215: Two Sisters, One Shampoo… The Eco-Friendly Bathroom Story of… Plaine Products

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Background on Lindsey McCoy of Plaine Products:

Lindsey McCoy is the CEO and Co-Founder of Plaine Products. She is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the sustainable consumer goods industry. Her skills include Nonprofit Organizations, Sales, Management, Leadership, and Strategic Planning. Coming from a nonprofit background, Lindsey has made a career out of finding solutions. With a dream to have less plastic waste in the world, she and her sister, Alison, founded Plaine Products.

Lindsey spent 10 years living and working in the Bahamas. There she saw firsthand the consequences of our disposable lifestyle with plastic on the beach, in the ocean, and along the roads. After looking around her bathroom and realizing how much plastic she owned, she called Alison and they started talking about how to change that, and how to make it easy for others to do the same.

Plaine Products is a sustainable packaging company providing returnable, refillable reusable aluminum bottles full of all-natural, vegan, toxin-free shampoo, conditioner, body wash & lotion. Their mission is to help eliminate the need for single-use plastics in the world. They spent a year researching natural products until they found some whose quality amazed them while staying true to their rule of being chemical-free. All of the ingredients were run through the Environmental Working Group’s database to make sure they were safe and non-toxic.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

  • [1:46] Lindsey McCoy introduces herself as the Co-Founder and CEO of Plaine Products, which aims to eliminate single-use plastics out of your bathroom. She is 45 years old and lives in North Carolina.
  • [6:46] Currently, Plaine Products has 18 employees and is still growing. Last year’s revenue was just over $2 million with around 25 thousand customers.
  • [8:36] Moving to the Bahamas, Lindsey had her first experience running an environmental non-profit group.
  • [14:21] Lindsey did tons of research on packaging, ingredients, personal care products, and green beauty products & zero-waste space when she was just starting her business.
  • [16:05] Instead of stainless steel, Plaine Products chose to use aluminum for their packaging.
  • [19:22] Finding the right manufacturer for their shampoo product involves a lot of time researching and asking questions.
  • [21:51] Having a business partner was a major factor in the growth and success of Plaine Products.
  • [23:44] Lindsey agrees with Austin that having a peer group or being connected with other small business owners can be very helpful when starting a business.
  • [27:44] They invested about $75 thousand to start Plaine Products.
  • [30:03] The stainless-steel basin jar that they ordered from Chinese manufacturers proved to be a learning experience for Lindsey.
  • [36:16] When Lindsey shifted to aluminum bottles instead of the stainless-steel ones, they did the necessary testing to see if it would work out.
  • [42:24] As the business grew, they were able to have cardboard packaging specially made for their products.
  • [44:36] Lindsey talks about recycling and how there is misleading information involved in this issue.
  • [49:46] Finally, they launched and turned on their website, which was a very exciting moment for Lindsey.
  • [52:00] Developing relationships and connections with vloggers and people helped fuel the growth of Plaine Products during the early days.
  • [56:16] The return process for the aluminum bottles had several trial and errors and experimentations before they got it right. Lindsey talks more about the process of cleaning the returned bottles.
  • [1:01:34] The next big pivot point for Lindsey was adding bulk bin products that can be used in refill shops.
  • [1:04:19] Some of the hardest parts of growing Plaine Products involve supply chain management, inventory, and marketing.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

  1. 📖📚 Favorite Books? Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  2. 🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Neck Heating Pad
  3. 🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Help Scout for Customer Service
  4. 💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Awareness about the importance of circular economy over linear economy

Key Point from the Interview:

  • “I got mad I guess, which is good. I was frustrated with myself, I was determined to prove that I can figure it out, that there was something to this. And so, I was gonna launch, and if we crash and burned at that point, then I think maybe we could have walked away, but I wanted to at least put it out into the world and see how people responded before I give up.”

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

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