Meet Zachery Gaither: Co-founder of Kool 2 Care

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zachery Gaither and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zachery, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The short answer is that my brother and sisters and I really want to stop the out-of-control consumption of single-use plastic items and play a bigger role in the growing movement of concerned human beings in communities across the world that care about the planet and future generations and want to act. We started our eco-reusable gear company Kool 2 Care, because we want to make it as easy and affordable as possible for people to use fewer single-use plastic items in their daily life. We also want to let the whole world know that it is definitely “cool for people to care about the planet and future generations” and popularize this concept if you will. Our strategy is to empower individuals, families, and communities to be able to take direct action in reducing single-use plastics in our environment and make it more mainstream and widely accepted by spreading the word that it is Kool 2 Care. We do this by increasing accessibility of the tools and techniques needed to effectively become more eco-friendly and reduce single-use plastic waste. We designed affordable, compact, and all-inclusive “K2C eco-reusable kits.” We also created a one-stop online shop where you can find the kits and their individual items for purchase. Each time an item from the kits is used; it is a direct action to keep single-use plastics out of the environment. The coloring of the products and the logo on them are designed to attract attention and start conversations about these actions as well. K2C kits are designed to make it easy for families and individuals to transition to an eco-friendlier lifestyle by replacing single-use items with sustainable reusable ones at a price point that all communities can afford. Making these items affordable and accessible to all will help bring them into the hands of many more people from all different backgrounds. Kool 2 Care is a business that revolves around sharing information and raising awareness about how to be more eco-friendly. We have found that it is way more effective to encourage and empower people to make a change than it is to forcefully try to change them and or their habits. We recognize that there are many people that already incorporate eco-friendly practices in their daily lives that reduce single-use plastic in the environment. We also want to make it easier for them to continue to do so and help create a messaging platform to make it easier for them to encourage others to do so as well. At Kool 2 Care we believe that it is always okay to try to do just a little bit more each day to make a positive difference for the planet and future generations. Seeing is believing and when one person sees that they can make a difference to cause change and impact this global crisis, one piece of single-use plastic at a time, it encourages and builds confidence to take further action for this cause.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am one of the proud co-owner of Kool 2 Care where I handle most of the public speaking engagements and eco-friendly lifestyle workshops along with my other duties for the company. I am also the Garden Manager for a local non-profit here in the greater Los Angeles area, and the community outreach manager for a company that is running a public health and awareness campaign here in the greater Los Angeles area. The thing that I am most proud of and excited about is the progress that we are making as a human family to raise awareness about important issues that are affecting our planet, all of us that currently live here now, and all of the future generations that will inhabit this beautiful place. I got where I am today professionally by keeping a positive attitude, staying optimistic, and working hard. I have to be honest, it was not always easy! I’m one of four kids that was raised by an amazing waitress and single mother from Akron Ohio that never gave up and almost always tried to look on the bright side of even the absolute worst possible situations that you could ever think of. She and my older brother showed me that no matter what life throws at you that tomorrow will be another day and we will just keep on caring about each other and trying our hardest and we can and will persevere through anything! Case in point, In January of 2020, my siblings and I finally launched Kool 2 Care after years of ideas and planning. My brother and I took out a few personal loans and a few credit cards to get all of our products and start the business and two months later the pandemic hit. In early March my brother and I were both laid off. However, we had decided in January that we were burning the bridge behind us and starting the business no matter what after years of waiting for “the perfect time”. All of our workshops and events that we had planned for the first year of our new business were canceled and we basically had to create a new business rollout plan on the fly. Here we are just over a year later as I am writing up these very words for this article in Shout Out LA and things are going great. My brother and I both have two full-time jobs and sales are up significantly for Kool 2 Care from this time last year. I also got married during the pandemic and my wife and are expecting our first child. Life is a beautiful struggle and literally, all we can do is our best.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
L.A. life for me is all about the outdoors and beautiful parks and beaches up and down the coast and all around the city. For beaches, two of my favorites for whale watching in the spring and fall are Point Vincente Light House and Point Dume which are at the opposite ends of Santa Monica Bay. I love the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market for Beach food and for a nice iconic L.A. beach day there is no substitute for Venice and Santa Monica beach which are literally right next to each other. Lake Gregory which is only about an hour away is absolutely amazing and my three favorite hiking and walking parks are Temescal Canyon, Griffith Park, and Kenneth Hahn Park, in that order.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Janet M. Harvey. Janet just released her first book, Invite Change Lessons from 2020 the year of no return. She is one of the most amazing people in this whole world and she inspires me every day!

Website: kool2care.com

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Youtube: Kool 2 Care