Gander Founder Kimiloluwa Fafowora on Building an E-commerce Brand

By Mark Miller

Kimiloluwa Kafowora Photo By Elena Zhukova

GROWING UP, Kimiloluwa Fafowora had an image in her mind, shaped by media, of what success looked like. Spoiler alert: as a young Black immigrant to the United States that image did not look like her. Not only did this infl uence some of the early choices she made-including changing her look to better fi t in--but it impacted how others saw her too, creating perceptual limits to her academic pursuits. Over time, she used this experience as fuel to create change. In 2021, Fafowora launched Gander-a tech-enabled solution for integrating user generated videos on e-commerce sites. In an industry that prioritizes seeing people as data, Gander offers a diff erent experience: technology that sees people as people. By giving a more diverse group of people a powerful tool to speak, everyone wins: people feel seen and heard, and brands learn and sell more. Here, the founder of Gander talks about breaking down barriers to change, creating new role models for women

in technology, and fi nding and keeping your entrepreneurial fi re.

You founded Gander as an e-commerce tool, and marketing solution, around principles like diversity and inclusion. What fi rst motivated the business idea and what continues to drive you onward?

One of my earliest memories dates back to when I was in first grade. I remember wanting to straighten my hair and change my eye color. I wanted green eyes. When I went shopping with my mom, I literally begged her to buy specifi c products because I genuinely believed if I used the right combination, I would be able to transform myself into a completely diff erent person. Looking back, that was the fi rst moment where I realized the impact that marketing, advertising and media had on my self-perception. And then, things escalated. In the ninth grade, in my fi rst meeting with my college counselor, I shared that I would love to go to an Ivy League school. I was a good student. I was at the top of my class. She laughed. When she caught her breath she said, “Sweetie, Ivy League schools don’t accept people who look like you.” That moment stayed with me. There was something about her perception of who did and didn’t deserve success that drove her to almost keep me from getting to where I wanted to go. The impact of images in the media didn’t just aff ect my selfperception, it also infl uenced how others looked at me. A fi re was lit. I was moved to act. I was accepted at Harvard University where I completed an undergraduate degree in economics with high honors. Next, I completed my MBA at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Knowing fi rsthand the negative impact of media stereotypes, I tapped into my life experience as well as academic skillset to more positively infl uence the landscape-to innovate a more inclusive marketing and media idea.

In late 2021, I launched Gander as a solution for letting real people, especially diverse people, have control over telling their story. My aim was for marketers to start better serving people and not the other way around. Gander uses technology to collect and embed user generated videos on e-commerce sites. For some, we only provide the backend software that enables brands to share the user-generated content they have and put it on display--so real people are talking to real people about their brand experience. For others, we’ll also source diverse shoppers, ship trial products, help capture video, then upload their actual experience directly to our software. There are many reasons marketers avoid letting real people speak for them-including technological barriers to change. Gander has taken the complexity out of the process and, in so doing, has removed some of the barriers. Now, more types of people can share their actual brand experience, not just the stereotypes we’re accustomed to seeing from brands.

Recently, Gander was in the news for raising capital. The brand is also earning a reputation for some notable new collaborations. What have you learned from the early brand success?

Gander is still a young and small company, but we’re growing quickly. We’ve raised $4.2 million of seed funding above our pre-seed capital. Our solution is being integrated by a diverse group of brands--from apparel to food and beverage and beauty brands--across a range of e-commerce sites. I am particularly proud of our recent collaboration with MUDWTR, a unique brand encouraging individuals to fi nd balance on a daily basis. That said, Gander’s success is not overnight. It’s the result of hard work and ongoing learning.

Gander from page 27

Culture glamorizes entrepreneurship and building something, but not enough time is spent talking about how diffi cult it is. I started my fi rst e-commerce brand, apparel for young women, when I was in college. I launched it with my four older sisters. It was a good experience, but also a tough one. I knew nothing and the business didn’t do well. It failed miserably. For context, we launched when e-commerce brands were starting to scale advertising on social media sites such as Facebook, Google and Instagram--which were all relatively aff ordable at the time. Having access to social media wasn’t the issue. Communicating what made our brand diff erent, and relevant, was the problem.

Despite the early failure, my appetite for learning how great brands worked grew. After completing my undergraduate degree, I initially did a stint in fi nance. Next, I went to work for a business that scaled 25 brands. While there, I learned a lot more about e-commerce--including how to better connect; how to lead with humanity, especially in a space that was driven by technology. Gander started to emerge not only as an aspiration, but something that I could really succeed at as a result.

There are many tough days at Gander, even now, but I am driven by ambition to create a more diverse and inclusive space in the media landscape, proud of the leaders and brands that are our collaborators, confi dent in what I have learned, and more confi dent that I still have a lifetime of learning left to go.

At the start, you shared that a lack of representation helped to motivate the launch of Gander. Today, who are the role models you look to, if any, for inspiration?

For female minorities, there are a growing number of role models--albeit still too few--we tend to turn to for inspiration. In sports, we have someone like Serena Williams. She is a strong black female who has done amazing things. In politics, people like Michelle Obama and Stacey Abrams are both trailblazers. In business, there are two people who really inspire me. The fi rst, Carla Harris, is a Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, as well as a published author. She likes to write about how to show up in spaces where there haven’t been many before you. The second, Emma Grede, is cofounder at Good American. Emma is not only celebrating inclusivity in her work but, in so doing, she is also raising others behind her.

That said, in tech, there remains an overall lack of role models. I am not saying I want to be the fi rst. In fact, I would prefer to be one of the many. Through Gander, I’m working to serve as one representative of what people can achieve--lifting others in tech like leaders in other spaces have lifted me.

Typically, brands in the e-commerce universe have a short-term orientation. In contrast, Gander takes the long view. What is the value in thinking long-term in a short-term world?