We recently connected with Cory Thompson and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Cory, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I have always been the kind of person who is hyper aware of the people around me, which means I instinctively worry about what people think. It’s a great quality in that it has helped me understand how people work and to see the importance of providing a space where people can feel comfortable being themselves, but it also offers a challenge because I can find myself feeling insecure at times. Add that to an already tumultuous time in human development during adolescence and you have a recipe for distress. In the Summer after I started middle school, I spent two weeks away at Blue Lake Fine Arts camp for music. I found myself surrounded by people with whom I had a lot in common. And I excelled at music. I had the most wonderful time developing those skills and meeting new friends. I pushed past my own limitations and was able to win scholarships to go every year for the following three years after that. I auditioned into the highest place possible for my instrument my third year there. It was at these Summer camps that I really found my confidence. I developed my individual personality in a safe space along with the self-esteem to take back to my home and the school I attended. To this day, I continue to challenge myself to believe I can achieve more than I think I can and I use those memories of camp to remind myself that it’s possible, because I have evidence that I’ve already done it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I started The Red Oak Refillery in 2021. A refillery is a place where you can bring your own clean, dry containers to fill with products like household cleaners and body care items. You pay by the ounce for the product and this reduces waste in landfills by encouraging consumers to reuse containers they already have for as long as possible, instead of having a new container every time they buy more of something like laundry soap or shampoo, for example.
Refilleries and zero waste stores are so special in their own right. We are providing consumers with a more sustainable way to shop for their every day items. But The Red Oak Refillery stands out from other similar stores for two reasons. The first is threefold.
1. Everything we offer is made right here in Michigan, which assists with lowering the carbon footprint associated with procuring the products.
2. Everything we offer is safe for the planet, people’s homes and health.
3. All of our products are made by women. According to the Census Bureau, less than 10% of businesses in the US are owned by minorities, women, and veterans, so it is very important to us to help lift this disadvantaged group.
The second way in which we stand out from other zero-waste stores is through our unique business model. The Red Oak Refillery does not use a typical brick-n-mortar business model. We use a boutique partnership model that I created to suit my personal needs as a business owner, which enables us to partner with other women-owned local businesses to provide refill stations inside their existing brick-n-mortar locations. This allows for the refillery to have a larger footprint and availability to more consumers, as well as to help lift more women entrepreneurs in the community.
Perhaps the most exciting development that has come from developing and polishing this unique business model is that I have been able to start shifting focus to provide mentorship and digital courses, as well as writing a book teaching other aspiring entrepreneurs and current refillery owners how to best use this model to start their own refillery or expand their current brick-n-mortar without the time and overhead it can take otherwise.
In addition to creating digital course and offering one-on-one mentoring across the country, I also teach classes to other local entrepreneurs just starting out about how to use Instagram and Canva, as well as classes for community members on how to make your own bath salts, sugar scrubs, and natural face wash.
We are hoping to partner with one of our current location businesses to host an Earth Day recycling event in April.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I have had several previous businesses before this one. All of them were successful in certain ways and unsuccessful in others and I made sure to learn everything I could from each journey and apply it to the next in order to be better each time. The most important aspect of business ownership that I have discovered is how crucial it is to dig deep within yourself when you are developing your business model and it’s strategic plan. Make sure that you really know yourself and your needs as well as your limitations so that you can create a business model that fits YOUR life. If you look at what everyone else is doing and try to match that because you think it’s just the way it’s done, it will likely not work out long term. Over time, it may not be sustainable for you. When I started the refillery, I did pop-ups around the local area to gage interest and develop a customer base. The next logical step – based on what others were doing and the advice I was given from the free local resources I was using – was to establish a brick-n-mortar location. This time around, I sat down and took a sincere look at myself, my abilities, what I need to be a sane human, as well as my current responsibilities as a parent, spouse, and homeowner. What did I want the next 5 years of my life to look like? As soon as I was honest about that, I knew I would not be able to sustain a physical store. Also note the difference between what you know you are capable of and what you WANT. My number one requirement for running my business was being able to experience peace of mind every day. Given my own mental health challenges and the responsibilities I have at home, I knew that spending 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week at a store was not going to allow for that peace of mind that I deemed as an absolute requirement. It would’ve put undue stress on my spouse and kids. So, imagine what you want your life to look like when you are making these decisions. There is a lot you cannot know about business ownership when you are first starting, but what you can know is yourself and your needs.
The next piece of advice I would give is to connect with your community. Join your local chamber of commerce or rotary club. You can start off by finding free networking opportunities through these and other groups around you in your industry. The sheer amount of social capital that I have gained over the past 7 years of entrepreneurship has been an invaluable asset moving forward with my current business endeavor. When I face any challenge in my business, I can quite literally think of someone to reach out to for guidance or a referral every single time without hesitation.
Finally – and this is an important piggy back to the previous point – focus your networking on creating meaningful relationships and what you can give, rather than what you want to receive. Social capital means nothing if people don’t find you a trustworthy person and credible resource. When you network and engage with your community, always put your focus on how you can help other people. Learn as much as you can about them as a person and their business experience. Who do you know that you can connect them with to further their business? How can you personally help spread the word about their project?
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
“The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brené Brown has been a hugely important book for my development.
The first best practice Brené discovered through her research on embracing vulnerability and living a wholehearted life is that practicing gratitude and joy on a regular basis helps build resilience and navigate difficult times with grace for oneself and others. I am notoriously hard on myself, being a perfectionist by nature, so any reminders to give myself grace are essential for my well-being. We implement this practice in our home by each of us taking turns to share what we are grateful for at dinner every night. It helps me remember what’s important and my children look forward to it every night.
Along with gratitude, she speaks on the importance of letting go of perfectionism, which as previously stated has always been a barrier for me. I learned early in life that if I can do everything just right the first time, I will earn my place in my family, which then expanded itself into my adult life. It’s a disadvantage because perfectionism lends to never feeling comfortable being your true self or in any group. Accepting my flaws and embracing those as a part of who I am is something I still struggle with, but now understand is essential for true belonging and fitting in.
There are so many great pieces of this book, but the last I will highlight is the importance of cultivating self-compassion. Going right along with my theme here, I have not always been great at being kind to myself. I have very high expectations of myself. Thankfully, I see myself as someone with great perspective on how to be kind to others and since I read this book, I have taken to spending some time when I’m frustrated with myself or a situation to sit and pretend that I am giving advice on this to someone else in my life that I care about. I will speak aloud and talk to text it into my phone’s notes app what I would offer someone I love to potentially do, think, or feel in this situation. Then, I reflect back on that, taking that advice for myself, which thankfully is easy because I sincerely trust my sage perspective. It’s all about reconnecting with my true self in order to make sure that relationship is solid. It’s a challenge, but it has been so helpful!
Contact Info:
- Website: redoakrefillery.com
- Instagram: @redoakrefillery
- Facebook: @redoakrefillery
- Youtube: @redoakrefillery
Image Credits
Kelsey Cruz, Cory Thompson
