Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Nilan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Mike. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started TreeZero about eight years ago. I wanted to create a business that had a higher purpose. I knew sustainability was important to me, my family and my closest friends. So, I created a company that manufactures a 100% tree-free carbon neutral paper. TreeZero is the only tree-free carbon neutral paper company in the world.
My ah-ha moment happened when I was traveling abroad and saw a company making paper plates, cups and trays out of sugarcane. I thought it would be really cool to introduce a tree-free paper to North America and ultimately to Europe and beyond. You can have a lot of ah-ha moments, but if you don’t follow through it doesn’t matter. I followed through and I stuck to this one!
Has it been a smooth road?
No, no start-up has a smooth road, there’s been a tremendous amount of accomplishments, but we have overcome a tremendous number of obstacles.
Getting national distribution was the hardest obstacle. But we made it happen, that was a big day! We now have National Distribution with Office Depot and we are in all 1900 FedEx Office stores.
Another important obstacle was breaking through with awareness because most people have never heard of a tree-free paper. We really had to focus on educating and communicating our message. We are creating a revolution in the paper.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the TreeZero story. Tell us more about the business.
I’m the founder and CEO of the company and I’m known to be the visionary of the company. For example, we started off by introducing tree-free copy paper because that was the highest volume/highest velocity paper to commercialize in North America and we wanted to introduce our brand with the copy paper.
Today, we have plans to introduce hundreds of new products under the TreeZero brand including notebooks, composition books, legal pads and envelopes as well as food service items like paper plates, cups, napkins, etc.
I’m most proud of the people that work with me. I believe that business is all about people and I’ve got the finest that surround me.
What sets us apart from the rest is innovation. We have the most sustainable paper on earth.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Our industry is actually in decline, however, recycled paper and agro-fiber paper like TreeZero is a growing segment, this plays to our advantage. People are very sensitive about recycled paper or tree-based paper.
One of our shifts is getting people to understand how much better we are for the environment. We are going to change the way they think about paper, that’s our ultimate goal
Pricing:
- On sale at FedEx office for $5.99 a ream through June 30th.
- Find us online at Zuma office supply, Artlite and Office Depot
Contact Info:
- Address: 4401 Northside Pkwy NW #390, Atlanta GA 30327
- Website: www.treezero.com
- Phone: 404-949-3255
- Email: mike.nilan@treezero.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreeZeroPaper/
- Twitter: @TreeZeroPaper
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/treezero-paper-llc-/
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