Rising from the Ashes – a story of commitment, resilience and creativity in business
The more we share stories of women who are successful in their careers and community the more we will help to #breakthebias and create a gender-equal world!
Today we are sharing the final story in our International Womens Day blog series.
Featuring Kathryn Nako, owner of El Manaro from Vanuatu, this story is all about navigating disaster and how if we work together and support each other as women and as a community we will come through the other side stronger.
Originally from Australia, Kathryn Nako has lived in Vanuatu for over twenty years. She first came to Vanuatu in 1999 to do volunteer teaching yet it wasn’t long before she met her soon-to-be husband with whom she shared a love for teaching, entrepreneurship, and helping their fellow community members. These passions eventually led to their starting El Manaro Kava Bar and Processing Factory in 2010 with the vision of creating a local nakamal (a traditional meeting place in Vanuatu) in Port Vila city with a village-like atmosphere. Their hope was to provide a space for the local community to meet, drink Kava, and build long-lasting friendships. While the space immediately became a popular meeting place, it soon suffered from a bad fire that destroyed much of the business’ gardens and built-up structures. However, this didn’t stop Kathryn and her husband from bringing the community together to rebuild. As their website says,
El Manaro…arose from the ashes with the ash bar…
The Kava Bar again suffered another disaster due to Cyclone Pam in 2015, destroying most of the premises.
As their website states,
With the dedicated assistance of our patrons we again rebuilt the nakamal back better than ever. For weeks we drank Kava and told stories amongst the rubble and devastation building a community and long lasting friendships.
Kathryn shared that the vision of the nakamal continued to grow through her and her husband wanting to share Kava with the rest of the world. To achieve this, they bought land in some of the outer islands and established kava plantations, employing up to 15 women and men who would take care of them while she and her husband remained in Port Vila managing the kava bar and soon to be set-up factory. Both of them liked the idea of being able to create income-generating opportunities for many ni-Vanuatu people while also supporting their own children through school and post-secondary education.
El Manaro Kava
The business again suffered another set-back due to a volcanic eruption that destroyed one of the plantations in 2018. However, the land served as a resting place for many of those on the island that had lost their homes. Their business, however, again rose from the destruction. Kathryn shared that in 2019, they were able to start establishing their export business by setting up a factory and purchasing machinery. Kathryn shared, though, that with great sadness, the business suffered its most major blow – the loss of her husband. While significant, Kathryn felt her and her husband’s vision should carry on and so she continued with beginning the export side of their business with the ultimate goal of one day exporting kava to Australia and beyond.
Kathryn emphasized that the business has been so important to her, her husband and family, and the community.
She explained, The more you can share with the community, the better things are for us.
This other focus has been a guiding principle of theirs and has been what has sustained them through the many difficulties they have faced. It has also brought them to the point they are at today.
Kathryn shared that it was several years ago, in 2016, that they decided to engage a business advisor with the help of the BLP subsidy.
It was at a time when they were needing help with marketing and ramping up their business with the aim of exporting. The BASP they engaged at the time, helped them to prepare their business plans for this growth so as to support them in attracting any investment that might come in. It also helped them create a clearer pathway forward toward exporting so that they could ensure a future for El Manaro. Kathryn reflects that at that time, the support they received was very helpful, however, the business has evolved and changed a lot and they could benefit from some more services in marketing so they can improve their exports.
As a woman, Kathryn shared that while she initially faced challenges in starting and growing her business in collaboration with her husband, she has gained a lot of experience and connections that have made both running the day-to-day operations and engaging with various government agencies and private sector actors a lot easier. She shared that culturally, men dominate the society but because of her Australian background, she did not feel hindered by this.
She also found that “if you deal with people fairly then there is no issue really.”
All in all, as much as the losses Kathryn has experienced have caused some challenges for her and her business, she feels driven to carry on the vision of her husband. This business is what has sustained them, both financially and socially, and she believes will sustain her into the future. They are already starting to export to Australia (which presented its own challenges and paperwork to overcome initially). She is especially grateful for the support she received from BLP at a time when the business was at a crossroads. While it has evolved and changed, once COVID is no longer so negatively impacting the business and the world, Kathryn believes they would benefit from more business support as well and would be willing to pay should they have the funds.
El Manaro Kava Export
When asked what she would recommend to other young entrepreneurs starting out, she said that her husband always felt that it was important to make your business a “star business.” Don’t just go through the motions but make it stand out and be the best it can be. This is what she feels El Manaro is working toward and believes it is an excellent goal to work toward for others.