Zid Zid Kids Builds Bridges Between Morocco and America

Washington — “We are trying to show aspects of Morocco in our work while also integrating our Western and American sense of design,” Zid Zid Kids co-founder Moulay Essakalli told America.gov about his company.

Zid Zid Kids exemplifies the kind of entrepreneurial dynamism created when culture, social awareness and business are combined. Not only does the award-winning, Marrakech-based company produce environmentally conscious children’s goods, it helps to empower young Moroccans.

Essakalli and his wife, Zid Zid Kids co-founder Julie Klear, use their artistic talents to make Moroccan-inspired children’s products that include shoes, belts, masks, handbags, tables, pillows and ottomans.

“We basically looked at what we can do that is true to us while building bridges in constructive ways between Morocco and the United States, as well as with the rest of the world,” Essakalli said.

The Obama administration has invited Essakalli to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington April 26–27 to offer an example of how doing business and supporting the community can be complementary.

Zid Zid Kids products use recycled materials, and Essakalli said they are safe for children and the environment and make good business sense.

“It is a lot less expensive to go green, or at least work within certain values that support the environment at both the micro and macro levels,” Essakalli said. For example, he said, recycled boxes for shipping and recycled cotton are cheaper than their new alternatives.

A portion of Zid Zid Kid’s profits go to Education for All, an organization that builds dorms for Moroccan girls in rural areas so they can access education. The company also helps support the Darna Center, an organization that shelters and educates young men and women from the street.

Essakalli said his community consciousness stems from a combination of his religious upbringing and his time working for fundraising organizations in the United States.

“I effectively was brought up in a Muslim country, and doing charity is one of the Five Pillars of the religion,” Essakalli said. “On the other hand, I learned a great deal in America about supporting not-for-profit organizations.

“When you put the two together, it makes all the sense in the world to want to give back and be involved with your community,” he said.

A high-end graphic designer who held jobs at Harvard University and at WGBH Public Broadcasting in Boston, Essakalli was fully integrated into American life. After he and Klear began a family, however, they felt something was missing.

“I would go back to Morocco every year or two and just manage the best way I could, and it wasn’t too much of an issue,” Essakalli said about his longing for home. “But after we got married and had our first baby, the Moroccan dimension became extremely present in our lives, and so we decided to integrate it professionally.”

They planned at first to run their business from the United States, but decided it would be best to build it from Morocco. Supported by a small office staff, Essakalli and Klear create designs that are then incorporated into products made by up to 100 craftspeople in Marrakech.

The decision to build Zid Zid Kids in Morocco involved some challenges. “The biggest problem that we face here has been access to financing,” Essakalli said. “The financing resources here are very conservative.”

Trading at the international level presents another set of hurdles.

Essakalli said the cost of shipping a 20-foot container from Morocco to New York is higher than from China to New York. And recent changes in trade agreements between Morocco and the United States, his biggest market, led to higher export duties on his goods.

“This weighs on our bottom line, but at the same time I think we benefit from the fact our clientele is supportive of the type of products that we do,” Essakalli said. The products “have authenticity, and stand behind values of ethical business, respect to the environment and the ecology.”

Like many business leaders who will be attending the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, Essakalli said he is looking forward to the opportunity to make contacts and participate in events. On another level, he is excited about President Obama’s approach to opening dialogue with Muslims worldwide.

“I am very happy to support President Obama’s initiative to start working on enhancing the relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world,” Essakalli said. “To the extent that I can be an actor in supporting this initiative, it would be an honor.”