Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Mutsch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Starting Eco Evie was Evie’s idea entirely! We had always been zoo-goers since Evie was a baby, and around 7 she started noticing a graphic used at each animal enclosure to signify just how endangered that particular animal is. This made a huge impact on Evie, and she would run around pointing to those visuals and tell me, “Mom, someone has to help them, they can’t speak for themselves! What are we going to do to help?” So we spent some time talking about that, making little rubber band bracelets for her to sell to the neighbors, and Evie would even ask for money for her birthday to donate to the zoo. When she was 8 she decided we needed an actual business, one that would help educate people on the importance of endangered animals, and be able to donate a portion of the money to conservation programs. I knew whatever our business became, that we needed a product to match Evie’s mission, so with my background in apparel production, I sourced every component of our product and even the packaging from US companies. I also incorporate as much recycled content as I could into the line as possible, from our 100% recycled water bottle fabric that we use exclusively on all our items, to our 100% recycled and recyclable packaging.
It sounds a little crazy to start a business just because your kid is interested in something, but Evie is a remarkable kid. Evie was diagnosed with autism at 2 1/2 years old, and didn’t talk until she was 4. We did over 3 years of therapy with her in our home, and I left my career in corporate retail to be there so I could learn how to help Evie. I always said those years were some of the hardest I had ever been through, and if Evie ever asked for anything within reason I would do it in a minute, and she wanted to start a business! Fast forward to today and Evie is a walking encyclopedia of facts, and everything I know about animals I learned from her! She is dedicated to this business, and loves choosing all the animals we feature on our shirts and the organizations we give back to.
Evie has had amazing opportunities through this business to be interviewed on the news, participate in webinars, and meet other kids online from around the world who share her passion for helping animals and the earth. This has been a wonderful way for her to work on her communication skills, and gives her confidence in herself that she can really do anything she sets her mind to. Through this business, I’m realizing the power Evie has to be able to talk to other kids and adults about why its important to help our earth, and the response has been just tremendous. We hope we can inspire others to take a more active role in preserving our earth and conserving our wildlife, one water bottle at a time!
Kelly, 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?
Eco Evie Apparel is a mom and daughter small business aiming to make sustainability fun! Eco Evie Apparel creates endangered animal- inspired kids, womens, and mens shirts made from 100% recycled water bottle fabric, right in our hometown of Milwaukee, WI. Eco Evie Apparel donates a portion of every sale to help save endangered animals across the globe, by funding conservation efforts through non profit organizations.
Evie has donated over $800 to animal conservation programs run by 11 different organizations, and has recycled over 12,000 water bottles into our shirts!
Evie loves supporting different conservation programs large and small, and there are many organizations to choose from! Some of the highlights of her giving include to her very own Girl Scout Troop, who spearheaded planting a pollinator garden along one of the largest green corridors in Milwaukee.
We aim to bring hope for recycling to the forefront, and once you experience how amazingly soft our shirts are, you will be glad that plastic water bottles can be turned into something new! Why not use what we already have?!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve had to pivot in life many times. When Evie was first diagnosed with autism, I left my career to stay home with her and learn everything I could about the therapy she was receiving and how to give her what she needed. Evie eventually graduated from that program, and I was able to work again after that. When Covid closed Evie’s school down right after we launched our business, we had to pivot again. I ultimately left my job again to make sure Evie was able to do school from home, and that ended up being her 4th grade spring and all of her 5th grade year. I’ve learned that sometimes you don’t pick the change in your life, the change picks you. And accepting that and making the most out of the situation is critical to how you view the change later on.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I spent my career in corporate retail in product development, and I knew the process of creating new product front to back. In starting my own business with sustainability at the forefront, it really made me do a double take on every aspect of the product, from fiber to fabric, labels to packaging. I knew what I had participated in the retail world wasn’t great for the environment, but the more things I set up in my own company, the more I realized what exactly I had been doing in the past and just how bad it was for the earth. Just the logistics of moving goods around the world and the shipping that interferes with migrating sea life, is mind blowing. I like to think that I had to learn all of those things in order to unlearn them, and to really embrace the most sustainable path for our business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ecoevie.com/
- Instagram: @ecoevie
- Facebook: @ecoevieapparel
- Youtube: @ecoevie
Image Credits
photo by Allison Calteux Photography