Mompreneur Spotlight: RefresH2Go

There is a new trend amongst many of my friends and colleagues- moms, doing the whole mom thing full time PLUS carving their own business out of the scraps of free time that they have. Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone, but I want to shed a little light into the world of mompreneurs in case you feel the desire to follow this path. I am starting a new series meant to inspire and educate other moms out there: The Mompreneur Spotlight. If you are interested in being featured, please feel free to contact me!

Has your kid ever taken a drink out of the drinking fountain and immediately spit it back out, declaring it “yucky?” Have you been stuck filling up your water bottle from the tap and it tastes like chlorine? I always try to drink more water, but a lot of the times the source available isn’t so…tasty. I recently reviewed the RefresH2Go water bottle and was incredibly surprised at the result. RefresH2Go is a reusable bottle which filters tap water from any drinking fountain or faucet that filters the water as you drink

RefresH2Go Products

I sat down with Lyndsay Palkon, VP of Sales & Operations for Lexi Group Inc, which created the RefresH2Go line. She is a mompreneur and mother of 2 girls (3 1/2 and 1 1/2), which means she is Busy but loving her business! Here is how she came to be a business owner and what it takes to make it as a mom and entrepreneur.

A Family Affair

RefresH2Go is truly a family owned and operated company. Lyndsay started the business with her brother-in-law (husband’s brother). Her husband had a background in water filtration, and Lyndsay learned the trade after traveling internationally with him. She realized how fortunate we are in the U.S. to have clean drinking water: other countries need very in-depth water filtration in order to get their water to drinkable quality.

She worked with her brother-in-law to create an alternative to disposable drinking plastic water bottles and combined the family knowledge of water filtration into the product. Her daughter was 3 weeks old when they incorporated to become Lexi Group Inc. Guess what her daughter’s name is? You got it! Her accountant actually picked the name since she is more on the technical side vs. creative side.

They eventually expanded their product line to include pitcher filter replacements and stand-alone straw filters (which fit into your favorite cup- genius!). They recently launched in stores such as Meijer, Walmart and Kmart and are launching seasonally in CVS and grocery chains. Their expansion plans include grocery stores, hardware stores and discount retailers such as Burlington Coat Factory.

Alison Ray and I at the Sassy Moms in the City Event that featured RefresH2Go bottles and straws (featured)

Being Mom and a Businesswoman

I asked her what the initial plans for the business were, since she had children in the middle of the process. She told me that they initially didn’t have a plan, which worked to her advantage. The development was more organic, and flexible in the initial stages during their growth. They now have more firm plans in place since they are expanding quickly.

For me, including my kids in my work is important- Lyndsay echoed this sentiment. She brought her daughter Lexi a pink bedazzled name tag from a trade show in Texas (because everything is blingy there!); it is one of her prized possessions. She explains to her daughters why mommy has to go to work- so they can afford all of the necessities and privileges they have in life (which includes princess dresses, of course!). She wishes to raise her daughters to be responsible, motivated individuals with good work ethic. Lyndsay, I say you are definitely on the right path!

Lyndsay and her two adorable girls

Check out her product line on the website here, as well as video reviews of RefresH2Go bottles on 30Second Mom! Here is mine, Bryson tries to hijack my review at the end 😉