We are Jessica and Baylee and we co-founded Dreamer & Co in 2018. We met in 2014 (via email) when we were 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, we launched our 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 we are referring to, instead, we like 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 we 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 our kids, model for our collection, and just do whatever was needed. This is our “& Co” and it’s what makes this community of Dreamers so special.