Hello APGD
Hello APGD is a neighborhood podcast that highlights the people who make the Audubon Park Garden District one of the most celebrated destination neighborhoods in Central Florida. We chat with business owners, community leaders, volunteers, long-time residents, artists, and other influential locals; documenting the untold stories of this magical place just minutes away from Downtown Orlando.
Hello APGD
Alyssa Bolaños of Oh Eco!
Meet Alyssa—visionary owner/operator of Oh Eco, Audubon Park’s own Earth-friendly retailer with a community-focused approach to mindful living. Alyssa’s passion for making a difference is so inspiring and her shop offers a wide range of gifts and supplies; from hygiene to housecleaning, clothes to toys, plants to compost starter kits. All items have been carefully vetted for quality, sustainability, and worker equity; so you get to relax and enjoy making a difference!
https://oh-eco.com
Intro: 0:13
Hi friends, thank you for joining us for another episode of Hello APGD, a neighborhood podcast about the Audubon Park Garden District in Orlando, florida. I'm your host, Michael Lothrop, and my guest today is Alyssa Belaños of Oh Eco!, a community minded, earth friendly gift goods and refills shop located at 1805 East Winter Park Road. Be sure to follow Oh Eco at OhEcoOrlando on Facebook and Instagram and visit their website at o-h dash e-c-o.com for rewards, discounts and other info on classes and special events. If you'd like to be a guest on the show or if you'd like to be a sponsor, please feel free to message me on Instagram at helloapgdpod. Thank you for listening. This episode is brought to you in part by Audubon Park Community Market. Join us every Monday from 5 to 8pm, rain or shine, in the parking lot of Stardust Video and Coffee. This weekly gathering of makers, farmers, gardeners, fishmongers, ranchers, artisans, entrepreneurs, neighbors and friends brings the very best of Central Florida to you every week. The first episode of this episode also comes from Red Panda Noodle. Made fresh daily, these wheat-based Chinese style noodles are pulled, sliced and boiled to order. Find your favorite dish by following them on Facebook and Instagram at Red Panda Noodle Check out their website, redpandanoodle.com for the latest in food truck pop-up dates and other news.
Michael:
And with me today is Alyssa Bolognaz. Oeco Orlando, eeco Shop and ReFillery. Welcome.
Alyssa: 1:51
Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.
Michael: 1:53
Thank you for being here. I'm excited for you to be here as well. I was in the shop earlier and it's just such a lovely space.
Alyssa: 2:00
Thank you.
Michael: 2:02
What a great use of that. It was formerly an art studio and I believe the Audubon Park Garden District Main Street used it for a time as well. I know that we use the spot right next to it. It has a great history and it's so cool to see it being used in this way.
Alyssa: 2:23
I love that history that you told me today. I'm a big history buff, and I think that's so cool.
Michael: 2:27
Indeed, I know I love it. Yeah, and it's cool to get to know, just reaching back to, what the roots were and that sort of thing. And this being an eco-district, you are really a perfect fit for your business. Thank you, thank you for being here. And so you had moved down here to Florida from New York City and there was a shop up there that kind of planted the seed, perhaps. Gave you inspiration. Tell me about that.
Alyssa: 2:54
Yes. So I was raised in New York and we had a few eco-shops, but there was this one that I would go to all the time. I joke that, being raised Cuban-American, I was always a little bit sustainable, but it was really when I moved out to Long Island, where the shop was, and I had my first child that I was introduced to the shop in this lifestyle. And I mean, my husband would call me. He's like are you still there? I would easily spend two hours there and I would talk to the customers and people would be like, okay, cool, ring me up. I'm like, oh no, I don't work here, I just love it here. Just hang out there all day and that really planted the seed and showed me just different ways to live better. Not just for us, because part of sustainable living is the cleaner options, stuff that we're putting on our body, but for the future of our planet, for our children, for their children to leave it better than we've left it.
Michael: 3:51
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, the benefits just kind of go on from there. It's like you're supporting local businesses, local producers of these products, and you know that they're made in a responsible way, so we're not damaging the environment further, making sure that we're doing it as best as possible.
Alyssa: 4:12
Right, and, like you said too, that whole life line making sure that these workers are getting fair wages for what they're for their labor. Making sure, I mean now having the story. I look at the whole life cycle. So I look at how is the company sourcing? Are they paying fair wages? Are they offsetting their carbon footprint?
Michael: 4:31
Sure, I mean I have to do it.
Alyssa: 4:32
How does this break down? So there's so much into it, but it's really cool to learn.
Michael: 4:37
Yeah, it really is, and I think that having that experience being in your shop, talking to you, looking at the products, just the knowledge that you have from your interest, I mean just being, like you know, fan girl of the shop is like. I love that backstory. It's the fact that you have this attachment to it and you're drawn to it in that way, and this is like. This is a dream come true having this like this brick and mortar shop and offering these things to the public, right.
Alyssa: 5:10
And it's funny because I never thought I would open a store. It wasn't even our intention when we moved to Florida. It just it happened. And what I loved about the other place and what I really hope to do here is it being a community space. Yeah, we're a store, yeah, we sell things, but you know we do clothing swaps and we've done community cleanups and we just try to do things that will just leave the community better too. Or, you know, open our space to let people host events or whatever. Just we want to just be part of the community and really bring people together for just love of people and planet.
Michael: 5:45
Yeah, and that's so crucial to, I think, every business in the neighborhood. That is part of the focus right. It's that like partnering with other small businesses here, just finding ways to cross promote, get involved with the community. I love that you're doing classes in there, like that education piece and things that like you can do a class and bring home something that is a gift for somebody or you know something nice for yourself and you learn a skill too, right. So that's kind of passing on that knowledge of how to live a better life and, you know, find the things that make you happy and one of the things that I picked up are your showers steamers.
Alyssa: 6:30
Those are amazing yeah.
Michael: 6:32
And I couldn't wait. I like went ahead and took a shower when I got home and it's just like it's kind of the best you know just to pamper yourself in that way, and the fact that you're making these products available that otherwise you may not be able to find in town right.
Alyssa: 6:48
Yeah, that's kind of how the store happened. Part of it was, you know, I moved down here and I was like, okay, where's my eco shop? Right, like where is going to be my spot? And there wasn't any place and there were pop-ups that were selling products like this. But I moved down with an almost two-year-old and a three-week-old baby. I'm not going to just bounce around to a market that could be on the other side of Orlando you know, and then every two weeks. I'm a person. I'm very against Amazon for many reasons, not just the sustainability. I'm very big into local always local first, and that was kind of part of the motivation to be like you know what, let's just open a shop and see how it goes.
Michael: 7:28
Yeah, totally, and I love that that you make it a little bit more convenient for people like you do some deliveries locally.
Alyssa: 7:36
A big thing with sustainability, too right Convenience and people sometimes see sustainable options as inconvenient. Right, Like the reusable paper towels. Oh you mean have to wash them? Oh yeah, but you'll always have them right you won't have to run to the grocery store and spend more money. And again and again, and again you know it just goes on. So I really just want to both educate on the fact that this really is the convenient option and then still make it convenient for people. So okay, yeah, amazon can get it tuned two days.
Michael: 8:05
I'll bring it to you tonight you know, and I'm your neighbor right Exactly.
Alyssa: 8:11
So we just want it to be easy and convenient for people to make those little swaps when they can.
Michael: 8:16
Yeah, I think that's critical because people are so accustomed to that convenience and you know we try not to use Amazon as much as possible. But, you know, as part of your kind of mission statement. Looking at your website it's like you know, nobody's expecting you to be zero waste or completely eco friendly, it's just kind of those small wins, right.
Alyssa: 8:41
Right, right, like I always say. You know, I say I'm sustainable-ish right Like yeah, I own a zero waste shop. I'm not 100% zero, there's no way. I also have two toddlers.
Michael: 8:52
Yeah.
Alyssa: 8:52
If they're going to scream for an applesauce and it's in a plastic pouch, I'm going to give them the applesauce in the pouch.
Michael: 8:57
You know to not have a screaming toddler, Sure.
Alyssa: 8:59
It's a balance and you know I don't like the pressure that sometimes comes with sustainability of like we have to do this all right now, like no, we don't. You know, at the end of the day it's not an individual problem, but individually we can help solve it.
Michael: 9:16
Yeah.
Alyssa: 9:16
Yeah, but you know no pressure, basically no pressure, sustainability, just you know you do what you can. Yeah. You don't feel guilty for what you can't.
Michael: 9:24
Right and, leading by example, just kind of showing that there are ways of reducing what we put into a landfill and using what we have.
Alyssa: 9:36
Yeah, I have like all the taglines right and like that's one of them Use what you have, then get what you need. Yeah, Just make it sustainable you know, like you know, I have people all the time come in like, oh my gosh, I just found out my laundry detergent has all these toxins and I'm going to throw it down the drain. I'm like, oh, don't do that, no, because that's worse, right, and the fish get it and it's in our waterways and it will still be in our waterways. But use it, because it doesn't do anyone a favor by just throwing it away and ending up in a landfill regardless.
Michael: 10:05
Right, right and it was produced, so there were the inputs that went into that and yeah, I mean there's. There are so many systems with commerce that don't factor in the harm that's done to the environment, and just finding a way to not be part of that and not contributing to that, like I think that that what you're doing is so important because you're bringing that to our local marketplace and offering that to people who do care and want to make a difference, and this is a way to do that.
Alyssa: 10:37
And I think a lot of people care. I just think they don't know where to start. Yeah, so that's what we're trying to help people. Yeah, start here, start small, start with this bamboo toothbrush, you know.
Michael: 10:47
Absolutely yeah, and I mean being in your shop. I was just like I want every one of these products in my house. You know what I mean. It's just like it's beautiful stuff, it's well made, you can trust the source and yeah, it's like little by little just adding to kind of your routines and knowing that even though you are paying a bit more for this product, everybody in that supply chain in you know the process of bringing this to market is getting compensated the way that it should be Right and also it's better for you.
Alyssa: 11:22
Right. It's better for you, it's better for the planet. And a lot of times I give the example of shampoo bars. Shampoo bars can be pricey. It could be $25, $30. And people are like, whoa, that's a lot, but it lasts nine months.
Michael: 11:37
Yeah.
Alyssa: 11:38
So you're saving money. Right At the end of the day you're saving money. So it's kind of changing that mindset too, of like, okay, yeah, it seems pricey, but again everyone in that chain is getting paid what they need to get paid to survive, to live. Not just to survive, right To live.
Michael: 11:53
Right.
Alyssa: 11:54
And then you're also getting something that's worth your money because it's clean, not toxic, and will last you a while.
Michael: 12:02
And you're actually being budget conscious for yourself too, right, exactly?
Alyssa: 12:05
Exactly, it might be that initial hit, but then you don't need shampoo for a year, you know.
Michael: 12:11
Yeah, I love that. I think, at this kind of stage in the economy and just kind of the some of the uncertainty in the market in the US and things like that, how we cope like aren't just like our happiness levels, finding those little things that are going to make your day better, that you look forward to using and that have that personal touch. I think that this is like a quality of life kind of shop and that it's like a different mindset, right. It's kind of people thinking about these products in a different way.
Alyssa: 12:48
Yeah, you had that in on the head. I like the way you said that. Thank you, quality of life shop.
Michael: 12:52
Yeah, yeah, and there's a lot of focus on self care, which we should be taking the best care of ourselves that we can, not relying on other people to do that.
Alyssa: 13:02
Right, right.
Michael: 13:03
I think that it's a great way to start to just have these personal products, these household products, and find these gifts for other people and gifts to yourself. I think this is a perfect time to be here in Audubon Park. I think you have the audience for it. You have a great selection of products. Thank, you. I'd love to talk about, kind of, some of the products that you offer and the brands and things like that.
Alyssa: 13:29
Yeah, absolutely. Aside from like stuff that we make ourselves, we try to do a Florida first approach.
Michael: 13:36
I try to do.
Alyssa: 13:36
Orlando first, truly, that's great, and then we branch out there. Everything except, I think, one item is US based, and all of the companies that we source from are honestly some really big game changers in sustainability. We have, like Marley's Monsters, which they're based out in Oregon, and they do so much. They're zero waste. They use all of their scraps to make other products. We have Bell Mountain Naturals, which is a soap company. I think they're in Washington and they employ victims of domestic violence and to give mostly women jobs and shelter and things to progress in their life, and it's those kind of values that we try to align with when we're finding these big brands.
Michael: 14:22
Yeah.
Alyssa: 14:23
Another one is Dip. They're one of the shampoo brands that we carry and they do so much work with conservation and just supporting local. They're so big on supporting local that they're like don't buy it from us, Go to your local shop and buy whatever you need. And it's just those companies like that that we're very proud to have in our shop.
Michael: 14:45
Yeah, it's such a great selection, so much stuff. So from the shop in Long Island that you are so familiar with, was there quite a bit of kind of carryover of stuff that you are familiar from there.
Alyssa: 14:57
Oh yeah, Marley's was a big one. That was probably. I think that was one of my first big swaps. That's where I got into unpaper towels, like the cloth paper towels, and big not in the sense of it being very expensive, but it being a life changing swap, right Ditching, disposable and mindfully reusing and washing my paper towels to always have. There's a lot of the companies that we carried over Friendship or Wool Balls. It's great because I tried everything that we bring into the store, but a lot of it is because this was me on my journey in sustainability and I learned through trying and I was like, wow, these brands are great and I'm going to bring them in because they are really amazing brands that care about the planet and care about their customers, versus oh, we're just here to make money.
Michael: 15:46
Right, yeah, so you have vetted these products, you're familiar, just coming to it with that knowledge and it's really well curated, yeah, so, and I love that you have sustainable clothing, which is something that people, I think, are thinking more about these days Just feeling good about how your clothes were made, what materials are in there, kind of what's going into the waterways when you wash things, right, it's all part of it. So just being kind of better stewards of the environment and caring for workers in the way that everybody should be cared for.
Alyssa: 16:25
Yeah, absolutely Especially. Fabric and clothing is one of the worst not only pollutants but human right violations. I actually went to DC a few months ago to lobby for this thing called the Fabric Act with my friend, sarah, who owns Florida Fabric Collective just doing a nonprofit here and specifically for that, to try to get safety for garment workers, jobs here in the US for them, safer, planet friendly materials like cotton, hemp, bamboo to be prioritized versus polyester and nylon and all these plastic filled things. So fashion is a really good place to start too. For someone in sustainability, right Shopping, second hand or shopping, you know, new but plant based kind of materials is an easy way to go when you're trying to be a little more sustainable.
Michael: 17:19
Yeah, and there are not many places locally to find that these days, right, I think maybe it's trending that way, or it should be. At least it should be, yeah, and it's got to start somewhere, so why not in Audubon Park, right, right?
Alyssa: 17:34
And that's why we do a lot of clothing swaps too. We do about every three months or so to also kind of get people to rethink what they wear and how they consume. And you know, everyone has clothes in their closet that they haven't worn in years or have probably never worn. So doing these clothing swaps not only gets you to meet your neighbors, but you know, get to swap and keep it out of landfills. You get to shop for a free. You know it's better than that.
Michael: 18:01
Yeah, seriously.
Alyssa: 18:02
But it's these kinds of things to help people rethink what is sustainability, what it means to live sustainably and how people can fit it into their daily lives.
Michael: 18:13
Yeah, and I'm curious about how does the clothing swap work as far as? Do you get like credits for each thing that you bring, or yeah, so we've learned that we have to limit it.
Alyssa: 18:24
Sure, it's the first one we did. We got like people bringing like five garbage bags full of clothes.
Michael: 18:29
Oh, wow.
Alyssa: 18:30
It was a lot and then it was like ripped and stained. So we try to limit to 10 to 15 pieces per person. We check everything first and we found that, like a ticket system works a lot of times. So if someone brings in a name brand item like we had a coach bag once okay, that's, you know, five tickets. So it's still somewhat.
Michael: 18:50
Value for value, yeah, yeah.
Alyssa: 18:52
So it's like, okay, I'm bringing designer stuff, am I going to get?
Michael: 18:55
Yeah, it has to make sense for people, exactly.
Alyssa: 18:58
Yeah, for it to work, but we don't always limit it. You know, okay, you have 10 tickets but you want 12 things. Take it because it's going to be put to good use and we're going to keep it out of a landfill. And then anything that doesn't get swapped, we save some for our future swap or we've donated to out of the closet and one woman, one child as well. So at least we're giving it to organizations that we know will at least put it to better use than Goodwill.
Michael: 19:27
Right.
Alyssa: 19:28
Anyway, we can support those missions we try to.
Michael: 19:31
Yeah, absolutely. There's a lot of opportunity because of places like that and because people that are behind it right and it's changing the landscape of Central Florida in such a positive way, and I think it. You know, with all the national news that Florida gets, people don't see kind of on a more like micro level, what is happening here, the good things that people are doing here.
Alyssa: 19:57
There's a lot of good here. It's so refreshing and it really fills me with so much joy to see that people actually care about the people in their community right, and supporting their community or helping or you know. It's just. It is beautiful to see. You don't see that in many cities.
Michael: 20:15
Right you don't see that in New York, you know.
Alyssa: 20:18
Yes, yeah, and it's just, it's refreshing. It's a wonderful thing to live in a community like this.
Michael: 20:25
It is. Yeah, I think it's done at a scale where people can still think about those things and thrive. You know you're not like, rather than competing in similar markets, people find ways of having those strategic partnerships. You know, we have, at the Monday night market, we have GoodFills.
Alyssa: 20:46
They're incredible and people don't always know that we help each other out, too. We have gone in on orders, I've bought stuff from them, they've sourced for me because, at the end of the day, we're all here for the same mission, right? We want to live better for themselves, for everyone, for the world. And yeah, Jenny and Trung, they're just amazing and shout out to them.
Michael: 21:09
I love that. I figured that there was probably some partnering, even though I didn't know that for sure. But that's so wonderful to hear because, yeah, you don't want to feel like you're not supporting one group, you know what I mean? Like we already know them and they've been vendors at the market for a very long time. And also I want to support your shop because you're right in the neighborhood and you're a wonderful person as well. Those partnerships and that buying at you know economies of scale and things like that. It just makes sense because, like you said, everybody has the same mission when it comes down to it, and if we're all thriving, then that's we're achieving that mission.
Alyssa: 21:53
Exactly. That's all we can ask for. And at the day too right, like good fills in us, like we have different products too. So it's great. You know Zero, which unfortunately, is closing, but she also had different products. So it's really nice that we all still got to support Orlando as a whole and still support each other in many different ways.
Michael: 22:14
Yeah, so tell me about that shop. Where was that located?
Alyssa: 22:18
She was on Edgewater. They were all storage units she had converted. There's apparently a plan to turn that into something bigger, so she was there for a few months and is closing. I think this is her last weekend or next weekend. It's her last weekend.
Michael: 22:33
Yeah.
Alyssa: 22:34
So you know, GoodFills and I were divvying up you know her products, trying to support her too, cause it hurts when any small business closes but, especially one so close to home right.
Michael: 22:46
Yeah.
Alyssa: 22:47
We're all fighting for the same thing, so of course.
Michael: 22:50
Yeah, I mean it's. It can be location, it can be word of mouth. You have to have kind of the time to devote to marketing yourself or, you know, hire somebody to do that, but then that's like extra money that you know goes into your overhead. So if you have a talent for it and Trung and Jenny are great at that as well. And your shop is right there, so everybody that comes from Winter Park during the morning commute and if they're stuck at that light they'll see us.
Alyssa: 23:22
Yeah, well, cause apart, it's accessibility. I want to be accessible, I want it to be easy for people to get to, not only also because I don't live there, but you know, I wouldn't put my shop in Millennia because that's not really accessible. I wouldn't go to I-Drive cause it's not. You know where we are, right? So I just really wanted it to be accessible and easy for people, and location was part of that.
Michael: 23:43
Yeah.
Alyssa: 23:44
And parking. Having parking for the shop is a huge factor too?
Michael: 23:48
Yeah, absolutely, and there's. There's a good amount of parking in the back.
Alyssa: 23:51
Yep, yep.
Michael: 23:52
And you've got a few spots up front. Yeah, and I mean I think people in Audubon Park are getting more accustomed to–if you do have to park at the school on a weekend or, you know, in the evening you can do that. There's also plenty of street parking and it's like if you go anywhere downtown you're going to park and walk right. You're not going to park right in front of your place.
Alyssa: 24:16
Or you're just not going to go because there's parking.
Michael: 24:19
Right, and I know that happens too. But yeah, I mean I think that it's pretty easy to find parking for your shop or you can just do a little walking too, yeah, walk bike. Yeah, yeah. So you're sharing the space actually with another small business.
Alyssa: 24:34
Yes. So we have my friend Shelly. She owns The Flourishing Spot, her gorgeous plants, they're just incredible. I met her at a market, just shopping myself. I'm just at Lake Eola every Sunday and she had a shop for a bit. Things didn't work out and I said, hey, you know what goes good with eco stuff? And so let's just do a little eco jungle. And she's a really great person. Her plants, they thrive, and I don't take care of my plants as much as I should, and they're still flourishing. So she helps out at the shop too. If I'm not there or my husband's not there, it's most likely her. She's just super knowledgeable about plants too. Like I'm learning so much with her.
Michael: 25:22
Her stuff is beautiful.
Alyssa: 25:24
I was.
Michael: 25:25
I was in a Frame Masters Gallery and Christina was telling me about the plant that she she got from there and like she's like. This is like my favorite thing, and everybody notices and comments on this plant because it's just so cool looking, it's so different and, yeah, it's just like a hanging plant and having that extra thing, you know we need more green around us.
Alyssa: 25:53
We do. I mean it does so much good for our mental health and our physical health. Having a snake plant in your room helps with your airflow and detoxifying air, so it's just those little things that just makes you happy, you know.
Michael: 26:05
Yeah, yeah, that I mean that that extra element and it just as you walk into your shop, as you said, it's like this, like beautiful, like jungle, that sort of welcomes you, right? It's cool how you have three different phases in your shop as well. So you've got the plants and then you've got most of your inventory, but then in the back you've got the refill stations and the clothes.
Alyssa: 26:30
The clothing. I have to shout out my friend, Danielle. That's all curated by her shop, Coutonic. She also used to have a brick and mortar and now she does a lot of pop-ups. She's been doing her life as a small business owner, learned more about sustainability and reworked her business model to only carry sustainable brands or secondhand and it just fits so well and it's nice to be surrounded by people who want to do the same things too. They want to be more eco-friendly and promoting that, and if we could hold space for them in the shop, we will.
Michael: 26:59
Yeah, that's so smart. There is so much of it already and just finding a way to bring it all together and make it work. And I know you've got ideas for what the next steps will be. Are there any ideas that you'd like to share as far as what's your dream for what's next?
Alyssa: 27:22
I have a lot of dreams. I'm a dreamer, I have a big tattoo on my side that says dreamer, I am a dreamer. I mean, if I would love, love to do something like bulk nation, right, Like and and have like our truly bulk food store that is decently priced because we have sprouts and we have chamberlains. But it's not that easy to do and there's not a big selection. So that's a dream of mine to open a bulk food only store. You know, I have dreams of how the city can do more sustainable-minded initiatives. I love the bike lane that we just, you know got here in Audubon. I want more, you know, more bike lanes around the city.
Michael: 28:09
I know we absolutely need that and it's I mean, with the redesign of Corinne Drive. I know it was very difficult for some of the businesses and it's hard to know what the answers are as far as, like, you don't want to take parking like street parking away from the businesses and or anybody really. So figuring out a way to manage that and you know, I think the City, they have really good intentions and they're getting there in ways. But just listening to all parties that are involved in making sure that all thoughts are given to the small businesses, that can be a tricky thing. But overall I mean, yeah, just making Corinne Drive safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Alyssa: 28:55
We have our school right here. We want our kids to be able to cross the street safely and not have to worry.
Michael: 29:01
Yes, it's yeah if. If there are potentially lives that are being saved by something like that, I think the good can really outweigh the bad when you look at it that way. And, yeah, those are the kind of changes that, yeah, I think that the city is very open to sustainability practices and increasing things that way, which is so, so important.
Alyssa: 29:27
Yeah, absolutely it's. It's one of the reasons why I loved that we moved here, because there are so many sustainable initiatives happening in the city. You know, for us even like so it's nice to see that the city, you know, no government's perfect, no city's perfect. Of course they're trying. Yeah, and that's, that's huge. Trying is huge.
Michael: 29:48
Yeah, yeah, because you were talking about some of the brands that are sourced from Pacific Northwest and they're very, very sustainability-minded, and have been for so long too that, you know, we're still catching up with places like that, but you know baby steps, little bit progress, right, not perfection.
Alyssa: 30:09
We're trying. Progress, not perfection.
Michael: 30:10
You have to start somewhere right, and there's no better time than now, you know.
Alyssa: 30:17
I agree 100%, especially in a place like Florida. Like you know, people don't realize we're a peninsula. There's water around us. We have to protect our waterways here. We have so many beautiful natural resources in this state that we have to protect it, and little things like the products you use help protect that.
Michael: 30:38
Yeah, absolutely yeah. Just one more reason to support eco-friendly businesses, right.
Alyssa: 30:44
I mean, I can't argue with you there, I know, I know.
Michael: 30:47
Yeah, I love it and I saw you've got O-Town Compost, so tell me about how people can get involved with that.
Alyssa: 30:57
First of all, I have to say, I love O-Town. I call them my besties, because I have limits to my environmentalism and composting, I can't do it.
Michael: 31:06
Like it's hard. It's hard on your own, yeah.
Alyssa: 31:09
Science, and then the worms, all these different things. Sure, so O-Town makes it convenient.
Michael: 31:15
Yeah.
Alyssa: 31:15
They do apartment buildings, they do homes, they do businesses, they do it all and they work with local farms like Everoak over here in Baldwin Park. And it just helps support them. And then they give us beautiful produce at our Monday night markets. So we're partners with O-Town. We sell some of their products, but we also have their subscriptions there. So if people sign up at the shop they get $10 off their first month which is not bad yeah. And they get to walk away with their bucket right away. Versus, depending on the route you're on, you might have to wait like a week or whatever, so you can start, you know, making that black hole and then keeping waste out of landfills right away.
Michael: 31:57
Yeah.
Alyssa: 31:57
And they're incredible. Charlie, who owns O-Town, his passion is so evident and he's such a good person and he's doing a lot of really hard work. So that's another small business to support and he's doing such good work for the world. Yeah, you know here in Orlando, like there's not many cities that do composting and I know we tried it here in Orlando for a bit, but things don't always work out. But, O-Town takes all of that confusion or that inconvenience out of it. You put everything in your bucket, you put it in front of your door, they make it compost and then twice a year you get free compost. And then you go buy it obviously any time. So then you can plant your own food and or native plants or whatever it may be, and you're just giving back to the earth.
Michael: 32:44
Yeah, and, as you said, taking the guesswork out of it. Just like you know, when you're preparing food at home, you're going to have some organic waste that shouldn't be going into landfills because of the gases that it produces when it's breaking down there, and also it can be used for making future food and we have to think about our soil and this is such an important piece of that process. So, yeah, that's so cool that you also host that as a way to get involved.
Alyssa: 33:17
I mean, I love the work that they're doing. I think it's important. I learned so much about what you can like. You can compost like your nails or like your hair and napkins, and the other good thing I like about them is you can compost meat and bones where, if you have your home backyard compost, you can't because critters will be on that in a second. Absolutely so it's just helping divert more waste, and they're just, they're doing the good work here.
Michael: 33:44
Yeah, that's so cool and I know that they've expanded quite a bit too. So if you are only familiar with the older version, definitely check them out again. There's a lot that can be done at this point.
Alyssa: 34:00
And we have a really great informative banner in our store about the work that they do and why it's necessary. So if you ever have questions, come look at that Cool.
Michael: 34:10
That's just one more way to get involved. So I love that you make it so easy. You know we're trying, we're just that, that's.
Alyssa: 34:17
It has to be easy for people to try to do it. So, if we can make eco easy, then we're doing our job.
Michael: 34:25
Totally.
Alyssa: 34:27
And I have to say this is my whole aesthetic–just mason jars. I live for mason jar cups, Like we take a lot of donations at the shop for jars. Another factor of the accessibility. One, because recycling doesn't work like we wish it would work.
Michael: 34:44
Right, yeah, glass especially, it's like that just gets basically broken and ground up into sand, which defeats the purpose, right?
Alyssa: 34:54
Because glass is endlessly reusable, as is aluminum.
Michael: 34:57
Yeah, it's a finished product, right?
Alyssa: 34:59
Yeah, so we take jars of any and all sizes. I even take plastic. We take anything as long as it has a lid. But sometimes the good ones stay with me.
Michael: 35:08
Yeah, yeah.
Alyssa: 35:09
Like my husband, he'll wash and we sanitize everything. And then he'll give me the bin and I'll bring it to the store to unload. And I remember finding these tall, skinny mason jars. I was like I called them up. I was like how dare you, how dare you give this up? It is my favorite cup now. I but I'm like how you can't. It's a good jar.
Michael: 35:29
You know that, that green one, we only have one of them, and I always give it to our guests because it's so nice, I like it so much so yeah,
Alyssa:
I feel honored.
Michael:
Good yeah, I love that you have the collection of jars there in your shop, too. You've just got shelves of different sized jars, so those don't add any cost if somebody doesn't bring their own jar, they have access to that and people drop off and donate. So that's like another way of getting involved.
Alyssa: 36:03
Right, yeah, we take them all. Even though sometimes my husband might want to divorce me because of all the jars that are on, so many jars, I will never stop taking jars, because what's the other option?
Michael: 36:14
They're going to get thrown away.
Alyssa: 36:15
They're going to end up in a landfill, or broken or whatever maybe. So I'm just like, no, we can't let that happen.
Michael: 36:19
And they'll all get used eventually, right? That's, that's the thing it's. It's a finished product and they're ready to use.
Alyssa: 36:26
And it's always fun when you get, we get like tequila bottles or like the little apple juice ones, or we get some cool jars sometimes, so it's funny to see people refill in like bottles. You wouldn't think would be hand soap right or laundry detergent.
Michael: 36:41
And that could make for a fun gift too, right? If you have it. Uh yeah, just don't mix that up and put it on your tequila shelf, right?
Alyssa: 36:48
Yeah, don't take a shot of laundry detergent.
Michael: 36:50
I mean, you'll know pretty quickly.
Alyssa: 36:52
So yeah.
Michael: 36:54
I love that. What other ways can people either donate or get involved, aside from shopping?
Alyssa: 37:01
Um, well, the jar donations. We have a little free library in store too. The events that we do, always staying close into that. Um, we love our friends over at Ideas For Us and our friends at Fleet Farming, so we always try to support them. So, even if we don't have anything going on, supporting them is still supporting our mission. Yeah, they're incredible people behind the organizations and they're just doing such good work here.
Michael: 37:28
Yeah, we're very proud of that. We're very fortunate to have them local here and, yeah, the work that they've accomplished so far and just the growth that we've seen since they've started. It has been amazing to watch that. I love it so much.
Alyssa: 37:42
I was biking the other day. Oh, I was going to the 70th Anniversary.
Michael: 37:47
Oh yeah.
Alyssa: 37:48
And my friend Dawson from Fleet Farming was just in the garden I was like, oh hey, you know like I love it. I just love seeing that.
Michael: 37:55
Yeah, I love that. I mean we're not religious people, but Covenant Church in Audubon Park, the Pastor–Sarah Robinson, she was a guest on the podcast. She is just so community-minded and just so magnetic. She’s so busy and so involved with so many things and all of them are wonderful. Those are the kind of people that you get to know and you just want to support, like, whatever they're doing, you want to get involved.
Alyssa: 38:24
Absolutely. I just love it. It's just, it's like you said, it's magnetic, it's. You get a little bit of it and then it inspires you to kind of want to do something, too. So, just like to keep surrounding you know, to keep having these people in our community and supporting them and surrounding ourselves with them. We'll just all be better humans for it.
Michael: 38:43
Right, I know. I mean, isn't that–that should always be part of the goal in life? You know they say vote with your dollar, which is such a true thing, and it might take a little extra effort. You might not be able to click a button, although you've got online stuff that you can absolutely do that, and so you're not giving any of the convenience up, but you can still do these things that are improvements to your own life and improvements to your environment.
Alyssa: 39:14
Right. That's why I love Audubon so much too, because you know Target’s a mile down the road. But you see people here in the community and I love that (no shade to Target), but you know they don't need our money. You know, but all of our small businesses here do. And you know, supporting any small business, you're supporting a family directly, you're supporting your neighbor directly. Like who wouldn't want that? Yeah, you know who wouldn't want their neighbors to do better and their neighbors want their community to do better. That's why they built this business. So it's just a beautiful chain reaction when we support local
Michael: 39:48
Yeah–chain reaction without supporting chains, right?
Alyssa: 39:55
Yeah, that's funny.
Michael: 39:59
And I mean just like it's such good people that are the shop owners here in Audubon Park too, and like I love doing this podcast for that reason as well, just getting to know the people behind these businesses and what their motivation is and kind of what. Like brick and mortars aren't as common as they used to be because you're competing with these box stores, you're competing with Amazon and other things like that, but it's not impossible to make it work.
Alyssa: 40:31
It's not. Yeah, it's just a lot of effort and I think people don't always understand, I didn't. Cause, like I said, I never thought I was going to open a store. It was not my plan at all, yeah, so I definitely underestimated how hard and how much it would consume my life, but people don't know that effort. But you know, we put in that effort and then we know we love, like I love my customers, I love knowing people by name and knowing, oh, I have your laundry soda for you or I have you know like I, just I love that. And that's a lot of hard work but a lot of love behind it.
Michael: 41:07
That's what. That's what keeps you coming back to it and keeps your customers coming back to it. Right, because we need more love in our lives and it's not gonna come from Amazon.
Alyssa: 41:20
Trust me.
Michael: 41:21
You will not find it there.
Alyssa: 41:22
It, you will not. I mean, like, whenever I get online orders, I do a little happy dance and I do a handwritten note, and it's like Amazon doesn't love you enough to write, you a note, but I do you enough to do that, you know. So it's different, but it's nice.
Michael: 41:37
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean it's like the relationship that you Gain by shopping local and knowing these, you know, knowing these business owners here and Keeping those things going, because it requires shoppers in order to keep the doors open. Just being realistic about that and how to get traffic in. You know, if there's a subscription or things like that, you know whatever, whatever it is that you find, add it to your budget like we can all afford to, like be more responsible with how we spend money, and I think that this is a perfect example of that.
Alyssa: 42:22
Thank you. Yeah, that's why I always try really hard with the store to make sure that I have everything that people need: like you need toothpaste, I got it you know, but I also have gifts and we have like everything you could think of, you know. So I really try to have that so people can. Oh, I know I can get my goods here. I know I can, like I don't need to go to Target. Okay, Target may sell the same brand as me, but you don't know who's selling it, you know.
Michael: 42:49
Yeah, but you know me right and you might be able to get most (or all) of your Christmas shopping done at your shop.
Alyssa: 42:57
I think that's a really good point. You probably can, yeah, between clothes between Stuff for kids.
Michael: 43:04
I love that you have books and toys and really cool kids stuff.
Alyssa: 43:10
We also have prenatal and postpartum items as well, because that was something that, when I was pregnant, was Impossible to find in stores. I could not find any of these things in stores. The brands that I carry are brands that I've used when I was pregnant and postpartum, and it's right there. It's not on Amazon or the website, and actually a lot of the brands we carry are not on Amazon. Because, the values just don't line up. Yeah, so we have it there and it's easy to get to. There's brands like Nopalera and Axiology that are body care brands that are basically only online. We have it, you know, we just try to make it easy. Loaiza is another one. We have, like other ones, A Son and Sofrito, and you can't really find that in a lot of places. You can find it here, you know.
Michael:
I think that's the way to success, to have things that aren't found anywhere else, that you can either order it online or you can be there in person. Get it from somebody who has used those products, is familiar with it and like even just seeing it.
Alyssa:
Like I don't want to order an online, I want to see it, I want to direct, to smell it, touch you know, see what it's about and if I really did need it or want it, whatever it may be, that's another reason for the brick and mortar, right? We could have just been online, we could have just been a pop-up, but I'm an instant gratification person. It probably doesn't really line up with sustainability, but if I want this and I have hyper fixating on it like I want to go see it now, so you know, that's why we open like, all right, we're here, we're here for you, come see, touch, smell, feel whatever you got to do.
Michael: 44:49
I think it's almost like a new, novelty thing, even especially to younger audiences who are so used to online shopping, to actually go into a really cool store and see all this stuff and get to, you know, get to put your hands on it. I think that is always going to have that appeal. You know, more and more people just want that tangible experience. They want to be in a shop, especially when it's cool people behind it, you know?
Alyssa: 45:22
And then again not to have to wait three to five business days for delivery. And then all those carbon emissions and all that unnecessary waste that comes into packaging and shipping stuff.
Michael: 45:28
Yeah, I mean, I got to use my shower steamer the very afternoon that I got it.
Alyssa: 45:33
I love it. Oh, that they. Those are my favorite things.
Michael: 45:35
I'm so glad that you are not out of them, because I know that it's hard to keep those in a lot yeah but we are working hard.
Alyssa: 45:42
We just kind of upgraded our system at home to hopefully turn them out a little bit faster. Like we haven't had them prepackaged in a while. Because of that, because they're just yeah, we couldn't keep up.
Michael: 45:53
No, why? Yeah, exactly like cut out that extra step right. So what other products are you making in-house?
Alyssa: 46:02
So we do the shower steamers, our toilet bombs, the toilet cleaners, the unpaper towels we have like bath soap. I'm been trying to work on lotion. That is harder than I thought, very hard.
Michael: 46:17
What is it about it that it's difficult, is it consistency?
Alyssa: 46:19
Yeah, like it's a science, right? There's exact measurements you have to do, and with something like lotion or soap, you have to be careful how you add things. And the timing. I give it up to everyone who does lotion, cuz, yeah, that's actually what started my making things. I was like I'm gonna make lotion and we're gonna do this and I've made everything else but lotion. We make soap. Now you have soap bars, but it's just like everything except the lotion, the one thing I set out to do. I'm not done.
Michael: 46:51
Yeah, I mean it's on your vision board, it's aspirational right?
Alyssa: 46:57
I'm trying, but it's hard. I have two kids at home. It's just like my husband and I try to do all the things and, honestly, sometimes there's days that we're just so tired I'm just I gotta go to sleep.
Michael: 47:15
I believe it, yeah, owning something rather than working for somebody else is a whole different kind of stress and you have to be an employer to people because you can't be there all the time too. So finding the right partners or the right staff to support, right?
Alyssa: 47:28
It’s hard and it's scary. It's like my third baby, you know, like just to hand it off to someone, and we've had waves of, you know, people working with us, testing people out. And we have one girl, Hannah, she's been with us almost since the beginning and she is incredible. She's the sweetest person and she's the most helpful person. But it's hard and it's like I want to be there all the time, but also, you know, I have to be with my kids. So it's a balance, I'm learning.
Michael: 47:57
Yeah, balance it's hard to find somebody that treats it not just as a job too, right? Like it's not just clocking in and going through the motions and getting a paycheck, like it's a way of life that you have to believe in.
Alyssa: 48:15
Especially a store like ours. It's so niche that like you kind of have to want to be curious about it at least and learn. Like I've never not wanted to hire someone because they don't, they're not sustainable. It's that curiosity that I want, right, it's, if you care enough to learn that I like to see, because that was me.
Michael: 48:35
Yeah right.
Alyssa: 48:35
We all start there, but it's hard. And I just, I love the shop so much. I really do want to be there all the time.
Michael: 48:42
I bet. I mean, that's such a cool thing, like something that you actually look forward to doing and, yeah, just getting to know the customer. So you started in. Well, you started with an online shop, right? And then your first brick and mortar was in Ivanhoe row, so that's off of Orange Avenue, like near Lake Ivanhoe.
Alyssa: 49:03
Right across the street, it was the most beautiful view, that's. That's pretty much what sold me on the location, was that view? And I was like, oh my gosh, I could eat lunch and look at the lake and I'm just right by nature, and who wouldn't want that Right?
Michael: 49:16
You know, and such cool buildings there on the street. So how long were you in that space?
Alyssa: 49:23
We were there about a year and it quickly became too small. When we first saw the place, it was larger. It used to be Gentry's barbecue and the landlord took half of it for the next-door business, which was his wife's, and that cut a lot. And we're like, oh, it's fine, we're just starting out. And we're like, oh, no, we, we need more space and we did so many events that we just couldn't handle it in the shop. I mean, I think it was like 700 square feet or something like that. It was very small and just the parking. There was no parking there, so it was many factors that we're like okay, I think. I think we might have to look at, yeah what we're doing here, you know sure. And I'm so, so grateful that we found this location because we knew it would be a perfect fit. I mean, my husband and I are here all the time. We're always at East End, always at Gideon's. Arman House is one of my favorite things, you know. So we were just always in the neighborhood and we're like all right, it makes sense.
Michael: 50:25
Yeah, to be where we love. Yeah, and I mean you do you fit right in here? You've got some Orlando-themed Gifts and things too. I love seeing that.
Alyssa: 50:36
We carry a lot of local Orlando Makers. We have like Sandhill Supply, Chill Artistry. We have this really cool print by Steven Madow. I don't know if you've ever seen his like rocket photography but he has. It's over the Orlando Exploria Stadium and you just see Orlando with the rocket. And it's actually fun fact it's printed on agave paper using solar powered and the. Even the protective film is plant-based, so it's compostable. It's that little you know, those attention to detail in that care that you know, that was a fan girl moment too. You want to put my stuff? Oh my gosh. Yes. So cool but we really I love again because I want to be community space and if I can have hold the space for local makers and artists to be able to showcase their work, why not?
Michael: 51:25
Yeah, absolutely, especially when they are so like-minded and doing things responsibly. Yeah, I've never heard of somebody doing that with photography, with art, that way, it's really cool.
Alyssa: 51:38
Yeah, it's a great Christmas gift..wink-wink.
Michael: 51:42
And there's. There's a lot of events that are happening in the next couple of months in Audubon Park, so I just the the Shop Small Saturday, which happens after Black Friday, and that's when we should really be getting all of our shopping done. Yeah, right, you can. You can just go from shop to shop here. You don't necessarily need to drive if you live locally and just stock up on everything that you need, right?
Alyssa: 52:10
Don't be like me. I'm a procrastinator and it's like December 23rd and I'm like oh, oh no. Take advantage of Small Business Saturday. Your small businesses will thank you for it.
Michael: 52:21
Indeed, indeed, I mean, that is that's how we have the community that we have here too, right? It's very, very unique. We are almost entirely independent businesses in Audubon Park and you just don't find many neighborhoods that have that.
Alyssa: 52:37
I always say that Audubon is the most magical neighborhood here. Right, we're in Disney's backyard, right, the most magical place. But Audubon is where the magic is because of that, and you don't find that in many places and we have great neighborhoods, right. Ivanhoe has great stuff. Mills has a lot of great stuff. Like we have great neighborhoods here but there's just no one that does it like Audubon. It's really special.
Michael: 52:58
Yeah, I'm so glad you feel that way. We definitely feel that way as well, and I know you were living in Longwood. You were saying and you're working on making it over to the side of town.
Alyssa: 53:08
Trying our hardest. Yeah, we actually moved here, site unseen, we did not see our house. We saw it online and we had a realtor down here, but we had moved out to Long Island first, which is the suburbs of New York, and then COVID happened. And my grandmother has Parkinson's with dementia and we ended up being an hour away during COVID and that's when she started to decline. So we're like you know what she needs to be here. We have, basically all my family is here. I joke, we're Cuban. We just swam to Florida and then we just expanded, so we wanted to give her a better quality of life, for my young kids a better quality of life. I don't like the snow. So, we moved there just because it had the space that we needed, without really knowing and Longwood's a great area, but we're here all the time my son goes to school here. We're just always here. We're hoping to make that move soon.
Michael: 54:04
Yeah, well, anyway we can help. Let us know for sure, we know some people here too, so that can be helpful.
Alyssa: 54:12
Always. Oh yeah, absolutely. We're starting the process now, but it's a process.
Michael: 54:18
Of course, yeah. And you've got a lot on your plate already. So thinking about moving and looking for a place. It'll happen when it needs to happen; probably after the holidays, right?
Alyssa: 54:27
I'm just doing everyone's favorite pastime of just going on Zillow and looking at the box and just dreaming what it could be.
Michael: 54:35
I know it's hard to even wrap your head around what things cost right now, it's like these prices are artificially inflated and there's going to be a correction at some point, I'm sure, and you want to be on the right side of that.
Alyssa: 54:49
Of course, even when we moved down here because we moved when the whole wave of northerners were coming down I was like, oh gosh we’re one of them. But it was insane when we moved here. That's why we had to do the house sight unseen. We're just like yeah, this one. It worked because things were being snatched up left and right. And then I was pregnant when we were doing that and we were looking at all that stuff. I was three weeks postpartum when we moved and I actually ended up in the hospital for a month after we moved here. I ended up in the hospital with sepsis after giving birth. That was fun. So it was all that move, all that stuff, all that. Once I was like, yeah, so I'm not looking forward to even, it's like some PTSD with the moving, for sure, I just want to get done and be settled.
Michael: 55:36
That's so many changes and difficult things to deal with in one time when all you want to be is with your baby at that point, right? And you probably could not.
Alyssa: 55:46
It was very hard. That was the biggest motivator for opening the store because I almost died giving birth to my second. I had hemorrhaged, I had five blood transfusions. I ended up with sepsis again after that and I was working for a major bank and I was on disability and they fired me while on disability and I was like, okay, this can't be life, like I gave so much of my time, my life to this company for five years, to just be thrown at my lowest point and I was like, “you know what? I want to do something good. I want to feel fulfilled. I want to just make a positive impact and be able to be with my kids and also show my kids right. This is what we can do with our lives.” So that was really why we were just like “yeah, let's do it, let's open the store. Orlando doesn't have it. Let's be the ones to do it.”
Michael: 56:43
Yeah, wow. That's such an inspiring story when you realize that, especially these large corporations that there's no reason that they need to mistreat people in that way, and yet they get away with it left and right. And then you realize like, oh, if we're doing things on a micro level, we know how people are being treated and that's something that we can support and something we can get behind and should be. Don't put your money where people are being awful.
Alyssa: 57:22
And you know it’s a lot of those places. There's so many of those places.
Michael: 57:26
A lot of people don't want to think about those things, but not thinking about it doesn't change it. The change happens with what we actually do and who we support, and where we shop, where we go. So these are all things that will help alleviate some of that hurt that happens in the world and anytime we can get closer to repairing those things and being better, especially being a good example for your children. That's such a noble thing, that's such an important, absolutely.
Alyssa: 58:03
Yeah, and it's so beautiful to see with my kids too, because I see how much they're learning in this process. We've made so many connections like O-Town Compost. And now my four-year-old's like “no, mommy, this goes in the green bin”, like he knows what goes in the compost and he doesn't know the word.
Michael: 58:21
but he knows the action.
Alyssa: 58:24
He knows that bees are good for our plants and it gives us all these flowers and all this stuff. He knows these things and it's not me outright telling him. I noticed it's him watching what we're doing and being in the store and coming to the event and doing all these things and I'm just like wow, okay, like yeah, this is why I do it.
Michael: 58:42
Wow, it's like you know that you're already on your way to raising two good people, the best way that you know how.
Alyssa: 58:53
Isn't perfect, but yeah, of course. Yeah, we try.
Michael: 58:55
Yeah, I mean, all we can do is try. You know, there's no such thing as perfection.
Alyssa: 59:01
No such thing. That's why I always say progress over perfection.
Michael: 59:06
That's such a great motto. Don't feel defeated because you're not perfect either. You know, are you making progress?
Alyssa: 59:12
That's all we have to do. We have to try, like you said, we just gotta try.
Michael: 59:15
Just gotta try. Yeah, it's not that hard, well, I'm so excited about what you're doing. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. The website that people go to to find you, and the socials?
Alyssa: 59:28
Um, so the website is OH-ECOcom, our social is OhEcoOrlando. We're right here in Audubon Park, right on the Winter Park Road, and just you know, I just just say hi, you don't have to, you don't want to shop or you can't shop. Just come say hi.
Michael: 59:49
Yeah, you're gonna want to buy everything when you first go in there and you got to buy it all and you’ll have to reign it in because you can’t do that.
Alyssa: 59:56
I mean you could. Yeah, don't be shy about it, you know anything is possible.
Michael: 1:00:03
But yeah, I think, just finding, finding the little things that you know you can focus on, just changing one thing about your life and think about what that is and you know where to start and I'm always here to help.
Alyssa: 1:00:16
I always say you know, our DMs are always open. I handle everything. I'm the one on Instagram, so anytime people have any question about anything, it doesn't have to be Oh Eco related, just sustainability, whatever, just shoot me a message. I'm always happy to talk to people.
Michael: 1:00:31
That's so cool and people can bring their own containers to refill.
Alyssa: 1:00:34
Bring their own containers. Grab one of the free ones we have. We also. You know we sell ones too, but I don't even try to do that because there's so many jars in the world.
Michael: 1:00:43
Yes.
Alyssa: 1:00:44
But yeah, we have. I mean we try to have everything that you need: Hand soap, dish soap, we have like six laundry options, different body washes, cleaning supplies, shampoo, shower steamers. You know, we're just trying to have what people need.
Michael: 1:01:00
Yeah, I mean you make such good use of the space and, as you said, shelves are going to be going in, so there'll be even more inventory there soon and it's a lovely shop. I love what you're doing.
Alyssa: 1:01:12
Thank you so much. That means so much. You have no idea. You mean so much to me.
Michael: 1:01:17
Thank you. Thank you and welcome to the community.
Alyssa: 1:01:20
Thank you, indeed, we feel very, very welcomed. We're very grateful to be here.
Michael: 1:01:25
I'm so glad to hear that. All right, well, we'll see you around the neighborhood, please bye. Hello APGD, a neighborhood podcast is brought to you in part by Stardust Video and Coffee, Audubon Park's beloved neighborhood cafe, bakery, bar and meeting place, located at 1842 East Winter Park Road. Our theme song is by Christopher Pierce, and special thanks to Tre Hester for all his help in making this podcast a reality. We do hope you enjoyed this episode. If so, please click subscribe and leave a review, if you'd like. We'll see you next time.
