Sara Ku is the Founder & CEO of Kaya Essentials, a lifestyle, beauty, and home brand that works directly with Artisans and Farmers in the Philippines, creating meaningful opportunities and providing a sustainable livelihood with fair trade wages. 

After working for a non-profit in the Philippines in her early 20’s, Sara discovered the social business model and wanted to bring that recognition and impact, starting with Filipino Coconut Skincare. She developed Kaya Essentials’ first product in her home kitchen, with a unique citrus aroma only found in the Philippines—calamansi. 

After selling in farmers markets and pop ups, she took her side hustle and went full time in 2017. 

In this episode, Sara dives into how a summer internship in college changed her life for the better, trying to keep up with the market demand before you’re prepared to, and how partnering with a subscription box company affected her growth. She also mentions the importance of tracking how customers are finding you and your brand to ensure you’re not putting money into strategies that aren’t working. 

Check out this episode to hear more about:

• How moving around a lot through childhood taught Sara to embrace being out of her comfort zone
• How Sara followed a similar business model to TOMS and made it work for her unique brand
• How to make working with subscription boxes a viable growth strategy

Listen to the full episode here.