by Rachel Schreiber
Parents can be influential. Danielle Brycz’s father is a general contractor and owner of his own remodeling business and her mom, who works in sales, was the impetus for Danielle and Ryan Forrest’s business, Verde Lifestyles. Danielle says about her mom “I have the knack from her.” My dad took on building projects and he would talk with me about his work, so I understand what was behind the walls and the materials he used.”
After graduating from MSU in 2008 with a degree in international studies, Danielle worked in telecommunications. She says, “It was not really my passion. I needed a creative outlet to express that passion. I took some time away from telecommunications and bounced business ideas off my boyfriend, Ryan (partner and co-owner of Verde Lifestyles. He is working in sales at Brand Labs while attending Oakland University working toward his degree in marketing). I rediscovered my passion for the environment and one thing led to another. With Ryan’s background in e-commerce and my interest in the environment, we combined our talents and came up with Verde Lifestyles. I am interested in making the home a healthier environment. As a consumer, I’m conscious of the choices I make and I don’t want to have products that are harmful to me or to the environment in my home.”
Verde Lifestyles is an online company that sells eco-friendly home décor such as organic all cotton bedding, lamps made from clay and other non-toxic materials, bamboo and jute rugs. They also offer soy candles that burn longer without the residue. Their Humble and EcoArt pillows are stuffed with a down alternative material and come with organic cotton covers. The kitchen towels are printed with 100 percent based vegetable inks.
Ryan’s company, Brand Labs, created Verde Lifestyle’s web site. Danielle states, “We want the web site to feel welcoming and allow our customers to exchange information with each other via our blog, and we want them to be able to interact with us.”
Since the business is completely online, the web site is the only place their customers may purchase items. Danielle says, “I also wanted a business that evolved with my lifestyle. If we wanted to move, the business would stay stable. Without the expense of a building or employees, and just having a web site we can keep our costs down. I decided I wanted a business that was eco-friendly and I selected home décor. I ruled out several other eco-friendly businesses like furniture because the items would be too heavy to ship and the beauty market is oversaturated. My rule is: I wouldn’t put eco-friendly products on the web site that I won’t have in my home.”
Verde Lifestyles works with eight companies who produce the products. Another way they’ve kept costs down is that the vendors ship directly to the customers. There are 200 products on their web site and they are continually adding more. They have plans to begin building a bridal registry on their web site and to bring in different product lines, such as portable solar backpacks.
Danielle takes advantage of all the social networking sites available. She says, “We get our clients online, via word of mouth, our web site has been optimized using key words. We are active on Twitter, Facebook and Motor City Connect. The Ferndale Chamber of Commerce just had their first virtual ribbon cutting ceremony. We had the ribbon around the TV and I cut the ribbon.”
If you have found this story, interesting, informative or inspiring, please let Danielle know. Verde Lifestyles can be found at http://www.verdelifestyles.com/. Join their Facebook fan page or their Twitter page. These links can be found on their web site.