Earlier this week, Kanti Founder Ernestine held a talk during clubGEN’s Career Week at Williams Elementary in Austin, TX. This wonderful program aims to empower young women from lower income communities to become the next generation of successful women entrepreneurs. Ernestine had a wonderful time sharing Kanti’s story with a great group of middle school girls. She said, “the girls were so eager to learn about how they could create a successful business out of just a few beautiful items. It was really inspiring.” Taking part in inspiring events like this is one way Kanti tries to give back to its local community. Tell us how you like to get involved in your local community in a comment below or on our Facebook page!

Be Beautiful, Be Kanti.

www.kantigoods.com

It’s nearing the end of January, which means that you’ve probably detoxed from the holiday season and still have your New Year’s resolutions somewhere on your to-do list. Despite the fresh start to the New Year, however, winter often stays around longer than we’d like it to.

So, we thought we’d share our colorful Element Collection with you to bring some spice to your winter.  Available in vivid Fire, Water, Earth, and Air color palettes, these beautiful pendants, earrings and rings are made of pure silver and gemstones, and are made by a small silversmith community in Nepal. Add a little color to your winter with one of these beautiful heartwarming pieces today!

Share our website with your loved ones to get some great Valentine’s Day ideas.

Be Beautiful, Be Kanti.

Our friend Jane recently welcomed her new baby boy Cruz into the world. We were so pleased to see that his new room is filled with some of Kanti’s stuffed animals that we thought we’d share one of her baby photos with you. These colorful stuffed animals are made with traditional Indian block print fabric and were hand stitched by a women’s development cooperative in South India that offers local women an opportunity to learn a craft while working in a safe environment. We are so happy Jane’s beautiful baby can cuddle up with these animals that support a good cause. Browse more of our stuffed animals to brighten up your baby’s room here! Be Beautiful, Be Kanti!

Baby Cruz and Kanti's Stuffed Animals. Photo Credit: Martha Macris.

“Good Morning, Ernestine – I was so surprised when my sister told me that you didn’t want me to pay for the two bracelets I got from you the other day. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your generous gift, and I’m happy to say that (with you in mind) I am going to pay that gift forward as you do. When I got home my best friend/roommate admired it. She has one that’s the same style, but thought this one was much nicer. She is also unemployed and, due to illness and the inability to find a job, has been for three years. So, while the holidays are a very big deal to her, we’re going to have to stick to small gifts. I am going to give one of the bracelets I bought to her and I know she’ll be very happy to get it. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. As I told you, I am impressed with your business model and truly admire the concept behind it. I hope business continues to go well for you, and wish you the best of luck with everything. Perhaps we will meet again in the future.

Happy Holidays.

Robin Chandler”

Happy customers make us happy. As always, Be Beautiful, Be Kanti.

We’re still gushing about the home sale Caroline hosted for us.  The event was filled with friends, yummy drinks and snacks, shoppers young and old, and overall good times. We’d like to thank our hostess for putting on this fabulous event. And, as usual, a percentage of our profits from the sale will be going to a local organization we are proud of. Proceeds from this home sale will be benefitting the Will Hendron Fund for Juvenile Batten Research, serving children with the neurodegenerative disorder at Texas Children’s Hospital.  We’d like to thank everyone for coming out to our Kanti home sale.  We hope to see you at another one soon! And, feel free to let us know if you’re interested in hosting a Kanti home sale to benefit the organization of your choice in the future.

Be Beautiful, Be Kanti.

The Kanti Team

Check out more photos from our August home sale here!

young shopper at the home sale!

Since living here in Nepal, I have often found it hard to resist the lures of vibrant and beautiful items walking around Kathmandu, a city nestled between rolling hills and snow capped peaks, the Himalayas. As you may know, Kanti goods has been bringing you beautiful bags and bracelets from Nepal for the past few months. But now, after a few more cups of fresh brewed Nepali chiya, tea, we are pleased to announce that new bags from Nepal and Kashmir are on their way! Check here often as they will be available soon! Wishing you well from Nepal!

Cheers and Namaste,

Coco

Colors of Nepal

Shopping in South India is a whirlwind of an adventure. On Sundays, the whole town gathers in their ‘Sunday best’ to pick out the best selection of food, household items, clothing, and other trinkets. When shopping in the market, I learned to first do a quick once over to make sure I’d seen all of the items available. After that it was easy to go back to the items and shopkeepers I liked best. Next, it’s time to get bargaining! Sometimes, you come out with a win. Other times the shop keeper comes out with a big smile on their face, letting you know they got the better end of the deal.

Shopping for Kanti in India has elements of this market adventure and chaos. Once I located a women’s development cooperative, it was important to keep the ties fresh. Weekly visits to see some of the new necklaces, bracelets, and earrings was always fun. With it came chats with the women to build good relationships. Sometimes they’d excitedly show me some of their new products, which I was always eager to see. After some time, they started to know what the Kanti style was, and so every time I went, the ladies would have a new necklace or set of earrings for me to look at. It’s amazing what a difference a year makes. Kanti now has reliable connections that will allow us to continue bringing you beautiful jewelry and other goods from India as often as we can!

We just got in a new order of great necklaces from South India. Check them out here!

Much love,

Coco

For the launch of our new blog, I’d like to share a small version of the Kanti story. In just over a year, Ernestine, my mother, has done an amazing job taking this project from conception to creation. Since then, Kanti has launched a website, built relationships with vendors and clients, and started selling unique gifts to people like you. We are excited to be able to reach out to our Kanti community on the blogosphere, and hope you’ll visit us often.

A little over a year ago, Ernestine got an idea. At around Christmas time, she said to me, “I want to start a business.” “Great Mom! That’s terrific!”, I said. I couldn’t resist the follow up question of,  “what kind of business?” She said she wasn’t quite sure yet, but she asked me to start looking around in India where I was living at the time for some inspiration.  Turns out she did have an idea; I just didn’t know it yet. Walking around my village, I quickly started to see some things I really liked. I also started to meet some local craftsmen and women and was inspired by their stories of how they got where they were today. We thought, “how great would it be to sell beautiful things from around the world that share a story?” Together, my mom and I worked long hours in opposite time zones. Sometimes, just as I’d wake up, I’d get an email from her asking my opinion on something before she went to bed. In spite of the global communication difficulties, we were able to get this project going.

Slowly, we started collecting pieces from India, Thailand, and recently Nepal. We decided on the name Kanti because it means beauty in Sanskrit, one of the oldest and most influential ancient languages in the world. While I was looking for new things or writing pieces for the site, my mom was working hard making pieces, contacts, and putting the whole project into production. She has had a truly inspiring enthusiasm throughout this project and I am honored so involved in making her idea a reality.

We here at Kanti love the idea of bringing cultures together and helping people with modest and creative backgrounds showcase their work to a wider audience. We also love sharing beautiful goods from around the world with you, our Kanti community.

We are very pleased to be launching our new blog simultaneously with the revamp of our website. We hope you will continue coming back here for more stories, inspirations, and whims on what we here at Kanti aim to do.  Check out our new collections, facebook page, and tweets on twitter as we continue trying to build our Kanti community. Go ahead, Be Beautiful, Be Kanti.

Cheers,

Coco Lammers
Co-Founder, Kanti Goods