365 Days of Free Living Love

Wow!  The 1 year anniversary of Free Living Co, crept up on me like a pair of granny panties.  I will never forget the Laundry Detergent incident that started it all!  After a couple decades of clean living I couldn't believe that a glaring RED EWG.org F had made its way into my house.  And every garment of every family member in my home was coated in poison, seeping into our skin and inhaling its way into our lungs.  I just remember being baffled: "How could this have happened? I am SO careful! I do actually read the labels!  I should have known better!"  And yet, as a busy mom of 3 I got lazy for a split second and just trusted what I thought was the "cleanest I could find" at Costco. 

I remember thinking in that very moment, if only there was a business that would do all this work for me, I simply don't have time to memorize the 863 pages in 10 point font of unacceptable ingredients.  Why isn't there someone who reads the labels, who tries the products, who knows what is the safest, cleanest alternatives for every product in my house, and can get it to me more efficiently than Amazon?  And then a lightbulb went off, "well, why couldn't that be me?"  

Fast forward a year and I am a full time label reader!  I'm also a website designer, a (subpar?) marketing executive, a supply chain leader, an operations specialist, an accountant, a graphic designer, I'm fully in charge of biz dev and product development, I place every order and open every shipment, I also pack and deliver all of your orders with so much love and good vibes.  My family members are full time product testers, cashiers, box breaker-downers, and delivery personnel.  An entire room in my house has been converted to my "warehouse" which the business is quickly outgrowing and my car hasn't fit in the garage for the better part of this year. 

The roller coaster ride cruising from concept ➡️ launch ➡️ growth ➡️ (hopefully) survive ➡️ let's scale this mutha has been exactly that, a roller coaster ride.  But the most exhilarating, exciting, and thrilling of rides you can imagine.  I wouldn't change a minute of the highs or a second of the lows because it is starting to become very apparent that this little notion of a business idea is not only necessary, but wanted, and may actually work!

Thanks to your enthusiasm, your orders, high fives and hugs, Free Living Co has over 100 brands and 600 SKUs.  In addition to our bread and butter household, personal care, beauty, and plastic free provisions, we've added diffusers, nutrition, dental, paper products, and kitchenware. 

And while there are so many lovely brands doing all the right things with ingredients and sustainability we have found gaps!  And so we are in the throws producing own products, our first being a skincare line for teenage girls. 🪩 Since we couldn't find one clean enough for the girls and cost-effective enough for their parents, we thought "why not produce it ourselves?" and so we are.  Stay tuned - launching Spring '25!   

We've hosted pop-ups and parties, spoken on panels and sponsored events, attended conferences and converted schools to cleaner greener alternatives.  Leading this effort has truly been the joyride of my life and I can't thank you enough, for opening my emails, taking the leap to try something new, shopping at the warehouse, liking our sporadic and ever-improving (hopefully) social media presence, for introducing us to your friends, for being a friend!  It's a vision that's become a reality, a passion project that is now looking like my career.  Without you I'd probably be slogging away in some dumb job as just another HR file in a corporation.  THANK YOU!  Let's keep this party rolling....  but first answers to your most pressing questions....

Where did the name come from?

My husband came up with it!  I remember staring at a long list of names I had come up with and nothing really felt right and then he belted out "what about FREE".  It stuck and I never looked back.

Idea that didn't work?

I launched the business with a membership program attempting to mimic Amazon or Thrive Market, which didn't really take off like I'd hoped, so we are shifting to a loyalty and rewards program!  Check it out next time you shop!  You will earn FREE bucks to spend with every purchase.

Thing I am most proud of?

Launching a clean + green school program.  We've made it super affordable which doesn't mean a lot in sales numbers, but the impact of ridding young bodies of toxins, and knowing the positive impact on their health, is absolutely the best feeling in the world!  

Biggest surprise?

I knew from past startups that it is always surprising who of your friends and family supports your business and who doesn't... so I expected that, but what I didn't expect was (what I call) the Angels on Earth who have landed in my path. 🤍 They are Angels on Earth because out of thin air (or via a mutual friend, word of mouth, or random meeting) have embraced me and Free Living Co with undying loyalty, friendship, and support that never ceases to completely blow me away and humble me with immense gratitude.  You know who you are 🫶

Biggest challenge?

CAPITAL!  Since we warehouse our products it is a significant investment to keep everything in stock and add more and more categories.  We want to add ALL the categories so you don't have to look any further than FLC.  To grow and scale we need to hire talent, move to an actual warehouse space, outsource marketing, and continue building up our inventory.  Not to mention the cost of producing our own products.  Capital is a never-ending consideration and challenge in entrepreneurship!

What's next? 

We are launching our teenage skincare line Spring of '25 and have plans to produce more products where we haven't found a clean + eco-friendly option that fits our criteria.  We are constantly adding categories recently it was kitchenware, nutrition, and appliances.  Next we are working on categories like water filters, mattresses, even home furnishings.  We are launching a monthly box to help people who don't know where to start, transition to cleaner and greener products!  We are bringing on more and more expert content contributors to give you knowledge and tools to maximize your health and wellbeing.  We are well on our way to being the cleaner and greener marketplace for all of your everyday needs.

Here's to life less toxic!

Live free,
Dana

🫶