We were lucky to catch up with Meredith Martin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Meredith, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
Hi there! My interest in making solid hair products was a roundabout process. I was trying to rinse out one of those huge laundry detergent jugs when I started thinking how stupid it was to have this giant plastic bottle that was essentially just full of water. Then I started looking around at all the other plastic bottles in my house filled with products that were mostly water. In my shower I had four or five plastic bottles of shampoo and conditioner in various stages of use, some upside down trying to drain out the last bit, all waiting to end up hopefully in the recycle stream, but more likely in the garbage dump.
“Why can’t shampoo come in a bar form, like soap?” I wondered.
That’s when I started researching shampoo bars, and learned that in fact they did exist! I bought a set and loved them. I was so excited about the product that I actually emailed the company and asked if they needed a rep. They said no. So I decided to start my own line of plastic free shampoo and conditioner bars.
I started watching videos on making shampoo bars, researching ingredients, and reading about the chemistry of soap and cleansers. My first attempt at shampoo bars was terrible. I passed some out to a few friends to try, but after using it myself, I immediately recalled the batch. Slowly my formula evolved. I tried adding all kinds of ingredients with varying results. Every person I knew was a product tester.
Finally, after two years of experimenting, I figured out the perfect ingredients. My husband, a chemical engineer, helped me write the final formulas I worked with the Small Business Development Center to on the final design including packaging (a small, fully recyclable cardboard box), branding, website design and manufacturing the bars. Then all that was left was marketing.
Getting people to try shampoo and conditioner in bar form has been a bit challenging, but once they try it, they love it.
Meredith, 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?
I spend a lot of time in doing water sports in the summer and skiing in the winter. Being out in the elements really took a toll on my hair. It was a mess, so fragile and broken. I couldn’t grow it even to my shoulders.
I also have traveled both in the US and internationally quite a bit. All over the world I have seen the effects of plastic in the environment. Plastic bottles floating in the water. Plastic bags at the top of mountains. Single use plastic and plastic packaging was literally everywhere I looked. I always tried to use re-usable water bottles and to recycle as much plastic as I could, but it seemed kind of hopeless.
As part of my mission to reduce plastic, I started to use bar soap and powdered laundry detergent. I wanted to use shampoo and conditioner in a bar, but I was concerned it would make my already fine hair look worse. But when I started to make my own haircare products, I found out that there are ingredients that can improve the health of hair. After years of research and experimentation with these ingredients, the difference in my hair is remarkable.
StarBars shampoo and conditioner bars are a game changing product. They work better than any other hair product, in liquid or bar form. Hair becomes stronger and healthier with significantly less breakage.
Here is what you can expect to happen after using StarBars for a few months:
-Noticeable hair growth
-Noticeably shinier hair
-Hair easily detangles after washing without the use of a detangler
-Hair stays cleaner for longer and needs washing less often
– Less cleaning of the drain in the shower or sink, because hair is no longer breaking and falling out and clogging the drain
I am so thrilled to have created a product that rivals salon formulas. And the second best part is, there is no plastic. So far StarBars customers have saved thousands of plastic bottles from ending up in the waste stream.
Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?
I’ve sold two businesses. In both cases, the new owners were very keen to get in there and take over. The first one was a bakery, and I never walked behind the counter again the day after I turned over the key. You really can’t let it hurt your feelings that you’ve worked for years to develop and nurture your business and then the buyer doesn’t really want your expertise. You really have to be ready to just walk away when they tell you to.
I’m happy to say both of the businesses are still up and running, so maybe they didn’t really need my help after all.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
I used to own a commercial greenhouse where we grew culinary herbs. The first year in business we got aphids. Those little war machines took over the greenhouse and nearly put us out of business. At first they were just on one or two plants. Then they were on ten. Then they were on 100. We had about 5000 plants in the greenhouse and eventually every single plant was covered in aphids. We bought ladybugs to eat them which didn’t even make a dent in the population. Every piece of information on the internet about getting rid of aphids was wrong. I tried all the remedies: hot pepper spray, jets of water, diluted dish soap. Nothing worked. I would sit there and cry and brush the aphids off of the basil with a little makeup brush. They would fall onto the floor and slowly creep back onto the plants. Every day their numbers seemed to double.
Eventually I had to cut down every single plant and wash and bleach the entire 3000 sq feet of the greenhouse. Then I let it sit empty for a month. In February I brought in some small rosebushes (I remember exactly when because it was around Valentine’s Day) and I placed them around the greenhouse to see if they would attract any rogue aphids. They didn’t, so I replanted the herbs. Over the next couple of years I built up a population of beneficial insects and if I ever saw an aphid again I would cut down not only the plant the aphids were on but 10 on each side of it. Better to lose 40 plants than 5000.
In order to pay the bills I also had to take a job as a waitress at night during The Time of the Aphids. So I would battle aphids all day and then go to the restaurant at night. I would get an employee meal there, and then bring home the leftovers from people’s plates so my dog would have enough to eat too. I was just so broke then!
The business went on to thrive and we became the main supplier of basil to all the Whole Foods in the Pacific Northwest. I still hate aphids but in the end I won.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.starbars.com
- Instagram: @starbarsshampoo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarBarsShampoo/