Kaleena and I were both living on opposite coasts of Canada when we first had the concept of united & free. Through personal experiences we both felt very passionate about creating something new and different than what was currently offered on the market. In the early days of united and free we were creating and testing formulas in our kitchen to see if they were viable ideas to produce. We wanted to create products that were environmentally sustainable, could be used by everyone and were natural. Good for you skin, your hair, and the planet.

As the company evolved so did our philosophies – the products weren’t just about us, and the company wasn’t just about products. We wanted to have products that reflected what we and our community believed in, we became vegan and cruelty-free certified. It was important to us to have inclusivity and representation of all people in our company and for our product usage. Coming from a mixed-race family we know that a lot of the time its easy to be overlooked, and we know the lonely feeling seeing a product designed for someone who isn’t “you”. It was important to us to make sure people felt like they had a company that spoke to them.

We loved the united & free that we created and started with, however we looked at where we were heading as a company, our personal growth, beliefs, goals and what we ultimately wanted for our customers and community. We knew there were pieces missing - being an environmentally sustainable company did we truly feel like we were making an impact? We made the difficult decision to rebrand and relaunch our company. This would lead us into a 4-year plan to strip the company down and rebuild from the ground up bringing a new focus on what was important for our community and to have a company that will make a difference by being a part of the solution.

Our rebrand isn’t only about bringing new, more sustainable products to market, but its about focusing on the representation of the people who identify with our brand, people of all genders, ethnicities, and sizes. Its about the realization that there isn’t only one centralized ideal or solution for sustainability or radical inclusion, there’s not right or perfect way to do this. That in setting goals for our company of how we want to help our community and help our earth we can always be moving forward. We are happy to say we will always want to keep progressing forward, evolving our philosophies, ethos and the company to strive to make an impactful difference.

We are excited to share the super future with you.

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When I started united & free with my brother Brandon in 2015, we shared the same sentiment, being that we want to create a personal care brand that was inclusive to all people. Fast forward to today, I still hold that value close to my heart and refuse to segment and diverge from what we initially believed in. As a BIPOC business owner I personally understand how important it is to create an inclusive community where everyone is accepted, included, and valued.

When you start a business, your perception and values change as you experience personal growth. As I grew personally, I knew the brand had to evolve as well. Not just for myself, but for our current and future customers and community. Change is hard, but we decided that the best thing for the future of the brand was to overhaul the business and start from scratch.

We’ve poured our heart and souls into the relaunch of the business, and through success, failure, learning and growth we are beyond thankful for where we are today. This new step forward has allowed us to envision a new future, one that focuses on our partnerships, radical inclusion, community building, the environment and sustainability. Our new product philosophy comes from a simplistic approach following 3 main principles: inclusive, multi-purpose, less waste. We want simplicity to support your individuality.

united & free will always require continuous improvement and innovation throughout our journey and we plan to share our highs and lows and with you. We have begun working on our BCorp certification allowing us to focus on social/environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. BCorp is the standard of using business as a force for good which will allow us to track our impact and balance profit and purpose.

Our mantra at united & free is Nothing Exists Alone and we would not be here without the support of our friends, families, partners, and our customers. My path forward is to embrace our mantra from a holistic approach to not only include all humans, but to utilize how united & free can build a sustainable future starting with how we treat the earth we live on.

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