Wisconsin Life

In the old town section of Gays Mills, along the Kickapoo River, you'll find the Village Flower Shop. Jess Brandt practically grew up in her father's business. Thank you. - Take care, happy planting. And she still helps out in the busy season. It's the coolest flower shop on the planet, we like to say and we think it is. And to find that in Gays Mills, Wisconsin, I think is pretty cool. Jess's father, Joe, thinks it's pretty cool his daughter still lives in Gays Mills. A lot of kids end up do leaving this area. So I'm real grateful that she's been able to hang around. It's just a quiet little river town. We all are here because we love the quiet. The non-city life. It's wonderful to grow up and live in a community where you do know everyone. Yeah, it's really fun. Oh, you're doing them in the hoop house? Yeah, peppers, too. It's a wholesome way of life in a town surrounded by apple orchards. So this area really is a hotbed for organic and natural. So both from my parents, I kinda had some of those values instilled in me. Jess now shares those values widely. From Gay Mills, she has a large, national Internet following of people also interested in natural and organic living. Okay, it's yours. It began when she started her own family. Let's just get one for now. We can get more in a couple of days. It feels like home. Our family's here. And this is where we knew we wanted to raise our kids. Should we get a couple Stringles? With her own preference for natural and organic products, Jess wanted to do all she could to provide the safest environment for her children. They're just-- They're so small. They're so sensitive. And they're dependent on us for everything. So I'm just trying to do my best to make sure they have the safest stuff available. Such a huge weight and responsibility to know you're responsible for everything for that little child. It led Jess to carefully read labels and research products like toys and cleansers. It has to be the safest, the best. Otherwise, I'm not gonna support it with my purchase. Jess soon started sharing her research. I started a blog. And I just loved connecting with other families who have the same values. They care about the safest products. They want them to be made in the U.S.A. It's a really great community. Jess's online reputation grew along with her followers. Companies started sending her products to review. This is both designed and made in the U.S.A. in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Very heavy duty, nicely designed baby spoon. That stainless steel spoon could be handed down for three generations. We're not going to hand down a plastic Gerber spoon three generations. But not all the products Jess reviews have such integrity. She's discovered along the way that greenwashing is an all-too-common practice. Greenwashing refers to making all these claims about your product being organic, being natural, and then, it's not. Jess suspected greenwashing when a company sent her a home cleaning product to try out. Several years ago, I received a dish soap from a company and it worked great. But then I looked at the label. And the more I thought about it, with my background knowledge of what it takes to make a soap, there was nothing in there that indicated what made it a dish soap. Jess had sampled many natural soaps. Since the product didn't list a foaming agent, the suspicious sudsing had her in a lather. I would literally wake up in the middle of the night and lay there thinking about that dish soap that just did not add up. And it just really bugged me. It bugged her enough to eventually pay her own money to have the product tested. It had nothing in it that it said. There was no kelp extract. There was no organic coconut oil. Nothing in it. And it was your regular, average dish soap. I published my findings on a Friday afternoon on my blog, and Monday morning, I found out the company was shutting down. Yeah, it was interesting. It just goes to show that anyone, anywhere can really do anything. I can sit down with a laptop when my kids are in bed and research, research, research, ask questions. And if it doesn't add up, I can do something about it. The experience made quite an impression on Jess's young son. I was just floored. Walking around going, "Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh." And he says, "Mom, what? What's going on?" So I said, "Mama caught a company lying about what they were selling, and now the company can't sell their stuff anymore." And he looks at his little sister and says, "Sissy, don't lie to Mom!" An important lesson for Jess's children. And a confirmation of the value of what she's doing. I still hoping to have many, many more years ahead of me to change the world. But my real hope is in them and in the future generations. If I can get them to care, and if I can instill all my passions and beliefs into them, what they can possibly do. Always nice to see you guys. Little sweeties.