Founder Story

Asanti By Koi was created from the belief that even in uncertain times, people still have agency over how they show up in the world.

In 2013, I lost my mother, a woman whose love shaped the core of who I am. For years, grief was something I tried to outrun. When the world slowed during COVID, I was finally forced to sit with everything I had been carrying. In that stillness, I realized how essential intentional reminders had become to my survival.

During that season, two anchors grounded me. My children, especially my firstborn daughter, Asanti. Her name is inspired by the Swahili word Asante, meaning thank you. She was born just seven months before my mother passed, and she has walked beside me through every chapter since. Alongside her presence, the memory of my mother’s love became a quiet guide, reminding me that light does not disappear, it transforms.

As a Kenyan woman navigating motherhood, loss, and rediscovery, I needed tools that helped me stay conscious in moments that felt heavy and overwhelming. I began creating jewelry engraved with the words I needed most. Affirmations that grounded me. Messages that restored my sense of choice and inner strength.

What began as a personal practice became something deeper.

Jewelry became a reminder.
The reminder became a practice.
And the practice became Asanti By Koi.

Today, each piece is created with intention and heart. These words, engraved in metal, are meant to serve as daily anchors. Gentle cues to pause, breathe, and remember your power. They exist to support conscious living, emotional resilience, and self trust in a world that often feels demanding and uncertain.

Asanti By Koi was born from my story, but it was never meant to stay there. It exists to meet you where you are, to remind you that you are not alone, and that even small, intentional choices can change how life feels.

With love,
Koi Kadara