Sustainable living has gained popularity in recent years, especially among travelers. From banning single-use plastic straws and water bottles to 10-cent grocery bags (20 in Carbondale), Americans are becoming increasingly conscious of their carbon footprint, raising societal interest and often providing financial incentives for people to live green.
Enter Carbondale entrepreneur Heather Bryan, CEO and founder of Jupiter and Company, which specializes in creating small, custom, plastic-free products for golf courses, hotels and stadiums. Customers purchase Bryan’s engraving station, which comes with all the luggage tags, keychains, etc. they can use to personalize their customers’ products if they wish.
Although production is located in Placerville, California, just outside of Sacramento, their customers are spread all over the world. In fact, Bryan is preparing for her first trip to China to meet one of her customers soon.
Bryan spent her twenties traveling as a local engraver for the PGA Golf Tour, hence the company’s unique name: after Jupiter, Florida, after Tiger Woods moved to the area.
During all these trips, Bryan thought about how much waste hotel guests put into the environment through single-use plastic items. One such item does every traveler need to have? Key cards. These cards are easily lost and often end up in a landfill.
It is estimated that an average 12,000 plastic hotel key cards and covers are lost each year in a 200-room hotel. If you include all hotels in the USA, that’s over 1,300 tons of plastic (source: Pineapple Hospitality).
Jupiter and Company offers both reusable and personalized hotel key gifts – so your hotel room card suddenly becomes something you don’t want to lose.
“They’re really pretty,” Bryan said. “The goal is to encourage reuse, but you can also write an initial on them and keep them as a souvenir of that cool experience you had.”
While the road to success was rewarding, Bryan said, it was by no means an easy journey. “Being an entrepreneur in the Roaring Fork Valley was really tough. But I had a good idea, I was very passionate about it and I’m very persistent,” she said. “I see the bottom line and so do my customers. But in Carbondale, family comes first and work comes second, so it’s a unique experience.”
As for her advice to other young entrepreneurs, especially those from small towns, Bryan has three unwavering points: “Don’t borrow money! Don’t go into debt,” she said. Bryan owns 100% of her company and said the key is to make local pitches — rather than aiming for bigger miracles a la “Shark Tank,” going into debt to the bank or selling a large portion of the company to partners.
“I have never borrowed money.
If I asked and got a “no,” I found out. I found my first 50 customers, took the money, and moved on to the next stage. And that’s how I developed my Jupiter engraving station.”
Second on the list: “Living a balanced life is key.” (Pun intended?) “For me, that balance also included my entrepreneurial spirit and realizing this great, global idea here in a small valley, even though people here didn’t really understand my idea.”
And last but not least: “Stick with it! Stick with it and find out. If you have a good idea, sell it,” she said.
And as for the future? Bryan plans to continue to innovate and be a leader in sustainability practices in the manufacturing and technology industries. “My goal is to make this company big. I’m going to sell a lot. I’m going to sell it and I’m going to go on this crazy little curly mission.”
