Meet Our Founder: Marianna Sachse.
Jackalo was founded by Marianna Sachse, whose journey combines a passion for sustainability with a deep understanding of systems-level change. With a background in public health and social work focused on communication, Marianna has always been driven by the belief that health and well-being are shaped by our environment, access to reliable resources, and economic stability. This perspective inspired her to think about how she could create meaningful change.
Marianna has always been a maker at heart. As a child, she loved sewing jeans for friends, crafting concert shirts, and designing jewelry. However, it wasn’t until she became a parent that her creative passions aligned with her professional vision. When her first child outgrew the hand-me-down phase around age four, Marianna noticed a major problem: children’s clothing wasn’t built to last. Fast fashion options fell apart quickly under the wear and tear of active play, while even higher-end brands often failed to deliver on durability or recyclability due to blended fabrics. Plus, fashion is one of the largest polluting industries in the world.
Frustrated by the wastefulness and environmental impact of disposable clothing, Marianna set out to create a solution. She envisioned a return to old-fashioned quality paired with modern systems for recycling and reuse—clothes that could endure climbing trees and sliding on knees while being passed down from one child to the next.
Marianna brings her craftsmanship, eye for timeless design, to fundamentally redesign how kids clothes are made: to be strong enough for active kids while being gentle on the environment.
In 2023, Marianna was named a Nasdaq Milestone Maker, a project of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center highlighting the work of founders that are making an impact on the Sustainable Development Goals. She was also selected to participate in the prestigious Techstars Accelerator.
