We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jenn Thatcher a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jenn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The Mission of ZEBRA is to create a company that is truly transparent. “Ingredients that are Black and White” just like a ZEBRA. After all of my children faced devastating health issues, including my son who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, I felt like I had to re-examine the products and all environmental factors in the life of our family. Although I was using organic and all natural products daily, I was shocked when I researched some of the ingredients that were on the labels on many products I had trusted. I was already a label reader and felt like I had a trusted community of influencers and health advocates who recommended clean products, and I always followed their advice. However, there is so much deceptive marketing happening in the “NATURAL” space, it is almost impossible for the average consumer to navigate finding truly clean and non toxic products for their family. After this devastating realization that many of my trusted products actually contained what I believe to be toxic ingredients, I continued to search for safer alternatives. I kept coming up empty handed, finding sub par products that were clean”ish” but didn’t work, or products that worked fine but had tricky marketing and weren’t as clean as they claimed. Finally it became clear. If a product was going to meet my standards for efficacy and safety, I was going to have to make it myself. If I, as a consumer and careful label reader, could not find safe, transparent, and effective products, that meant other consumers were navigating this same issue. ZEBRA’s core lineup begins with products people use daily ,including deodorant, toothpaste, dental floss and skincare. It is so important for daily use products to be as non toxic and as clean as possible. Zebra’s goal is to be BLACK and WHITE in all we do, Like a ZEBRA in the animal kingdom, not only are we BLACK AND WHITE, we are WILD enough to stand out and stand alone. We do not blend in with all of the other “animals” in the space who are only out for themselves. Zebra is a brand that is here to buck the system, a brand born out of love and care for people and a desire to help people live their best healthy lives. We want to be a one stop brand where consumers can know without a shadow of a doubt, this is one brand who cares enough to do it differently.

Jenn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are truly different in the way we source and develop products. Each formula in our core lineup of toothpaste, dental floss, deodorant and skincare has been custom made for ZEBRA. Every product except for 1 is made in the USA. What I realized when doing my research of the previous products my family was using, is that many MADE IN THE USA products are sourcing ingredients from countries with questionable safety standards. . So you can be purchasing a product that is made in the USA, and unbeknownst to you, have possibly harmful, adulterated ingredients. Our only product that is not made in the USA is our dental floss. We were unable to find a facility in the USA that met our standards for safety, so our dental floss is made in Italy. Most dental floss on the market today is made in China, and has the forever chemical PFOA in the floss. This is not something that needs to be disclosed to the consumer and has devastating health effects. Yet another example of the deceptive marketing and tricky ingredients that are lurking in the everyday routines of Americans. At ZEBRA we question everything, so you don’t have to.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think people who have followed my journey through my previous business as a professional artist https://www.instagram.com/jennthatchercollection/ saw the struggle of the entire process. When it began I was a devastated mother navigating my child’s brain tumor diagnosis. We put our faith in God and were steadfast in helping him with the challenges he faced with this life changing information. We went through brain surgery with our son, and many challenges post surgery as well. I rely solely on my faith to navigate things in life, and then I am also a no compromise type of person. Right is right, wrong is wrong, black and white so to speak. So I am the same person I have always been, and the people that know me know I am not a compromiser. I wasn’t trying to build a reputation, I was just operating within the life I have been given using the framework of faith that I have. I had built a successful International art company that I loved, and stepping away from that was really bittersweet, but I felt called to do it. This brand was built out of necessity in my opinion, and anyone who knows what I stand for in life, understands that this brand will have all of my beliefs woven into the brand. Faith, freedom, and family and doing what we feel is right in the eyes of the creator not man.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Thankfully ZEBRA is fully self funded. We have been incredibly blessed to be able to make every decision at ZEBRA without ANY inventor input. No one putting profits before people over here, just a mom who is fed up with the current broken system, relentlessly pursuing the best of the best in ingredients and efficacy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yayzebra.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/zebra.usa
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092868408970

Image Credits
Chloe Jones ,Becky Branch, Inna Grigoras