Meet the Woman Behind Blueland, a Brand Dedicated to a Zero-Waste Lifestyle

Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who've made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode will give you a direct line to women who are game-changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and stay tuned.

A few weeks ago, our Instagram feeds were flooded with the new collaboration on the market: The Blueland x Reformation Routine Kit. The collaboration fused both brands’ ethos of eliminating single-use plastic packaging to create a collection that promotes a zero-waste lifestyle through products with a clean, modern aesthetic. Sarah Paiji Yoo, the CEO and Co-Founder of Blueland, founded the company to believe that we shouldn’t have to sacrifice a clean home for a clean planet. Yoo embarked on her single-use plastic journey when she became a new mother and learned about all of the harmful plastic that was an integral part of her—and her baby’s—daily routines. Thus, she became a part of the solution by designing innovative household products, like cleaners, soaps, and laundry detergents, in reusable packaging that are convenient and effective with a fresh design. Impressively, Blueland has raised over $3 million and saved more than 500 million plastic cleaning bottles from ending up in landfills in oceans. 

While Yoo has always been a serial entrepreneur passionate about sustainability and innovation, Blueland is not the only brand she has built. Prior to Blueland, Yoo was immersed in quite a different industry—fashion and retail. In 2013, Yoo was the CEO and Co-Founder of the largest mobile platform for local shopping Snapette, sold just two years after launch to leading e-commerce platform PriceGrabber. She then became a founding partner at LAUNCH, a platform that launched and consulted on new consumer brands, most notably luxury footwear line M.Gemi and clean beauty brand Follain. There’s no question that Yoo has an eye for innovation and the heart to create products that do good, and on this episode of Second Life, Yoo reveals how exactly she fused the two. 

Head to Apple Podcasts or Spotify to subscribe to Second Life and to listen to this new episode and hear how Yoo’s career has continuously evolved and how past endeavors have ultimately lead her to success.