Bottled water with a purpose is the business model that Misty Washington has structured her company around. Misty Ribbon of Awareness is a bottled water company based out of Louisville, Ky that produces “Misty Artesian Water.”
The uniquely ribbon shaped bottles are designed to bring awareness to illnesses such as cancer, lupus, Aids/HIV amongst others. The bottles representing each individual illness are produced in different colors to specify the particular cause. A portion of all sales will be donated to financing treatment for each cause as well as provide funding for additional research.
Washington, like many other Americans, was an aspiring entrepreneur in search of financial freedom but wanted her potential business to help others as well. After researching several business opportunities; Washington founded Misty Ribbon of Awareness in 2014.
“I started thinking, what can I do to be able to donate to a cause and give back at the same time while starting a business of my own? So I started researching water and decided to design my bottle like a ribbon and that way I could support each awareness.” -Misty Washington
Being a perfectionist, Washington reached out to several bottle manufacturing companies for samples to ensure that her signature ribbon shaped bottle would be constructed of only the highest quality materials.
Once that task was complete, she embarked on a quest to find a domestic supplier for her water. Since Ribbon of Awareness is representing disease awareness, Washington was in search of the purest water available. After months of research she decided that Artesian water was a perfect fit for her business model.
An Artesian aquifer is technically a “confined natural underground reservoir containing water under positive pressure”. These aquifers are often found deep beneath the Earth’s surface and are considered by many experts to contain the finest and purest water. Water extracted from these aquifers is commonly referred to as “Artesian” water.
Initially, Washington purchased 50,000 bottles and tops from the bottle manufacturing company and arranged to have them shipped directly to the water supplier. Once the product was complete she began marketing “Misty Artesian Water” to local supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants and liquor stores.
In addition she opened an online store and began selling the water on her website (http://mistyartesianwater.com/) as well. Growth is the main objective for Washington at this particular moment. It is her position that the more water she sells, the more people she will be able to help.
“Hopefully the water becomes distributed worldwide and we’ll be able to support and raise awareness for different causes. The cost for treatment at certain institutions across the country is often too expensive for some people to afford so hopefully the donations from our water sales will help some people out financially.” – Misty Washington
Sales are doing well considering that the company is only a year old but Washington is striving for more. Within the next 12 months she hopes to have “Misty Artesian Water” on the shelves of every grocery store in the metro Louisville area. After that goal is accomplished she will focus on taking the product national.
She also hopes to eventually find a celebrity or public figure to endorse her product, in exchange for a possible stake in the company, which will help take it to the next level.
Recently, Washington has been in talks with executives from the Steve Harvey Show. They are interested in featuring her on an episode of the show as a guest. In addition to interviewing her and displaying her product, they would like Washington to help a cancer patient that is now in remission, reveal the wonderful news to their family.
Washington would like any cancer patient that is in remission but is having difficulty discussing this matter with their family to contact her. An appearance on the Steve Harvey Show can possibly make the conversation easier as well as result in counseling provided for the entire family.
The future looks bright for Misty Washington. She began on a journey a little over a year ago as a woman with a dream and now she has made that dream a reality. Future plans include introducing “Misty Artesian Water” in a ribbon shaped sports bottle.
For information regarding supplying your establishment with ‘Misty Artesian Water” please contact Misty Washington at http://mistyartesianwater.com/, or on the Facebook page Misty Artesian Water.
“Misty Artesian Water” is currently the house brand of water at Krush Restaurant Lounge & Billards in Louisville, Ky., located at 5011 Poplar Level Rd.
Brad Harrison is a journalist/motivational speaker/entrepreneur and on-air personality. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with cum laude honors from the University of Louisville. In October 2015, he started UrbanMaxx Magazine to provide positive role models for Urban residents that reside in at-risk-communities and lack positive leadership in their lives.
For booking or advertising – contact Brad Harrison at bradharrison@urbanmaxx.com