Starting a new space here on the blog to feature my former clients who are making their goals come to life right on their own time. Today is a force of nature, Megan Schmer who is a CEO, Business Owner, Seamstress Extraordinaire, and Mama. I had the pleasure of working with her in my first iteration of my THE12 mastermind and collaborating many times over with her incredible business and mission.
Meet Megan
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Hey Y'all! My name is Megan Schmer and I'm the Co-founder and CEO of Olive & Olde’s.
I started O&O in 2017 while in the throes of postpartum depression. I felt so alone, sad, and lost. The only things that helped were surrounding myself with soft things and staying home. My home, both physical home and my family became my respite from it all. Olive, is the face or icon you see of our brand, her name is inspired by the shape of her face and reminds me of vintage charcoal drawings. Olde's is the acronym of our families names: O - Owen (my oldest son) L - Lachlan (my youngest), D - Dylan (husband & biz partner), E - Elizabeth (my middle name, because otherwise we would have had MOLDS and the jury is still out on whether Mold's would have been successful), S - Schmer (our last name)
In 2017, we started in vintage reselling and home goods (mostly pillows). Then, in 2019, we were commissioned to make meditation cushions for a small company in Northern Colorado. Our floor cushions (often called zafus, tufts, or sit upons) quickly became our best selling item. O&O as it sits today is the culmination of many, many pivots both big and small over the years.
One of my goals is to bring mindful manufacturing back to the US to support people, jobs and the environment. We're working towards that goal everyday, even if it seems like we're doing switchbacks in the same spot. My northstar quote is "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
As a company that makes things and is very industrial, I labor over everything we use and decisions we make. Everything you see was chosen for a reason and with care and intentionality. Can we get something better? Is it really earth friendly? WTF does earth friendly mean? Will it hold up over time? Can we afford this? Everything we make is cut, sewn and filled in Denver, CO.
Question: Can we offset some of our shipping and production emissions?
If so, how do we do that?
Goal: Donate 1 tree to be planted in Colorado, add $1 to our production costs to do this.
We donate $1 to plant 1 tree for every cushion we produce. This felt like a particularly big goal because most companies donate trees after an item sells (and thus a company has collected money). I decided to take on the cost of donating a tree and factor it into our production costs. I did this because I want to take responsibility for being a manufacturer. We ship and order A LOT OF THINGS. We order our fabric on demand, but it still gets flown here from the family mill in Europe. We recently came out with a new line of products inspired from our scrap pile. Our go to philosophy is to use what we already have, but when we don't or can't, our ethos is to take responsibility for what we are making.
We started factoring in purchasing trees to our cushion production costs when the wildfires were so awful in 2020 in Colorado. We produce goods in Colorado, so we donate to have trees planted in Colorado because it's our home. When the wildfires are RAGING during the summer, I constantly have to tell my 6 year old he can't go outside because of his asthma. I have a daily reminder of why I do what I do and why I'm pushing myself to do better, but also inspire change around me. I never checked air quality as a kid, and grew up in Colorado as did my husband, and now it's something my kids ask about everyday. Straddling that tension of trying to explain why we can't go outside today AND explaining that we are actively trying to do something about it is really hard, but that's life, right?
Our cushions are filled with US grown buckwheat hulls and millet. I chose millet because it is grown here in Colorado and supports farmers in and around Colorado during off peak growing seasons. Both fillings can be composted or tossed on your garden if they need a refresh. Buckwheat hulls are the traditional filling for most meditation cushions you see today.
I think my favorite pivot of this business has been watching how people like to use our cushions. They aren't just for meditation and in fact I would say most people don't come to us for meditation cushions. They come to us because they need flexible floor seating or an alternate way to give themselves a bit more comfort in the home.
Goal: Source high quality lavender buds that are grown in Colorado.
We started using the most incredible lavender buds from a farm in Palisade, CO at the end of October. There is so much synergy when you are making things in our studio and everything has been grown in Colorado. It's nearly impossible to describe. I have loved our eye pillows, but now they feel extra special because they are a labor of love that Colorado has produced.
Goal: Feature other small businesses that we work with in our product photos
Our company motto is "Combating loneliness by providing a soft place to land." It took me a long time to find my people and I've found them in the small business community. I've met and foraged relationships with people that were a pipe dream for me when I started this business. I'm so thankful everyday to be doing what I'm doing and all of the individuals I've met along the way have brought our brand to LIFE. Everyone we use in our product photos is either a small business owner, helps us make our products or keeps the wheels turning at O&O.
Things are changing constantly and everyone wears many hats, but I wouldn't rather have it any other way. I love working for myself and meeting other small business owners, supporting individuals through career changes, life shifts and great pivots has been the greatest and unexpected joy of this business.
ABOUT O&O:
Website: https://oliveandoldes.com/
Instagram: @oliveandoldes