Coffee & Jam is Christchurch’s longest running weekly meet up for entrepreneurial-minded people. It’s a great place to see ordinary people doing extraordinary things, be inspired, network, and share in an innovative space.

This week’s speakers are:

1) Kaushik Kumar (Style Dux)

Kaushik founded Style Dux, a purpose driven clothing brand dedicated to making conversations easier for people suffering through Mental Illness. Style Dux works with non-profits and charities to design streetwear that embodies their mission. Style Dux then sells the apparel and passes on the profits to these charities. The clothing our customers purchase, directly impacts someone’s life. It could have provided lunch to a child who would otherwise go hungry or funded a call that saved someone’s life. Kaushik comes from an engineering background; however, this field was not for him. Having started his first venture at 16, driving change through business is where his passion lies.

2) Tracey Ahern (BeeBio)

In 2016, after more than 20 years’ experience of owning and operating four Beauty and MediSpa clinics, she sold her business. Together with three other shareholders, they took on a totally new challenge and purchased skincare company BeeBio. Owning BeeBio has opened their eyes to the misalignment between what consumers want and how the cosmetic industry is run. Their business is largely international, which has in itself been challenging. Over the last two years, they have worked tirelessly to develop a new skincare brand, which we have launched in July this year. Their new brand follows their core beliefs to provide quality, natural skincare, made easy for the consumer. For them, this means products delivered to their door, in compostable courier bags – feeding their skin and at the same time looking after our planet by eliminating single-use plastic bottles.

“Going Green” is not easy. She believes she has a lot to share about what she has learned on her sustainability journey. Her vision for the cosmetic industry is to help companies to work smarter and in a more sustainable way. She would like to see collective purchasing encouraged to keep work in New Zealand and work in a collaborative way so that resources are pooled and our footprint reduced.

Coffee and Jam is your opportunity to meet new people in the Christchurch entrepreneurial ecosystem and indulge in a little bit of free coffee, jam and bread.

If you have an idea you’d like to pitch get in touch with Gina at gina@ministryofawesome.com