Muleh Bisrat

Work / LIYU

LIYU: a premium leather brand built with artisan partners

I managed LIYU from start to finish. It sells leather goods directly to customers, and the goods are made by artisans in Ethiopia. The challenge was to keep a luxury standard while paying fair wages, coordinating across time zones, and shipping internationally.

Visit liyu.ca

Role
Product manager
Category
Direct-to-consumer e-commerce
Partners
Grew from 1 to 4 artisan workshops in Ethiopia
Platform
Shopify and Node.js, designed for mobile first
Model carrying a LIYU leather tote

The challenge

Price it as luxury, make it ethically, and ship it from Ethiopia to customers in North America.

What made it hard

  • Coordinating with artisans in other time zones
  • Paying fair wages and respecting cultural practices
  • Managing international shipping
  • Keeping quality the same from batch to batch

How I approached it

  • Set up direct lines of communication with each artisan partner
  • Wrote clear, shared rules for fair wages and cultural practices
  • Tracked every order from the workshop to the customer
  • Added quality checks at each stage of production

How it came together

  1. Market research and positioning

    The luxury leather market was projected to reach $78B by 2027. I positioned LIYU between entry-level luxury and heritage brands, based on research showing that 68% of customers will pay more for products that match their values.

  2. Partnerships

    Grew from one artisan partner to four across Ethiopia in 12 months. I wrote a 12-point quality checklist and an onboarding guide that fits traditional techniques to modern standards.

  3. Platform

    Built a mobile-first store on Shopify and Node.js, with a 90+ Lighthouse score and 2.3-second load times. A shopping experience built around the artisans' stories improved conversion by 28%.

  4. Launch and growth

    Launched with limited-edition product drops. A post-purchase care program helped earn a 4.8/5 customer rating. Organic search now brings in 43% of monthly traffic.

Results

  • 65%year-over-year revenue growth
  • 28%repeat purchase rate
  • 4.8/5customer satisfaction
  • 35%improvement in quality
  • 43%of traffic from organic search
  • 1 → 4artisan partners

LIYU is now positioned as a premium, sustainable brand. It grew its artisan partnerships and its revenue while keeping a luxury standard.

Skills used

Strategy

Market analysis, roadmaps, competitive research, and business modelling.

Partnerships

Working across cultures, managing suppliers, quality assurance, and fair trade.

Delivery

Agile delivery, API integrations, site performance, and analytics.

Customer experience

Journey mapping, user research, improving conversion, and keeping customers coming back.