I have been an entrepreneur all my life, before I had even heard that word or knew its meaning. Each time a challenge presented itself, I invented-created-imagined-designed a plan to solve it. When I taught school there was never enough money for any extras. You can bet I became a champion grant writer, creating an entrepreneurial sort of classroom. Lately I have been developing the Blue Life Journal for Kids and a curriculum to engage and empower the next generation of ocean stewards.

A weird thing happened about 8 years ago when I started this Elder SUP blog – in a way it has been an entrepreneurial adventure. Better – it has been a way to meet amazing people. That experience led me to coin the term “SUPrepreneur.” I plan to share a series of stories of people active and influential in the world of SUP that features their “not quitting my day job” foray into developing their small business direction.

Meet Jamie Uttley

I am very fortunate to be connected with Starboard and their North American distributors, Trident Sports.  Through that connection I met a cool, hard-working, innovative woman – Jamie Uttley. She recently posted on Facebook a call for all of us to support each other as we start our small businesses. I DEFINITELY want to support her business. It’s small, really new and right up my alley.

Jamie sells Pure Copper Water Bottles and Copper Straws both Retail and Wholesale. In her own words she explains, “I got my wholesale experience from my job at Trident, which I am grateful for every day! My website is www.coastcopper.com (or www.coastcopper.ca)” Check it out, you will LOVE her products.

There’s a bit of a story behind the bottles. Jamie explains, ” My husband’s mom is a Yoga/Ayurveda Therapist of 30+ years and she is often going to India to teach and travel. Last March, she brought us each a copper bottle and the rest is history!

Not only are they stylish and they are believed to offer certain health benefits based on Ancient Ayurveda. That’s a great value in itself. But, as plastic bottles clog beaches and ocean gyres all over the globe, a reusable bottle is a gift to the ocean.  A reusable bottle eliminates the need for plastic/disposable bottles.

Our products at Coast Copper are sold to pretty much 3 demographics –

• People who are interested in Ayurveda and Wellness,
• People who think they look cool (they do!) and lastly and my favourite
• The people who are looking for a sweet way to reduce their daily use of plastics.

Through my years at Trident I’ve learned so much about ocean conservancy and the issues our environment is currently facing. That is the beauty of the watersports industry – there is so much more than what appears on the surface. Literally and figuratively!”

A beautiful and easy solution to the problem of plastic straws!  Jamie has this to say about her copper straws. “After seeing video after video and email after email from Svein Rasmussen (Founder of Starboard) and my colleagues about the condition of the ocean, it was easy to change my habits.  I’ve always been pretty good but there was room for improvement. Being the type of person that I am, I feel like I need to do what I can to spread the message of reducing our habit of single use plastic. I have no problem now suggesting a restaurant carry paper or no straws – or giving a bartender a hard time for giving me a straw after I have requested not to have one. Straws are simply a habit – and straws are one of the most prevalent beach plastic polluter.

I often post on social media and now with my business I have another avenue to share with people the importance of reduction of our single use plastic habit.”