This week we talk with Callee Ackland, US Navy veteran turned eco-entrepreneur and founder of Bestowed Essentials, podcaster, zero waste activist and van dweller. Callee shares how and why she started Bestowed Essentials and bringing the business on the road with her. She also talks about life traveling the country in a van. Callee talks zero waste activism and how listeners can reduce their impact.
Episode Highlights:
About Bestowed Essentials
- ethical, eco-friendly and zero waste
- Soaps, shampoo bars, candles
- All natural
- No fragrances
- Vegan and cruelty free
- Plastic free packaging
Zero waste activism
- A Plastic Ocean – documentary inspired this lifestyle change for Callee
- Zero Waste – idea of trying to reduce your personal footprint you leave on the planet.
- Individuals and individual actions make a difference. It plants seeds. One by one we all change.
- Mission is to encourage and enable people to reduce waste and live their best life
Simply ways to reduce waste
- Try to reduce or cut out single use plastic (water bottles, paper towels, premade meals, etc)
- Requires a bit of planning ahead
- Do a trash audit (many of recyclables don’t make it to the recycling plant)
- Trying meatless Monday – plant based diet is the biggest way one individual can reduce impact on the planet
- Animal agriculture is number one carbon producer
About Van Life
- Pros and cons to van life
- Living in a van full-time can be a challenge
- Love the freedom of waking up in a different place everyday and meeting new people
- It’s nice to have a home that travels with you
- Temperature changes can be a pain
- Finding a place to park can be challenging
- Biggest con is occasional loneliness. Hard to establish meaningful connections.
- Callee converted a 2014 cargo van
- It takes some Tetris skills to fit everything in the van
Biggest lessons
- You have to wear so many different hats. Both overwhelming and empowering.
- Hire help! Wish she’d hired sooner. Once you find the right people, together you can grow so much more.
- Employees need to be invested in your business
- Do your research. But don’t let perfectionism hold you back.
- You have to be okay with 90% perfect. Otherwise you won’t learn.
Callee Ackland
Callee Ackland is a US Navy veteran turned eco-entrepreneur, podcaster, zero waste activist and van dweller. At age 23, while still on active-duty in the military, she started Bestowed Essentials, a line of ethical + eco-friendly home goods, and now is about to open her first store in Rapid City, SD. Callee hosts the Hippie Haven Podcast, where she interviews experts + everyday people on sustainable living. She travels the United States in her self-converted 2014 Ram Promaster van, while doing zero waste workshops + activism events around the country. Learn more about her at www.ahippieinavan.com
Follow Callee online at:
www.ahippieinavan.com
www.ahippieinavan.com/podcast
www.bestowedessentials.com
www.instagram.com/bestowedessentials
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Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
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