If you’re anywhere near the carnival circle, the name Kandi King (@kingkandi) might ring a bell. Recognised for her ventures like Babe Brunch, Xaymaca International, and stocKING by Kandi. King has a great understanding of the importance of using social media to enhance a brand. King has been applauded by followers for her customer service skills, setting an example to many promoters on how to handle tedius situations. In the wake of this global pandemic, we remained socially distant and sent over a few questions to her about her businesses and all the intricacies of the behind the scenes and small triumphs that any business owner may experience.
CARIB VOXX: After graduating from St Andrew High School for Girls, you left Jamaica and moved to Ohio. Quite the jump. What was the academic interest you left to pursue at the time?
KING: After graduating from the prestigious St. Andrew High School For Girls, I pursued my undergraduate degree at a small school in Ohio. I had no idea what I wanted to do, to be honest, and ended up with a business degree which I figured would be a good springboard for whatever I would eventually decide to do.
CARIB VOXX: You have seamlessly created a circle of many different business ventures; that all seemed to have become quite successful. How do you manage to give each venture the level of attention it needs to be fruitful?
KING: The secret to this is: PEOPLE. Relinquishing control of the day to day activities has helped me free some space in my mind to think about the bigger picture. It took me a while, though. I was really hard-headed initially and I wanted to do it all myself but it quickly became overwhelming. I have 3 employees now, still a small team but they help me to manage my mini “konglomerate”.
CARIB VOXX: With your new venture “stocKINGbyKandi” would you now be comfortable being recognized as a designer?
KING: I’m a designer of a product but not a fashion designer. I wouldn’t encourage that label since I know people won’t actually make the distinction.
CARIB VOXX: Despite being a simple design choice, it’s incredibly thoughtful. Elaborate on how the V – kut design on the stocKing enhances the comfort of a reveler during the carnival experience?
KING: So! The V-Kut stocKINGs are designed to seamlessly tuck under your costume panty for a more flawless finish. They’re very comfortable to wear, but above all, takes the focus off of the traditional straight cut stocking band, that would usually show above panties and puts it on the costume/girl herself. Put simply, it just looks better.
CARIB VOXX: How did you manage to garner the support of a soca icon like Fayann Lyons for “stocKING by Kandi”?
KING: The Fay-Ann story is one of my faves! While in Trinidad for Karnival, I had tweeted out a promotional message re: the stocKINGs with all the locations people could find us for the week. I begged for some retweets, since that’s the only way to get serious visibility on Twitter. A few days later, I ended up running into a friend who promotes one of the popular J’ouvert events and he gave me permission to sell the stocKINGs at their distribution. I went personally, since this was last minute and not a planned pop-up event so I didn’t have time to find staff. While I was there, one of Bunji and Fay-Ann’s team members came to pick up j’ouvert packages on their behalf. When she saw me, she showed me a message from Bunji where he screenshotted my tweet from a few days before and asked the person to find me and purchase a few for Fay-Ann. I was so taken aback, I almost cried right there. Of course, I did NOT allow her to pay and gave her enough kolour options to give to Fay-Ann. The rest is history.
CARIB VOXX: Do you have any comical carnival stories centered around a bad experience with stockings that you would be willing to share?
KING: It’s not related to a bad experience with the product but it’s still pretty funny. I named all the stocKING kolour options a food or item that people could associate with the actual real colour. The lightest shade, I was really struggling with naming. I ended up calling it Cupcake, but “Kupkake” to add my flair. More often than not, people refer to it as “Kup-Kah-Kee” (pronunciation). I don’t even bother to correct them anymore.
CARIB VOXX: The disadvantages are obvious, but what are some of the advantages that promoters and band leaders can leverage seeing that carnival has been pushed back to October?
KING: Well for one, it’s definitely an opportunity to flex those customer service muscles. Now is the time to show masqueraders how much they mean to us so we want to use this time to really leave an impression, especially given how disappointed people were. Secondly, the potential for new sign ups. So depending on how things go, we could choose to re-open some sections so people who can now attend can get in a costume, And finally, I just like lists of threes.
CARIB VOXX: You were transparent about your disappointment in carnival being postponed; in a tweet expressing that “it almost felt personal”. How have you been staying optimistic in these challenging times?
KING: Yeah, I felt like 2020 was gonna be MY YEAR (didn’t we all) and then this. SIGH! But I’ve honestly been enjoying this down time. There are no carnivals or appearances, nothing to attend, nowhere to be seen, no photos being taken so I can actually just EAT in peace. LOL. No but really, I’m enjoying not having the usual pressures; I’m enjoying my house, and discovering new things to do and new ways to bond with my family has been fun. We needed it. I’m not happy about it and despite the overall financial struggles for all of us, we still needed it.
CARIB VOXX: Xaymaca has become a brand characterized by exemplary customer service. Where did you develop such a strong passion and understanding for the value of servitude?
KING: The answer to this is my parents. Growing up my mom was a customer service manager and my dad was also in a customer service related field. I have vivid childhood memories of walking into retail stores and walking right out because my mom felt we didn’t get proper customer service upon entry. So it’s been ingrained in me since childhood that this really matters to people and if you just provide timely, attentive and upbeat service, that it will reflect positively on your business.
