00:00The following is brought to you by L'Oreal, Maybelline, and Garnier.
00:11Now as women, a good handbag is an absolute must. But the Michael Cohen, the Louis Vuitton
00:17are not always within reach. But what if you could get a luxury handbag at a fraction of the cost
00:24made right here in TNT? I'm here with Janella Isaac of Janella Isaac Luxury Handbags and
00:32Accessories. And she's fresh off a plane from the Young Leaders of the Americas Fellowship.
00:38Ms. Isaac, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. And tell us a bit about
00:43that experience. So I would have left on the 20th of April for the Young Leaders of the Americas
00:48Summit. And while there, we had the opening ceremony in Texas. And following that, I was
00:53placed in San Francisco. So it was such an amazing experience fashion-wise. I was able to attend
01:00the San Francisco Met Gala watch party. And I was able to interact with fashion stylists and other
01:07influencers within the fashion industry there. I was able to attend fashion shows. And so I worked
01:14within the fashion industry. Were you able to get hands-on training, perhaps level up your skills
01:19in any particular area? Yes, I did. So a big part for me was, of course, tech integration into my
01:25business and automating workflows. And so the training that I got, particularly the Google and
01:32dynamical spaces, where I would have learned the AI tools that I would need to make my processes even
01:38smoother and way faster. And that was a big part of what I needed in terms of scaling and expansion.
01:46What I really want to do after this experience is just bring back a lot of my knowledge to my
01:52country,
01:53because a lot of my training was really in tech and innovation within San Francisco. And this is
02:01where we actually lack within our country. What would you say are the unique challenges
02:07to Caribbean entrepreneurs like yourself in terms of scaling your business?
02:12So within the Caribbean, I would have identified, I mean, not just for me, but others I would have
02:17interacted with while on the fellowship, that we deal with a number of issues starting from scratch.
02:25And so we have customs clearances, we have wait times to bring materials in, all of which sort of,
02:33you know, it slows down business. One of the things that I would have experienced is that persons would want
02:40items right away. Now being handmade means that there's a wait time. So I understand that customer
02:47pain. And so that is something that I am working on. Through this fellowship, I've been looking at
02:52places that I could work with as well. And through this fellowship, I've been looking at just how I
02:57could have made this even better. And so this ready to use line that I am working on and working
03:03on to put
03:04into stores will allow persons to get that product immediately. And this fellowship was very useful
03:11in terms of looking at expansion into the U.S. and the type of stores that I would want to
03:16have
03:16my handbags in as well and making that initial contact. How would you then balance that custom-made
03:23quality with the convenience of ready-made, as you said? So it will be two separate lines, but still
03:29under the same brand. So you can still be able to get your personalized handcrafted by me products
03:35if you like. And you would also be able to get your item on the go as necessary. I personally
03:43love
03:43textured materials, snake skins, crocodile sort of textures. I've also always been drawn to like
03:51shimmers, to felvets, things that are textured and just, you know, pretty on the eyes. And so I recognize
03:58that those are things that we were in Trinidad and Tobago we love because it's very synonymous with
04:03our carnival and our culture. So I would say my best selling products would be the passport holders.
04:09Persons purchase the passport holders because they can be customized, personalized with your name,
04:14everything. And over the years, I would have created sort of viral moments where you have to travel
04:19in style. So if you're traveling and you don't have a passport holder, you're not saying anything.
04:25Ms. Isaac, thank you so much for being here and all the best to you in your future endeavors. And
04:29of
04:29course, we look forward to you bringing your expertise to the local market. And that's all
04:35that we have for this episode of Street Style. We'll be back next week. I am Vanessa Cutting. See you
04:41then.
04:47The proceeding was brought to you by L'Oreal, Maybelline, and Garnier.
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