I have seen a few business owners buy expensive office equipment – meanwhile they weren’t getting many sales. Your office will still function with second hand equipment and without the latest iMac.
- Keep learning, ask questions and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
- Stay true to yourself. If it doesn’t feel right, change it.
What are your three most popular
products?
The DEMIOS Saber Tooth Crystal Necklace Click here to check it out on her site!
The DEMIOS Saber Tooth Crystal Necklace Click here to check it out on her site!
INDIGO Purple Jet Sunglasses Click Here to check it out on her site!
HYDRA Crystal Point Necklaces Click Here to Check it out on her site!
What message would you like to
leave with our readers about making the switch to a more eco friendly life
style or business? No item or product is worth our health, a
life or the Earth – making the switch just makes sense ;-)
Thanks
so much Candy!
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