Featured Artisans | Dreamer & Co.

Jessica and Baylee co-founded Dreamer & Co in 2018. They met in 2014 (via email) while working for the same non-profit but from different cities in the U.S.

Through the same non-profit, Jessica traveled to the Horn of Africa in 2014 to assist them with their marketing and reporting needs, while Baylee traveled there in 2015 to complete her Master’s thesis on water provision for refugees. It was during these trips that both Jessica and Baylee met the artisans for the first time and were inspired by their work.

Jessica and her husband moved to the Horn of Africa to work with the artisans full-time. At the same time, Baylee started dreaming of a way to sell artisan’s jewelry to a more expansive U.S. market and help them grow economically. 

The artisans, Jessica, and Baylee soon realized they all had the same desire and decided to make Baylee’s business plan a reality. On April 2nd, 2018, after a lot of dreaming, brainstorming, and prayer, they launched the business.

Most people assume the “& Co” stands for “and company” as in business. But what they don’t realize is that it’s not the kind of company, instead, they prefer the definition Webster uses, “a number of individuals gathered together…for a particular purpose." 

You see this story isn’t about Baylee and Jessica. It’s about Sagaal, Mouna, Leila, Deka, Sabrin, and all of the artisans they work with, and it’s also about you. The husbands, the friends, the strangers, the business—everyone who has come alongside us and helped us ship packages, donate capital, buy jewelry, watch kids, model for collections, and just do whatever is needed. This is the “& Co” and it’s what makes this community of Dreamers so special.

Your purchase helps provide sustainable income to over 8 women in the Horn of Africa, which directly impacts over 100 individuals in the artisans' families and communities. Some of the artisans are the only people working in their homes with an average household of 11 people. With this income, they have sent their siblings to school, built toilets for their homes, and upgraded their homes to have covered roofs and sturdier walls.