PR for People Monthly November 2013 The Entrepreneurial Mindset | Page 22

Last November, I happened to watch a
YouTube video about children born with cleft conditions. To know that a child’s life is limited forever by
not receiving a life changing surgery that only costs
approximately $250 was astounding to me. I felt the
urge to do something but didn’t want to just talk or
donate money.

I’ve never felt comfortable just asking for
money. I always feel better when people can gain
something they really need and lovein exchange. I
went to bed that night thinking about products people
need, that gets used up, and sellsat a low price, so the
decision to take action through a simple purposeful
purchaseis a given. I wanted to connect the issue of
clefts to something intimate like the lips, something
you use to eat, to speak…a lip balm. Lasting Smiles
Lip Care was born!

By the winter holidays, I developed a fair
trade and organic lip balm, with shea butter sourced
from a women’s cooperative in Northern Uganda.
Between January and March 2013, I sold 2500 lip
balm units,without a website or marketing. All profits were donated to provide cleft lip and cleft palate
surgeries. My trial run raised $30,000. Consumers
told me Lasting Smiles is the best lip balm they have
ever used. They want to be able to buy them in stores
and get involved by supporting a worthy cause.

Our planet is getting smaller as new technologies allow usto connect as never before, growing
our awareness of problems worldwide that demand
our attention. How do we take actions to make positive marks and create sustainable solutions to solve
problems ofhealth, poverty, and environmental damage?

I established my company, StartMark, a
Social Purpose Corporation, to start to create signifi-

cant positives in the lives of people around the globe
and the health of the planet. Our first product line,
Lasting Smiles lip care, empowers our consumers to
become co-creators of sustained change.

Each Lasting Smiles lip balm starts by empowering at the core. Through the ingredient sourcing, StartMark works to support and uplift fair-trade,
cooperative, small-scale farmers in the Philippines,
Peru, and Ghana. StartMark is currently the only
U.S. company manufacturing and selling Fair-trade
Labeling Organization (FLO) certified cosmetics. .
We employ no testing on animals, use all pure andorganic ingredients, and carbon-neutral packaging.

Through our partnership with Smile Train,
50 percent of Lasting Smiles lip balm profits ensure
children have access to cleft surgeries. Profits from
our initial launch will work to provide cleft surgeries
to children in the Philippines, Peru, and Ghana where
our fair-trade ingredients are sourced. We are launching in early 2014. Keep updated at lastingsmilescare.
com and join the social movement; savvy consumers
can make affordable, and empowering purchases,
creating lasting changes for global communities and
the health of our planet.