The Handmade Décor Consumers Adore with Alicia Wallace

Welcome to Pulp Nonfiction: The Paper and Packaging Podcast!

Meet our guest Alicia Wallace, the Co-Founder and CEO of All Across Africa. Alicia has crafted a compassionate business model that, thanks in part to offering aspiring artists in Africa and their families hope for a brighter future, is making a major impact in today’s retail world.

This inspiring episode explores some of the popular consumer trends boosting growth in the handmade merchandise market, why using sustainable natural fibers like banana leaves and sweetgrass to make the company’s beautiful baskets, handbags, dining décor, and wall coverings is encouraging more farmers to embrace regenerative agricultural practices, how All Across Africa has managed to develop promising partnerships with premier brands including Disney, Nordstrom, Starbucks, and Target, andmuch more!

All Across Africa was founded In 2013 by Alicia and her business partner, Greg Stone. They work to connect artisan communities and materials in Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania with business and infrastructure in the United States to provide wholesale and retail products.

KAZI, their San Diego-based company that falls under their All Across Africa parent company, employs almost 6,000 artisans in Africa and sells their handcrafted and sustainable cultural items through their website, Amazon storefront, and local boutiques. KAZI holds a Nest Seal of Ethical Handcraft designation — outlining standards for fair wages, benefits, sourcing of materials, a commitment to care for the surrounding environment, health and safety, anti-child labor policies, and workers’ rights — a symbol that identifies items being sold as ethically made in a home or small workshop.

This podcast is brought to you by Sustana Fiber, a leading producer of FSC®-certified sustainable recycled fibers. At our facilities in De Pere, Wisconsin in the United States and Lévis, Quebec in Canada, we use automated proprietary processes to transform recovered paper into high-quality recycled fiber for use in printing papers, tissue grades and formed molded fiber packaging. We also produce EnviroLife®, a sustainable recycled fiber compliant with FDA standards for food service packaging. Learn more about how our products and manufacturing practices support the circular economy at www.sustanafiber.com.

Hosted by Sustana Fiber’s Greg Johnson, Director of New Business Development, and Dr. Marta Pazos, a leading sustainable packaging materials scientist, this monthly video podcast series features fascinating discussions on several trending topics involving sustainability.