Meet Stephen Ezell of Truly Free

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Ezell.

Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
Before I started my conscious capital journey, my background was in restaurants. I was building restaurants for Food Network stars and flipping restaurants in the heart of New York City. The work was exciting, but it wasn’t fulfilling. My career felt empty. There was no purpose, just money. In 2009, I had to start over when we lost everything. I had to sell my fishing boat to fund our move to Michigan. While it was hard, it was also a blessing because I could re-evaluate what I wanted out of life. I wanted to do something that would change the world. Fast forward a few years when my first child was born, and a routine bath turned into a life-changing event. When I undid his onesie, he was covered in a head-to-toe raised rash and was bright red. After numerous appointments with pediatricians and dermatologists, we still didn’t have a firm answer. Then my aunt asked me the question that would change my life: what laundry detergent are you using? We went home, stripped his clothes and sheets, and made a homemade laundry detergent. My son was fine in less than 24 hours without any medication. But the incident made me question everything. If laundry detergent could make my son sick, what else was in my home affecting our family? Around the same time, I met a grandmother selling homemade laundry soap at the local farmer’s market that supported everything I believed in. I invested in her product, and Truly Free was born. Since then, we have dealt with building a digital presence and pioneering a new way of packaging that eliminates plastic waste. Today we are the fastest-growing eco-friendly cleaning company in the country.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I started building Truly Free from nothing, and it was not easy. In fact, in 2015, we were on the verge of losing everything again. I drove to the local grocery stores to sell more products locally and asked them to include our product. One of the major grocery chains in the area refused, saying no one would buy it. Well, I wouldn’t take no for an answer. I rented a Penske truck and rounded up abandoned pallets to make a display out of reclaimed wood. I showed up at one of the chain’s stores, created a POS display without their knowledge, and left it there. The store owner found out when customers tried to buy the laundry soap only to have it not ring up in the system. The store owner was not impressed. While this type of ‘cowboy entrepreneurism’ was a mistake, moments like this kept me humble and led me to where I am today.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Truly Free?
Truly Free was one of the first companies to revolutionize the cleaning industry with refillable, family-safe, natural, non-toxic products. Our cleaning products are free of thickeners, dyes, optical brighteners, and harmful chemicals. Instead, Truly Free clean formulas use natural milled salts and plant-based ingredients that are easy on clothing and gentle on the skin. We offer a wide variety of products ranging from bathroom, laundry, and kitchen products to essential oils and products for the whole home. Truly Free has helped free over 230,000 homes from harmful chemicals and eliminate 6.2 million single-use plastics. Giving back to the world we serve is a responsibility for any company and a necessity for improving our planet. Through this mission, we have met many inspiring individuals who have seen immense hardship. These women have lived through poverty and trafficking and children looking for safe houses, support, and educational opportunities. Seeing these individuals get a chance at hope, empowerment, and a better life is inspiring every day. Truly Free has donated over $220,000 to global communities this past year through our Dryer Angels. This fully reusable product replaces a dryer sheet, hand-sewn by women rescued from poverty and human trafficking, and CCCD Jamaica, the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf. Since our partnership began with CCCD Jamaica in 2015, their unemployment rate has decreased from 92% to 64% as they were able to reinvest the profits made through our partnership and create other sustainable ministries that teach worth and value. Truly Free is destined to show that a mission-driven company can scale. We are very selective in who we work with across the lifecycle of our business. We want to build strong bonds with our suppliers and ensure they’re as dedicated as we are to building sustainable, mission-minded companies and quality products.

How do you define success?
I define success by the impact made on the lives of other people. By embracing empathy and service first, we begin to change the lives of those around us. It all started with understanding how simple things like the products I buy or use in my home affect my family. From there, I was encouraged to ask how the creation of those products impacts our planet and underserved communities worldwide.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.trulyfreehome.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trulyfreehome/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trulyfreehome/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/trulyfreehome?lang=en