10/10/2026
With Thanksgiving and KayTran’s anniversary coming up, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the past 5 years and what it has meant to me to relaunch this passion project of mine with all of you along for the ride.
Many of you know the idea for KayTran ignited while I was in university in 2010 after I struggled for most of my life finding options that felt great and were made for people like me.
What you may not know is that KayTran started as a business plan and two years of product development and it stayed a side hustle of mine for nearly a decade while I worked in finance and marketing.
During the days I’d work at my corporate job and in the evenings I’d plug away at KayTran.
5 years ago, it reached a point where I made a leap of a lifetime to dive into building this business and community full time and left my job. I had never done anything that felt equally as scary and exciting as that in my life, but I was exhilarated at the possibility of building this brand to make eyewear fun again for anyone who had a low nose bridge like me.
I am so proud of what we have accomplished over the last 5 wild years. We built a team, travelled across cities in Canada and the US for pop ups where we got to meet so many of you, expanded into our Canada and US warehouses, went on Dragon’s Den, built over 30 store partners and even ended up being featured on a national long-running commercial with the NHL.
It has been a whirlwind of both good things and challenges behind the scenes and I think that’s what I leave these 5 years being most proud of: the resilience that we’ve had, which can only have thrived with the support of you as our community.
Throughout these years our commitment to our mission has never wavered, and I truly believe we are playing a small part in a more inclusive future for all those around us.
Thank you for being here. As a token of my appreciation, all glasses/sunglasses are 20% off this weekend (Oct 8-13)! *Does not include RX lenses.
I can’t wait to build the next 5 years with you. xx Kathy.