This is us.
One day you wake up and you know it. You're going to be an astronaut. Well, that's not how it went for Bandi. It all started in a Dutch pub in 2019. Niels (then 26), born and raised at the country side of Holland, and Judith (then 23), freshly moved from Rotterdam with her parents to the same country side, bumped into each other (slightly tipsy). Three months later, they bought their first home and a dog (Moos). And they lived happily ever after. Yet, after about a year and a half, something was gnawing at both of them, and suddenly Niels began to suffer from severe panic attacks that led to a mild depression. Judith also couldn't quite find her place, neither at work nor emotionally. Where did this come from? And more importantly: how do we fix this? We didn't have answers, but two things we knew for sure: We're going to do it differently. And we're going to do it together.
After many - very many - conversations, self-help books, therapy sessions, walks, psychics, vacations, hypnoses, and even more conversations, we completely changed course. It had to be different. A different home, a new place, and both of us quit our jobs without a solid plan. Why? To discover ourselves. To reset, and above all, because it felt right.
Born from love
Bandi was founded by Niels and Judith. A hardworking, young couple with broad work experience ranging from hospitality and fashion to marketing. Just like everyone else, they sometimes struggle with life's challenges. Both have a passion for jewelry and for no-nonsense. As they themselves say: nothing extraordinary, but still special.
And then there was Bandi.
Alright, this house feels better, this place feels nice, no more dreading going to work, and plenty of time to rediscover the beautiful things in life together. That helped. The panic attacks disappeared like magic, and our world felt happily brighter again. Nice. But that doesn't pay the bills. And all those vacations and hypnosis sessions weren't free either. And now? Since our first date, we talked about starting a business together. A restaurant in Bonaire. Or a go-kart track. Actually, the concept didn't matter much, as long as we did it together. "Let's figure out what suits us best, we both love jewelry, enjoy nature, like working hard, and we love making people happy. Oh, and I would really love to share with people everything we've learned in the past period."
With this in our minds, we started brainstorming, sketching, erasing, starting over, sketching, arguing, making up, laughing, brainstorming even more, and suddenly, months later, it was the day. December 13, 2022. We sat proudly in front of a friendly lady in the Chamber of Commerce office to register our idea. And so, Bandi was born. A bracelet brand that makes the world more beautiful for ourselves and for others. A support. An encouragement. A piece of jewelry in the broadest sense of the word. Born from life lessons, but above all, born from love.