Jen Mitchell and Sarah Blando of The Refill Co.
Meet Jen Mitchell and Sarah Blando, the two sisters and entrepreneurs behind The Refill Co. Jen and Sarah have lived in the Murillo area for over 25 years and both share a love for nature and the animals who live in it. Their love for nature extends further than just enjoying the outdoors— these two sisters wanted to do more when it comes to preserving the natural world. With young families comes lots of cleaning and, therefore, lots of cleaning products. For many years, Jen wondered why there wasn’t a place to refill those products locally. She wanted to reduce single-use plastics in her life while providing a local solution for others in Thunder Bay. Therefore, she approached her sister with an idea, and The Refill Co. was born. The Refill Co. is a bulk refill and package-free/plastic-free eco-friendly shop. Customers are able to bring reusable containers and fill up cleaning products and supplies. All products in the shop are eco-friendly and provide an alternative approach to traditional forms of packaging. Check out the Refill Co. by visiting therefillco.net.
What drew you to entrepreneurship?
We were both on maternity leave when we started this business, and were looking for a way to be able to stay at home with our babies while also working to provide for our families through something we are passionate about. Neither of us had a business background, but what drew us to entrepreneurship was simply the idea that we could possibly make an impact in our city, no matter how large or small. Our hope is to help show people that anyone can make a difference by starting right where they are with what they have. We love researching and finding new products that can help meet a need to replace a less sustainable option. By offering these eco-friendly sustainable options all in one place, our goal is to make it easier for people to make some simple swaps, and reduce their waste.
What is your most memorable moment as an entrepreneur?
This is a really tough question because Sarah and I love this business so much, we get extremely excited over just about everything and celebrate every milestone. Our grand opening was incredibly memorable because the support was just so much more than we could have anticipated. We couldn’t have asked for a better response from the community. However, since then, we have met so many new people and have had so many insightful conversations regarding waste reduction and helping the environment. We learn so much from chatting with our incredible customers. Every time we get to expand and bring in a new product line it’s memorable to us because it feels like a stepping stone of growth and reminds us that when a community comes together, they can make a large impact. But perhaps the most rewarding part about all of this is watching our kids be involved and teaching them the importance of taking care of our planet, and showing them that our choices make an impact. My four-year-old has been in the shop many evenings chatting with us while we stock shelves or instigating inventory dance parties, and it’s exciting to be able to experience something you’re so passionate about with your family.
Who was your biggest inspiration/ mentor?
There are so many people we have followed and learned from over the years but one woman who sticks out in my mind goes by the name of Sarah Sailer. One of her children had some scary health issues, and together their family started their journey of living off their land by converting their entire yard into a garden and mini farm to grow all of their own food. They even teach and inspire their community how to do the same. Her story gave me a passion for making my own sourdough, composting food scraps, an increased love for gardening, and creating soup stocks from scraps. Through discovering her story, my passion for using up what you have, repurposing what you can, and trying to reduce waste was sparked and evolved into a new way of thinking. Since my sister and business partner, Sarah, and I have a shared passion for the environment, we are always bouncing ideas off one another, and eventually this inspired thinking led to the idea of opening up a bulk refill store. Since then, we have discovered many refillery and zero-waste stores across Canada as well as many thought-provoking environmentalists who we draw inspiration from. We have been fortunate enough to connect with the owners of some of the other refill stores throughout Canada and have found a wonderful like-minded community that encourages and inspires us to continue working towards change.
If you could go back in time what piece of advice would you give yourself?
The biggest piece of advice we would give ourselves if we could go back in time would be to have faith that who you are is enough to make a difference. Anyone can make a difference, no matter how big or small. There are so many amazing businesses in this city and we questioned our ability to find our place among them, to create something of value to our community. We are both fairly shy and reserved, so how are we going to create something that draws people in and serves as a source of inspiration to them? And although putting yourself out there can be terrifying, when you act with passion, and believe in what you are doing, you are enough.