Chatting with the Business Besties: Your part in a Sustainable Future

Chatting with the Business Besties: Your part in a Sustainable Future

I chatted with some of the babes this week about what sustainability means to them. Sustainability is the buzzword of the decade, and it seems like every business is jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon. But are these companies really committed to saving the planet, or are they just trying to cash in on a latest trend?

We spoke to a few local businesses to get the inside scoop on what sustainability really means to them. From composting to carbon offsets, these companies are doing their part to make the world a greener place. So grab a reusable cup and settle in for some sustainability secrets!

Hey Business Besties, Thanks for joining. Please introduce yourself, your brand and mission!

Madison Batman (she/her): My name is Madison and I am the founder of Scent & Spill Candles founded in 2020. Scent & Spills missions is to make home a fun place through handmade fragrance & home-decor pieces!

April Mayfield (she/her): My name is April Mayfield and I am the founder of Glaze-ish founded in October of 2020. Glaze-ish aims to have you say bye-bye to boring skincare! From our airy textured Whipped Body Glazes to our sugary sweet foaming scrubs — our products will leave your skin cleansed, moisturized, and smelling like your favorite dessert. We mean, who wouldn’t want to be covered in birthday cake! 🍰

Natalie Contrera (she/her) & Alicia Wiley (she/her): We are Alicia Wiley and Natalie Contrera from Mango Marketing Co. founded in 2021! Mango Marketing Co. is a women-led, digital marketing and design studio. We started this company to elevate women owned businesses through marketing strategy, website design, brand design, branding photography, content creation, and social media strategy. Let us plant the seed to grow your business — digitally.

What does your business offer & what makes you the best?

Madison: The thing that makes Scent and Spill special is it’s approach to home fragrance! I use bold colors and nostalgic/surreal concepts to create a unique fragrance experience. It’s all things funky, bold, and bright. Additionally, my background in psychology informs a lot of the branding for S&S. My mission is to make “home” a fun place to be, but our mind is home too, so I encourage mindfulness practices and incorporate these psychological principles into my messaging whenever possible.

April: My brand is special because it is uniquely me. I put my heart and soul into Glaze-ish and the aesthetic of Glaze-ish is just an expression of who I really am. I contribute Glaze-ish’s substantial growth to me choosing to be myself.

Natalie & Alicia: We offer marketing strategy, website design, brand design, branding photography, content creation, and social media strategy! Our brand is special because we’re truly ourselves. Our entire team focus is self expression and we push our clients to be the same. We are authentically ourselves and we don’t try to market to be “social media gurus”. We don’t believe in vanity metrics and we won’t push our clients to show up on social media or their digital platforms the same as everyone. Each client’s experience and plan is unique to their business. We don’t want to be like anyone because no one can be us.

Now that we’ve got a bit of tea, and we’re crying from these amazing responses, we want biscuits too. How has your business evolved in the past year?

Madison: I rebranded in 2022, almost exactly 1 year ago, and since then I’ve learned so much to refine my technique, branding, and character. It’s been so liberating to execute this vision of mine for Scent and Spill.

April: Over the past year Glaze-ish has grown substantially. We are now sold in a 100+ retail stores. We also implemented some new strategies that will help us continue to grow and be sustainable as we grow.

Natalie & Alicia: We’ve evolved by really focusing on our core services, focusing on educating our clients + viewers, and focusing on creating content. We’ve also used the last year to focus on community support by creating 🥭 Mango Mixers — a woman-identifying networking mixer for small business owners and creators.

We’re getting into the good stuff. What is sustainability to you?

Madison: I like making it convenient to be sustainable, so I pack my lunch every day with silverware and reusable containers. I bought myself a reusable water bottle and take that with me everywhere! Using reusable bags when shopping and try grocery shopping at the farmer’s market or bulk foods where you’ll find minimally packaged products. I have been a vegetarian for many years and this also helps to reduce my ecological footprint. Even if someone tried being a vegetarian for one day a week, this could really help the environment! Finally, I try to avoid over consumption in fashion, so I usually shop second hand and if I’m going to buy something new I make sure it’s going to last a long time. Sustainability involves putting in the right amount of work to establish a foundation of practices that meet my personal goals and lifestyle but also protects the environment for future generations. Just try and make it convenient!

April: Practicing sustainability is a necessity when it comes to preserving our earth. We all need to implement sustainable measures so we can preserve earth’s natural resources and maintain an ecological balance.

Natalie & Alicia: We want sustainability to be an inclusive and accessible part of everyone’s business practices. Sometimes sustainability feels unachievable to a small business owner with a strict budget. Finding those shifts that don’t cost a lot or effect the budget is helpful.

Can we just appreciate how badass these girls are? Like I think I might have to break up with my partner… ANYWAYS… How do you approach sustainability as a business owner related to your field?

Madison: When making candles and home decor products I’m mindful of my impact on the environment so I do try to incorporate sustainable practices into the making and packaging process. I use all leftover wax so that nothing goes to waste, and any products that don’t meet my visual standards are put to clearance in my “spillover” collection to avoid throwing them away. I incorporate recyclable or reusable materials in the packaging process such as kraft paper, metal tins, and glass bottles to encourage people to find another purpose for the container once it’s used up. Finally, I use biodegradable corn starch packing peanuts that melt completely away in water!

April: The beauty industry can be super wasteful. That is why I made it my responsibility to find ways to be more sustainable. Packaging accounts for most of the waste in the beauty industry. To combat this, 95% of my products are put into glass jars. We do this to cut back on the use of plastics. We also recycle our packaging. When we receive packages from our suppliers, and they have packing peanuts in them, we reuse the packing peanuts. We also reuse the cardboard boxes that our supplies were shipped in. There are so many easy ways to practice sustainability as a beauty brand owner.

Natalie & Alicia: Go more digital. Plant your seeds — digitally. We have digital business cards that include QR codes for people to scan when you’re in person. We help our clients lean into digital marketing so they can focus on other aspects of their business. We have all of our bills on auto-pay and go paperless. Our team works remotes so we lower our carbon footprint. We try to support local restaurants when we are together for events to limit carbon footprints, waste and focus on the local economy. Mango has also made decisions to work with smaller brands so that way we can limit paper waste when ordering supplies. Lastly, we have merch and we try to make it as eco-friendly as possible.

Now we’re looking at a bigger picture. How can your brand or business directly impact the future of sustainability and the climate crisis?

Madison: I’d like my brand to be carbon neutral in the near future. I’m also working out the logistics to offer the ability to refill our liquid room sprays either locally or online. Ultimately, it’s up to us to advocate for sustainability by sharing information and best practices so that we can create worldwide changes.

April: At Glaze-ish we believe in recycling and reusing. We also believe in zero waste. A majority of our products are made to order. Making our products “made to order” helps keep our waste low because we don’t have a lot of unused product sitting around that could ultimately end up in a landfill.

Natalie & Alicia: We plan to help more small businesses create sustainable marketing + focus on digital aspects to expand their businesses. We also plan to help create more recycle programs for small businesses to give consumer incentives. We work with a lot of salons, some that are Green Circle Salons, with sustainable marketing plans. We hope to help more salons and spas, which is most of our clientele, become greener.

Lastly, Small Businesses are the future of change, what do you think our future looks like if more small businesses take initiative or what does your future look like?

Madison: My future goals are to donate to organizations that are either focused on fighting homelessness or helping those struggling with mental health issues as these are causes that are close to my heart. We are ready for a better, equitable future!

April: Small businesses can lead in combating the climate crisis. We may be small businesses but we leave a big impact on our earth. If we all as a collective implement more sustainable practices, our future will be brighter. I’m excited for what is in store!

Natalie & Alicia: Better. The world will look better — never perfect. Small businesses also set the tone for large corporations. These larger corporations will take more action to stay on par. The biggest change will come from them but they look at us to set the tone, trends and mood of the community. We are the action.

Perfectly said, We are the action.

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