21: The Road to Zero Waste & Ecopreneurship (w/ Eniko Olah)

Eniko Olah, thank you so much for coming on.

You own the Sans Market in St.

Pete.

Yes.

Wow.

So I originally met you and discovered what the Sans Market was at an Edge Insights meeting where you presented, it was like five minute powerful presentation where I was like, whoa, I did not know this was a thing.

And I feel like I’m pretty close to, you know, environmental causes and, you know, understanding what’s going on with climate change and trying to be responsible.

But I just didn’t, I didn’t know about this realm.

And so I was fascinated right away.

So first off, I’m so glad that you came on.

Thank you.

You had presented and then also you brought some chips that were, that we could sample and they were like made from scraps.

No, made from food waste.

Food waste.

Yes, I remember.

It was delicious.

But when you said, yeah, these are food waste chips, I was like, ooh.

Yeah, people always imagine like dumpster diving.

It’s not quite that.

It was more sanitary than that.

But yeah, they were made from the pulp leftover after the juicing process.

So juice bars juice all the fruit and veggies and they have all that pulp leftover.

And instead of throwing it away, they made chips out of it.

So it was delicious.

And that’s brilliant.

I really think, you know, what your business is after, and I’m getting ahead of myself, but ultimately, as a business owner, it’s important to look at like, what is the market going to be?

What is the opportunity ahead?

Because I feel like in a way, you are unfortunately also ahead of your time because it’s, and we’re going to dive into this, but like getting people to switch their mindset to zero waste or close to, rather than going to Publix or Kroger or Walmart or whatever it is and just grabbing everything, or like Costco where they have enormous cardboard things for a tiny SIM card, whatever it may be.

It’s really admirable that you started this and you’re at the forefront of something so important.

So with that said, I guess before we get ahead of ourselves, what is a zero waste store?

What do you do there?

What do you sell?

So zero waste stores have popped up all over the country.

We’re not the first, but we are the only one in Pinellas County currently.

And it’s basically a store that helps you live with less waste.

So zero waste is sort of just a term.

It doesn’t actually mean that you’re going to produce zero waste.

It’s more of a mindset shift, and we have products there that help you live with less waste because they’re either reusable, refillable, compostable, basically trying to avoid things piling up in the landfill.

And we’re really focused on quite a few different categories, so health and beauty products, cleaning products.

We’ve expanded into food now, so we also have food items.

But yeah, there’s a ton of things in there, like pet products, a lot of gifting options.

I always tell people we have a little bit of everything, so kind of like a grocery store would, but just much smaller than a traditional grocery store, but all of it’s kind of tied together with that sustainable mindset.

I love it.

Thank you.

It’s so cool.

You came and gave us all jars, glass jars, an empty jar, like one refill.

And it’s like, what do we play in this jar?

Yeah, we have a lot of refillable products, so a part of the store is that sort of bulk refill model where people can bring containers and fill up.

So we have, again, beauty products, cleaning products, food items, all that you can refill.

And if people don’t have a jar, we sell containers, and then we also have a section of free containers that are just upcycled jars that people have donated to us.

So we try and make it as easy as possible for people.

So bring a jar, buy a jar, or grab a free jar.

You used the term upcycle.

What’s the difference between upcycle and recycle?

Well, recycle sometimes is creating something or recycling something into that same thing.

But upcycle is if you give it a new life and you elevate it.

So maybe it used to be a pickle jar, which then would go into your recycling bin.

But now you decided, I’m going to keep this jar and use it as a food container.

So it kind of got a little bit elevated, if you will, in the waste chain.

Yeah.

So there’s also downcycling where you think you’re recycling something, but really it then gets recycled into something that’s no longer recyclable.

That happens a lot.

So if you think of plastic, a lot of plastic is really hard to recycle, and it doesn’t actually get recycled into the same thing.

It might get recycled into, let’s say, a McDonald’s toy in the Happy Meal, and then that can no longer be recycled anymore.

Once they’re done with it, it’s going to the landfill.

So plastic’s a little tricky when it comes to recycling, so that’s why we try and help people avoid it and minimize it in their lives, especially single-use plastic.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

We’ll dive into that.

Yeah.

But before that, how do you end up starting a zero-waste store?

What was your inspiration?

What was your journey to get there?

Did you wake up one morning and go, zero waste?

It was many, many years in the making.

I guess it was mainly just like many other business owners’ personal need.

I just felt like I couldn’t find the things I wanted the way I wanted them, and it was frustrating to have to run around to a bunch of different stores because this store had this, but then the other store had this other thing I needed the way I wanted, ordering stuff on Amazon when I didn’t feel great about that, missing the farmer’s market because it’s only open one day a week, and I just wanted to create a space that had everything you needed and already did all the hard work in vetting everything that’s in there, whether it’s the plastic and the packaging aspect or the ingredients and making sure we have clean ingredients too.

So that was kind of it, just wanted things for myself and my family, and I couldn’t find it.

And I was just like, how does this not exist in St.

Pete?

It’s such an eco-conscious city, and there was no store like that.

And I had seen a couple pop up in New York and in Texas and Austin, and I just thought, why don’t we have one here?

So I was like, well, let me try and create it and see if other people are interested and excited about this.

And so here we are almost seven years later.

Yeah, that’s seven years.

Fantastic.

Congratulations.

2018, so not quite fully at the seven-year anniversary, but yeah.

We’ll round up.

That’s awesome.

We’ll upcycle that number.

I’m lame.

It works.

What did you do before you started this business?

Well, oddly enough, I worked in the consumer packaged goods industry, so the CPG industry for Procter & Gamble for seven years and then for Kimberly Clark for five years.

So people aren’t always familiar with the companies, but they know the brands, the tithes and the Gillettes of the world and the Pampers and the Kleenex and the Huggies and all those big brands you have in your kitchen and your bathroom.

And I really enjoyed it.

I just didn’t like how much waste was involved in the whole process, especially when you see it from the inside.

So I just thought, okay, there must be a different way to do this, a better way.

So I thought, okay, well, let me create my own store and curate it and find the things similar to the brands I worked with, similar categories, but just without all the plastic and the excessive packaging.

Why do you think these big brands, and I’m sure some are in different ways, but why do you think it’s not a bigger wave that these big corporations, businesses, brands that have a bunch of capital to utilize don’t take advantage of doing things in a more responsible way?

What’s the hang up?

I mean, I think it’s just a, you know, we live in a capitalistic society.

These are profit-driven companies.

And if it doesn’t translate into the bottom line, a lot of times it doesn’t get priority.

So all of these big companies have, you know, sustainability initiatives and efforts that they’re doing, but it isn’t the main focus.

And so it’s hard to make changes or big changes in companies of that size and scale.

So they’re just not incentivized, you know?

If you think of something as basic as plastic, virgin plastic is cheaper than recycled plastic.

So why would a company buy recycled plastic to make their products if the virgin plastic is cheaper?

And you say, well, it’s the right thing to do.

Well, that’s really hard to convince, you know, the shareholders and the board about that.

So…

The old shareholders.

Yeah.

I mean, it’s not as profitable.

At the end of the day, the work that we’re doing isn’t, you know, making anyone rich, but I know it’s the right thing to do, and someone needs to do it, so…

And clearly you’ve been sustaining yourself and a team for almost seven years now.

Yeah, I mean, we made it through COVID, which was, you know, we were, I think, in year two, and so that was a very intense experience, and you learn a lot from things like that.

A lot of social unrest in downtown St.

Pete quickly after COVID.

Right now, we’re dealing with really slow-ish sales and really high expenses because St.

Pete is growing like crazy, but there’s also some recession vibes in the air with spending, so it definitely is a challenging time to be a small business owner, but that’s just…

You have to keep going if you believe in what you’re doing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What do you think the…

How do you incentivize or how do corporations that are not incentivized currently, what do you think are the best ways to incentivize them to change what they’re doing?

I mean, obviously, this tugs at much deeper things just overall in practices.

I mean, there isn’t one clear simple answer.

There isn’t?

I think there is an appetite for this from younger consumers.

So people are starting to care more about this and pay attention more to this.

So when that starts showing up in their consumer research groups, et cetera, that people are tired of all this waste and the single-use plastic, I think that’s going to slowly shift the tide.

But also, at some point, legislation might come into play.

In Florida, we haven’t seen a lot of it, but other states have rolled in different types of legislation, whether it’s to ban certain things, put fees and fines on certain things, and then people definitely care and listen, right?

So I don’t know what the solution is, but I didn’t really want to sit around and wait for them to figure that out.

A lot of times, whether it’s a nonprofit or a big corporation, they don’t always move very fast.

And so it’s tricky to just sit there and say, well, the businesses have to shape up and figure this out, or consumers have to do better.

I don’t think it works that way.

This is pretty complicated, and it just needs to be all hands on deck, and everyone needs to do what they can so we can figure this out together.

Yeah.

Those are all good points.

And it’s going to take a lot of effort from a lot of areas or perspectives to inform these companies that, hey, this is actually what the people want, and you actually might lose profit once you don’t start to adopt.

But also, it’s interesting when I think of energy production, sustainability, sustainable energy.

You’d think a Shell or a BP would jump on getting ahead of that because the writing’s on the wall, and it’s cheaper.

Like, there’s just wind there.

You don’t necessarily have to pay for the wind.

And obviously, you have to pay for the thing that harnesses the wind.

Yeah, I think that capital expenditures can be quite hefty for some of these big corporations to make the shift in changing all of their, whether it’s production, manufacturing facilities, whatever it may be.

I think there’s a big chunk of change that they’d have to invest to sort of switch to some of these more sustainable solutions, and that can be really hard for whoever is in leadership positions at the time to say, yes, I’m going to be the one that does this change.

So I think everyone wants it to happen.

They’re just sort of waiting for someone else to make the first move, or it’s a sort of come down as like a force type of thing where everyone has to do it at the same time, so no one’s left behind on a profitability perspective.

I think it’s, yeah, it’s definitely a complicated problem to solve, for sure.

Certainly.

Yeah, I mean, we’re changing enormous systems, but I think you’re kind of nailing it on, well, maybe the legislation then informs that, the people inform legislation, legislation informs, hey, all of you businesses, right now, starting next month, this needs to change.

And then the following, you know, and maybe slow change, all together.

Yeah.

And if you don’t change, then you’re just going to bleed profits.

You’re left behind.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I hope that’s where we’re headed, but I don’t know.

Florida is always a little bit interesting when you look at all the political stuff that’s happening in the United States.

So it’s almost like anything goes down here, it feels like.

So I don’t know, we’ll see where things pan out.

But again, I think it doesn’t make sense to sit around and wait for these things.

It’s like everyone needs to think about what they can be doing.

If you’re a business owner or if you’re an employee at a small business or you’re volunteering with a nonprofit, whatever, you work for the city.

How can we all just incorporate this in some way into our work and our careers and our lives?

Agreed.

Yeah, yeah.

My wife and I try to not waste stuff as much as possible, and we always feel bad when we have to throw something out.

It’s like a whole big thing.

We feel that tug.

I’m trying to do what I can with my business as far as…

Well, I drive a Prius to work, okay?

But we’ve been carbon neutral since 2022, so I pay a monthly subscription plan to offset our carbon emissions based on our use of…

That’s awesome…

.

things and the size of our team, et cetera.

So it’s like, I’m doing what I can, having people like you on the podcast, but I want to do more.

I think it is hard.

There’s so many things that everyone has to deal with, and I understand that people have different priorities maybe, so we have to make it as easy as possible for the community to really move towards this greener lifestyle.

So that’s, I think, my role as a store owner, a retail store owner, is to create all these things, make it accessible, make it understandable, and do all the educating and vetting things, and so you just, you know, you don’t have to think about it so much.

So, you know, we do need to make more things available for the community, like local delivery or all these things that people really are just asking for, to make it as easy as possible for people to get what they need the way they need it without all the waste.

You had mentioned, like, the empowerment, the education portion of that, because obviously, first, people need to know you even exist and that it’s a thing.

But then, you know, from there is, like, what is the need to switch to this?

What are some of the things that you’re doing to educate, to get out?

Obviously, you’re on this podcast, you’re at Edge, you’re networking.

Yeah, I mean, a lot of times, people just stumble into the store.

So we’re located on Central Ave in St.

Pete, and that was kind of part of the strategy with opening the store there, is to have that accidental foot traffic of people just walking by and saying, oh, this is cute.

What’s this?

Let’s go inside.

And that way, we get a lot of people that normally maybe wouldn’t come in if we were off the beaten path, because they’re not looking up Zero Waste Store and their Google IMaps or whatever they’re using.

So that’s one piece of it, is being in a really high traffic area, downtown St.

Pete, we get to interact with a lot of people that don’t really know a lot about this lifestyle, and we get to talk to them.

Like, they walk in the door, and we immediately are having a conversation with them about what brought them in or if they have questions about different things in the store.

We also do classes.

We do like one to two classes a month, different topics, something as basic as Zero Waste 101 or a DIY class to teach people how to make their own beauty products or cleaning products.

We’re having a composting class this month.

It’s National Composting Day at the end of the month.

So we’re partnering with a local composting service.

We work with the Waste and Sanitation Department to go and have a tour of their place, but also they came to one of our classes to share some information.

So I think it’s really just things like that.

And any speaking engagement, I can get and talk to people.

And we also do markets.

We do, usually once a month, we’ll go in and vend at a market.

So set up a tent, some tables.

And yes, we’re there to sell product, but really it’s about telling people we exist and getting them back to the store.

So even if we break even or lose a little money on an event like that between the vendor fee and staffing, we’ll still do it because it’s about really just reaching out and connecting with people so that they know we exist and they understand what it is that we’re doing with our mission.

Yeah, some of these things are long-term plays.

It’s you’ve got to plant a few seeds for people then over time to go, you know what, I’ve been thinking on that.

That really, you know, what am I doing?

In this old way, I probably should.

But that doesn’t, you know, change doesn’t happen immediately in a lot of ways.

Yeah, I mean, even just regular retail products that aren’t even asking you to do anything different, they say it takes anywhere from seven touch points with a consumer to get them to sort of really become a user.

So we’re showing you different products, but also different ways to use them.

So there is a lot in that sense that we’re asking of people, like refilling or composting or, you know, how do I load this stainless steel safety razor?

Like, there’s some, you know, hurdles that you need to get people over to feel comfortable with trying and buying and then rebuying the things we’re selling.

Sure, yeah.

Yeah.

And then the question is, how do you get people who are now a customer and like a fan to tell more people about it?

Yeah, that’s definitely one aspect, and also to have our current customers think of us for almost all of their shopping needs.

So some people will just come and fill up on dish soap, and that’s great, and we love that.

But then, did you know we also sell, you know, local eggs?

Or have you tried our pet treats that are locally baked?

And then you get to also interact with them in that way, where they’re coming either more often or when they’re there, they’re buying more things from us than from a traditional retailer or Amazon or wherever else.

And that’s important because that’s what keeps our business profitable and running smoothly.

Do you train the person running the cash register, your team, to kind of, hey, if they only have the soap, make sure to remind them about the food or do you have plans for that?

Well, we do incorporate it.

For example, we give out a lot of samples at the checkout.

We’re asking people at checkout, do you need any fresh bread today?

And most of the time, they’re like, you guys sell bread?

They’re like, yeah, it’s right here.

So even if they don’t buy it now, they know we have bread.

So it’s a lot of that type of interaction.

And we do get a lot of people that come in, they’re just like, I’m just looking.

I kind of need a gift, so we’ll definitely recommend things and help them out.

Staffing has been, I’m not going to lie, a little tricky.

Unemployment rate is pretty low right now in St.

Pete, so people are just floating around from one job to the next, I think, because there’s so many offers out there, and it’s hard to retain staff and keep them with, you know, there’s maybe a better wage next door or the block over.

Cost of living is really high right now in St.

Pete.

So your question was about training staff, but honestly, right now, I’m just focused on hiring and retaining staff because even that’s been really tricky.

But yeah, we’re working on it.

Yeah, no, you’ll get there.

Also, finding people who align with the mission and the vision, you know, and that you’re doing this job.

Also, there’s a purpose to it, a little more oomph behind the job.

Which honestly, that makes hiring easier because when you find someone that’s excited, they’re like excited to come and interview and be a part of something that’s bigger than them.

And we do recruit a lot from USF and Eckerd because there’s a ton of students there studying environmental, all kinds of different practices there.

So it’s great to see those people come into and they’re just so excited.

I’m like, yes, that’s the energy we need because we need you to get the people walking in the door all so excited.

Exactly, yeah, you need that.

That’s like a requirement of the job.

You’ve got to be pumped up about this.

Recycle, reuse.

Aside from your staffing challenges, what’s your other biggest challenge?

I mean, we obviously talked about getting the society to shift, but what else sticks out?

I mean, the biggest one, honestly, is just, I mentioned expenses are really going up, and I think everyone’s feeling that in St.

Pete.

It’s great that the city’s growing.

It’s awesome to see whether it’s the high rises being developed or people moving down here from California or Texas or wherever, and the expenses are now going up with that, things like rent, and the sales don’t always keep pace with that.

So I think that’s tricky.

And that’s not just for us, that’s everyone, but especially for the people downtown St.

Pete, Central Ave, rents have just gone up so, so much that it’s really hard as a small business with one location to make the numbers work.

So that’s definitely been my focus the last six to 12 months, for sure.

Yeah, and also, I mean, you’re in a realm where you had just mentioned like virgin plastics versus recycled plastics are less expensive.

And so I imagine that your sourcing of products, they’re not as cheap as maybe some other disposable razors.

Let’s just use the razor.

So it’s like you’re also battling a higher price point for you to purchase in order to resell.

Yeah, because we’re not the only ones feeling this pain, right?

If you’re renting an apartment just for yourself, your rent’s also gone up, and so maybe you don’t want to spend $100 every time you go to the grocery store, because it’s too much.

So people are forced to sort of make some difficult decisions on who they’re willing to support with their dollars.

So it’s definitely tricky.

Even with the bulk, so we buy things in five gallons, let’s say, and we’re filling them on the floor in a one-gallon container for people to come and fill their shampoo or their dish soap or whatever it may be.

And sometimes people ask us, well, why isn’t this cheaper?

This is almost the same price as if I go to the store and just get the stuff in a bottle.

And I’m like, yeah, because it’s hard for us to compete with Publix is buying pallets and pallets of dish soap, and we’re buying five gallons at a time.

So per ounce, we might not always compete, at least not until we become a little bigger and more and more people buy into this.

And then it’s easier to get it cheaper because then we can get, you know, 55 gallons of it and not five gallons of it, and then we can pass those savings on.

So the bulk isn’t always cheaper.

We try and make it at least slightly cheaper, but sometimes it might be parity priced, so similar priced as what you might get if you went to a traditional retailer.

So that’s always a little bit tricky too, but I think the people that come are there because they care about the planet, and they know it’s good quality too, so the ingredients are going to be clean.

And if they’re not saving a ton, but they’re just sort of breaking even, if you will, they’re still okay with that.

Yeah, that’s worth it.

Do you have plans to open another store?

I would love to.

I think about it all the time.

Tampa would be great.

We get a lot of requests from people saying, oh, I drove all the way over here.

I wish you guys were in Tampa.

It’s just really tricky right now.

It’s a tough time, I think, in the economy to go and sign a five-

or ten-year lease when there’s a lot up in the air, I think, for everyone.

So I just want to focus on doing this one location well, because our profitability isn’t where I want it to be before I get distracted with the second location.

That’s smart.

I think we’ll rather focus on our website and delivery.

And so if you are in Tampa, and let’s say our website’s now running really smooth and we say free delivery over X dollars, then at least we’re kind of meeting you in the middle or meeting you where you’re at in this case.

So I think that’s what we’re going to focus on now.

And people can visit your website right now and purchase some stuff, right?

It’s still a work in progress, and it has been for a while, unfortunately, but we’re working on it.

Websites aren’t easy.

No, and making them work the way you need to to sync with the backend of all the things we’re doing, it’s such a pain sometimes.

Yeah, when you’re talking about e-commerce and not just selling online, but then it’s connected to stuff physically?

Oh yeah, that’s a big deal.

People are like, oh yeah, just start a store.

It’s like, uh-uh.

It’s so complicated.

It’s a whole other set of skills to do that well.

People don’t always realize, oh, why don’t you just, e-commerce, I mean, I can do that, but it’s almost a distraction from the store because it’s a different skill set.

And so doing both well is really hard.

So I’ve chose to focus on the store, but I don’t think we can do that anymore if we want to continue to grow.

So you kind of just have to figure it out and have to do it.

Yeah, yeah.

It’s tricky because also, you know, not only just upkeep of the website and your product inventory aligning with what’s in store, but also the marketing is different for a physical store compared to an online store.

Yeah, driving traffic to websites.

Although that part’s kind of fun because you see a lot of data and analytics.

It’s a little easier to pinpoint what’s working well and what’s not versus if I’m standing in the store and it’s empty, I can’t really figure out quickly why isn’t there more people in the store.

Go outside of the store.

You’re like, why aren’t you guys coming in this door?

If they come in and look around and leave without buying, I can be like, why didn’t you buy something?

But online, there’s lots of cool analytics you can see where like, okay, they loaded their car, but they didn’t check out, so maybe it’s the shipping.

There’s more things you can do with e-commerce.

Yes, so many things.

Oh, so many things.

Well, you’ll get there, and it’s smart, I think, of you to do it well, do it right, and then scale from there.

You know, the last thing you want to do is water down your efforts, and now you have two locations that you have to manage, and you can’t get a hold of either because a process hasn’t been ironed out or sourcing of a particular product that’s vital, etc.

Yeah, but we definitely have it on the horizon, kind of the three-

or five-year business planning.

It’s in there to have a second location, and I’m leaning towards Tampa, but we’ll see.

Yeah, it makes sense.

It’s not too far away for you to manage.

Yeah, and it’s sizable and growing, and there are a lot of people that come to the store from there.

We do get a lot of Sarasota folks too, but I’m like, I’m not driving over that bridge every day while that store is getting set up.

So sorry, Sarasota, but maybe later.

It’ll be a little bit.

What about sourcing your products?

How do you go about it?

I’m kind of curious, you know, is there a zero waste dark web?

Oh, that would be cool.

No, we really just, when we first started, honestly, I was just looking at what other zero waste stores were selling to get an idea for the items and categories, but then I was really focused on local, so I went and tried to find that same version or product local.

Great.

So for example, we sell a lot of reusable cloth products that could replace disposable paper products, so reusable paper towels that are made out of 100% cotton, things like that.

And so finding a local seamstress was one of the first things we did.

We were like, okay, is someone here local that’s sewing these things that we could sell, like reusable facial rounds for makeup removal, things like that.

So it was really just, okay, what are the items and categories I would like to start with based off of what I saw other stores doing, and then how can I find the local version of that?

That’s how we started.

Now it’s a little bit easier, because now once you have a couple items and different partnerships with different folks, it’s much easier to find more products.

But I do still like to go to local markets in St.

Pete and even sometimes elsewhere like Dunedin or Tampa and just walk around the booths and look at what’s out there, and every once in a while just say, hey, do you guys do wholesale?

And most of the times they’ll say no, because it doesn’t always make sense for a small soap maker, let’s say, to sell their products to me wholesale for me to resell them.

But sometimes they’re interested, and they’ll definitely be excited to join and be part of the store.

That’s like how we found our local dog treats, Lynn’s Treats, it’s called.

I was wondering if it was her.

It’s her, yeah.

Yeah, and I saw, I met her through the Edge Insights group as well.

Awesome.

And she does the Meso Market and a couple other local markets.

So it’s just things like that where you’re just like, hey, this looks good.

And then sometimes we have to ask them, can you do this without plastic or can you do bulk of this?

And usually people are willing to make adjustments when they’re local.

And then I also love the local aspect, because they’re literally just bringing it to us.

There’s no shipping across the country with all kinds of cargo, freight, carbon footprint.

It’s literally just them walking in with a couple boxes and saying, here’s your order.

Yeah.

So that’s really nice too.

That’s fantastic.

The personal aspect of it as well.

Do you have people coming to your store sometimes and going, hey, I got this cloth?

Oh, yeah, all the time, yeah.

Yeah, that’s cool.

I mean, it’s nice.

I feel like it’s a compliment.

Yeah.

They’re like, hey, we try to streamline it, so I usually just tell them to send the info via email because it’s hard to sort of do that on the spot.

So send us pictures, send us information, like what kind of pricing would you recommend and that kind of stuff.

But yeah, definitely there are people walk in and say, I got this thing.

A lot of times it ends up being not a good fit because there is plastic or there is like synthetic fragrance which we don’t carry in the store, things like that.

So it doesn’t always pan out, but it’s still cool to just see people are interested in partnering with us.

Oh, it is.

That would be flattering.

And it makes sense, though.

People see, oh, wow.

Well, I was actually wondering, do you do anything on consignment?

We have tried in the past.

It’s not really a favorite just because you have to be very organized to do that.

We have a lot of products in our store.

So the store has grown in the last couple of years.

So I would say it’s a big store, but I guess that’s all relative.

It’s definitely small compared to a Publix or a Whole Foods.

But it’s big in the sense that we’ve got hundreds and hundreds of products in there.

So having to keep track of consignment is a little tricky.

So I’m not a huge fan of that.

We’ve done it before maybe if we were on the fence about something and we didn’t think it was a good fit, but the maker really wanted to have us give them a chance, and then we’ve done it before in that sense.

Cool, kind of prove it.

Yeah, yeah, so more low risk, I guess, for us, and they’ll keep track of the inventory for us or something like that.

It’s all about keeping track and keeping all the ducks in a row, the balls in the air, whatever metaphor you want to use there.

The Growth Coach is the world’s leader in business coaching, sales coaching and entrepreneurial education.

With the combination of the strategic business mindset and life leadership paradigm, I am driven to help you move forward, as well as help you and your partner gain the edge you need to succeed in your business journey together.

Call or text me today for a free consultation at 727-390-4414.

That’s 727-390-4414.

What are some of the most common misconceptions about zero-waste living, and how do you address those?

Or like the biggest one?

I always tell people, spoiler alert, my trash can is not a mason jar at home, like I also produce waste, like it’s a thing, yes, I think a lot of times people might, some people will get intimidated by the whole term of zero-waste, and they’re like, well, I could never do that, because I’m filling up a huge trash can every week of trash, and it isn’t so much again about saying no waste, like that’s it, or no plastic.

Plastic does have a critical role to play in certain industries, whether that’s transportation, or safety, or the healthcare industry.

So, we’re not saying plastic is evil or don’t produce any waste.

I think it’s really just about changing your mindset and working out one habit at a time or one room in your house at a time, and really just rethinking how we look at the products we use and how much waste we create.

So that’s probably the big one that I’m most passionate about.

And I say that jokingly, but it’s true, like in my house, my husband is not a hardcore zero-waster.

Like I started dating him way before I got into this, and he tries, you know, but he’s not as excited as I am, and he does the grocery shopping for the house because I’m working, and I have three kids, and they like what I’m doing, but they also love, you know, their balloons at their birthday party and their little snack pouches that are not recyclable.

And so, you know, life gets complicated.

It does happen that the waste creeps in here and there.

But I think the more we can do and make it easier for people and add more products and more categories and make it more affordable, the less waste we’ll all have.

And so, yeah, that’s what makes the difference is not everybody just turning off.

That’s unreasonable.

Yes.

And it doesn’t stick that you just become overwhelmed.

And then you’re like, I can’t do this.

And you just go back to your ways.

Exactly.

That’s an unrealistic expectation for someone to try to live up to.

So yeah, they don’t even give an effort to do that because all of this build up rather than hey, yeah, just take one your bathroom.

So, you got your razor, your toothbrush, soap, you know, boom, all right.

Or even sometimes if you just give yourself a little grace, a little bit of room, like my kids, we did cloth diapers, but when we were traveling, we would do the disposable because imagine you’re at an airport and there’s a blowout and you’re like, I’m going to suppose to rinse this and put it in my carry-on to get on a flight.

Like I was like, no, that’s too much pressure for me right now.

Like this kid is crying and there’s a lot, I’m late for my flight.

So, you know, you have to be realistic as well.

Do the best you can given the resources you have and just try to be a little better each year.

We do New Year’s resolutions with the team at the store where we always go around in December, January and say, what’s the habit you’re working on?

Because even us working at the store, we have things that we want to get better at.

So for example, mine last year was to get rid of all the plastic in my makeup bag and that felt more manageable.

It’s a very specific thing and I gave myself time to do it and I did it and it was fine versus saying like, I’m not going to have any plastic in my house.

That’s pretty tricky.

So yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thinking of, I have friends in Indiana and they did the cloth diapers and my wife and I went back and forth on, can we do this?

But it’s already hard enough just having a kid and just getting like changing that diaper and like-

Trust me.

I know.

It’s not easy.

Kudos to you for doing it.

You could have to draw the line somewhere, right?

You might be like, look, I’m not doing that and that’s okay.

So what else are you going to do?

Let’s focus on that.

She’s going to kill me.

But I have a daughter who is menstruating now, we won’t name her, but we have reusable period products.

It’s a little bit more advanced.

And I told her, I’m like, I love you, but I’m not washing those for you.

If you want to do this, you have to take care of this yourself.

And she’s like, I don’t want to do all that.

So I was like, okay, I have to choose my battle.

She wants to use disposable plastic period products.

That’s her choice.

And there’s only so much that’s in your control.

So, you know, it’s kind of like trying to let go of that perfection and just focusing on the things that are more in your control or more attainable to start with and then take it from there.

100%.

Yeah.

I mean, imagine if everybody took 1% step forward tomorrow.

That’s a 1% in general, you know, and over time that turns to 10%.

That’s a dent.

Yeah.

You know, that’s how change happens in general, you know, with racial issues or political issues or worldly issues, whatever it may be.

Yeah.

It’s like you don’t just go, oh, no, no, let’s stop war.

And then everybody’s like, okay.

Like you got to…

In theory, I mean, all these things are great and let’s do them all.

But then when you really get down to the nitty-gritty, the execution, that’s when it’s like, okay, I always tell the team, it’s like, you know, you have to set goals for yourself, but you also have to make sure they’re like measurable and actionable.

And you can’t just generalize and say, well, oh yeah, I’m not going to get plastic at the grocery store anymore.

Because that’s really hard and it’s not specific enough.

But if you just say, okay, from now on, I’m not going to drink out of plastic, single use plastic.

We’re not judging here.

There might be some plastic bottles in the room.

That’s okay.

But that’s something specific and measurable where you can say, okay, or your coffee.

Most people don’t know that when you get your to go cup of coffee, that’s a plastic cup.

It’s paper on the outside, but it’s lined with plastic.

And so you can’t recycle that.

And also you might potentially be leaching some chemicals into your hot coffee and then drinking that.

So if you just say, okay, that’s all I’m going to do is I’m not going to get coffee in those to go cups anymore, full stop.

That’s something, again, it’s a little challenging, right?

But it’s not impossible.

And it’s very specific.

And you can focus on that and give yourself, like, whether it’s three months or six months to really nail that habit.

And then you can move on to something else.

And then, you know, every once in a while, like once a year, you’re at an airport, you forgot your cup, you get a Starbucks coffee, and you’re like cringing at yourself.

But you know, you’re like, for the most part, you’re not doing it anymore.

Yeah.

I think that’s kind of the goal with a lot of these things.

Sure.

Like at least moderate.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That’s great advice.

I have a bi-plastic bottle I’m looking at.

It’s just like staring at me now.

Don’t worry.

Honestly, I think, you know, certain things are good inspiration to, okay, I am going to make some little steps.

Like my wife and I have been talking about, we have reusable bags for the grocery store, so let’s use those always.

You know, do our very best.

The majority of the time, let’s use it.

Because we have, luckily, when we do get the plastic bags, then we use those for our trash bags.

Yeah.

So we put them to use instead of buying other trash bags, you know, we do what we can.

But that’s not acceptable in some ways, so.

I’m not judging.

Don’t worry.

You’re good.

He’s like, look nervous.

I like your…

Yeah, we always tell people when, because a lot of times people will come in the store and you know, it’s downtown St.

Pete, so maybe you finished your food or you got a kombucha or whatever and they come in with a plastic cup in their hand and they’re like, I’m so sorry.

We’re not here to judge.

We’re just here to educate and inspire, right?

So it happens.

Plastic happens.

That’s also like with people changing their mind about other topics, you know, whatever it may be, you need to create a space in which they feel comfortable that they can make that change and not feel judged or demoralized or whatever it may be, may feel bad because they’ve done that in the beginning.

Instead, the encouragement that, hey, you’re here and you’re taking a step in the right direction or you’re trying to better yourself, fantastic.

Yeah, I 100% agree.

Yeah.

This is all great.

What an uplifting episode we have so far here, folks.

What is one of the most unique aspects of what you do maybe in comparison to other zero waste stores or the way you run your business?

Anything stand out?

Well, I know a lot of zero waste stores across the country focus more on the non-food side, and so we’re one of the few ones that actually has food.

I will say it’s been tricky expanding into food.

Food’s a whole other beast in terms of how do you do bulk and how do you do it in a way that’s sanitary and what about if you get contamination with ants or a hair?

There’s just so much more complexity.

It goes bad.

Are you going to throw it out?

Well, that’s not very zero waste.

Can we compost it?

Okay.

So that whole food aspect, I still haven’t figured it out, but we’ve been doing it for more than a year now.

So that’s been kind of fun and exciting.

And so if people do come into our store, again, because we are downtown, we get a lot of tourists or out-of-towners that say, this is so cool, we have one of these in my city, but it’s not nearly as big or it doesn’t have all the things you have, I really do want to make it a one-stop shop where you have everything you need for your home.

When I was first working on this business idea years ago, I would try to explain it to people.

Zero waste stores weren’t really a thing, so people didn’t really know what that was.

So I always said, imagine whole foods, except without all the plastic and the packaging.

And then they were like, oh, okay, I get it.

And so that’s my long-term vision, is to really have that sort of grocery market vibe, which grocery stores also have cleaning products and beauty products and what have you.

So it’s not so much that we’re going to move away from that, but I do want to have everything that you need for the home.

Yeah, makes sense.

Yeah.

Also, that gets people in the door more or spending more, because now they can come to your shop only, and they’re more likely to come there rather than, well, I can just go to Publix and get it all.

Now they can come to your place and get most of it.

Yeah, and it’s great because there’s not a lot of things like that downtown.

So a lot of people are moving in, all the high rises, like I mentioned, and if you just need a dozen eggs or a roll of toilet paper, there really isn’t anywhere you can go unless you walk a couple blocks to Publix.

So just having some of those basic essentials that people need on a regular basis has been cool to just see people come in like, oh, I just needed an onion for whatever I’m cooking.

You guys have onions, thank God.

And, you know, we don’t make a ton of money on produce by any means, so it’s more there to just, again, have what people need.

And then maybe while you’re there getting your garlic or your banana, you might be like, oh, yeah, it’s my friend’s birthday.

I’m going to grab an all-natural candle or whatever else they might need for the weekend.

Candles.

Yes, lots of candles.

That’s one of our best sellers, I will say.

Ah, yeah.

I actually, I love lighting a candle.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

So a lot of good local candle makers.

We carry a couple different ones that are made local, and so those have definitely been popular.

All right.

Cool.

Yeah.

My wife’s really particular about the scents, though.

So but I’m sure I can find one.

So cool.

I can’t wait.

I’m sure maybe something sticks out, but is there like the most surprising eco swap that you’ve made in your personal life where you’re like, I didn’t even know that that was a thing.

And I’m so glad I discovered it and I switched and…

I mean, I think it’s really the more controversial ones that people really like say what?

Like we’ve sold bidets in the past.

We have bidets and that ties back into just using less toilet paper.

And so to go with the bidet, we had something called Untoilet Paper.

Untoilet Paper, which is a reusable cloth toilet paper that you can use.

And people always get the worst visuals in their head when I say a reusable toilet paper.

But it’s really a good companion for a bidet.

So think of it as like you’re using your bidet to clean, and then you’re using this reusable toilet paper to sort of pat yourself dry.

So you’re not getting all these gross things and then having to wash them like the cloth diapers for the babies.

It’s a little more sanitary than that.

So yeah, we have a bidet in the house.

I definitely think my husband uses it more than I do, but it’s there and it’s been a nice transition.

Composting has been a big one for us.

It really took me a while to wrap my head around it and feel comfortable tackling that, but now we compost and it’s so easy.

And I was like, why didn’t I do this sooner?

So some of those things where it kind of sounds a little weird, extreme, hippie, whatever have you, but then once you do it, you’re like, oh, this is so much better.

Makes sense.

Did you know that it’s required for households to compost in Vermont?

Really?

Oh, I love that.

Yeah.

Isn’t that wild?

Yeah.

Well, I want us to have more focus on it as a city, too, in St.

Pete, because St.

Pete has the Road to Zero Waste as a plan for the city by 2050, I want to say, is the goal for St.

Pete to be a zero waste city.

So that’s on the stpete.org website.

But composting isn’t part of it, like curbside composting.

So some cities have curbside composting, just like you put out your trash and you put out your recycling, you put out a compost bin.

And I just feel like it’s such a miss that that’s not part of the conversation.

I know it’s hard and it’s tricky, just like with all these other things we’ve been talking about.

There’s a bunch of hurdles and the cost.

But it is definitely something that, if we’re going to take it seriously to be the zero waste city, we should start talking more about industrial curbside composting.

Totally.

You mentioned the city trying to go to zero waste.

So have they invited you to be a part of it?

Are you linking arms?

Are you integrated into these things?

Chamber of Commerce has a great sustainability group.

So I was doing that for a while.

And there is a sustainability…

I think the official title is the Sustainability Director, I want to say, who we’ve met before.

She came to a chamber meeting, so I got to interact with her.

But it’s been difficult for me to really get a regular tie-in or relationship with the city.

And that’s not to say that maybe I haven’t tried hard enough, I don’t know.

But…

Sounds like it probably is a lot of, hey, okay, remember me, remember us.

Well, they have so much that they’re working on.

If you work for the city, it’s just like, they probably have meetings all day and tons of projects and budget cuts and all the stuff that they’re dealing with.

So I think it’s hard sometimes for a small business to be like, hey, we should collaborate or let us be a part of this.

So I probably should just go to more like the town hall type meetings and share things and ask things there.

It, yeah.

It’s hard though, because you just were talking about staffing and you’re running things and doing a lot.

So, you know, it’s your bandwidth, but almost make an automated email.

Every first of the month, this email goes out to this congressperson and hey, don’t forget about us.

We are tied into some really great nonprofits that are doing a lot of cool work.

So the Surfrider Foundation has a local chapter here, Suncoast Surfrider, and they have a big program on ocean-friendly certifications for restaurants, basically to get some of the single-use plastic out of restaurants.

So we’ve been partnering with them to support their initiative and getting some of the businesses in the Edge District signed up for that so that we start to get the single-use plastic out of the restaurants and the cafes.

So I think I’ve always thought, there’s a lot of great people out there already doing a bunch of great work.

Why, I don’t need to reinvent that and do my own Sans Market thing.

Let me just tack on to what they’re doing and either support them or they support us because we’re all driving towards the same mission and vision.

Right, exactly.

Or linking up with organizations or initiatives that are in alignment with climate initiatives or whatever that may be, like Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

I’m sure a majority of people who are involved in that organization will be like, oh, cool, I dig what you’re doing, I’ll support you.

We’ll also have to get you, maybe like next month, we’ll figure out a good date that you can come and present at Sun Leaders.

I’d love to, thank you.

Yeah, yeah, that would be awesome.

I think you can give a lot of information about how us as leaders in the community can push the needle forward or however you say that in the right direction.

What’s a major setback that you hit as a business owner or starting this thing that you were like, oh my gosh, I just don’t know.

And obviously, you’re here, so how did you overcome that?

Poof, there’s been so many.

I mean, I mentioned a few, right, during COVID, the shutdowns, that was so stressful.

All the businesses shut down, and I was like, I am not shutting down.

Like, I cannot close these doors because we need to keep going with this.

We were still pretty new and small.

So at the time, they said, okay, well, only essential businesses can stay open.

And I kept looking at every single website and newsletter, and I’m like, what’s the definition of that?

And there was no definition.

And so I was like, okay, well, I’m gonna deem myself an essential business.

And I quickly, that’s when I got my food permit and started selling food, because I’m like, if I have food, that’s essential.

And so that was like the pivot that I did, literally within weeks of like hearing that the shutdown’s coming and everyone has to shut down.

We got our food permit.

We put a couple of things of food in the corner just so we could stay open.

And obviously safety protocols and all that stuff, we were doing delivery mainly and nobody was really coming in the store.

It was at the door, service type stuff.

But there’s been a lot of things like that where you’re just like, okay, I need to build an e-commerce site overnight because I have to do delivery because everything’s shutting down.

So things like that really test your character and show how bad do you want this, how important is this to you.

So if I was just doing something that I thought was interesting but wasn’t passionate about, I probably would have given up a long time ago.

But the drive that keeps me going is because I really believe in what we’re doing.

And it’s so important to me, even just personally and for my kids and my family, that if it didn’t exist, I would be so sad of where do I go then to get these things?

Oh yeah, that’s awesome.

And I’m glad that you powered through and persisted.

And what about an exciting or amazing advancement or discovery in that realm that you’ve recently come across that you’re like, whoa, this is gonna change the game?

Anything that comes to mind?

I don’t know if there’s any big ones lately.

I think it’s just the continued realization people are having about, we have to do something about the state of the planet and seeing it become more part of the mainstream narrative, I think that’s been great to see that people aren’t forgetting about this.

Because sometimes I almost worry, is this just a trend or a fad that people are caring about this and asking questions and starting to question the things that they’re buying and all these different things, and it’s really stuck.

And when people come in the store and they’re like, this is so great that you’re doing this, people will say thank you.

They’ll come in the store and they’re like, thank you for doing this.

And I’m like, oh, well, that feels so nice, like as if I’m running a nonprofit almost, but it’s a business.

Yeah, sure.

So no like major ah-hahs or breakthroughs or anything.

It’s more just that I really believe there’s a need for this, and then there are people that are coming into the store and sort of confirming that thought that like, yes, we need this in our community, and thank you for doing this and keep going.

And that feels great.

Oh man, what great encouragement.

And also reinforcement that you’re on the right path and that people want that.

There’s no doubt.

And as younger children who are more aware of what’s up grow up and are more decision makers and money users, man, that’s not a…

I know what you’re trying to say.

Consumers, we don’t like the word, but yes, yes.

Well, they’re decision makers.

They’re gonna be pulling the strings eventually, so that’s the way things are going.

Yeah, I actually went to speak at my daughter’s school.

So I have three kids and they’re all in the same school, and they had the Great American Teach-In, which is this thing that they do every year nationwide, where the parents come, kind of like a career day, sort of.

And so I got to go and talk to all the kids at their schools.

And it was cool because I remember sitting through that when I was a kid, and it was always like, okay, this is so-and-so’s dad’s gonna talk about working at the bank, and so-and-so’s dad’s gonna talk about this.

And it was kind of boring, you know?

And I thought when I’m gonna go, I’d get that similar vibe.

But the kids were so interested and asked so many questions, and they were so excited about me just talking about Sans Market.

And it’s a retail store at the end of the day, but they were just really, really excited and just so cute.

Zero waste, yeah.

Yeah, and it’s cool to see that they’re really into it, and it’s part of human DNA, just like as kids, you understand that this is the earth, we have to take care of it, we have to keep it clean, we have to eat healthy and put good things in our body, and it just makes sense for them.

That’s always really cool to see.

Yeah, wow, that’s awesome.

That’s why you see cigarette butts all over, it’s because someone who’s treating their body such as that.

No hate, whatever, do what you want.

Don’t throw it on the floor though.

Yeah, don’t throw it on the grass or in my yard.

People don’t realize it’s plastic.

I’m like, that’s plastic.

You’re basically littering.

Let’s not put that there.

Definitely littering.

Yeah, if you want to smoke, that’s fine, but can you just find a vessel?

And not the planters in front of my store, please.

Oh my gosh.

They’re not biodegradable.

Cigarettes do not, the butts do not biodegrade.

They are plastic, so don’t put them in the planters.

Oh man.

Well, you’re speaking of kids.

I mean, do you have, obviously you’re going to the school on that particular day.

Do you have initiatives that you’re a part of to help the younger generation growing up to empower them?

Not yet.

I’ve thought about it in terms of getting more involved in the amount of waste that the schools produce, but it’s a whole other beast.

It’d be quite a challenge and a feat just to really do it well.

So I haven’t felt like I’ve had the capacity to really focus on that.

And also just the quality of the food in the schools, which doesn’t always seem like a natural tie-in, but we’re really focused on healthy ingredients too.

So there’s definitely a lot that could be done, but I haven’t really spent a lot of time on it.

My husband’s the stay-at-home parent, and I’m the breadwinner, if you will.

So I’ve just been so focused on the store and on figuring out the business side of it.

And so I don’t always get as involved with the school things and things with my kids.

We do collaborate a lot, like I mentioned, with USF and Eckerd.

So still, maybe they’re not kids anymore, young adults, but the youth, if you will, to go and speak there.

So we’ll do different speaking engagements.

Sometimes it’s an entrepreneur class, sometimes it’s a sustainability class, but we’ve done a lot of that.

I say we, but it’s really just me, gone and spoken at different classes, and that’s been really fun too.

Awesome.

That’s great to hear.

Well, I know I’ve been bombarding you with questions, but we’ve got a few more.

We’re at a point called the rapid fire.

Oh gosh.

I’m sweating.

Yeah.

Yep.

So essentially, I ask a similar set of questions to most of my guests.

Okay.

I have a special one for you, but other than that, if you can try to keep it brief, you’ll get more points.

Oh God.

And the more points-

Well, how brief is brief?

I mean, like three words?

I like games and I’m competitive, so tell me more.

If you could do one word, that’s insane.

That’s insane.

Oh gosh.

However, you know-

Like a phrase?

A sentence, a phrase.

But you know, people expand, and sometimes the rapid fire ends up being longer than the other questions, honestly.

Really?

But ultimately, do what you can.

I don’t mind being concise.

I like conciseness.

Is that a word?

Yeah.

Concicity?

Is that a word?

I don’t know.

All right, here we go.

Number one, what is your biggest source of inspiration?

The youth, think Greta Thunberg.

Your children.

Yeah, my children too.

Awesome.

You’re doing great.

Boom.

Do you have a favorite book?

No, I’m pretty boring.

Lots of nonfiction I like to read.

So just business books, but not a specific one.

Not a specific one, but business, the business thing.

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s not boring.

There’s a ton of them, and they’re great.

Yeah.

My kids always get so bored looking at the books I bring home from the library, because I love the library.

That’s my jam.

So they’re always like, what are you reading?

I’m like, trust me, it’s interesting.

Eight simple ways to sales cycle more efficiently.

Right now I’m reading an inventory management one.

Beautiful.

So sexy.

Honestly, it is.

When you’re talking about what we do, it’s like, that’s great.

Cool.

Okay.

So business.

Business books.

Business books.

Do you have a favorite musical artist or a favorite album?

Gosh, this is going to date me.

90s grunge, like Pearl Jam’s 10 maybe, something like that.

Just kind of rage out on the way home.

Pearl Jam, I saw them live.

So did I.

They were great.

Yes.

They drew such a big crowd.

I was like, whoa.

It’s cool, because now my daughter, the 13-year-old, it’s like cool to like 90s grunge bands.

She has the Led Zeppelin and the Nirvana shirts and stuff, but she has no idea who they are.

She just buys them at Forever 21 and I’m like, well, we’re going to listen.

Yeah, you’ve got to listen.

Soundgarden, Black Hole Son, let’s go.

You’ve got to give her the training, the basics.

And honestly, probably going to like it.

Yeah, she does.

It’s cool.

That’s the beautiful thing about good music is it lasts, doesn’t matter how old it is.

Yeah.

Definitely.

Oh, that’s funny.

What is your favorite invention?

These are hard.

Oops.

I think like this is so boring, but planes are just…

Every time I get on a plane, I’m like, this is a miracle.

We’re flying through the sky and just going to like the opposite side of the world.

I’m from Hungary, so I travel a lot to Europe for like visiting family.

And it never gets old.

I’m like, I’m flying over the ocean right now.

I try not to think about that.

Also that, I’m like freaking out, but also amazed, like a little, yeah.

Just give me some wine so I can just chillax, so I’m not freaking out, but I can enjoy it a little bit.

Yeah, yeah.

I always end up, you know, go up, my wife is from Turkey, and we go over there.

And I’m standing up, you know, stretching my legs.

It’s a long flight, you know, 11 hours, 12 hours.

And inevitably, no matter what, same with cruises.

When I look out into the abyss, I go, what if we go down?

I’m just in black water.

I mean, yeah.

But like on a plane, yeah, you have one foot of metal between me and 40,000 feet to water.

Exactly.

I know, I know.

Wild.

But it is pretty cool.

It’s super cool, yeah.

And you see like the sun coming up or setting or wherever you’re going.

So cool.

And we have planes that go to space.

Yeah, I don’t know.

I might sit that one out.

I’m going to stay on earth for now, take care of her a little bit.

If your store could magically eliminate one single use item from existence, what would it be?

Probably just the classic OG, the water bottle, like just stop drinking water out of plastic.

Yeah, totally.

I mean, I just think about how much plastic like nanoparticles leach into that, and then you’re drinking that.

I want to make plastic like gross, like I want people to be like, oh, you’re drinking out of a plastic water bottle.

The way kind of sometimes we look at smoking nowadays, not to knock on smokers, I used to be a smoker too.

But like if you see someone smoking, you’ll be like, oh, you shouldn’t be doing that.

I want that to happen, so the single use plastic water bottle, like oh.

Yeah, totally.

We only have some water in water bottles because we stocked up for like a hurricane, but that’s it.

We have a reverse osmosis.

We put it in our reusable metal containers, and that’s what I do.

Actually, maybe one worse than that, Styrofoam.

Don’t drink hot liquids out of Styrofoam, please.

That’s the worst.

That’s so bad.

It’s the worst for you and the environment?

Yeah.

I mean, the environment too, but for your body, like don’t drink hot liquids out of Styrofoam.

Or reheat.

Don’t heat your food in the microwave in plastic.

Yeah.

These things are not good.

Temperature, like hot temperature plastic.

No, don’t do it.

Apparently, these microplastics are being found in our children and ourselves now, and it’s like a thing.

That’s one of the reasons why I started the store.

The article came out about plastic and breast milk, and I was breastfeeding at the time, and I was so mad.

I was like, I’m trying to do the best thing I can for my kid, and I can’t even protect them.

And that’s like the worst feeling as a parent.

Yeah, yeah.

It’s wild.

You’re doing great.

Thank you.

Last one.

Last one.

That’s not so bad.

Yeah.

How do you define success?

Oh, gosh.

Sometimes, the simplest questions are the hardest ones.

I don’t know.

I think success is going to sound cheesy, but it’s more of a feeling.

Of course, there’s P&Ls and all kinds of data and numbers that can show that you or your business are successful, but I think it’s more of a feeling.

When you feel good about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, that for me is what I’ve always been after with success.

I love that.

That’s great.

And sometimes that’s honestly, as a business owner, and if you are in a dip, because it is a roller coaster, no matter how hard you work, there’s hard times.

It’s believing through it, knowing, I’m doing good, I like what I do, and I am successful.

When I think it’s that notion of that it matters, because I remember working in corporate jobs at the companies I mentioned, and I thought about, fast forward, I’m on my deathbed, and all my kids and grandkids are there, and what would I say that I did with my life?

I made this laundry detergent a market leader, or whatever, they grew five SharePoints.

It doesn’t really matter.

But now, if I’m on my deathbed, I can say I devoted my life to making the world a healthier place and less wasteful, and that feels good.

So I feel that that’s a success.

So that’s why I say it’s more of a soft, squishy feeling, for me, at least.

Yeah, I love that.

That’s fantastic.

Well, you won Rapid Fire, so congratulations.

I love winning.

Just a couple of things to wrap up.

So number one is I like to, I mean, we kind of talked about it a little, but I want to dive a little deeper on your future goals.

Where are you?

Where’s the market in five, ten years?

So specifically for my business?

Yeah, and maybe you too.

Yeah.

I mean, we mentioned opening up other locations, so that would definitely be a great next move is having multiple locations.

And that can obviously go pretty broad in terms of across the country.

I always jokingly say if you kind of fast forward, you know, not the next five, ten years, but like 30 years, it’s like, and then I’ll sell to Amazon for billions of dollars and they can buy it like they bought Whole Foods, you know, because then it’s mainstream, right?

Like you don’t want to sell out just to have a bunch of money, but you want to reach the masses with what you’re doing.

So multiple locations and eventually just really make it more mainstream would be what I’m focused on now.

And then just increasing profitability, which honestly just comes with scale and size.

So the bigger we become, the more we can make the numbers work and also pass some of the savings on.

I think I’m really, I know I’m really focused right now on profitability and on numbers and bottom line to just make sure we’re healthy and we can move on to the next chapter of growth with expansion.

Definitely.

Yeah.

I’m sure you’ll get some pointers on that inventory book that you’re reading to.

Yeah.

So exciting.

I love it.

I can’t wait to see you get to those places.

Thank you.

And after releasing this podcast episode, that’s inevitable.

What advice, I always like to ask this in general, what would you give to someone listening, whatever they do, however old they are, what’s some advice that you love, that you would love to give someone listening?

Well, I mean, of course, I’m going to tie it back to sustainability, and it’s going to go back to what we talked about earlier, which is just focus on one habit that you want to change and just don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to just be super sustainable.

But if you can just pick one thing and focus on that and really work on that, then you’re going to make the world a little bit of a better place for yourself and your loved ones and that, I think, is important.

It certainly is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, lastly, let’s wrap up by how do people connect with you?

Sure.

Where can they find you?

I know we said it before, but how can people support you, find you, and be customers long-term?

So, Sans Market, we have our store downtown St.

Pete on Central Ave.

We always stay right by the roundabout.

So, we’re in the fun part of town where Green Bench and Bodega and all these great places are.

So, come say hi.

We’re open every day, 10 to 7.

We do have a website, sans.market, there’s no.com.

And we’re really active on Instagram, so at sans.market.

So it’s S-A-N-S dot market.

So yeah, those will be the main ways.

We’ve got classes every month.

We have one coming up now for composting, but we do classes every month, different topics.

We’re going to be fermenting in June with St.

Pete Ferments.

Yeah, a lot of cool classes coming up too.

Oh, that’s fantastic.

And we’ll have that information also on the show notes so everybody can follow and hopefully visit and support in any way you can.

Thank you.

So yeah, thank you for taking the time.

I know you’re very busy doing great things, but it means a lot that you came in here.

Thank you for inviting me.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Well, thanks again.

We’ll see you soon.