Join Working Women of Tampa Bay and the Entrepreneur Collaborative Center for our first Female Founders Forum. The series will include successful female entrepreneurs from Tampa Bay. This month, we're featuring Monica Leonard, Founder of Molly's Suds. Light refreshments will be served. A networking reception will follow at Blind Tiger.
Monica's Story:
Molly’s Suds makes laundry products that are safe for humans and the planet. With a strict focus on ingredient integrity, the company was founded in 2008 by Monica Leonard. Although, the story began a few years earlier after the loss of Leonard’s daughter, Molly, who was stillborn. After this traumatic event, Leonard wanted to learn as much as she possibly could about stillborns and what could be done to prevent it from happening to other parents.
In the process, she discovered some eye-opening facts about chemicals put into foods and other consumer products. Such as, out of 84,000 chemicals approved by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), only 1 percent has been tested for human safety. Studies also show that mothers pass chemicals to their babies via pregnancy and breast milk, which is why traces of multiple non-natural toxins have been detected in stillborns.
As consumers, people often think about what they eat, but not as often about what they allow to touch their skin—and how those same ingredients can leach into the bloodstream. Common detergent ingredients like anionic surfactants (which have been banned in Canada and Europe) imitate the hormone estrogen in our bodies, which can affect human health and fetal development. Leonard realized that other moms like her needed to know about this. So, she decided to quit her nursing job and start Molly's Suds where each and every product is made with plant-derived ingredients that are safe, even for your tiniest family member.
About Our Host:
The Entrepreneur Collaborative Center (ECC) provides entrepreneurs easy access to business service providers, resources, mentorship, and specialty training. Services are provided for each businesses' unique stage of development and business category: pre-venture, start-up, micro-enterprise, small-to-mid-size enterprise, community-based, targeted industry, technology and innovation, and more.
Operated by the Hillsborough County Economic Development Department, the ECC serves as a perfect venue to host low- and no-cost entrepreneurial support opportunities and events. We welcome the opportunity to co-host community events and programs that fit the mission and goals of the ECC, pending resource availability.
