Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jody Ehler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jody thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My family and I spent a lot of time in Costa Rica. Over the years, I noticed more and more plastic in the ocean and all over the beaches. Seeing this made feel that I had to be way more mindful about my choices of any kind of product that was in plastic. If I didn’t buy plastic, I wasn’t contributing to this overwhelming burden.

I have always loved making my own skin care products and especially my own lip balm, I thought why not put my awesome lip balm in some sort of eco tube, something that was not plastic.

I hired a company to create a a compostable tube.
It was amazing. It worked just as well as a plastic tube, but it doesn’t last forever.

I made them for my friends. They loved them and told me I should started selling them.
I hired a designer to create my branding.
I consulted with an herbalist about my formula..
I started Made For Lips as a side hustle, and it took off really quick.
I was overwhelmed with orders.

A lot of stores in Boulder wanted to sell my lip balms too.

Now, I get orders from all over the United States.

I am adding in new products soon.
I’m very excited for these new drops.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I live in Boulder, it seems most people here are like minded when it comes to the environment. People seem to really care. When I created Made For Lips, I got an overwhelming positive response. So many people were willing to help me launch this.
I’m very proud that my company is doing things differently. In our packaging we do not use plastic. The tubes I use are paperboard and they work.

I wanted to bring awareness that somethings do not need to be in a plastic container.
Made For Lips supports clean, ocean projects, and ocean conservation.
I have this stated on my packaging. So when people buy my products, I hope they think “oh yeah, I’m not contributing to ocean plastic or plastic in the landfills with this purchase”.
One small decision could have lasting consequences for hundreds of years.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Coming up with this idea was pretty much the easy part. Putting it all together was more difficult.

Pretty much nothing worked out.

I had to work through every little detail.

From my product labels not sticking to my tubes to my barcodes not scanning so much in between. Everything seem to be a problem.
It was frustrating and many times I felt like giving up.
After figuring out one obstacle after the other, I decided that instead of feeling frustrated, I was going to have fun with this.
I think for me, the very first time I actually was out and saw somebody using my lip balm, I knew then I had to
keep going.

I felt very happy and very proud that my product was out there and other people were buying and using it

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Sourcing organic ingredients for my products is not always easy. I’ve worked a supplier that has excellent ingredients that work so well with my products only to tell me that they will not be supplying a certain ingredient. Then I have to find another supplier.
Not all of the ingredients are the same and sometimes they change the way that my products feel and smell.
Then I have to re-formulate.
It’s not always a big deal but at times like that, I have to remind myself that I’m having fun.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madeforlips.com
• Instagram: @madeforlipsboulder
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Made for lips