Roots of Renewal

Behind a counter in the corner of the picturesque shop, Nikole Bari ushered me through the door and introduced herself and her son, who sat quietly working on his homework while his mom showed me around the shop.  
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Bari is the owner and operator of The Source Zero, a zero-waste boutique and soap refillery in Berthoud, Colorado, a small town 20 miles south of Fort Collins. Having grown up in a town west of Cleveland, Ohio, Bari moved to Fort Collins and attended Colorado State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science.

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After graduating with her degree, Bari made a direct career move into the senior living industry working as a life enrichment director. However, after the pandemic and the increased stress it brought to medical facilities and front-line workers, she began looking for a change.

“I really wanted to work with climate change and something that had a sustainability factor,” Bari said.

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A phone call with her best friend in California was all it took to get the wheels turning. Bari’s friend had taken an interest in the bulk granola filling stations at a local grocery story, which prompted her to ask why the same thing had not yet been done with beauty, body, and household products.

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From there, Bari’s best friend went on to open a soap refillery shop in San Jose, California, the first of its kind. The move inspired Bari to do the same, initially setting up shop at the Fort Collins Farmers Market.

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“I brought this company to the farmers markets in about 2019, and then I was looking for storefronts and this storefront popped up,” Bari said. “I was one of 26 applicants, and it was just kind of a unique business.”

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Even after marketing her business within the Fort Collins area and securing her storefront, Bari still had a lot to learn about being a business owner and creating a desirable product. Establishing a consistent customer base proved harder than Bari initially expected.

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“When I first started, I went door to door and was really excited to have a big open house with all the small business owners, and nobody came because there was no communication,” Bari said with a chuckle. “But now, two, three years later, there is a small business association who is working together and creating that communication, which creates that community.”

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Beyond building her reputation in town, Bari was learning that making quality, handmade products took time, research and money, much of which would be spent on trial-and-error.

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“I’ve tried to stay as consistent as possible, but I’m gonna be honest, I will go back to my great grandmother’s roots and make recipes out of my head and I’m just gonna throw things together,” Bari said. “It took me a while to figure out how to make bath bombs. My bath bombs kept failing, and instead of just letting it fail, I just added episome salts and turned it into a bath soak.”

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As Bari walked me through her daily workflow, we were joined by a few of my roommates, who had made the trip to Berthoud alongside me. Jack Markel, a sophomore at CSU, was particularly interested in Bari’s business, as he is currently studying Ecosystem Science and Sustainability.

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“I haven’t heard of something like this before, so I find it really encouraging that there’s businesses that exist that are trying to normalize reducing waste,” Markel said.

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As they browsed each colorful shelf, Bari explained what each unique product had to offer, from fresh-smelling laundry soaps to silicone pop-out candle jars and their accompanying wax inserts of all different shapes and sizes.

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“There is such a variety of product here, it’s pretty much anything you’d ever need for your home and it’s all done in a sustainable manner,” said Catherine Shapard, another second-year student at CSU studying Ecosystem Science and Sustainability. “I think if people gave it a chance, they’d be pleasantly surprised, not only with the quality but also the cost.”

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Though Bari encountered her fair share of bumps in the road on the way to starting her business, she believes that all the various avenues she took before entrepreneurship heavily contributed to her success.

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“I have lots of certificates, and associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees.  I’ve done sales, I’ve done promotions, so all of the work, all of the experiences over these last 30 years have molded me to be an amazing entrepreneur and business owner.”