We started to make jeżyki as a means to create a job.

I tutored English to a young refugee mother from Afghanistan who desperately wanted to work but was limited by a lack of language skills, transportation, and having to care for her children.

We ran through a list of options to try and find a job for her; babysitting, catering, house cleaning, Instacart shopper, but nothing was viable given her limitations. Then I remembered the little hedgehog balls—jeżyki—that my grandpa made around the holidays. A few years earlier I had led a workshop at a local craft museum teaching people how to make them. The workshop was a success so if we just made them to sell… perhaps people would buy them? We took that chance, and here we are.

We are now a two-person team. My student gets paid to roll the individual stars that make up a jeżyk and I do the rest. I couldn’t have done it without a whole village coming together to make it happen. And, of course, a special thanks to my Dziadzio Stasio (pictured) because if he hadn’t taught me how to make these, we wouldn’t be here today. Trust me, his mind is blown that we are able to sell these.

-Agnieszka

Agnieszka Spieszny

FOUNDER

Agnieszka was born in Poland in 1988 and immigrated to America with her family in 1993. She grew up in Michigan and later moved to Los Angeles, California where she works full time in publishing and marketing. After hearing news of the refugee crisis, she wanted to do something to help. She reached out to Miry’s List to volunteer as an English tutor in 2017 and was paired up with Arezo. Then, in about out 2019, they started the jeżyki business together. Now, Agnieszka still visits Arezo’s home regularly for English lessons (more like playdates with her oldest son) and to pick up stars that Arezo rolled, typically transported in the shoe boxes you see below.

Arezo

MAKER

You won’t find a picture of Arezo here. She is uncomfortable with her picture online and we honor her request not to use her photo. She was born in the mid-nineties in Afghanistan and lived in Kunduz with her family until they were forced to move to Kabul when she was a teenager. Her husband worked as an interpreter for the US military and was granted asylum in the United States. In 2017, they relocated to Los Angeles with their two-year-old son, and a second son was born in 2020. Arezo worked as a teacher in Afghanistan and wanted to resume working to help earn money for her family. Fortunately, she has a natural talent for handicrafts and has really taken to making jeżyki. All profits from this little business go to Arezo.