Female Founders: Jenny Nuccio Of The Imani Collective On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
… I believe women are capable of so much more, but with the other responsibilities that we have as women, this changes how we step into a new venture. We calculate what needs to be our top priority and we intentionally serve others before ourselves. So, lack of support whether at home from the spouse, or from parents, or even the support from capital to start the venture. I can speak from experience on all fronts. I am grateful I have such a supportive husband who sacrifices just as much as I do, but not many have this privilege. I also believe that women are getting more comfortable with talking about money and taking on the role of the breadwinner, but it has been a cultural shift and perception change over the last 20 years.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenny Nuccio. Jenny is the Founder and CEO of Imani Collective — a social enterprise and holistic women’s empowerment program in Mombasa, Kenya committed to breaking generational poverty. Having lived as an integral part of her Kenyan community since 2013, she is committed to the collaborative advancement of equitable opportunity for the friends she works with every day, as well as for marginalized populations worldwide.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
This landed a bit in my lap. I went to Kenya in 2009 and this was the beginning of asking ‘why not’ in my life. Growing up in Texas, I always saw my life there and somewhat marrying young and settling into the routine of life there. When I was 18, I went to Kenya and it forever changed my perspective on the world. I was immersed in a new culture and quickly realized there was much of the world I wanted to see. In the midst of traveling and finishing school, I always found myself back in Kenya. At that time, I was working in a school and helping them develop their child sponsorship program. As I was capturing the stories of the kids — I would walk home with them daily and found that the kiddos struggling the most were coming from single, widowed, disadvantaged women-owned homes. This experience not only opened my eyes to the lack of opportunities and education for these women but it brought me to some deep friendships. Over the years I developed friendships with these women and together we began Imani Collective. In 2013, it was only a training program and ran as a non profit organization. Over the years, we grew into the enterprise we are today. We grew from 16 women to over 130 women and became a recognized global ethical brand.
So, what led me here? Friendships really and a heart posture to want to connect and open doors. We have always done this together — I just am a big cheerleader in the process :)
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Probably the most interesting part of my story is that I sold everything and moved into the village with the women. I wanted to show the women “pioneers” of Imani Collective that I was ‘in it’ with them and we were no different. We were both human, we were both creative, we were both capable and we were going to build it together. So as I taught them how to sew through my broken swahili at that time — they taught me how to fetch my water, cook over an open fire, hand wash my clothes and enjoy the simplicity of life. They shaped me to who I am today.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
So, in the beginning — I knew nothing about fabric sourcing or anything. I am not a designer at all. I like being creative, but I just am a bit naive. So, when we first started, I picked this terrible fabric — like really terrible. The people who purchased from us in the very beginning — I call those purchases my pity purchases (I really think some people just felt bad for me, but back to the story). I picked this terrible fabric and one day when I was walking through the market I was carrying one of our newest totes with this fabric. Then it started to rain which quickly turned into a downpour and when I finally got to a place that was dry, I looked down and my white shirt was all pink! The fabric (which was red) had bled all over my clothes. It was on my shirt, jeans, hands, everything. So, I am deeply sorry if this ever happened to some of our first customers! You all are the best and we appreciate your love and support from the very beginning :)
I guess the lesson I learned from that was “I should not be picking fabric” ha but honestly, I learned from that point that I was never meant to do this alone and shortly after that I hired on our lead designer who is now my business partner and COO of our Dallas location. We are only better together.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Wow, there are several people in my life that I am extremely thankful for. The first person I would say is my mentor and coach, Cathy Hawk. I believe she really taught me how to follow the ideas and decisions that light me up and that changed everything for me in business and my personal life. She runs Get Clarity® and her frameworks really helped me breakthrough where I felt stuck. Another person would be Hailey Bickham who is our Lead Designer and now business partner at Imani Collective. She is the brains behind our brand, but she is also the first person in my life that understood my vision and ran with me instead of behind me. I could not be here today without her and I am so grateful for her expertise, beautiful personality and friendship.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
To be honest — the simple lack of support. I believe women are capable of so much more, but with the other responsibilities that we have as women, this changes how we step into a new venture. We calculate what needs to be our top priority and we intentionally serve others before ourselves. So, lack of support whether at home from the spouse, or from parents, or even the support from capital to start the venture. I can speak from experience on all fronts. I am grateful I have such a supportive husband who sacrifices just as much as I do, but not many have this privilege. I also believe that women are getting more comfortable with talking about money and taking on the role of the breadwinner, but it has been a cultural shift and perception change over the last 20 years.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
One of the programs we offer at Imani Collective is childcare. We provide this for our artisans and staff in Kenya as well as our team in the United States. This is important for me to know we are caring about the whole person and give a holistic approach to empowerment. If there were more programs that helped with this for women, then it would add that support needed. On the other hand, I still believe financial capital is lacking for women and also when women have the opportunity to gain this capital, I find they are questioned more, undermined often and dismissed easily. This attitude and behavior in institutions needs to change. We need to do better to be inclusive in nature. Also, women and their financial stewardship is pretty impeccable — there needs to be more opportunity for women to shine in this.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
1. The depth of how women care is sometimes inexplicable. We are nurturers by nature and when you apply that within a business, this is not a weakness but a strength. The culture it creates is beautiful and cultivates individuals who want to work harder for the mission because they feel loved, seen and heard.
2. Most women steward money well and are smart with how they use their resources and create strategy around that.
3. Women create inclusivity and are teachable. Women leaders do not use their position as a power play, but act in humility, always having a teachable spirit and continuously grow themselves and their organizations
4. Collaboration. Women see collaboration as a win and know how to foster a powerful community for the better.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
I think the idea that there is more time in the day or that because you are the founder (your own boss) then your schedule should be easier. I think we believe there is freedom in being the one on top and I do believe there is a point where your schedule gets a bit more flexible, but that takes a LONG TIME. As the founder, you are in it. You live, breathe and sleep it. I go to bed thinking about ideas or things we need to get done and then I dream about it and then I wake up chasing after it. You have to develop into having that time but that is not what happens within the first decade.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
I think everyone can be a founder as long as it is aligned with their passion. If they are only driven by money or the facade of having freedom in their schedule and time, then no, they are not cut out to be a founder. It all goes back to heart posture of the leader and that will take them the farthest — if they have the right heart and intentions from the beginning.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, What are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. Know your values
We all need to know our core values because it gives us a foundation and lens to which we make our decisions. When I finally understood my values personally and then our driving values and guiding principles as a company — it changed the way we did business — even to the point of deciding which customers or partnerships we moved forward with.
2. Learn to say No, even when the opportunity looks good
This goes back to core values. They are like a roadmap and when you know those values it allows you to say the right No’s even if that means saying No to what seems like a good opportunity. A couple of years ago I said No to a larger big box store that would have ordered tens of thousands of units and the revenue of sales coming into Imani Collective would have been a game changer, but they wanted to white label our brand. Since the beginning, one of our values has been empowerment and community. We have always wanted to ensure that our artisans are recognized for their work and this partnership. Although the opportunity presented a good income, it would have taken the story and the recognition of the artisan away from the product, so we chose to say no to the opportunity to stay aligned with our values.
3. Find your community
As the founder, there are only certain people that will understand the pressures of running a business. As much as I love my family and good friends, what I learned over the years is the importance of finding my people who I did not feel misunderstood by. I have a community of women founders and CEOs who really can relate to the pressures of the hat and roles I wear and I am thankful to have that support and my community. They have been essential to my growth and keeping me creative and constantly innovative in my role.
4. Listen to your team
The team around us is so powerful and at Imani Collective we believe that we are not just better together, we are our best. When we first launched the training program of Imani Collective in 2013 (before we were an official global ethical impact brand), I lived in the village with our first 16 women, who I call the pioneers of Imani Collective. I immersed myself within the community to learn, grow and build Imani Collective together. By listening to them and allowing our business to be collaborative from the beginning — I have always been able to incorporate beautiful ideas and develop a team that has such a beautiful culture. I have never done it alone but always have chosen to radically listen and as a founder this is very important to continuously practice.
5. Never forget to have fun
Life goes by too fast to take it so seriously and always be living under a high level of stress. This is probably one of my newest revelations from the last couple of years, but to have fun is essential to keep the spirit, morale and passion alive!
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
There has never been a time where we have not looked at how we are giving back and serving our community. Imani Collective is built on this idea of making the world a better place. We have always cared deeply about our artisans and have taken a holistic approach to empowerment to ensure we are always doing and being better.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Be Kind Movement. The simple act of finding kind words daily to say to someone. Whether that is a compliment or pat on the back or just acknowledging someone’s hard work with a smile and a ‘good job friend’ — words go such a long way. We live in a harsh world and we need more kindness. We are human, we are all tenderhearted and we all need love. So, the be kind movement — where we use words to lift one another up instead of tear us down.
Let us be kind (not nice) — KIND. A genuine kindness — pure intentions.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to have coffee with Jacqueline Novagratz. She really has inspired my journey and has taught me how to be a better leader, individual and change maker.