Summary

In this Earth Day special, I interview Roma Agarwal of The White Lotus Life and Earth Swag Shop. Emphasizing the importance of mindful sourcing, transparent vendor relationships, sustainable packaging, and conscious marketing, Roma provides actionable tips and questions you should be asking so you can adopt more sustainable practices into your business.

The episode also highlights the value and impact of community involvement and networking for not only finding sustainability partnerships, but as a means to build a sustainable, legacy-building brand, too.

Actionable Tips You’ll Walk Away With

1. Things to ask yourself BEFORE searching for potential vendors

2. Questions to ask potential vendors about their ethical and sustainable practices

3. How to communicate the sustainable aspects of your products and brand to customers

4. Where to look for potential vendors

5. How to find networking opportunities in-person and online

   
   

About Roma

Roma is a sustainability ambassador and founder of The White Lotus Life and Earth Swag. Before embarking on her passion project, Roma founded Splurge Cosmetics, a PETA-certified skincare company specializing in natural and non-toxic personal care products.

Through her platform, she encourages individuals to choose plastic-free swaps to turn their homes into a safe and non-toxic place to live, empowers businesses to choose eco-friendly swag for promotions to keep the planet from brand-filling, and educates communities on how to sort waste correctly, reflect on the impact of trash, lead alow-impact lifestyle, and motivates them to repair over replace.

Timestamps

00:30 Meet Roma Agarwal: Sustainability Advocate

02:19 Creating meaningful and sustainable branded merchandise

05:10 What does “sustainability” actually mean

06:29 Communicating the sustainability aspects in your products

08:43 Finding and evaluating sustainable wholesalers

09:29 Sourcing sustainable raw materials

11:07 Questions to ask potential suppliers and wholesalers

15:33 Finding balance between technological advances and sustainability

16:43 Where to look for suppliers and wholesalers

18:02 Benefits of working with local vendors

19:12 Why product-based business founders should be networking

22:46 The importance of in-person networking for solopreneurs

24:31 In-person vs online networking

25:48 How to find networking opportunities in smaller cities and towns

27:35 Where to find Roma online

Connect with Roma