Meet Carla Scholz, Single Mompreneur and Inventor of CLARDS Reusable Greeting Cards. Carla’s mission is to protect the environment. She’s doing it by reducing paper waste with her clever compostable cleaning cloths, greeting cards that clean up (literally).
Carla Scholz on Inventing CLARDS
Lauren: What is your invention?
Carla: CLARDS greetings that clean up—literally.
Clards are a greeting that transforms into a reusable paper towel alternative.
Lauren: Who did you have in mind when you designed your invention?
Carla: Myself, I love getting greeting cards but hate throwing them away.
Lauren: What problem does your invention solve?
Carla: The 70 million greeting cards that end up in the trash and the habitual, wasteful use of paper towels (particularly a problem in the US).
Lauren: How did you come up with the idea?
Carla: I was introduced to sponge cloth a few years ago and thought this product needs to be used for other things.
Lauren: What has been the number one highlight of your career as a Mom Inventor?
Carla: Haven’t gotten there yet!
Carla Scholz on Entrepreneurship
Lauren: Why did you decide to become an Entrepreneur?
Carla: I had been working with a wind energy startup that didn’t make it, I felt the need to take control of my own destiny and wanted to ability to make decisions.
Lauren: Do you like the term Mompreneur?
Carla: Yes, it is a badge of honour.
Lauren: What has been the greatest challenge for you to overcome in your career?
Carla: Greatest challenge is juggling time between a design and marketing business (that is needed to pay bills), providing for my children, and growing my Soak it Up business.
As a self-employed art director/designer for over 20 years, I never considered myself an entrepreneur, rather I saw and see it as a job that gave me flexibility so that I could provide for my kids.
After I focused on the wind energy start-up for over 6 years it has been difficult to find good, steady design clients.
The wind start-up failing was devastating on many levels. From the disappointment of importance of the technology not being utilized to the financial reality for me personally, it took its toll on me emotionally.
Lauren: Is there anything holding you back from achieving success?
Carla: Time and my own self-talk.
Lauren: Is there anything you feel you gained by becoming an entrepreneur?
Carla: Knowledge about new things and feeling that I can control my own destiny.
Lauren: What do you love most about being a Mom Entrepreneur?
Carla: My freedom.
Carla Scholz on Motherhood
Lauren: What has been the number one highlight of Motherhood for you?
Carla: Watching my kids beginning to discover their own path.
Lauren: What has been the greatest challenge for you to overcome as a Mother?
Carla: Not being able to give them as much as I had dreamed.
Lauren: Is there anything you know now that you wish you knew when you first became a Mom?
Carla: This sounds cliche but they really do grow up fast.
Cherish the little moments even when you are exhausted.
Now they are grown, I miss so much reading bedtime stories with them and try to remember what it was like.
Carla Scholz on Work-Life-Balance
Lauren: Has it been tricky balancing work and home life?
Carla: I have been working from home for over 20 years, so it is my normal.
It was tricky when the kids were young as they didn’t understand that I needed time to work often putting in 60-70-hour work weeks.
At the same time, it allowed me to be there for field trips and school events and goof around in the middle of the day.
Lauren: Do you work from home?
Carla: If so, what does your room or desk look like? I do work from home. I have an office that I use occasionally but like the freedom to move around and change my view.
I often start out working in my bed early in the morning, mid-morning I move to my office, then noon move to the kitchen so I can stand up and work for the afternoon.
If its’s nice in the afternoon/evenings in the summer I sit outside under an umbrella, in the winter I sit inside by the fire.
Lauren: Do you have any daily rituals to maintain a work-life balance?
Carla: I try to go to a heated yoga class every day. If I don’t, I can stay inside for days without noticing.
Carla Scholz – Mission & Message
Lauren: Do you have a message you would like the world to hear?
Carla: Our planet is affected by each and every one of us—we all need to be considerate.
Lauren: Do you feel you have already created your best work?
Carla: Never.
Lauren: Is there a book, song or movie that has had huge significance or meaning in your life?
Carla: What Happy Women Know and Eat, Pray, Love.
Carla Scholz – Future Plans
Lauren: What are your hopes for 2020?
Carla: Exceed expectations.
Lauren: What are your fears?
Carla: Failure
Carla Scholz – Tips and Tools
Lauren: What advice would you give someone just starting out as an entrepreneur?
Carla: Never give up.
Lauren: Which tools of the trade have been enormously helpful for you?
Carla: MacBook Pro.
Lauren: Are there any people who have been enormously helpful to you?
Carla: Besides my family, The Swansons from Valley Art Group, my partners who sell Soak it Up Cloths wholesale.
Tasha Mayberry who has been behind getting the Kickstarter campaign created.
And the community of women and entrepreneurs that I look to for support and encouragement, many who don’t even know that they are helping.
How You Can Support Carla Scholz
Lauren: If there was anything I could help you with, what it would it be?
Carla: Telling my story and sharing as you are!
Lauren: Who is your target market? If I were to give you a referral, who would I be looking for?
Carla: Woman ages 35-65
Lauren: Is your market local or international?
Carla: At the moment local to US and Canada, but hopefully will expand quickly.
Visit Carla’s Websites
https://www.soakitupcloths.com/
Kickstarter Campaign
We just pledged our support for Carla and her awesome eco-friendly invention on Kickstarter.
Will you be Carla’s next backer?
With sustainable living gaining a lot more importance each day, CLARD is the best way to go! I too have an entire album filled with greeting cards and often wonder what to do with them all.
It’s inspiring reading about mompreneurs who balance family and work and strive to carve an identity of their own.
CLARDS is such a novel, useful and brilliant idea. It is a great step towards sustainable living. Hope these are available in India too soon. So good to meet Carla here and know about her life and views. Thanks for sharing, Lauren!
I love the word mompreneur too. I am always excited when someone comes up with alternate uses for an existing product, especially as an alternate to throwing it away. Recently I received a letter on recyclable paper with seeds, so I could simply plant it and watch it grow. Yet to do it, but, you know what I mean.
Carla, what a wonderfully innovative idea. We all love to send cards and what could be better than one that is sustainable and also nurtures Mother Earth! Thank you for a lovely interview. It’s a pleasure to know Carla, Lauren!
That’s a brilliant and intelligent idea. We need more such sustainable options if we want to protect our planet. So nice to read about Carla and how she is balancing motherhood and work.
Wholeheartedly agree, Rajlakshmi. It’s time to take our planet back.
What a fabulous idea! Definitely a huge yes to reducing paper wastage. The reusable greeting cards is a lovely idea in this direction. Thanks for sharing.
Isn’t it, Ashh? I can’t wait to get my CLARDS! Such a brilliant gift idea, a gift and a card rolled into one. The ideas Mom Inventors come up with always astound me.