Jenn Thatcher of ZEBRA: They Told Me It Was Impossible And I Did It Anyway
Do not compromise on your vision. At the end of the day, if you are building a company you are in charge, stay true to your vision, there is no one else who can execute your dream and vision like you can!
As a part of our series about “dreamers who ignored the naysayers and did what others said was impossible”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenn Thatcher.
Jenn Thatcher is a former financial executive turned internationally acclaimed artist, who has left her thriving career to found a new powerhouse, industry disrupting Non toxic brand. For those who are are unfamiliar with Jenn, her story is as one of a kind as she is, truly a unicorn of a person and business woman, having proven over and over again that success is built on hard work, and putting a customers needs first, ZEBRA is poised to be the company that changes the game for consumers navigating the dirty personal care industry.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit better. Can you tell us your ‘backstory’?
Yes thank you!! It’s been quite a journey to get to where we are today. I started my career as a financial executive and then accidentally became an artist when my 3rd child was born. I had never taken a professional art class, but I quickly gained a following for art and loved being able to work from home. This business grew larger than my wildest dreams ultimately growing to a much larger product line carried by retailers and is still being installed all over the world today. While I was happily growing my art business my children started suffering from incredibly rare medical issues. It started with my 4 year old daughter who after days of unrelenting and excruciating pain was rushed into emergency surgery for ovarian torsion, having a cyst on her ovary larger than the ovary itself. It took days for the Doctors to finally figure out that they could not find another case of this happening in such a young child. Her suffering made me so upset and question why she was the only child in the world this had happened to . Ultimately I believe my daughter was a victim of a product she as consuming every day, which was an organic juice that unbeknownst to me had a hormone disrupter in the juice. Less than a year later my son started experiencing stroke like symptoms and was ultimately diagnosed with a brain tumor. Doctors again shocked me when they estimated he was 1 of 24 with his exact diagnosis. I could not reconcile why my kids were having these things happen. Neither of them were genetic, and I concluded again with my son that this must have been due to some unknown exposure in the environment or from a product. But again, I went back and forth wondering how this could happen to me…A mother who fed her kids organic, and used clean products religiously. I was a label reader, an awake consumer so to speak, so none of this made sense. Finally I sat down with every product my family was using and read every ingredient label. Each ingredient I researched and come to find out that the products we were using, which were being heavily promoted by Health minded influencers and even some of the holistic community were not what I thought. I started with toothpaste and realized the particular product were were using was actually not as natural as it claimed. In fact I felt tricked, and so disgusted with this reveltation that I realized at that moment I was going to have to make my own products if they were going to meet my standsards for my family. My second revelation was, if I am experiencing this deceptive marketing despite trying so hard to find healthy and truly clean products, then this is a real issue for other people as well. At this moment Zebra TM was born.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?
YES! Zebra is getting ready to launch and our product line up is every growing behind the scenes. We want to be a one stop shop fpr personal and home care, A place wehre consumers can take a deep breathe and know the work has been done for them, the label reading and researching has been done and approved by a fed up mother who will compromise absolutely nothing for safety. We are also a values driven brand, simply unafraid to disrupt the industry, call out the dirty players and Glorify God in the process. Consider us un-cancelable.
In your opinion, what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd?
SO many things…
First and foremost we make decisions with this question in mind… Does it honor God and does it honor his people? Every formula has been extensively researched, tested and is what we believe to be the best combination of safety and efficacy.
Second…I left a thriving career to insert myself into a dirty system that is in dire need of a change. I did this for my family but I did it for the consumer as well. I don’t want to see anyone else suffer the way my children did and if ZEBRA TM products can make a small difference in the world ny providing products that consumers can trust that is my goal.
Third: ZEBRA tm is transparent. “Ingredients that are BLACK AND WHITE” TM. Although are formulas have natural ingredients we are not even using that word in our marketing or on our products. I feel it is so over used and green washed that is holds no meaning on a product or package. Our ingredients will speak for themselves without all the tricky marketing and buzz words designed to confuse the consumer into purchasing sub par products.
Ok, thank you for that. I’d like to jump to the main focus of this interview. Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us? What was your idea? What was the reaction of the naysayers? And how did you overcome that? In the end, how were all the naysayers proven wrong? :-)
To be honest I am told every single day that I can’t do this. My suppliers and manufacturers have gas lighted me, lied to me, and even fired me for relentlessly pursuing this brand in the manner that I have. I have even discussed with my friends that I should print out all of them emails where I am being told NO and publish it into a coffee table book. These manufacturers are used to dealing with brands who WILL compromise, who will take the easy way, who will put profits over people. ZEBRA will do none of these things so we are in constantly fighting a battle to launch this company.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I have a few so please bear with me on this. I have so much gratitude to almost every person I have met along the way because no matter who they were have helped move me along to where I am. I am constantly learning from experiences good and bad, so truly grateful for all of it, but here are the ones that I want to thank specifically!
First and foremost is Jesus, he is the ultimate authority in my life and God takes every single thing and will use it for our good if we allow him. I believe he is taking the trials my children went through and allowing me to develop this brand to help more people, and for that I cannot be more grateful.
Second is my husband, my ultimate cheerleader. He supports every wild idea I have not just with his worlds but with his time and resources. Without his support this would not be possible and I am so grateful for him.
Third is my business mentor Mark Moss. Mark is a successful entrepeneur in so many arenas and we are very like minded on many things. I think often about the incredible advice he gave me and know that it was exactly what I needed to hear. When I ware as speaking to him about launching this company I told Mark that I wanted people to know that not only was ZEBRA black and white with ingredients but we also believe that the BLACK AND WHITE BIBLE and the constitution are important to weave into our brand. He said no, do not let that be a part of the brand, it needs to be front and center. It was an Aha moment when I realized that this lines up completely with who I a as a person and who ZEBRA will be as a brand. A light in the darkness, unafraid to do things differently and WILD enough to change the system.
It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us?
Oh yes yes yes! I was one of 4 kids, a straight C student who hopped from job to job in my teens. My best friend committed suicide in high school and I was completely lost as a person. Finding Jesus made me realize that in all of the hard things we go through in life we are never truly alone and we can trust his plan, he will always work things out for the good of his kingdom and for his people.
Based on your experience, can you share 5 strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible?
1. Don’t share your dreams with those who have not followed their own.
2. Work hard. Have small measurable goals that move you forward every single day. This will make a mountain more achievable if every day you take a step.
3. Adjust. If something is not working adjust as necessary.
4. Have back up plans. BE ready to shift to backup plans for every area of a business, this helps stay on track and eliminate going back to the drawing board if things do not work out as you had hoped.
5. Do not compromise on your vision. At the end of the day, if you are building a company you are in charge, stay true to your vision, there is no one else who can execute your dream and vision like you can!
What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?
Proverbs 3:5–6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
YES!! I would want people to take control of their own health and recognize that the things they put into their body every day are a large contributor to overall wellness.
Can our readers follow you on social media?
Yes! https://instagram.com/zebra.usa and https://instagram.com/jennthatchercollection
Thank you for these great stories. We wish you only continued success!
