Sustainably Stylish: Gabrielle Buckley by Victoria Myers

Gabrielle Buckley, founder and owner of Fill More Waste Less

Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot. These are the “5 Rs” that make up the basic rules of a zero-waste lifestyle. Refusing things that you don’t need, reducing consumption, reusing what you have, recycling responsibly and letting things rot as compost. Zero waste is a lifestyle and mindset to reduce the amount of waste in the world. A concept appealing to those environmentally conscious and looking for ways to reduce the negative impact they have on the Earth. This idea grasped Cincinnati local Gabrielle Buckley and set her on a path to becoming the owner of a local black-owned, women-owned sustainability business, Fill More Waste Less.

Gabrielle launched her small business to provide her community with a local shop to buy sustainable products, compost, and refill household products without the waste of packaging. Gabrielle grew as a person and business owner by opening her small business and seeking to help others during struggles in her own life.

From a young age, Gabrielle had a helping mindset. In the first grade, her mother Rochelle Buckley was a teacher’s aide in her daughter’s classroom, one day she looked up to find Gabrielle helping other students with their work and forgetting to do her own. Gabrielle says she was raised in a family that valued doing the right thing. “Once you know better, doing better.”, she said.

She went to college for healthcare and nursing and became a mental health nurse after graduating spending time working at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital with young mental health patients.

She attributes her desire to help others and her community-centered mindset to her religious upbringing and the values her parents instilled in her at a young age. Gabrielle began transitioning from religion to the more abstract idea of spirituality in her young adult life, in search of ideals that aligned better with her perception of life. At the heart of her journey was the idea of caring and love towards others.

Gabrielle discovered the zero-waste lifestyle in 2018 and began doing her research on sustainability, trying to find local resources on the topic. “I quickly realized there was not a lot for living sustainably in the U.S.” She explained “Being the problem-solving gal that I am, I started looking for solutions to that problem.” She spent weeks exploring zero-waste practices in Canada, Europe, and Australia. Learning more about the lifestyle fueled her passion for the topic “I was excited, people are doing zero waste in different ways and offering different solutions to problems, that is something I have always loved to do.” it was during this time Gabrielle began exploring the idea of bringing a zero-waste business to Cincinnati.

It would take a year of careful planning and late-night research before Gabrielle’s zero- waste business would emerge. During that year she continued working as a mental health nurse at Cincinnati Children’s, making her rounds, then sitting down to plan her shop while the children slept quietly. She took her idea to her mother Rochelle Buckle, offering for her to be a part of the new business and invest. Rochelle had little knowledge about what a no-waste business would look like, but in the coming weeks she took trips to both San Francisco and Nashville, it was there that she was able to visit other no-waste and refillery businesses. “I caught the vision of what Gabrielle’s business could be.” She said. Rochelle became an investor and business partner with Gabrielle and in December of 2018 Fill More Waste Less had its first pop- up in local small business Greenfarm Juicery.

The first pop-up was small and simple containing core items for those looking to incorporate less waste into their life. A line of bottles lined the table filled with things like hand soap, dish soap and laundry detergent. The bottle could dispense the household liquids into any container a customer wanted to use again instead of throwing away. Gabrielle had spent the weeks and days leading up to the pop-up promoting herself and the business online through social media outlets. “I was so nervous that no one was even going to show up.”

A total of six customers bought zero waste products from FMWL that day, but for Gabrielle that was a success “I realized quickly that people were interested.”. For her, it was the first moment she realized she could make her business a success, that day she got a glimpse at what running FMWL could be. She was excited, she was ready.

In the following year Fill More Waste Less did many rewarding pop-ups around the city and Gabrielle knew it was time for a brick-and-mortar location for her passion to call home. She had been living in the Madisonville area for several years and had a strong love for the community there. “They were people who were kind, they were people that wanted to see good in the world.” Inspired by the people, she opened her first shop in the area. Local business owners would help guide and mentor her through the early days of her business.

In her young adult life, she had struggled with the narrative that had been placed on her as the ideal path for her life. The standard idea of going to college, getting a degree, getting a job, and doing that job for years didn’t feel right to her. She went to college for nursing so she could help others while also making good money right out of college but as time went on, she knew her career wouldn’t fit in the long term, she wanted something different.

Fill More Waste Less opened its concrete location in January 2020, a bright space with shelves and tables filled with reusable products of refillable household items.

While the community and other business owners were more than supportive of FMWL the location proved to cause a strain on the shop. The Madisonville area at the time was not considered a walkable area, the customer base was primarily those seeking out the zero-waste business specifically.

When Gabrielle found the space for her shop, it needed heavy renovations, she took out a loan to make the space into the vision she had for her shop, simple and functional despite only renting the space “At the time I wasn’t considering that it was not my building, but it was an investment that went into the community, and I love that.”. She was satisfied to leave the space better than she found it, leaving the location for something more financially suitable. She had no idea where the business would land, causing her stress and emotional exhaustion.

The small business owner considers herself aware of her mental health, acknowledging it and doing what she can to stay healthy in that regard, like any other health issue a person might have. “A big part of mental health is just understanding it is okay to be mentally unwell.”. Her mental health awareness was established through the time she spent as a mental health nurse, guiding her through the daily challenges she encounters.

When Gabrielle began her business with the support of her husband, she didn’t imagine that she would eventually be without it. As a business partner and mother, Rochelle saw the ups and downs her daughter faced over the years. “I know it has been hard and I have seen her, even through the difficulties of thinking she was going to be a business owner with a spouse and then learning she was going to be doing it solo, I have seen her growing through that emotional trauma.”

With the support of family, a business partner, and other local shop owners, Gabrielle still struggled with feeling pressure to do everything herself. “You think you can do anything, Until you can’t ”, a realization she said came with age, but is still something she hasn’t fully implemented in her life..

“I can’t speak for other business owners, but for me, I got into a mode of I have to do everything on my own.”. Relying on help is not an appealing idea to her but she works to acknowledge getting help from others is important, “Everyone is deserving of help.”.

Facing many of her own self-limiting beliefs being a woman in business but also a black woman business, Gabrielle was faced with pushback from black voices in her family and friend circles. “There is an extra layer of struggle of being a black person operating in the world, much less being a black business owner as well.” Some didn’t think she could accomplish what she was setting out to do because of her identity as a black woman. “There was a lot of self-limiting beliefs, a lot of black people who said, you can’t do that.”, overcoming these ideas became empowering for her. “To believe that you can do something like [open a business], it is meaningful to black girls.”

During the struggles with her personal life, Gabrielle had difficulties staying present in her business, doing her best to continue to show up for her community and run her shop. Under the pressures of being a first-time business owner, a global pandemic, divorce, and life responsibilities she powered through. Meeting with her therapist regularly was a large part of Gabrielle’s self-care and health. Also, reading books like “You are Badass.” and “Untethered Soul.” to help her grow with her changing presence in life.

She found support in an unconventional place. For some, TikTok is a superficial app for doom-scrolling and dancing teens, but Gabrielle found a useful place for it in her own life “I got intentional about healing, there are lots of creators that talk about mental health and breaking down your own limiting beliefs.”, TikTok became another aspect of community for her.

The community led Gabrielle to her beginning as a local business owner, inspired by people she saw doing what she had a strong passion for. At the start of FMWL Gabrielle found inspiration in local business owner Megan Strasser, owner of a houseplant and design shop, Fern. “I think small businesses make up the fabric of our communities.”, Strasser said. She gave Gabrielle a free space for her to pop up with FMWL during the early days, one small business taking another under its wing. “I’m super passionate about small business, that’s why Fern exists. It is why we do the markets the way we do and why we don’t charge them. Small businesses support each other.”

After a few short years in Madisonville, Gabrielle has to make a choice in the best interest of the business, to temporarily close her shop, and in mid-2023 the shop closed with no idea where it would be next. With no secure next step, it was a stressful and frightening time for Gabrielle, but she buckled down and kept a positive mindset about her situation. “I have to be able to be adaptive and keep my sanity while everything outside my control is happening.”

It wasn’t too long after FMWL temporarily closed before Gabrielle was approached by a representative of Findley Market, offering her a space in the well-traveled area, amongst other local businesses. “I couldn’t refuse,” she said.

Today, Fill More Waste Less is open and operating at 1813 Elm Street Cincinnati, Ohio. Gabrielle is thrilled to have the doors to her business open once again serving the community. “I’m looking forward to finding ways to connect with people more and not just on a transactional level.”

Being a small business owner has changed Gabrielle Buckley’s life in many ways over the last four years. Growing as a person, her infectious calming aura can be attributed to her tremendous efforts to keep showing up for herself and her community. “I’m proud of her”, Rochelle said.

Gabrielle hopes to inspire others who want to become small business owners and help the community in the same way that she herself was inspired and supported. “I always love to empower people. If you want to do it, there is a reason you want to do it, don’t count yourself short.”

You can learn more about Fill More Waste Less on their website here