We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Cieslinski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.

Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It was 2018 and I was coming home everyday unhappy with my current job. I was working at a wildlife rehab center and felt the urge wanting to do something to make a bigger impact on the planet.

I have always been passionate about wildlife and our planet, and was already trying to live a more low waste lifestyle at home, so I came up with the idea to create a one-stop-shop for plastic-free, sustainable everyday essentials, as there wasn’t many options that existed at the time.

My spouse and partner, JJ, who is an entrepreneur and tech expert, lent me $10k to start ZeroWasteStore! For the next 6 months during my free time, I did research, contacted suppliers, and tried hundreds of samples, all while JJ built me a website.

We launched July 23, 2018 with the expectation that this would be a fun side job and something i’d focus on during my free time. Within 1 year, we grew to a million dollar company, and now we’re here!

Sarah, 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?

How did I get into this industry? Passion. My passion to help save the planet and create huge positive impact drove me to where we are today. We now sell over 1,000+ zero waste & plastic-free products from over 100 brands and counting. We sell all the essentials you need to live a more sustainable lifestyle, so instead of shopping from a bunch of different websites, you can shop for everything you need in one place.

I am most proud of our community and how much they care. Our community of 400k+ individuals cares about our beautiful planet and we are all working together to rethink the way we consume, for a cleaner, brighter future.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started our instagram page in January of 2018 and the most important advice I have for a new business is consistency. We didn’t launch until July and I made sure to post everyday or every other day up until that point.

I was very engaged, responding to all the comments, following like-minded community members, getting our audience involved, etc.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We are very active on social media, through our email lists, and in our Facebook page! We try and show how strong our community and mission-driven brand is, which helps gain trust throughout the market.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zerowastestore.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/zerowastestore
• Facebook: facebook.com/zerowastestore
• Twitter: twitter.com/zerowastestore