Jack59

PROBLEM:

Cosmetic packaging accounts for about 120 billion units every year globally. We want people to rethink the way cosmetics are packaged. It isn’t sufficient to make packaging recyclable although this is a better option than packaging that has to be thrown away. We elimimate plastic packaging altogether. Alternatively, we have been focusing on compostable resins and will incorporate more compostable materials by the end of the year. The elimination of cosmetic packaging waste can be massively affected by consumers and by providing a plastic free option we can greatly reduce the amount of plastic waste going into our landfills. This is a global issue effecting the whole planet. Only 9% of plastic we add to our recycling bins actually gets recycled, 91% of it ends up being buried or burned creating greater environmental damage.

The average person in Canada uses up to 9 average sized plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles per year. This creates a staggering amount of plastic waste. 

There is another hidden problem and that is the environmental impact of unnecessarily transporting water (in cosmetic products) around the world during shipping. Jack59 eliminates this impact all together. Our products do not contain unnecessary water, reducing water in production, transport and storage space. 

With a background in chemistry and a new fixation on solving the issue of plastic waste in shampoo and conditioner products Vanessa founded Jack59. A women-led, indigenous-owned beauty brand - bringing pH balanced, sustainable and plastic-free, all-natural hair care to over 400 retailers and countless showers across North America. Jack59's impact on the environment has been nothing short of remarkable, with over 36 billion tons of plastic eliminated from entering the environment in 2022 alone.

Vanessa and her team at Jack59 continue to innovate and create new products that promote sustainability and environmental consciousness. Vanessa believes that while each individual can make positive changes to reduce their impact on the planet, it shouldn't fall solely on their shoulders. Companies and corporations have a much greater responsibility to ensure they're offering products that provide accessible, sustainable options for consumers. With the commitment to provide affordable, eco-friendly and quality options for consumers, Jack59 is able to minimize the effort that each individual consumer has to make in order to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Jack59 shampoo and conditioner bars are naturally paraben-free, sulfate-free, certified cruelty-free, silicone-free, vegan and even have gluten-free options. Our bars are convenient and the lather is abundant and the scent is terrific. We have 12 varieties, 1 for every hair type. One of our shampoo bars will last 80+ washes eliminating 3 average size plastic shampoo bottles. To date we have eliminated over 700000 plastic bottles from entering our environment. Our bars do not contain water, reducing the environmental cost of transporting water around the world like liquid shampoo which is approximately 80% water. 

Easy to use. All you do is add water to your hair and rub the bar to create a lather. 

Storage is efficient and beautiful with our compostable shower container designed by Vanessa and manufactured in Canada. This container is created using injection molding of a 100% home compostable resin.

Our audience is between the ages of 18-45. Our audience is predominantly female based but we never discriminate. We serve thousands of people wanting to reduce their carbon footprint by introducing easy changes to their daily routine. Hobbies would include traveling, hiking and camping. Approximately 75% of the population is looking for sustainable, high performance beauty/haircare products that actually work. They can’t be sustainable if they don’t work. We have engaged with many customers looking to reduce their carbon footprint through a solid shampoo option but are struggling to find a high performance option and have reverted back to plastic bottles. I would like to share a review from one of our customers, I believe it highlights how underserved the general community is and how we are solving their eco-journeys. “We started using Jack59 shampoos and conditioners in July 2022. We bought the Vitality gift back for my husband and the Serenity gift pack for myself… We loved them so much that we purchased gift packs for our two adult children for Christmas and they continue to use Jack59 products, because they love them too. Our daughter continues to use the Vitality, our son has switched from Serenity to the Island Tropics (for the scent). We just bought the 3-in-1 bar for our son-in-law, and he loves that!

The gargantuan advatage of Jack59 products is that they are truly zero waste. No plastic and of course, the fact that they are solid means a reduction of carbon emissions. Hooray! But being zero waste isn't sustainable, if the product doesn't work. We think Jack59 shampoos and conditioners are the BEST we have ever used! They smell nice, lather ridiculously well, rinse out easily and leave our hair clean, shiny and healthy. My husband has struggled with oily hair and an itchy scalp forever and has tried myriad of products that have all failed to work...until Jack59! He is beyond happy to finally have relief!
The compostable shampoo and conditioner container is great. It takes up a very small footprint and drains to leave no pile of messy soap residue. I've noticed that hair is never stuck on the bars. Is that magic? The products last an amazingly long time and are therefore very economical. I used to have to buy 2 conditioners for every bottle of shampoo. Now my conditioner bar is good for 2+ shampoo bars. We are happy to support a Canadian small business. We are happy to support a women run, Indigenous women owned company. We are happy to play a part in reducing plastic use and in reducing the carbon footprint. And we are happy to use a product that is so good for our hair. THANK YOU JACK59!!!!!!!!

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMEND JACK59!!!!” Wendy Bowes.

As you can see we have products for every hair type including travel sized bars that eliminate millions of hotel sized plastic shampoo bottles  We believe our products are the solution that consumers are looking for to eliminate plastic shampoo bottle waste.

We are benefitting Indigenous communities across Canada by offering a sustainable solid shampoo and conditioner option that reduces plastic consumption which helps to heal our communities. We are creating a community for them to share stories and be a part of something that builds a network but also eliminates plastic and helps to heal the Earth. We are strengthening cultural values by strengthening Indigenous women entrepreneur groups in particular. We are supporting the creation, growth and success of Indigenous owned businesses. We love to support, promote and collaborate with women-owned Indigenous companies. We share stories, business knowledge and resources whenever possible. I believe that we are stronger together and when we lift each other up we can accomplish great things  

We are already delivering the solution to a large population but we would like to extend the solution to more communities. The more we grow, the more we are able to give back to indigenous communities. We have asked a group of elders on our community what they need most from us and from the feedback we have partnered with the Mustardseed organization here in Edmonton to build an educational kitchen. The kitchen will be used to teach indigenous people transitioning out of homelessness to cook with foods that are often found in food hampers like chick peas and also to learn how to cook traditional, cultural foods. The kitchen is building community as well. It is a gathering place where they get to visit and be part of something special. Hair is very sacred in the Indigenous community, we offer our bars free of charge to many indigenous organizations because this has also been suggested by the elders as having pride in your appearance and clean hair can help build up someone struggling. Jack59 and our team we are working with Adam who started “A Braid Story” to teach school aged children why Indigenous boys have long hair that is often braided. 

It has been our Dream to develop a line of products that gives back to our Indigenous communities. We recently launched our Dreams Childrens line, the bars are orange for Every Child Matters. With each sale of the Dreams product line, Jack59 will donate proceeds to Aboriginal initiatives that include Every Child Matters, healing and support for residential school survivors, Indigenous schools and education facilities and addiction support initiatives within our communities. The artwork on the package was designed by Edmonton-based Indigenous artist Tristen Jenni (tristenjenniart.com). Tristen’s art is inspired by nature and her Plains and Woodland Cree heritage and has been featured prominently in campaigns to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Her mediums range from painting to tattooing, and her work on this special line of products is deeply cherished by Jack59. We engage the indigenous community whenever possible to learn where we can provide financial help or donate products. We provide equal access to employment and resources for people that might  otherwise be excluded or marginalized. We respect our Earth and fellow humans. We have the Humility to learn and grow. We honour our customers with transparency and Truth. We strive to be Brave and stand up for what we believe in even when that choice is not the popular choice and we have immense Gratitude for the support we continue to receive from our community. This is how we uphold our own Indigenous values. 

We are excited to get strategic advice. We are growing but often feel like we don’t have the correct focus. We need the longer term strategy to plan business decisions better. We feel like we are working in the business as opposed to on the business. We have recently become a certified B Corp and we need guidance on how to strategically measure our impact. We know we are making a difference but we want to be able to measure that correctly so we can maximize our impact. We were working with a small not for profit group to measure our ghg emissions but it was a small project and now have no way of measuring our impact. We could use some help finding distributors for our products. We are also concerned about web security. We currently use google but would like to switch to something more secure like Microsoft but it feels overwhelming and don’t really know if that is the best choice. I would love to join a network of fellow entrepreneurs to share, learn and grow together. 

I am connected to our community through politicians, elders and our customers, business associates and friends. I am a member of our local Chamber of Commerce and Indigenous Tourism Alberta. I try to be as connected as possible and listen to what our community needs from us so we can give back. 

We have a very innovative product. We took a zero Waste approach on a traditional product that every person on the planet uses. We removed the water from liquid shampoo and conditioner, we didn’t create the concept but we were the first to make a version that is high performance and salon quality. A sustainable product is only sustainable if it works. I believe this concept of a solid product is catching on in the world and can be used to eliminate plastic packaging in everything from solid lotion bars to sun screen. Consumers and manufacturers alike are realizing that change needs to happen in the beauty world and we can promote the plastic free packaging and encourage other companies and consumers to purchase plastic free products. 

Together with our customers we have eliminated over 700,000 plastic bottles from entering our environment. We are proud to be a part of that. By the end of 2023 we hope to double this number. The shampoo market is projected to hit 39 billion dollars by 2028 and we will convert a huge portion of that to our salon quality sustainable option further reducing the number of plastic bottles entering our environment all the while providing the world with fabulous hair days. We will achieve this with continued growth, persistence and giving back as much as we can to support our community and other indigenous businesses that we collaborate with. 

I talked about these in our pitch video. We are innovative and we are focusing on reducing inequality by offering women stable jobs and flexible work hours so they can maintain their work/life balance. We offer living wages.

I think the best way to express this section is with another review from one of our customers because they are why we do what we do and it is all about creating an innovative sustainable product that actually works so people will be returning customers eliminating even more plastic and we will continue to grow and be able to give back more to our community. This is our theory of change.

“I had the opportunity to meet the team at Jack59 and the experience was incredible. They walked me through their process of understanding me and my wife. We have tried shampoo bars before and they always felt great but the next day my hair would feel like straw. They explained to me why and then guided me to Jacked and Vitality based on my wife's hair type. After using Jacked for 2 weeks now.....WOW!!! My hair felt clean and the next day was still smooth feeling. It lathered quickly and we did not have to use much. We are happy to say not all shampoo bars are made equal......They really do understand hair and have something for everyone!”   Susie and Phil

Our solutions are predominantly plant based and our formulas are all natural, biodegradable and compostable. We use traditional plant knowledge handed down through generations to create revolutionary hair care products. The compostable resins we use to create our shower containers are created with the same injection molds that are traditionally used with plastic products but they are 100% home compostable. We also use many forms of technology including AI, apps and software.

We are always growing and learning and we have created an environment that is understanding, welcoming and inclusive.  This is a big reason we chose to become B Corp certified. We strive to remove systemic barriers to employment. Our focus has been employing women and indigenous people but we are a diverse group and we will always value and respect any member of our team. We have an open door policy and have a team lead that is not on management that staff can bring any concerns to. We do not discriminate. 

Jack59 shampoo and conditioner bars are naturally paraben-free, sulfate-free, certified cruelty-free, silicone-free, vegan and even have gluten-free options. Our bars are convenient and the bar on, the lather is abundant and the scent is terrific. We have 11 varieties, 1 for every hair type. One of our shampoo bars will last 80+ washes eliminating 3 average size plastic shampoo bottles. To date we have eliminated over 700000 plastic bottles from entering our environment. Our bars do not contain water, reducing the environmental cost of transporting water around the world like liquid shampoo which is approximately 80% water. They are easy to use, all you do is add water to your hair and rub the bar on your hair to lather. 

We sell our products direct to consumers through e-commerce, face to face markets, brick and mortar and we sell to retailers (B2B)

Our customers are looking for an environmentally friendly option that actually works. We provide a fabulous product that eliminates traditional plastic shampoo bottles. Consumer views are changing and they are making changes in their daily lives to reduce their carbon footprint. We want to provide the solution to this problem. We value our customers, staff and all beneficiaries. We donate financially to organizations that share our values and we hold ourselves accountable through team meetings. We will be implementing measurables, hopefully with your help, to make sure that we are being as socially responsible as we can be. 

Our plan to become financially sustainable includes grants to get us through this period of growth and then through B2C sales and also gaining more B2B sales. 

We have received 2 loans/grants along with a loan for $100000 which we are repaying successfully. We are generating enough revenue to sustain us but we are moving warehouses and need some equipment to be able to double our production. Once we pass this hurdle we will be financially stable.