We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Pangea Carpio-Evans a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Pangea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I started The Pangea Special because I could not find the type of skin and hair care products I wanted that were, 1. locally made. 2. available for bulk refill, and 3. in my price range as a lower income person.

1. Shopping local is something that I highly value, as I believe in a local economy. Because of that, I am not offering sales of my products out of state. However, I do offer local delivery on the weekends (MSP area). I purchase many ingredients at my local co-op and other ingredients are ordered from a regional, small business based in Illinois.

2. The other aspect of how I operate the business is bulk refill availability. For example, you purchased face wash. With your first order, you get a glass jar and a metal spoon. Then when I come for the next delivery you exchange the empty jar for a full jar that I then wash and sanitize to keep the cycle going.

3. I believe in cost and profit transparency between companies and their consumers. I personally have felt frustrated by the lack of transparency and rising costs with little to no information about why. So I will always be forthcoming with the pricing analytics. Once I have a live website, there will be a page dedicated to providing data about pricing.

I am using my small business as an example of how I believe other businesses should lead. The Pangea Special is social media free and use other tactics to get my products circulating the area. My goal is to be truly environmentally conscious as a company in a marketplace full of greenwashed products. All of the ingredients in the face wash are either USDA certified organic, and/or biodegradable, and ethically sourced.

Pangea, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Pangea (they/them) and my business is, The Pangea Special. I am 26 years old and born and raised in Minnesota. I am 1st generation Dominican mix with English heritage. I love Minnesota, the nature is rich with history, I have found wonderful community and friends here, and it’s like actually the best state in the USA because of those 2 reasons alone, but I could go on. I share my life in Minneapolis with my partner, Sid, and our two cats, Bedhead and Buffy, and Floyd, our dog.

I lead my life with intention and a I have a set of values I’ve spent time reflecting on. Some of those being: curiosity, honesty, the golden rule: treat others the way you want to be treated, joy and laughter, freedom and dignity. These things come to the forefront of my mind because of the life experiences I’ve had.

I have come to value curiosity, honesty, joy, and laughter as a result of many positive experiences and they are definitely interlinked. Staying curious brings me joy, because when I learn, I can connect better with others, and both of those make me more creative and bring me lots of ideas.

The golden rule, freedom and dignity come from a place of hurt. Our economy hasn’t treated me the way I want to be treated, or granted me freedom and it’s definitely not making me feel dignified. I, like many others, am a low income person, and financially, it feels personal when I can’t even afford essentials like my healthcare premium. With an income of only $2500/mo and rent over $1000, I applied for health insurance with financial assistance. The state said I only qualified for $49/mo in assistance but my premium went from $0 to $350! This healthcare system perpetuates the poverty cycle.

That is not freedom and it sure isn’t my dream. Our economy is dependent on international business and has stripped communities of their ability to function independently. For example, personal care items can be made anywhere. So, why are we importing them from all around the world to purchase at inflated prices at a box store not based in state that underpays our friends and neighbors in town? A lot of it has to do with convenience. Part of my goal is to break down the convenience factor for consumers by making it easy to place an order, text or email, and I will deliver to you on the weekend!

I am having to live and participate in a system that makes it incredibly difficult for me to live life the way I deserve to. So, as a creative person with many ideas and goals in life, I decided to take the plunge and start my first business. The reason I started with The Pangea Special is because it is the most financially feasible business idea I have that also checks a lot of boxes with regards to my personal goals. As a teenager, I worked at Sephora, a major cosmetics retailer. I had a lot of fun at that job, and I learned a lot about skincare. I was also aware of the level of industry waste and marketing tactics that convinced people that they needed more than reality called for. I’ve never had severe acne, but I’ve also never had fully clear skin, and it didn’t seem to matter if I used chemical, expensive, cheap, fragranced, fragrance free, or organic. None of them seemed to work for me. From what I’ve learned, fragrances are the most common irritant, which I have found to be true. In my experience, the organic face washes contain essential oils and those have irritated my eyes and nasal cavities. The ingredients regulations does not define fragrance, so when you see that on a label, it can literally be anything. I just don’t vibe with that. As for the fragrance free options, they never felt like they fully exfoliated my skin so I would still get acne. I was inspired by a face wash recipe I learned online and I tweaked it and made it organic and it’s been working really well for me. I get acne less often, and when I do, they go away faster, and are less inflamed, meaning less redness and scars. I also have a hair tonic newly available and am cooking up some shampoo and conditioner to be released soon.

The hair tonic ingredients are: water, Organic rosemary, Organic thyme, Organic horsetail, Organic nettle, Organic lavender, Organic spearmint, Organic peppermint, Organic echinacea, Body and hair spray base, Sodium Benzoate (preservative).

The face wash ingredients are: Organic white rice flour, SCI (Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate) (a coconut based surfactant), Organic hibiscus, Organic chamomile, Organic rose, Organic matcha, Organic pineapple extract, kaolin clay and rose clay.

I recognize and feel the problems in the world, and instead of accepting it the way it is, I am trying to make change by leading with my values, personally and professionally, and by starting in my community.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I use a platform called Mayhem Market to sell my products. They are a new platform, so their base is still small, which is the biggest con. But I am very excited about this online marketplace as they have many awesome features. The most beneficial being that their platform is very affordable, it’s a flat rate instead of a percentage of the sale going to the platform + other fees. The other aspect that really drew me to this site is that their algorithm can direct your products to people local to your business, which upholds my goals with The Pangea Special.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word of mouth connections. For example, because of personal connection, I was connected to this Canvas Rebel opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Other: Mayhem Market: The Pangea Special