Meet Kandice James, Jessica Lee, Joanne Reed of Sugar Bag Company in South Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kandice James, Jessica Lee, and Joanne Reed.

Joanne is the founder of My10Counts.org which is a nonprofit organization and giving circle where members donate $10/month or $120/year to help fund grants issued by My10Counts to other existing nonprofit organizations who serve black communities in areas such as elderly care, education and youth programs, poverty, substance abuse and more. One day, in efforts to spread the word about My10Counts, Joanne vended at a community event and she ordered some beautiful Afrocentric mugs to place on her display table in order to draw people to her booth. During this time Joanne was caring for her elderly mother who was living with Alzheimer’s disease. Joanne left her job in the corporate world to care for her mother full time with her younger brother. The weekend after this particular event, Joanne and her two daughters (Jessica Lee and Kandice James – Sugar Bag Co-Owners) sat in her room with the left over mugs and talked about what she was going to do with the items she had left. Kandice suggested putting them up on Facebook and seeing if any Facebook friends would be interested in buying them. Joanne quickly replied “I’m not doing that. You do it.” In no time Kandice put up poorly lighted pictures of the items left with a caption “Hey friends! My mother is selling some pretty cool reusable shopping bags, 2017 journals, magnets, and mugs! If you’re interested in buying them, I’ll deliver.” The response was quick and unexpected. My mother was shocked at how fast things went. After the success of trying to get rid of the excess inventory, sitting in Joanne’s bedroom, it was a no brainer. Let’s go into business.

Their business has come a long way. They started out posting poorly lit pictures on Kandice’s Facebook page to printing their own products, vending at events all over, collaborating with other businesses such as Cafe Touba Coffee, Archwood Exchange Buy Black Marketplace, and HomeBase Poetry Open Mic just to name a few, to having a full online boutique as well as Facebook shop.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has definitely not been an easy road. During the time Sugar Bag Company was being established, the matriarch of the family was near the end of her life with Alzheimer’s disease. There were many sleepless nights for Joanne, Jessica, and Kandice. Joanne at one point injured herself caring for her mother and she worked events injured. Emotionally and physically drained from the work of caregiving there was also financial strain. Jessica had recently resigned from her job to help care for her grandmother when Joanne was injured, Joanne had minimal financial assistance from family, and Kandice was only working part time. The goal was to keep grandma home and it was more than a full time job alone. Kandice was raising two young children, working part time, in school full time and also trying to offer relief to Joanne and Jessica as well as her uncle. Stress and tensions were high. There were many staff meetings that were tense and uncomfortable. To add to all of this, the goal was not to go into debt so Joanne primarily funded the start up with a little help from Jessica and Kandice. One of the greatest lessons Joanne, Jessica, and Kandice learned was to never stay mad at each other, to understand that this was just a part of business, and to commit to work together to get through the struggles. To this day, they say to each other “we’re in this together.”

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Sugar Bag Company prides themselves in carrying products that represent and celebrate African and African American beauty. Seeing that this is something so underrepresented in our day to day lives, Sugar Bag Company provides customers with a selection of items such as coffee mugs, tote bags, journals, keychains, floor mats, cosmetic accessories, and much more, all having inspirational content and/or Afrocentric art.

We are incredibly proud of the quality of our products. We are proud of our superior customer service and we love the lasting connections we make with our customers. It’s not about just selling a product; it’s about impacting the lives of our customers with our products.

What were you like growing up?
Joanne was married to Jessica and Kandice’s father who was an amazing man who happened to be addicted to drugs. Like many households stricken with drug addiction there were many rough days but uniquely about this household there was still a lot of love and great days as well. Sugar Bag Company is not Joanne, Jessica, and Kandice’s first experience with entrepreneurship. In the 1980’s Joanne owned a small greeting card business out of Ohio that also was designed with Afrocentric art. It’s funny how things come full circle. Then in the 1990’s Joanne opened one of Arizona’s first and only black bookstores. It was called The Black Bookcase. It was a specialty store because every book in the store was authored by someone black. Jessica and Kandice had a taste of entrepreneurship when they worked in their mom’s bookstore and also in the 1990’s when they became writers for a local kid’s magazine called Kidz of Color. They’ve all always had an interest in business ownership.

Pricing:

• Coffee mugs $13-$25
• Tote Bags $25-$28
• Pouches – $12-$20
• Keychains – $5-$10
• Stationary – $6-$18

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sugarbagcompany.com
• Phone: (602) 373-4866
• Email: sugarbagcompany@gmail.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sugarbagcompany
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sugarbagcompany

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.