FROM MARKETING DIRECTOR OF AN INTERNATIONAL FIRM TO ENTREPRENEUR-SLASH-ACTIVIST
Meet Beverley Dawn Webster, founder of greendawning, the conscious shopping online retailer.
Here at the Small Business Showcase, we love it when an entrepreneur has an eco-agenda at the heart of their business strategy!
Morning is dawning
Bev was always a tree hugger at heart. And like so many of us, when Covid hit, it got her reflecting.
It dawned on Bev:
THERE WAS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT TO START HER ECO-CONSCIOUS COMPANY.
She left the corporate world and her secure job of 19 years and opened the online retailer greendawning, which has now been in operation for 9 months.
Everyone thought I was bonkers.
BEVERLEY DAWN WEBSTER
But when all’s said and sun, we think she made the right choice.
Up at the crack of dawn
greendawning is unusual in that its products are based on an ethos. And not the get-rich-quick one we’re all jaded with. Their skin care products are a great example: they only sell accredited ones that promise ‘beauty without cruelty’. Bev wants to change the misconception that you need to buy whatever overpriced, international products your closest shop happens to sell. She’s trying to educate people on the fact that there are local products right here in our beautiful country that we can use – and they’re of the highest quality.
greendawning sells a range of items: soy candles, baby bum cream, shaving gel, lip balm, sunscreen … Best part? All of it is made locally and stays true to greendawning’s ethos.
Conscious shopping is not a new idea. More and more, people are seeing the reality of eco-devastation (except for those deniers we won’t talk about) and they agree with Bev’s philosophy when it comes to shopping: “No harm to the environment, no harm to animals.”
We love her attitude: “The pie is big,” she says. She sees this wave of conscious shopping as a wonderful thing: “Competition is good. It means I’m not the only one bleating about it.”
Peace Corps: the most stressful vacation you’ll ever take.
We love this joke. Especially since it makes a good point. Living consciously is hard work. After all, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
For Bev, running an ethics-based business is not all sunshine and rainbows. One of the struggles she faces is people’s hesitancy to shop online. But Covid has been a blessing in disguise that way. greendawning is attracting more customers each day and something hugely encouraging is the number of repeat orders they’re getting.
green(Dawning) of a new day
greendawning plans on expanding their already impressive gifting range. Each gift is thoughtfully assembled and wrapped, and of course, every item is ecofriendly. As well as beautiful. “We just try to make it special,” Bev says. She loves that greendawning is small and selective enough to add that personal touch to the products they lovingly send out.
When you buy through them, you know you’re getting quality – and, very importantly, you’re helping usher in a new era of eco-consciousness.
See that loving touch for yourself, visit them at https://greendawning.com/
Email [email protected] or call 082 566 3345
Link to article: https://smallbusinessshowcase.co.za/ecofriendly-shopping/