Agnes

After living in Kenya for most of her life and working in a bank and as an administrative assistant, Agnes moved to the U.S. in 1999 and started a business selling hand-made jewelry and imported Kenyan products. She began with a booth at the International Gift Show in Los Angeles in 1999. Though she didn’t make much money, Agnes learned several important lessons and left the show inspired to do more. She headed north and began selling her jewelry and array of Kenyan products at the Ashby Flea Market in Berkeley. Today, Agnes lives in Oakland and is the proud owner of Kenyan Safari Designs. Her best-selling products are colorful hand-made jewelry and wooden utensils she buys directly from Kenyan suppliers. What started in a single stall has expanded to two, and Kenyan Safari Designs is now a profitable business that also sells wholesale products to retail shops in Oakland. After six months in the matched savings program, Agnes has saved $700 and has stopped using credit cards for business expenses. She plans to invest her savings and matching funds in a storefront in Oakland, where she can run her business every day of the week and keep a larger inventory for her wholesale customers. Smiling, Agnes remarks on how relieved she is to be out of credit card debt and to be pursuing her dream of running her own business.