Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Flores.
Hi Kimberly, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Being an entrepreneur is not something I ever envisioned for myself. I was a journalist. Even writing out “was” feels weird. I should say—I am a journalist—because journalists never really stop telling stories. Now, I’m just telling a different story. Instead of talking to people through a TV screen, I get to meet people (face-to-face) every day and help them live more sustainable lives.
I was a news anchor/reporter for close to 15 years. Towards the end of my career at ABC4 Utah, I became the resident environmental reporter. I covered everything from the Willard Bay oil spill to hazardous air quality issues, and the declining health of the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats. I also had a segment on Friday nights called “Recycle This,” where I helped educate people on what does and does not belong in their blue bins.
I left television news in 2017, but my passion for environmental advocacy, and the desire to do more, never left me. In fact, after my children were born, my desire to be a better steward only grew. I did PR for a couple of years, and then the pandemic hit. Like many others, this time in isolation afforded me a lot of time to think about what I really wanted out of life. It was then that I decided I wanted to start a zero-waste business—unclear at that time exactly what that would be.
I sat on this idea for many months until a google search turned up Refillery LA—a mobile refill station in California that was built out of a van. I immediately reached out to Kelly, the owner, and signed up for an hour of her time. She walked me through her business model, and hours later I was researching used Nissan vans. I started fulFILLed—Utah’s first mobile refillery—at the Park City Farmer’s Market in June of 2021. Less than 4 months later, I opened a brick-and-mortar zero-waste store at the Outlets Park City.
Our mission at fulFILLed is to simplify low-waste living by offering refillable, package-free products and other eco-friendly goods. Our plant-based household cleaning and personal care products are sold by the ounce, so our customers only pay for the amount of product they need—saving money and reducing plastic pollution.
By making zero-waste alternatives more accessible, we believe more people will ditch single-use plastics and join the Reduce, Reuse, REFILL revolution.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to entrepreneurship is a winding one. Again, I never had the itch to be an entrepreneur so, in a lot of ways, I have no idea what I am doing. However, I saw a problem that I knew could be the solution to, and this I’m told, is one of the cornerstones to starting a successful business.
Thankfully, I have the help of the Women’s Business Center of Utah. They have business advisors who, at no cost to you, will walk you through anything from building a business plan, permitting, taxes, accounting, funding, marketing, and more. I met with my business advisor once a week for about two months.
Then I was accepted into the WBC’s Next Step program. These resources have been invaluable to me. Without the help of the amazing team at the WBC, there is no way I would be where I am today.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At its most basic level, what we do here at fulFILLed is help people reduce their single-use plastic waste. Our customers can bring in their own clean bottles and refill them with anything from laundry detergent, shampoo/conditioner, lotion, castile soap, body wash, all-purpose cleaner, and more.
We also offer plastic-free household goods. For example, rather than using disposable paper towels, we offer UNpaper towels that are washable and reusable. We also offer things like steel safety razors, bamboo dish brushes that replace sponges, bamboo toothbrushes, plastic-free skincare, beeswax wraps, silicon food wraps, travel cutlery sets, steel lunch boxes… you get the idea.
Plastic is one of the most persistent pollutants on Earth. It’s made to last—and it does, often for 400 years or more—and even then it only breaks down into smaller microplastics. At every step in its lifecycle, from the fossil fuels extracted, to the manufacturing process, even long after it has been discarded, plastic creates greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change.
Only 9 percent of all the plastic that’s ever been manufactured to date has been recycled. All the other plastic has either been landfilled, burned, or made its way into our oceans. It’s really up to us, the consumers, to do things differently; make different choices, better choices for our planet and our children.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
When people ask why I am doing what I am doing, at the end of the day it’s about the children. My children, your children, every child everywhere, will confront adverse environmental changes in this lifetime—climate instability, higher temperatures, drought, fires, rising sea levels, floods, mass extinction, food shortages, biodiversity loss, etc.
Already, my children see less wildlife outside their door than I did as a child. Fewer birds, fewer bees, fewer little furry things. As parents, we say, “I would do anything for my children.” Well… this is our chance.
I have a 3.5-year-old and a 1.5-year-old. I’m doing this for them.
Pricing:
- Laundry Detergent -.30/oz
- Hand Soap – .36/oz
- Shampoo & Conditioner – .68/oz
- Lotion – .88/oz
- Castile soap – .55/oz
Contact Info:
- Email: fulfilledutah@gmail.com
- Website: fulfilledutah.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fulfilledutah/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fulFILLedUtah
