For over 20 years, Lisa Cassidy has worked as a Brand Strategy and Digital Marketing Consultant in the green sector, partnering with companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500s to bring sustainable products and solutions to market.

In 2020, Lisa founded KADEN & KAI® with a focus on transforming unconventional materials into bold, design-driven jewelry. What began with upcycled bicycle tubes evolved into something more—an exploration of how jewelry could better align with how people live, move, and wear it every day.

That exploration led to the development of Verdasil®—a proprietary, high-performance silicone engineered for flexibility, comfort, and modern design.

Today, KADEN & KAI is helping shape an emerging category of performance jewelry through a design-led approach centered on movement, comfort, and form. The brand’s collections—Verdari™, Verdalure™, and Verdacious™—each express a distinct point of view, while sharing a common goal: creating statement jewelry designed to move with the body.

That early experimentation laid the foundation for the brand’s evolution. Drawing on what people loved about the look and durability of bicycle tubes—and what they wished existed but didn’t—Lisa began developing a new material designed specifically for jewelry. The result was Verdasil®, KADEN & KAI’s signature lightweight, hypoallergenic performance silicone.

Today, Verdasil® is at the heart of the brand and the foundation of KADEN & KAI’s future in the emerging category of performance jewelry—bold, sculptural designs created to move comfortably with the body. Signature collections including Verdari™, Verdalure™, and Verdacious™ are crafted entirely from Verdasil, continuing the spirit of experimentation and innovation that began in Lisa’s workshop.

From the beginning, Lisa envisioned KADEN & KAI as a brand grounded in sustainability. After more than 20 years as a Brand and Digital Marketing Consultant in the environmental sector, she was determined to create a product line that could combine bold design with responsible materials—building a business that could do well while doing good.

Prior to Kaden & Kai, Lisa had a micro store called ecoimagine. ecoimagine sold recycled, repurposed and biodegradable fashion accessories and clothing. Lisa worked with over a dozen small businesses throughout the United States to create awareness of these amazing eco products. ecoimagine closed its doors due to Covid, but later become the inspiration for KADEN & KAI.

For the full story, visit the Harvard Business School Online Blog.