Hi, I'm Sarah Paiji-Yoo co-founder and CEO of blue land.
And we are on a mission to eliminate single use plastic packaging,
starting with cleaning products.
So the journey to starting blue land really began.
When I became a new mom, I was doing a ton of research, even around the water
that I should use to mix with his formula.
I was horrified that our drinking water share in the U S can contain
hundreds of pieces of microplastics.
I realized that packaging is actually the largest generator of plastic waste.
I had my first aha moment of , wow I could have such greater impact
beyond my own consumption.
If I could find a way to give other consumers better choices.
We eventually had this idea for these cleaning tablets.
And looked at cleaning sprays and realize, huh?
That product is usually over 90% water and you buy it each
time in a new plastic bottle.
Why don't we just sell a tablet?
My motivation really came back to creating a cleaner planet for my own children.
And again, for future generations.
So I have two boys.
Noah is five years old and my younger one, Collin is 16 months old.
Noah is just like a budding engineer.
Cause I started blue land from the point that he was a baby he's seen and
was like 3d printed versions of bottles to all the prototypes of tablets.
So I started my career pretty traditionally I worked in investment
banking and consulting, and then I ended up going to business school and
that's what I caught the startup bug.
I dropped out of Harvard business school after just one year
to launch my first company.
Sunk cost is a cost that has already happened.
I'd already spent about $60,000 actually on the first year of tuition.
Try not to get overly tied to costs in the past.
If it's not going to have an impact on your costs or your earning
potential going forward, don't lose sight of the really big picture.
I had gone to business school to figure out what it was that I
wanted to do after business school.
And the good news for me was that I figured that out in one year, instead
of two years, So my co-founder and I, we invested our own money into the
business for about two years before we started reaching out to investors, I
put in about a hundred thousand dollars.
We also looked at other ways that we could help fund our business.
And we were fortunate to win a Harvard business school business plan competition.
And so that was $10,000, but there was an application process then
it culminated in a live pitch.
I think pitching is great because it really forces you to prioritize
what is most important that you want to make sure that you get across.
There are different types of investors for everything from venture capital
investors, to angel investors, to friends and family, a decision
to raise from friends and family.
At least for me has always just been very personal.
I've always had the preference to raise capital from angel investors.
And venture capital investors.
If you're not comfortable reaching out to friends and family or investment
or for money, I think there's other ways that they can be helpful with
their time and their feedback.
I think blue land has this incredible opportunity to really inspire
and empower people to lead more eco-conscious lifestyles and to also
set a higher standard for businesses.
My biggest advice for other moms or other parents are start today.
I need don't wait until the idea is perfect.
You know, doubt kills more dreams than failure ever.
Will.