“You’re giving me the skills to own my own story”

The backstory

Naomi Tarszisz came to me to articulate her brand story and refine her messaging and positioning. She’s an energetic entrepreneur with bold ambition, to rid Australia of single-use takeout containers.

Naomi’s been a ‘waste warrior’ since her parents involved her in cleaning up the beach at Rushcutters Bay as a child. An early adopter of the KeepCup, she found that despite her best intentions, she often forgot to take hers with her. It was her forgetfulness that led her to dream up the idea of RePlated, containers and systems that make reusables easy.

The catalyst

RePlated ran a pilot project at a small business early in 2020 and their first major corporate client was due to start in June, but then the pandemic hit. The first mould for her product was being made in China, and also became delayed.

When the corporate world changed dramatically with most staff working from home, Naomi needed to re-evaluate her business proposition. It was a test of her resilience.

The challenge

Naomi came to me to workshop her brand story to help her launch her business in a volatile world.

She’s got a zany sense of humour and a zest for life, but Naomi admits that being a solo-entrepreneur can be tough:

“In my previous work I could stand up and speak on stage and it was something that never bothered me. But as a solo-entrepreneur, it’s way scarier. You have to embody your brand, but it also needs to live as something external to you. So even though I have a background in digital I really felt I needed help to articulate all that.”

The change

Naomi and I worked together to develop RePlated’s ‘About Us’ page and developed messaging for different audiences from corporate to local businesses and direct to consumer.

I asked Naomi to unpack what she found valuable about the process:

“One of the things I struggle with is, when you’re working on your own, you get too close to what you’re doing and you get lost down a rabbit hole. You pull me out of that rabbit hole and help me detangle the different elements. That helps me remember the important decisions I’ve made along the way and why I made them.”

“When we’re working on my messaging, you dig deeper. You empathise and embody how different messages will affect different audiences and make them care.”

“As a woman, I’m sometimes reluctant to be the face of my brand, but then I want to claim the profile my business deserves, so I don’t want to be afraid. You’re giving me the skills to own my story.”

The consequence

Naomi’s new messaging provides her true north, to keep her travelling on the right path.

Naomi wrote to me about her brand story: “You got it completely right. This feels right. There’s something fresh, direct about the tone of voice here that I LOVE.”

This newfound clarity on her business story helped Naomi to be one of the few selected for the prestigious Taronga Hatch program that’ll fast-track her business.

And we’re still working together on communications to propel the business forwards. Sign up to the Replated Newsletter if you’re interested to follow the journey of this exciting ethical Australian start-up.

Naomi Tarszisz of RePlated