Saving the World from Plastic: How Nora Schaper is reducing waste one hair wash at a time

Nora knew environmentalism and good hair care shouldn't be exclusive, so she co-founded HiBAR.

Natural therapeutic bath bombs, gourmet natural soaps, lotion bars—by 2016, Nora Schaper and her husband Jay were up to their ears with bodycare products because of their company, Bodylish. That also meant, however, that they were well acquainted with the fact that the health and beauty industry was rife with plastic waste (500 billion shampoo and conditioner bottles get thrown away in the U.S. alone each year). So how could they do better? How could they as entrepreneurs improve the industry and provide customers an easy way to support the environment?

The solution was simple: Get rid of plastic packaging (not even tape!) and make sure what they did use was compostable, easily recyclable, or both. Most shampoos and conditioners are liquid-based, though, which would eliminate options like cardboard. To truly have form meet function, the Schapers would need to transform the traditional view of shampoo and conditioner into something new.

And thus, HiBAR was born: solid shampoo and conditioner bars made with natural ingredients for a salon-quality result.

Nora and Jay quickly brought on the other two co-founders, Ward Johnson and Dion Hughes, both of whom they met because their children went to the same school. As Nora puts it, they cornered Johnson in the school parking lot, and he was game to bring his business experience from his now-sold natural pet food company, Sojo's. Hughes was at a mutual friend's housewarming party and, after hearing their idea, jumped aboard; he had just come from Mexico where the beach grounds were strewn with refuse. 

"We are all motivated to try to do something to leave the planet in a better place," Nora says. "It turns out that it is truly the partnership and the combination and passion for the mission from all four of us (and beyond now) that make this business work."

Despite the pandemic, HiBAR has eliminated more than 339,000 plastic bottles from landfills and oceans in the first nine months of 2020 alone, and media like Inc. Magazine and USA Today have helped spread the word. To learn more about how HiBAR went from dream to reality, we chatted with Nora her about the team's first steps, how she decided to work HiBAR full time, and how she balances her personal and work life.

HiBar's a great idea: How did you know where to start?

Once we came up with the thought to “reformulate to eliminate the need for the plastic bottle,” we knew we had to do it. We knew that you could formulate products that were as effective, just not delivered in the same way. (Traditional shampoo and conditioner is 80% water. We are paying to ship water across the world in a plastic bottle that will never go away to then take it into the shower that already has water. It is clear that there is a better way.)

Our first steps were to band together and create a new company. Come up with a name, a URL; decide which products to start with. Then figure out how much money we need to get our first products launched, set up the company and ownership, start working on product form and shape and brand concepts. Once we determined we were starting with shampoo and conditioner, we started formulating and figuring out a way to do it. We formulated for over two years before we came up with a shampoo and conditioner set that we thought worked as well as a bottle of product.

Once we had a formula base that we thought might work, we started looking for manufacturers. We interviewed dozens and traveled to numerous sites. No one is making it like we are. So, as we grew, we have built our manufacturing capabilities and space, and we are running a factory. 

What about working on Bodylish helped with HiBAR?

We learned a lot about formulating, a lot about the natural marketplace, and we had strong connections in coops locally (co-ops and the natural marketplace continue to be a strong selling channel for us), which helped get initial placement of HiBAR in town. We grew so much through Bodylish, but running HiBAR is such a different experience. 

Having a “why,” or a filter through which business decisions are made is incredibly helpful. This really helps clarity in decision-making. Also, the team of four founders, all experienced in different ways, has allowed us to scale and grow the business. We all have decades of work experience under our belts. I was just a baby when I was running Bodylish! Finally, maturity is paying off.

You are all friends as co-founders. How do you balance the friendship and work aspects?

Jay and I have been working together on different projects since the day we met. It is one of the things that we like to do together. We also have a lot of side interests in common.  Even when we have worked from home, we are able to have a date night. We all are pretty good at leaving work stuff for work.   

One of my personal challenges is that I am highly motivated and responsible and tend toward overworking. I am also more introverted than I may appear. During COVID, with the lack of leaving the house much and infrequent social distractions, I have filled the time with work. It may be hard to not work as much and allow items to sit in my email box for longer as things evolve. 

How did you know to take the leap to work on HiBAR full time?

This became obvious when so many HiBAR orders were coming in that I literally did not have time to do anything else. Luckily for me, the timing worked out perfectly. We had listed our business, Bodylish, with a business broker and had an offer to sell our company. It all came together in the nick of time and HiBAR was my main gig. 

The leap to paying us for our time working is a different story.  As founders, we invested our personal money (and time) to get HiBAR started. We waited until HiBAR was making a profit before we started paying ourselves. We also are still paid a small hourly wage and many employees earn more than us. It is a labor of love and passion!

To try HiBAR for yourself or learn more about its eco-friendly practices, visit hellohibar.com.