Concordia Magazine

Socially Conscious Siblings

By Emily Clemenson

What does it take to make a person care about sustainability? For Heather McDougall ’06 and her brother, John, it might start with a toothbrush.

Heather McDougall is co-founder and CEO of Bogobrush, a startup that makes biodegradable, ergonomic, environmentally friendly toothbrushes with a buy one, give one business model.

Bogobrush is made with a bamboo handle and nylon bristles. When the brush is ready to be replaced, pull the bristles out and let the handle biodegrade in your backyard.

“A toothbrush is something you use every morning and every night,” McDougall says. “If we could get environmental and social awareness into a product like this, people’s decision making would start to evolve.”

The buy one, give one model isn’t new, and Bogobrush has made contacts with give partners in select cities across the country. The goal, McDougall says, is to give a Bogobrush back to the community in which one is purchased. The company has partnered with dental offices and healthcare centers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., Detroit, Atlanta and Fargo, N.D., to give brushes to people who need them.

“When you have good things, you feel better about yourself,” McDougall says. “We feel like we’re helping in a small way to create confidence.”

McDougall says that as a community embraces Bogobrush, the company will try to find a give partner in that area.

Being the CEO of a startup wasn’t the career path that McDougall had planned for herself. She majored in political science and communication with a concentration in public relations, but her big takeaway from Concordia was the importance of the liberal arts.

“A liberal arts education is really valuable – you don’t just go to school to get a job. There is much more to education than that,” McDougall says. “It empowers you to think.”

After graduating from Concordia, she earned a law degree but realized that practicing law wasn’t her passion. However, law school still provided an excellent opportunity to refine her thinking and problem-solving skills, so in 2010 she and her brother started a think tank called Share Project where they gathered people from all walks of life to try and make things better. Initially, there was no specific idea in mind; they were simply trying to improve “things.” Anything. All things.

And from Share Project, the idea of Bogobrush was created.

John McDougall, an award-winning designer, is responsible for the sleek, minimalist look of the toothbrush handle. You won’t find any flashy grippers or showy shapes to this brush – only a smooth cylinder, comfortable in either hand throughout the whole tooth-brushing experience.

The intention, as explained by the Bogobrush production manager on the company’s blog, is that if the experience is pleasant enough, you’ll want to spend a few extra moments brushing your teeth just to continue using the product. And that is the first step toward better hygiene.

Heather McDougall says she certainly faces challenges as a CEO and a young entrepreneur; she has learned the importance of balance, trying to maintain a strong, high-level strategic vision while simultaneously completing tasks at the micro level. Not only does she network with people, share the Bogobrush story and find collaborators, but she has some huge plans for the product in the next few years.

One goal is for the company to invest in building gardens at refugee shelters. The reason, McDougall says, is that when refugees come to the U.S. they would have the opportunity to grow familiar food rather than defaulting to sugary food that is commonplace in the United States. Sugary food, obviously, has a negative effect on one’s oral health.

In the last several months, Bogobrush has received national and international media coverage. The product has been featured on many websites and in publications, including Real Simple, Organic Spa, The Huffington Post, designboom and celebrity Heidi Klum’s blog.

“Bogobrush is very much a collaboration,” she says. “It’s more of a tool to create community and promote sustainability than it is a toothbrush.”

Photo: Gia Rassier

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