Vibrant. Full of life. Genuine. Passionate. All of these qualities spring at you when you come across Yvonne Layfield, the mastermind behind Kako Organic Products.
Kako produces a wide array of all-natural skin-care products, from deodorants to face scrubs and more. In the words of Yvonne, “People don’t want just a product, they want an experience.” And that’s exactly what she intends on delivering. Her journey to realising her dreams involved several years of travel onboard cruise ships and yachts. It was a long road paved with hardwork, sacrifice and dedication, but, most of all, with PASSION.
Dazzle: What motivated you to launch Kako Organic Products?
Yvonne: I’ve always had a passion for meeting people, skin care and the overall care of a person’s beauty. So the question was, how could I use what I’m good at to benefit others? That’s how Kako started.
Dazzle: As with any budding business, having the idea is one thing, while making it functional is another. How did you pull it off?
Yvonne: On an island like St. Lucia, I’d see tons of produce lying around, going to waste, so I’d sample a few ingredients and mix them and then apply them on myself using sea salt as a base. Then I used them on friends. Before long, people started raving about it and then it all just blew up. Once they gave it a try, they loved it.
Dazzle: No doubt, it requires a lot of experience to branch off on your own. Tell us some more about how you gained necessary experience in this field?
Yvonne: I’ve worked in the field of beauty for 19 years. My training started off at the Joan Price Training Centre in Central London. I then came back to St. Lucia and helped in opening the Windjammer Spa. Since then I’ve gone back and forth between the UK and home. A highlight of my career is that I’ve managed 5-star spas like MacDonald Old England for two years and then Ti Kaye Spa in Anse La Raye. Once my contract was done in 2015 I started Kako.
Dazzle: What was it like working as a beauty therapist with international, high-end brands like Decleor and Elemis, and on cruise ships?
Yvonne: Onboard the cruise ship you were provided with intense training that involved a complete experience centred on a particular product that you’d have to market. That would teach you how to create an experience for your clients around your own product. One of the key things I learned was that you must be ready to take charge yourself and nurture your own business because you have staff depending on you to make the most of what you have.
Dazzle: Now that you’ve got your own business, what are some of the main challenges you’ve encountered? Yvonne: Financing and learning the skills of marketing. Most of my clients I’ve had from day one, so they already knew about KaKo. Although I have thousands of followers and a decent online presence, I’d go out and still meet people who don’t know about my brand. Also, trying to introduce natural skin care has been difficult as people are already used to artificial products. What I’ve noticed about Kako is that it continues to retain clientele, and since they order frequently I have to manage the workload on my own. While that puts me under huge pressure, I can still breathe easy and persevere because of all my rigorous training over the years.
Dazzle: How do you plan on growing and improving Kako?
Yvonne: The next level is a store in the UK. I want it to be a full experience of sight, sound, smell and touch in a way that makes you want to know more about Kako. I’d even like to give people the chance to create their own mixes … or to have it done for you while you enjoy a beverage till it’s ready. I’d like to fulfill this dream, hopefully in the next four years.
Dazzle: The natural resources you need are more easily available in St. Lucia than in the UK. How do you intend to make that venture work on foreign soil?
Yvonne: I’m working towards having as much land as possible where I can grow my own crops, dry freeze them and have them shipped to the UK as raw and natural as possible. So everything that I use as ingredients will be shipped over to me.
Dazzle: With so much going on in your world, what’s the one thing that keeps you motivated through the difficulties?
Yvonne: My daughter. She’s my biggest fan. I do it because I want her to see that dreams can come true and that anything is possible once you keep at it. It’s not an easy job to do. People contact me night or day and I respond as quickly as possible so that within 24 hours their order is ready. For that to be done I need to be working at it 24/7 until I get to a point where I can hire staff to work alongside me. But for now these are the demands of the job that I have to meet.
Dazzle: You’ve obviously learned quite a lot over the years. If you were to sum it up in a few words of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, what would you say to them?
Yvonne: Don’t give up, whatever it takes, just don’t give up.
Currently the holder of a diploma in beauty therapy and cosmetology from BABTA, Yvonne has her eyes set on achieving much more in the future. We wish all the best and lots of success with her endeavours!
