Toronto jewelry shop puts kindness ahead of profits

A Toronto jewelry company owner has built a business on giving back after struggling with her mental health when she was younger.

Laurinda Lee-Retter, founder and CEO of Kind Karma Company, opened a new retail store at 801 Dundas St. W., near Bathurst Street, this summer.

The company offers fair hourly wages, and proceeds from all sales are returned to youth artisans to support their individual goals.

Lee-Retter started her social enterprise in 2017 with a goal of employing at-risk and homeless youth to handcraft fine jewelry. The enterprise started small, as an e-commerce business working out of meeting rooms at partner organizations.

Kind Karma works with organizations such as Covenant House and Yonge Street Mission to find staff, particularly offering jobs to homeless youth and youth-at-risk.

The idea came from Lee-Retter’s own experience with mental health. Diagnosed with severe clinical depression and anxiety disorder in her third year of university, she found it difficult to focus on school and work.

She ended up dropping out of school and getting a job in retail. With little work experience and no degree, there weren’t many opportunities.

Gems are ready for setting in the backroom of Kind Karma Company. (Photo: Karen Longwell)

Unfortunately, in retail, you can’t control customers that come in, and Lee-Retter found that difficult at times.

“It was just really bad for my mental health, and so I was constantly bouncing around everywhere, and I would never last anywhere for very long,” she said. “My self-esteem plummeted. It made me feel just bad about myself, like I had no future. I was hopeless. And I was like, I don’t ever want anyone to feel that way.”

Lee-Retter eventually worked her way up in the corporate world, becoming an executive assistant, but she found she missed being creative.

“I’d be so excited about a PowerPoint presentation, because that was the most creative I got to be,” she said.

Part of the charm bar at Kind Karma Company. (Photo: Karen Longwell)

She thought back to when she was young and made jewelry as a hobby. She decided to start a jewelry company, but at the same time create a welcoming and safe space for people “to come in as they are and just know that it’s okay.”

“I thought about creating a different employment model for those who suffer from mental health challenges and who don’t fit into the traditional employment models,” she said.

Often people are stuck with a choice between retail or restaurant jobs.

“And if you’re suffering from mental health challenges, that’s hard. It’s hard even as a healthy person,” she said.

For staff member Joy, who left an abusive household in Türkiye, the job has been transformational. Joy, who asked to use her first name only, started at Kind Karma in 2021 making jewelry.

She fled from Türkiye to Toronto with barely anything and lived at Covenant House. She was nervous about taking a job, and chose Kind Karma because the company’s job post said they welcome homeless youth and at-risk youth.

Joy helps customers with permanent jewelry. (Photo: Karen Longwell)

At first, Joy kept her head down and glued to her work—she didn’t like talking to people, but after about a year at Kind Karma, she became more confident and wanted to try different jobs.

“Now, I love being around people and interacting,” she said. “And I never thought I would hear myself say that, honestly.”

Joy writes a blog about her life, published on the Kind Karma site, serves customers, leads workshops and does social media posts for the company. She also studied creative advertising at Seneca College, and now has her own apartment.

Co-worker Jude has a different background, having studied jewelry making at George Brown College. Jude does gem setting, which is more technical. While she is fairly new at Kind Karma, she is enjoying the work.

Jade works on gem setting in the backroom of Kind Karma Company. (Photo: Karen Longwell)

“It’s a really supportive workplace,” she said. “We all get along really well together.”

The shop offers permanent jewelry, engraving, a charm bar, custom pieces, and workshops in addition to the jewelry crafted by the youth artisans.

For more information, see the Kind Karma Company website here.