Meet the Founder: Marianna Sachse of Jackalo

We sat down with Marianna Sachse, founder of sustainable kids' clothing brand Jackalo, to talk about what inspired her business, her best secondhand finds, and why she thinks buying used is just smarter parenting.

Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.

I'm Marianna, the founder of Jackalo. We make long-lasting, sustainable clothes for kids — and when they're outgrown, we buy them back to be renewed or resold. We're actually the first kids' brand in the US to build resale into the model from inception, not as an afterthought. I'm also a mom of two boys, ages 9 and 16 (how is that even possible?!), and we live in Washington, DC, where I was born and raised. We spent four years in the Netherlands, where my younger son was born — and we've got two dogs rounding out the household.

What's the story behind Jackalo?

It started with pants, honestly. When my older son was four, I noticed we weren't getting many hand-me-downs anymore — and virtually no pants. He was always active and tough on clothes, and more often than not he'd blow through the knees in weeks, not months. I was really disturbed by the amount of waste that was creating, and I decided to do something about it. That was the beginning of Jackalo.

Deinfluence us! What's a purchase you totally regret?

We were visiting a friend who had a kid-sized punching bag, and our younger son absolutely loved it. So we got one — and he played with it for approximately 15 seconds and hardly touched it again. It sat around our house for ages, and the few times other kids played with it, it fell apart. The combination of giving in to a kid's whim and a shoddy product definitely made us rethink those kinds of impulse buys!

What category do you always try to buy used?

Sports equipment, without a doubt. My younger son has grown a lot this past year and has already outgrown his ice skates and baseball gear. Between growth spurts and constantly changing interests, sports gear is one of the smartest things to buy secondhand.

What's the best deal you've ever scored?

Not a kids' item, but I found this lovely little wooden chair at a market in the Netherlands for about $8. Something about it called to me, even though I wasn't sure why at the time. When I got home and looked it up, I found the same chairs selling for over a hundred dollars. Now they're going for $400+. Not a bad return on investment!

What's your biggest frustration with resale platforms?

Honestly? Everything about Facebook Marketplace. People ghost constantly, make unreasonable offers — a good transaction there feels genuinely rare. There has to be a better way.

Check out Jackalo at hellojackalo.com.