Here’s a little story on how the Saje partnership happened.
Back in 2017, I was working full time on @thesoularbackpack. I was at a pitch competition and a month later, through someone there, got connected to someone who then connected me to Michelle.
A few months later, I started Samara and I got on a call with her and she’s someone who I felt an instant connection to. We spoke for 2 hours about Samara and what I was trying to build.
She then took a job with Saje as their COO last year and a few months later I sent her a SAMARA mini to thank her for just being so awesome. She started carrying her pocket farmacy oils in her mini and pulled it out in one of her meetings last September at Saje so she could use it, and the rest of her team asked about it. She was able to find a unique use case for the Mini that the rest of the team loved. But you know, it’s not really built to fit them. So with Saje, we started designing one that specifically fit their oils. They wanted something that looked chic and elegant.
In October, I flew to Vancouver and met with about 16 of their team members who were put on this project. Over the next few months, we tested out logos in white, grey, yellow gold, yellower gold and yellow too. We had weekly conference calls, to talk about samples, colours, packaging, social impact, production and logistics.
In April, I went to visit our factories in Asia to ensure that production was running smoothly and that everything looked great. We had our final photoshoot in July, and the product was launched August 16th.
When I first spoke to Michelle or when I sent her the Mini, I never thought it would result in a partnership with Saje. All the dots connected later, coincidentally. Michelle has been a source of so much wisdom and inspiration in so many ways, so Michelle, thank you for being who you are. For everyone else, find your Michelle and keep them close ❤️