Upscale Online is closing out the “Love Month” with the story of an entreprenuerial couple with a unique business product. Imagine walking into a room and not having to say a word. Yet you command all the attention. Envision wearing one simple accessory that draws everyone to you. Seye Vandi and wife Marisa Demasiliere did exactly that when they walked into Upscale Magazine’s Scale Up Business Networking Mixer and February Issue Cover Unveiling event on Feb. 7 with their eye-catching Pixler Bag. The backpack with brightly lit words and images rotating on the back drew almost everyone to them.
Taking complete advantage of the opportunity to show up at the right place at the right time with the right people that the Upscale Scale Up Networking Mixer is designed to provide, the couple walked in and set their Pixler Bag on the registration table. In that moment, the room’s notables including CEO Bernard Bronner and COO Millie Harrell, wanted to know more. Many asked them, “Where did you get that?” The couple both smiled as Vandi replied, “It’s ours. It’s a Pixler Bag. It allows you to be a walking billboard!”
Willi Millions and partner Leslie Davis, founders of the HBCU Creative Cohort, a progressive college internship program in communications and entertainment partnering with Upscale to provide intern content creators were among many who posed with them and took time to learn more about the dazzling bag.
A week later, the HBCU Creative Cohort invited Vandi for an interview for the Cohort’s first Podcast. As the Cohort’s newest interns dove in to converse with Vandi, all in attendance enjoyed a great learning experience.
Vandi had the idea of designing a unique item like the Pixlar Bag and got serious about pursuing it after losing his job during COVID. At that time, he became inspired to take control of what was happening in his life. He had a prototype made of an item like the Pixler Bag, started the research and development phase to expand on it and came up with the original Pixler Bag.
He showed it to Marisa. She thought it would be a good product and helped him get going with it. Says Vandi of Marisa, “She is helping me stay on my path. When I talk about staying in the corporate world, she gets me back on track with putting it out in front of people. She was the first one that I started doing Instagram reels with promoting it on The Pixler Bag (@thepixlerbag) • Instagram photos and videos.”
Vandi finds that it’s easy working in business with his wife because she is like-minded. They are both entrepreneurial. “We both have the same goal of wanting to be economically independent. She also has her own cooking page. She’s the greatest chef, so I don’t miss a meal!” he says laughing.
The couple work hard running their business the old school way by showing up at events and going everywhere with the bag that they can make time for. They also have other projects that they’re working on. According to Vandi, “The Pixler Bag is just a beginning. There is plenty more to come with the bags, upgrading the screen, and so much more.”
The Pixler Bag is their first original collection. It is like a walking billboard with a pixelated screen. Vandi finds that anywhere he goes with the bag people ask, “How can I get a bag like that?”
It grabs a lot of attention. They are selling it mainly to other business owners and service providers because it’s a tool they can use to further their business.
Vandi’s biggest challenge is getting back out there and feeling like he is making the best use of his time. “Even though I’m doing 25 hours of work in a day, I don’t always feel like I’m putting enough work into getting the product out there. Everyone that sees it likes it. So, it’s just getting in front of the right audience.”
He funded the business out of his own pockets with some assistance from his mother, of whom he is very grateful.
Getting the bag into the United States was another challenge. They had it manufactured overseas. So, sustaining communication with the manufacturer was unique to him.
Vandi explains that the Pixler Bag is very user friendly. “You just download the app to your phone, and you connect it the same way you would connect to a Bluetooth speaker. From there you can upload text, pictures, GIFs, animations, and more.
Despite the challenges, Vandi has a great vision for the Pixler Bag and believes it is going to go far. “It’s a great tool to impact my community by helping people move forward.” To learn more about the Pixler Bag, visit https://thepixlerbag.com/.