Meet Trailblazer Brittney La Gesse

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittney La Gesse.

Brittney, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My personal path to zero-waste, or as I like to call it, low-waste, all started about three years ago. I started following different influencers on Instagram and quickly became dedicated to reducing my waste.

About six months later, I started wondering why we didn’t have anything like this in Boulder – a town that was very much dedicated to reducing waste. I started small with local fair pop-up markets, transitioned into an online store, and about four months after all of that decided I wanted to offer a storefront for bulk refill purposes.

It’s been over a year and a half in our storefront space, and while there’s still many obstacles and things to figure out, every day feels a bit better and the community makes it all worth it.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m not sure there’s a “great” way to say this; no. It has never been a smooth road, but it’s been a crazy-beautiful ride of ups and downs and lessons all around.

Working in such a niche market is difficult. This is a very new (but yes, old) concept, that we are basically bringing back to the surface from years ago. That being said, our current infrastructure isn’t designed to make something like this easy.

Lots of these bulk items require special ordering, minimums, shipping costs, etc. Starting a business can very much be a guessing game. How fast will I go through this product? How interested will people be in one product over the other? How quickly can I order something and have it back in stock? Is this something I should invest in? This has been something I’ve had to learn how to manage and I’m still working on it.

Another struggle – and this may be for many things – how do I get people to respond? How do I get people to care? Education has been and still is essential. Having a business with a mission like this behind it, or any business for that matter requires a ton of hassle. Not only spreading the word about your actual store/business but backing it up with the why. And sometimes, even when there is a why explained, people still don’t care about it.

Advice for young women: expect all sorts of the unexpected and push through. You’ll eventually feel the breakthrough and it’ll still be hard, but it will be worth it.

We’d love to hear more about Refill Revolution.
The main mission behind our store is reducing waste. I like to bring a certain perspective to the table in doing so: it’s impossible to do zero-waste perfectly. Zero waste is a term. We live in a world where “zero” waste doesn’t exist yet, and I really want people to understand that and feel comfortable with it.

Refill Revolution specializes in assisting people in reducing their waste with an assortment of different products. We love to host different events, support other small businesses/makers, and offer a welcoming space to share ideas and support each other on their low-waste journeys.

I feel proud of creating a space where you won’t be judged on what you did or didn’t do. There’s no need to explain anything here – you are accepted for who you are and whatever it is you chose to do.

So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well-positioned for?
Personally, I feel as though I didn’t experience a challenge in this particular area as many others may. I decided I wanted to build a brand, create a change and start something new, and there was nothing that was standing in my way.

Through this journey, there has been many challenges, but that’s always going to be part of any journey – I think that’s what makes it a journey. Determination and dedication are everything, and when you want something bad enough – it’s yours.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3350 Arapahoe Ave
  Boulder, CO 80303
• Website: www.therefillrevolution.com
• Phone: 715-933-0858
• Email: refillrevolution@gmail.com
• Instagram: therefillrevolution
• Facebook: refillrev

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.