Ep. 11: Leading with Sustainability: How to Incorporate Sustainable Practices and Products Into Your Business with Roma Agarwal
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Summary of the Episode:
In this Earth Day special, I interview Roma Agarwal of The White Lotus Life and Earth Swag Shop. Emphasizing the importance of mindful sourcing, transparent vendor relationships, sustainable packaging, and conscious marketing, Roma provides actionable tips and questions you should be asking so you can adopt more sustainable practices into your business.
The episode also highlights the value and impact of community involvement and networking for not only finding sustainability partnerships, but as a means to build a sustainable, legacy-building brand, too.
Actionable Tips You’ll Walk Away With:
Things to ask yourself BEFORE searching for potential vendors
Questions to ask potential vendors about their ethical and sustainable practices
How to communicate the sustainable aspects of your products and brand to customers
Where to look for potential vendors
How to find networking opportunities in-person and online
About Roma:
Roma is a sustainability ambassador and founder of The White Lotus Life and Earth Swag. Through her platform, she encourages individuals to choose plastic-free swaps to turn their homes into a safe and non-toxic place to live, empowers businesses to choose eco-friendly swag for promotions to keep the planet from brand-filling, and educates communities on how to sort waste correctly, reflect on the impact of trash, lead alow-impact lifestyle, and motivates them to repair over replace.
Before embarking on her passion project, Roma founded Splurge Cosmetics, a PETA-certified skincare company specializing in natural and non-toxic personal care products. As a mother of two young children, Roma was deeply troubled by the firsthand effects of diapering and excessive consumption of toys and children’s items. Motivated by this concern, she began taking small steps to address the issue. Transitioning into a holistic approach, she founded The White Lotus Life.
Timestamps:
00:30 Meet Roma Agarwal: Sustainability Advocate
02:19 Creating meaningful and sustainable branded merchandise
05:10 What does “sustainability” actually mean
06:29 Communicating the sustainability aspects in your products
08:43 Finding and evaluating sustainable wholesalers
09:29 Sourcing sustainable raw materials
11:07 Questions to ask potential suppliers and wholesalers
15:33 Finding balance between technological advances and sustainability
16:43 Where to look for suppliers and wholesalers
18:02 Benefits of working with local vendors
19:12 Why product-based business founders should be networking
22:46 The importance of in-person networking for solopreneurs
24:31 In-person vs online networking
25:48 How to find networking opportunities in smaller cities and towns
27:35 Where to find Roma online
Connect with Roma:
The White Lotus Life on Instagram
Earth Swag on Instagram
The White Lotus Life’s website
Earth Swag’s website
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More About the Behind the Label Podcast:
After years of listening to podcasts targeted toward service businesses, we noticed there weren’t many shows helping brands that sell physical products like jewelry, home goods, clothing, and more.
And while some marketing advice is used universally, there are differences between marketing a product vs a service.
Which is why we made a podcast dedicated to helping product-based brands with their marketing based on real-world experiences.
We talk about things like:
Creating a marketing strategy that works for you
Honing in on your ideal customer profile
Email, social media, and website best practices
And so much more
You’ll learn straight from other successful product-based business owners and industry experts.
And at the end of each episode, you’ll walk away with actionable tips to revolutionize your marketing and cultivate a community of brand-loyal customers.