Female Founders: Kahindo Mateene of KAHINDO On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Doug Noll
There is no shortcut to success. I wanted to be on Project Runway because I thought it would catapult me to a household name and success. What I realized is that I didn’t want to be in the spotlight, I just wanted to build a sustainable and successful business and was ok not being a “celebrity designer.”
As a part of our series about Women Founders, we had the pleasure of interviewing Kahindo Mateene.
Kahindo Mateene, the creative visionary behind her namesake brand, KAHINDO, which is a New York based ethical fashion brand that is inspired by her Congolese heritage and African upbringing and ethically Made in Africa using fair trade practices. Mateene, a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, founded her brand in 2017, and strives to use her brand as a vehicle to create job opportunities for women in Africa while sharing the heart and soul of Africa with the rest of the world.
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?
My pleasure, thank you for having me. I was born in Uganda, educated in Kenya, and have lived in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Niger and moved to the US when I was 17 to attend College. I started my brand because I wanted to design clothing that represented my Congolese heritage and African upbringing in a modern way and also told authentic and positive stories about the African continent. I also wanted to use fashion as a vehicle to make a social impact, specifically in Sub Saharan Africa, where I am from, by creating jobs, empowering women and ending poverty through paying fair living wages.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
What people find most interesting is that I competed on the reality show, Project Runway.
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?
I used to do a lot of fashion shows early on. I remember lining up models right before they walked down the runway and realizing some of them were wearing the styles backwards. So I quickly had to have them change seconds before they walked down the runway which was a funny site backstage. The mixup was because I tend to put zippers on the front of dresses as part of the design details the models assumed it was the back when it actually was the front of the design.
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?
It wasn’t a person but an organization. In 2011 I was accepted into the Chicago Fashion Incubator at Macy’s on State Street program. This program gives fashion designers technical product development and business tools and training to create innovative products and launch globally competitive businesses based in Chicago. This program, that supports me till today, gave me the tools I was missing after graduating from Fashion Design school that helped me launch my own fashion brand. Specifically the business of fashion tools that were not taught to me in school.
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?
I think Fear is what is holding women back. Fear is false evidence appearing real, it’s just an illusion, but a powerful one that causes the mind to get stuck, resulting in inaction. But statistics such as those by EY only feed into that fear, when women don’t see themselves in leadership positions of companies, they don’t have real examples of success. Women are change agents at home and in society and having diversity in rooms has proven to make for more profitable business, and the opposite has resulted in embarrassing tone deaf moments that are racist or misogynistic.
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?
Diversity and Inclusion. Even though this has been leading the airwaves especially since the racial tension from 2020, enough is still not being done despite so many organizations popping up claiming to be addressing these issues. Equality in terms of access to funding is still a huge problem and one that I continue to face. I believe Organizations, companies and society as a whole needs to have an outreach department that can research individuals who can bring real life experience to the Diversity initiatives they are building and not have a token woman or black person who “represents” everyone. More needs to be done, we as a society are still a long way away from overcoming these obstacles, but I am hopeful that every effort makes a difference.
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?
We need more products and services created by women for women, men and families. For the longest time, Men have created all products and it was all one-sided. We women know what’s best for us, but ultimately this provides diversity in the marketplace, women think differently than men and can offer creative alternative solutions to common problems.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
I think silicon valley has spread a falsehood about what a founder looks like, one that it is only Bros, or Male founders who can succeed. That is all we read and see about because the media are the ones who tell these stories and they are led by Men (to my point above, having diversity in all areas creates equality).
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?
Not everyone can be a founder. To be a successful founder in my opinion, you have to be a risk-taker, highly adaptable, great multitasker and unafraid to fail, you also have to be very patient as it may be a long road to success. On the opposite end of the spectrum, an employee likes a stable, consistent job, where there is structure, a stable paycheck and a clear path to climbing the corporate ladder. They are content with the status quo and following instructions.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
1 . How long the journey would be. I started my 1st brand in 2009, and with this 2nd brand is when I am starting to see some success. It has taken over 10 years to get to where I am and I am glad despite the challenges I never quit.
2 . Go with your gut. Listen to your instinct and try to block out the noise. Early on in my career, a mentor of sorts told me I should only design pieces that were simple and without print, and I listened to them and wasn’t successful. When I started to design statement pieces and infused them with my own patterns that I created, and staying true to myself is when customers started purchasing my designs.
3 . There is no shortcut to success. I wanted to be on Project Runway because I thought it would catapult me to a household name and success. What I realized is that I didn’t want to be in the spotlight, I just wanted to build a sustainable and successful business and was ok not being a “celebrity designer.”
4 . A closed door doesn’t mean failure. It just means that that was not the right opportunity for you. I didn’t win Project Runway and felt so much shame and felt like a failure. But it ultimately made me move to New York, which led to my brand being picked up by Anthropologie, Rent The Runway and Shopbop.
5 . Follow up at least 3 times. As a busy entrepreneur, I know how difficult it is to keep up with the day to day of my business, and need to give that same grace to others who I email and don’t respond right away.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
My business and brand’s mission is to have a social impact by empowering women out of poverty, closing the gender gap, paying fair living wages and creating sustainable jobs in Africa. With every sale I make I am creating a job for women in Africa.
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.
Apart from ending poverty. Just to be kind to one another
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.
Joseph Zwillinger and Tim Brown,the founders of Allbirds, Sophia Amoruso, Jaclyn Johnson, Natalie Ellis, Andrew Chen, or Rihana as I am looking to scale my business to a $1MM this year.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.
