PaletteLife Inspiration: #1 Meet Our Founder & CEO: Catherine Nakato
HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE BRAND?
One day, I stopped at the market to buy roasted maize and a lady was weaving a mat next to the stove. The mat was in colours of yellow and black or blue I’m not so sure. But when I looked at the mat I knew exactly what I wanted to make out of it. I ordered the mat and 2 weeks after that the mat was at my parents shop. A week after I had made a bag out of it and I carried it around.
I love colours and coming from Uganda (Africa), every single thing mesmerizes me. Everything seem to happen in the same place; the roughness, the dirt, the struggle and the calmness, the curiosity, the sense of belonging and the love for fashion and keeping up appearance. After the struggle people clean up and they look their best.
I wanted the pieces to come from the humble places and sit on Marble tables for home decor, clean walls and the fashions made with simplicity to be worn by different people in different cities in the world with pride.
HOW DID THE NAME PALETTE LIFE COME ABOUT?
It’s just a combination of 2 words. Colour and life and who doesn’t want to live on the colourful side of life
HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE THE STORIES BEHIND YOUR BRAND?
I don’t want someone to buy things from the shop out of sympathy, I want someone to buy them because they are worth it.
HOW ARE YOU STAYING ON TOP OF WHAT CONSUMERS WANT?
By following closely the trends in movies and social media. I have not been as responsive as i would love to but I have been following nonetheless.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT INVOLVED IN PALETTE LIFE?
I love business talks and I am very passionate about innovation and impact development. I have a strong belief that every single soul on this planet has something special and given a chance of seeing that is the only way we can uplift communities from poverty and countries from Chaos.
So I hold simple Facebook lives talking about the effects of doing charity and voluntary work. I share encouraging stories of those doing good in communities.
I believe with proper knowledge people will start to think of their worthless and take the power to change their lifestyles.
WHAT TRENDS ARE TAKING OVER THE FASHION & LIFESTYLE INDUSTRY?
Uhhh, I am not so sure which side to go into. There are lots of boldness and colour. There is a lot of struggle for inclusion (colour and gender) and this is waving the industries. Social media has brought up abread of youngsters who are claiming fame and with their followings, things are moving 100 times more than they did a year ago.
This has been trending for sometime but it seems to stand the test of time.
WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHORT LIVED SUCCESS AND LONGEVITY IN YOUR INDUSTRY ESPECIALLY WITH THE ADVENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
There is a lack of discipline with short lived which is in longevity. There is a lot of information that is misreported and it takes a lot of time to find information of value as they are overly diluted due to the struggle for fame ( I’m not so sure I made sense of this though).
WHAT SHOULD WE BE EXPECTING IN THE NEXT ONE YEAR?
I want to take it to another level where, out of crafty to clean must have. Well designed and made. To give pride to the makers and encourage innovation.
HOW CAN WE CONNECT WITH YOU?
Always open to a chat and cup of coffee *winks*
Palette life represents a world of colours, simple but yet chic, a world that puts a smile on your face and encourages warmness. Open to experience and a target for progress. A touch of sun. We at palette life, provide a platform for the unseen and unnamed designs to calm your home. For yet unknown designs to walk the streets of any country with pride. Visit our Store and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram
