Nada Creator:
Taryn Jacob is an entrepreneur with a cause. She and friends started their business, Nada Bottle, to raise money to bring clean water to people in need. She’s doing that by giving travelers and outdoors people an innovative collapsible container to carry water on their ventures.
Taryn, now 27, has itched to travel since she was a Kansas youngster with a huge map of Africa on her wall. So she used her jobs to see the world: via plane as a flight attendant, and by train as a backstage technician for the Ringling Brothers circus. She learned to travel on her own “on the smallest budget possible,” sometimes backpacking internationally for three months at a time. Almost everywhere, she found clean water was an issue. “One of the leading causes of death in the world is bad water,” she said.
Years later in Crested Butte, after her dog had chewed up a fourth Platypus water bottle she started imagining the next generation of collapsible water containers. With the help of her friends, she began working on designs and materials. After some kitchen experiments with nylon sheets and an iron, they came up with a tough (dog-resistant), lightweight prototype. Andrew McKee, the designer, honed in on a military-grade Cordura nylon exterior and a lid attached by a “survival strap” — a paracord (used in parachuting) that can be unraveled to a long, multi-purpose cord. The nylon cover protects the BPA-free plastic liner from damage by the sun. The nylon also works well for screen-printing designs, team mascots and logos.
Focused on the global need for clean water, Taryn insisted that Nada Bottle be “more of a social mission.” The company committed that for each water bottle sold, it would donate a water filter to a disadvantaged community.
With a product and a mission, the friends tackled fundraising, outreach and preliminary manufacturing research. Via Kickstarter they raised $30,000 and got orders for 1500 water bottles. But the next hurdle loomed huge.
“We were so naïve about the manufacturing,” Taryn said. The type of nylon they wanted wasn’t being made or sewn in the U.S., so they resorted to a Chinese manufacturer. Next they discovered the minimum order for the product they wanted was a whopping 16,000 bottles, which required renewed fundraising and additional debt. Then came communication issues, hassles and delays.
Focused on the global need for clean water, Taryn insisted that Nada Bottle be “more of a social mission.” The company committed that for each water bottle sold, it would donate a water filter to a disadvantaged community.
Even with frustrations and delays in getting a marketable product, Taryn has ambitions for Nada Bottle. Within a few years she hopes the business will be large and solid enough to diversify its containers, offering various designs, sizes and features like water filter attachments. “We’re still in the seed stage, but we’re about to take off,” she said.
It’s been a long path from studying the map of Africa on her wall as a child to knowing she’s helping some people there drink safe, healthy water.
“To keep going, I have to remember why I’m doing this: for clean water,” Taryn said. “To accomplish that, I have to have a good product and a successful business.”
