15 years ago, Kei Tsuzuki and Molly Luethi presented their first hand-printed tea towel collection to the public and sold out within an hour. Now, the two have cultivated a mission-driven business that fosters education and sustainability, while employing mostly immigrant women.
Kei is now the sole owner of Kei & Molly Textiles, after Molly retired in 2023. She spoke to KUNM about their 15 year anniversary.
KEI TSUZUKI: Any business that can survive 15 years, any small business that survived 15 years is pretty amazing I think. I think the five year mark, you know, if you can make it there, then that's also an accomplishment. But we're here. It's been 15 years, and what feels the best is that we are still true to our social mission. We still have staff who, you know, immigrants who've come here from around the world who are making Albuquerque a home for themselves and their families, and I feel like we are making a substantial difference in the lives of our staff.
KUNM: How have you created a sustainable business while keeping your purpose at the center of it all?
TSUZUKI: First of all, to create any kind of sustainable business takes just a lot of hard work. And so the sustainable piece of our business, of course, is, you know, having our product in over 400 stores across the country. Digital Marketing has become a big thing over the last five years. We have a retail store that's open to the public here in Albuquerque. So we have all these avenues where we function as a true business, and all of that is important, but really what gives us our purpose and the passion for what we do is this idea of being able to give back to our community. For us, working with immigrants and refugees was kind of a no brainer. Molly and I are both immigrants, you know, we all experience the immigrant journey. So for us, because we're so close to the International District, we kind of knew this community and knew that we could have an impact and really provide a place of understanding and support for the people who worked with us. And to keep that in mind, one of the major lessons we started with at the very beginning was to be true to our values. And our values have been kind of our North Star through everything, [it] makes decision making so much easier. If there are, you know, hard customers or hard buyers who might not be the easiest to work with. It was easy for us to not work with them, you know, not go after every single dollar, but to really be guided by our values, and because that's just been such an integral part of how we do our business, it's easy to keep true to those values today.
KUNM: In the “15 lessons for 15 years” that you wrote lesson 13 reads: fun is foundational, elaborate on that for the audience.
TSUZUKI: I think it was amazing that Molly and I, when we first started, we said, ‘If this is not fun, we're not going to do it.’Now, it is something that we kept true to all these years. And so Molly retired a couple of years ago, but I keep that at the forefront of what we do with our staff. But again, as I said, it is a lesson that is really great for immigrants to know that they can have fun at work, that it doesn't have to be a grind, and just, you know, having to push, push, push yourself to make money, it is good to take a breath and to to, you know, enjoy the journey, and I hope that this is something that they can then teach their kids as well. I know as an immigrant child, there was an expectation for me to study all the time and do really well in school, which I don't regret, but at the same time, it would be nice for kids to understand they can have fun.
KUNM: Do you want to elaborate on maybe your favorite lesson that you wrote in these “15 lessons for 15 years”?
TSUZUKI: Absolutely, I think the number one lesson, and it kind of informs every other lesson after it is to lead with love. And I say that in a way where love is not easy. It's not warm and fuzzy, it's not just like putting a smile on things and not really tackling the hard issues. I think to lead with love is actually one of the hardest things that we can do, and yet one of the most transformative things that we can do. For us, I think love demands respect. It demands honesty, and it demands communication, which is such an integral part of who we are, because, as you can imagine, if we speak all different languages, it's easy to be misunderstood or to miscommunicate. So all these things, the effort that we put in to be understood, to communicate what we're really feeling and to tackle any conflicts that come up, really has to do with this belief that we can lead in a way that is kind and full of compassion. I know that [in] business school, maybe people made fun of me because they felt like I was talking about having a kumbaya moment with all, you know, the employees and with colleagues. But really, to lead with love is harder than anything, I think. But the beauty about love is that it forgives. If you make a mistake, you can be forgiven. You can keep going forward and try to make a better day the next day.
Kei & Molly textiles is located in the International District of Albuquerque, their products are sold online and at over 400 stores around the country.
This business is an underwriter for KUNM, but that does not influence our editorial coverage.
