Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather O’Sullivan.
Hi Heather, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
The path that lead me to become an entrepreneur actually began at the lowest point of my life.
I had been working for a small fine wine distributor as a sales representative for about nine years when the company was purchased by a multi-state corporation. One month later, my company was merged with a local competitor that our new parent company acquired as well.
It would be easy for me to blame a messy merger and the subsequent changes in my career on the nervous breakdown that was to follow but the truth was, I had felt unhappy and unfulfilled in my work for a long time. Wine sales had great perks, like endless samples, wine dinners, and getting to work with interesting people but I never felt like I was doing what I was “meant to do.”
I suddenly started having dizzy spells while driving on the interstate to visit accounts, which was then followed by crushing anxiety and a complete loss of the ability to speak in public, which was a big part of my job. Whether I wanted to or not, my body was telling me it was time to change my career.
After months of looking at different jobs and not finding anything that felt like a good fit, I finally found an online course that taught me how to start a brand and how to sell branded products online. The course sounded a bit too good to be true but my amazingly supportive husband, Michael, gave me the green light to give it a go. We had enough savings to buy me about 10 months to build a business.
The course I took taught me to look at my personal interests, hobbies, or passions and to develop a brand and a business based on that. As a parent, I did my best to feed my family healthy, fresh food and to keep our home toxin-free. I realized that the knowledge I had about products containing toxins like BPAs, PFOAs, and VOCs was not common knowledge so I set out to develop products that would be safe for people to bring into their homes, and Kimberly-Carr Home Designs was born.
A year after starting Kimberly-Carr, Michael was able to quit his job and come to work for the business full-time. Over time, his interests lead us to discover the negative effects of plastic pollution on our planet, in animals, and in our bodies. We then pivoted our lifestyle and our business to zero waste living.
Today we are still “on our way to zero waste.” In 2019, we discovered other zero-waste businesses that had mobile refilleries and we knew that we wanted to bring that to Savannah. For those who aren’t familiar with a refillery, the concept basically allows people to bring their own reusable container to fill up on everyday household and personal care essentials like laundry soap, all-purpose cleaner, etc. thus eliminating the single-use plastic container that comes when you shop at a traditional store.
Last year, we put those plans on hold and this year we finally decided to go ahead with the refillery concept and a rebranding without the vehicle, for now. We set up The Savannah Refillery at local markets and are thrilled to introduce people to the concept of shopping without waste. We’re still deciding what the expansion of our refillery will look like once we outgrow our tent and tables but for now, we’re just happy to be able to do what we do.
The good news is that I have learned coping skills and self-care practices to manage anxiety in my life. I also feel like I am doing work that I was meant to do and that is a very good feeling.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While I have been incredibly fortunate overall in my life, I have had some challenges as a small business owner.
Some of our business challenges are self-created. As a business that is working to eliminate plastic waste and act sustainably, Michael and I work hard to make sure that all of our choices, from partnerships to business purchases to our products do not cause harm to people or to our planet. This means that it sometimes takes us longer to make changes than it might for a business that doesn’t operate this way and it also means that our operating costs are sometimes higher.
2020 was a challenge for all of us. As a business without a brick-and-mortar store, the shutdown meant an end to face-to-face connection with our customers. Our website sales were just enough to keep the business afloat.
We’re optimistic about the future of our business based on the amazing reception we have had from our community since the rebranding from Kimberly-Carr to the Savannah Refillery.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Savannah Refillery?
Savannah Refillery is a reflection of the journey that my husband and I have been on to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Not to sound trite but my desire to live this way and to show others my way of doing it, comes from a deep sense of connection to our planet, to wildlife, and to humankind. To see the destruction that plastic pollution is causing to our environment, to marine life and as we’re only beginning to understand, to humans, is the driving force behind every choice I make.
In the words of one of my favorite zero-waste role models, Anne-Marie Bonneau “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”
Savannah Refillery is trying to do exactly that by providing an opportunity for people to eliminate plastic waste in their lives, one single-use item at a time. The idea of going from a “normal,” Western lifestyle to a fully zero waste lifestyle is not only close to impossible for most people, but it’s also totally overwhelming. We work hard to make it easy for people to join us on our journey “on our way” to zero waste.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
People in the Savannah area can shop with us by checking our market schedule on our website at https://kimberlycarrhomedesigns.com/savannahrefillery/ We also offer free delivery to customers in the Savannah area for orders over $35 and we ship to customers across the U.S. from our website.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://kimberlycarrhomedesigns.com/
- Instagram: @sav_refillery
- Facebook: @kimberlycarrhome
