The “Mighty Sisters” should not your typical superheroes. Instead of climbing skyscrapers or fighting crime, sisters Bronwyn Kopacek and Claire Martinez make their impact through Mighty Market, theirs Low-waste shop and bulk refill pharmacy is positioned in downtown Martinez.
The business opened in early 2020, firstly of the coronavirus pandemic, and served as a way for Kopacek and Martinez to share the natural products they sourced while caring for relations' various skin conditions.
The store carries quite a lot of reusable containers — spray bottles, jars, jars galore — that customers can fill with the market's many botanical bath, toilet and skincare products. The sisters also encourage their customers to bring reusable containers — anything that matches on a scale — to fill.
Kopacek and Martinez met for an interview about their company. Your responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: What motivated you to start out Mighty Market and focus the corporate on reusability and sustainability?
Kopacek: I actually have at all times been the environmentally conscious person in our family. I feel growing up in South Africa there may be this type of revolutionary mindset, but in addition respect for the land and culture and the understanding that food is medicine and what you place into your body is medicine.
But also just the issues we now have in our family with skin problems and refills, just being frustrated within the shower. I might say, “There are so many containers and so many bottles taking up space.” I'm someone who thought in the future we’d just take little capsules of the things we’d like and that might be it.
I feel the rationale we pushed to truly physically launch the corporate is because we’re each moms who were finally back in the identical area after so a few years and were capable of raise our kids together. This society is just not designed so that you can be the mother you ought to be and have the profession you wish. So that was our way of creating it work.
I also think that we generally come from an entrepreneurial family, like our father at all times had a part-time job in South Africa. Our brother has never received a paycheck from one other person until last yr. He only ever had his own business. So we just come from a family like that.
Q: And what motivated you to do it together?
Kopacek: Well, I had this experience working for startups and helping other people construct their brands and businesses, so I believed to myself, “We can do this together.” I do know she's smart and I don't think I might need to work with anyone else. Did I persuade you (Martinez) to do it greater than you wanted?
Martínez: No, I actually have that. I completely trust every thing she says or does as if I were just there.
Kopacek: How difficult it’s for a virgin!
Martínez: There aren't many individuals I might close my eyes and say “yes” to, and also you (Kopacek) are one among them. She also brings confidence and that helped me ultimately.
Q: What does your slogan “Small steps lead to big changes” mean?
Kopacek: Our slogan is “Small steps lead to big change” because we would like to fulfill people where they’re of their journey, not make them feel like they must be this perfect citizen.
Martínez: Many of our customers should not used to this and appear a bit intimidated. Small steps mean starting with a bottle of shampoo after which progressively working your way up.
Kopacek: We have something for everybody on the trip. We have dental tablets so that you don't must worry about things like a tube of toothpaste, but we also still have the tube from David's where it is totally recyclable and reusable.
Up until a number of months ago, we had people come by and say, “I walked by here for three years and never came in.” I used to be afraid of it.”
Martínez: Yes, they felt like they were being judged.
Kopacek: Right. I hate the term “zero-waste” and don’t include it anywhere in our online presence, marketing or vocabulary because I feel like that’s an unattainable level to attain and it’s just not realistic .
Q: Why does Mighty Market value local sourcing and have you ever faced any challenges in achieving this goal?
Kopacek: The undeniable fact that fewer distances must be traveled and due to this fact CO2 emissions are created is a very important reason, but so is the mere support of the local economy. I feel that's what everyone needs.
One challenge is finding wonderful quality products, but in addition wonderful quality products that will be maintained at our sell-through rates. It's like all other small business – they don't necessarily have systems, ingredients, or anything that may speed up their production.
So it takes time to search out the best balance between what we provide and the super local specialties.
Q: How has the corporate shaped your interactions with the area people?
Kopacek: We met wonderful people on the market. Sundays are a lot fun here, like with the farmers market and the breweries and every thing, it's super fun. We recommend people come here on a Sunday to explore town center after which get their fill.
We opened our second location in Lafayette and just left (and transferred our lease) a month ago. We have some individuals who have been wonderful customers of ours for years and we now have given them the space to start out their business. It's a resource we consider the community will profit from – helping latest families come together where they’ll find out about postpartum recovery. We love that, and we love that they were mothers and likewise business owners and had kids to deal with.
Q: How has owning a business together shaped your relationship?
Kopacek: We definitely talk more now. I feel like we grew up as a detailed family.
Martínez: We just hang around with one another!
Kopacek: We do! I feel we could be close whether we had that or not. It helps to have someone to lean on and share with someone who knows what you're going through. I feel like entrepreneurship and motherhood are two of probably the most difficult but in addition isolating things. They don't clock out and in. You can't clock out.
Q: What motivates you to proceed to expand your organization in times of crisis?
Kopacek: We remain true to our vision and our ethics. I feel like there's loads of greenwashing happening today amongst brands big and small.
We live it on all levels, we stay true to what we consider in. I feel that's why our customers know the way we live and what we consider in, and we do our greatest at every opportunity to remain true to our goal of a greater footprint for the following generation. That's a giant a part of our focus.
Bronwyn Kopacek
Age: 42
Position: CEO and co-owner of Mighty Market
Education: Degree in Marketing from Collin College, Degree in Design and Visual Communications from FIDM
Residence: Martinez
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
Family: husband, two children, dog
Claire Martinez
Age: 38
Position: COO and co-owner of Mighty Market
Education: Some courses at Collin College
Residence: Pleasant Hill
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
Family: husband, two children, two dogs, cat
Five things about Bronwyn and Claire
- They like to enjoy spending time together within the automotive.
- Bronwyn has a dog named Mojo. Claire has two dogs – one named Miley and one named Grasshopper – and a cat named Ruth.
- Bronwyn is a Pisces and Claire is a Virgo. Her family has so many virgins that they go on an annual “Virgin Festival” trip yearly.
- Bronwyn's biggest pet peeve with Claire is how hard it’s to persuade her of things. Claire's biggest pet peeve with Bronwyn is her lack of punctuality.
- Bronwyn's favorite quality about Claire is her ability to see the nice in people. Claire's favorite quality about Bronwyn is her selflessness and her ability to empathize with other people's feelings.
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