Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Natalie Farrell, Co-Founder of Well Kept, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Well Kept Essentials was founded to create bath and shaving essentials that are made to cultivate routine and ritual without hurting the earth. Well Kept is based in Vancouver, Canada, and everything we make is made with sustainability as a focus in the product design, manufacturing process, shipping, and the final use of the product. From shaving razors to hand and body wash to exfoliation products, Well Kept makes an array of all-natural products that are used in your home. We have a small team of all female staff that makes our products by hand.
Well Kept distributes and sells our products across Canada and internationally. Our products are sold through our website directly to customers, and we wholesale to retailers such as small mom-and-pop shops to large department stores. Our end user is anyone and everyone that shaves :)
Our goal is to help educate people on how to bring sustainability into their everyday life – how to choose and use more sustainable products that are good for them and good for the earth. Through everything we do, we want to support community-driven projects, local manufacturers, and suppliers and continue to give back where we can.
Tell us about yourself
Growing up on the west coast of Canada, I have had a lifelong love for the outdoors, helping people connect with nature and, in turn, reducing their environmental footprint. I have always been driven to continuously seek a balance between the business of selling products and protecting the environment. Well Kept has been an accumulation of my passions for sustainability, creativity, design, and marketing.
What motivates me each day? Honestly, it depends on the day! Sometimes it’s getting outside. Sometimes it is a review from a customer about how much they love our product. And sometimes, it’s seeing waste or devastation to our environment and knowing we have so much more work to do.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I think it’s easy to get caught up in the ‘big’ accomplishments, and it’s more important to celebrate the little things. Well Kept has diverted countless plastic razors from the landfill, which I am so proud of! But the little things like the fact that we have employees, have plastic-free shipping methods, and loyal customers... there are so many little things that add up to the overall accomplishments as a business owner!
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Owning your own business is like being on a never stopping roller coaster - you go up and down and flip around and laugh and scream and smile, and cry - it’s thrilling and terrifying at the same time. One moment you’re incredibly proud of what you have built, and the next, you’re worried about cash flow. You never know what to expect, except that every day will be different, and that is the joy in it – having variety, flexibility, overcoming challenges, seeing what you have been able to build, and knowing the impact that you have been able to have on the people around you. I’m always so proud when I see our products in a retail store or on someone’s shelf at home. Sometimes you forget what you’ve created, and then when you see it, you remember, “Oh wow! I made this!”
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Just get started. The to-do list will never get shorter, and nothing will ever be perfect.
- If it was easy, someone else would have already done it.
- Celebrate your accomplishments - even if they are just the little wins, celebrate them!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://keepwellkept.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keepwellkept
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellkeptessentials/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keep-well-kept/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/wellkeptessentials/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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