Title:Alumni Spotlight: Lee Flanagan (C’90), Founder of Pure Sage

Please introduce yourself.

I’m Lee Flanagan, founder of Pure Sage, and a 1990 Georgetown College graduate. I was an economics major with a minor in psychology which I enjoyed, but I also took some business school courses my junior and senior year, which I really loved. I founded Pure Sage three years ago. We make beautiful, reusable totes out of recycled plastic bottles. It’s been all of the things that a new business is–exciting, hopeful, demoralizing, and frustrating, sometimes all on the same day. It has been great, and I have been plugging away at it every day. I sell the totes on my website, on Amazon, and, wholesale. I mostly sell into individual boutiques, but I’m working on getting into some larger accounts now.

Was there any specific aspect of your time at Georgetown that influenced you to pursue entrepreneurship?

Taking the business classes at Georgetown–finance, accounting, marketing, and public speaking definitely influenced me. I wonder if I had to do it over again, would I have applied to the business school? At the same time, being in the College and having the core curriculum with English and philosophy classes shaped my journey to entrepreneurship. I also learned a lot from my friends, books, discussions, and faculty. The amazing education I was offered, and the chance to learn who I was and who I hoped to be in the future came alive at Georgetown. I got a master’s in public administration from Columbia, and I took a class at Columbia Business School in Social Entrepreneurship. I remember saying, if I could be anything, I would just be a social entrepreneur and start my own business. And it took me a lot of years to do that, but I think that classes like social entrepreneurship and my experience at Georgetown was something that was formative for me.

Why is Pure Sage’s mission of supporting female entrepreneurship so important to you?

I am a third-generation female in a manufacturing company–my grandparents started a family business in 1945 manufacturing surgical needles. Not hypodermics, but the small, rounded needles that you attach to sutures and sew a person up. My mother was an only child, and both her and my dad joined the business. They grew that company across the U.S. and the world, including customers in 35 different countries. When my sister and I joined, we were the third generation of women in a manufacturing company, which was unusual then, and I think would be unusual now.

Doing work in the nonprofit space, I saw how investing in female entrepreneurship can break a cycle of poverty, and it’s such an investment in the future. I’ve been investing in this charity called the Butterfly Tree for over 15 years. It started as an orphan sponsorship program in Zambia. I helped them launch this vegetable growing project, and there are 3 of them. The women sell their products into the hotels at Victoria Falls, which attracts a lot of tourists, and it’s been incredible. Women tend to invest back in their family and help them grow in terms of education and health, and a lot of these women have taken in the elderly in their community. I think that’s why it is so meaningful to me, because you see how the ripple effect and how important it can be when women have that independence, ability to earn income, and to provide for their families.

What does a day in your life look like?

I love that question, because there’s no such thing. Some days it’s sitting at my computer for long days reaching out to people, working on my website, or working on marketing. It can also be on the floor setting up for a trade show, or days of packing pure sage totes into mailers. I recently did a Today Show Steals and Deals, and I got 1,800 orders in 36 hours. I packed a lot of those myself, in addition to my fulfillment center that’s owned by two women in Albany. I don’t think there’s ever two days that are the same.

What is the hardest part of your job?

The hardest part of my job is getting the word out about Pure Sage, and finding decision makers in companies that could help to get the word out. I have this amazing product that I love, and people say all the time, “oh my god, I love that bag,” or “I use that bag all the time. It’s like the one thing I never knew I needed!” One of the best things about the job is when you get that kind of feedback. Marketing has been a really challenging piece as it’s a very crowded market and I am navigating online and Meta ads. At the same time, I just keep plugging away because when you sign up to do this, it means a lot of putting one foot in front of the other, slowly but surely, you get there.

What is the most fulfilling part of your job?

I think the most fulfilling part of my job is making a product that is good for the world and helps people–there is real satisfaction in that. I was in my early twenties when I started working at my family’s manufacturing plant, and when my parents passed away, I took over as president of the company. I didn’t want to just make anything–I wanted to work for a mission-based for-profit company that made products that were good for people and the planet. Back then, we employed over 150 refugees, largely from Ukraine and Laos, and we offered English classes. The ability to provide these offerings as an entrepreneur alongside making a product that was important for the world was such a fulfilling part of being in the family business.

When I speak to the Butterfly Tree Charity and they talk about the work of the women in the vegetable growing project, that is something that sticks with me on the harder days–it’s bigger than me. My community has encouraged me to share more outwardly about my philanthropy with this organization, but I grew up in a family where my parents philanthropic endeavors were more private. Publicizing this work would be a change for me, but it is certainly a fulfilling part of my life.

Is there anything you wish more people knew about your industry?

I wish people knew how little we recycle. Less than 10% of plastic gets recycled, and I wish people knew how long those plastic bags take to decompose–some sources say it may take over 100 years. Of the 10% of plastic that is recycled, even less gets turned into a new product. On average, Americans use one plastic bag a day, and in Europe, they use on average four in a year. A friend of mine just got back from Japan and she told me that there are no bags in any stores, everyone has one of their own at all times. It can be frustrating, but also hopeful that we just have one way to go. People want to do better for the planet. People wish to do better, and it’s like with plastic bottles. I think reusable water bottles are a great example of a change in behavior, and I hope that Americans are willing to do the same with reusable bags. People are always saying “Oh, I have so many reusable bags,” but will forget to take them to the store or leave them in their car. But I’m hopeful that individuals in the country will start to make a change in their behavior to incorporate more reusable bags in their routines.

How does Georgetown continue to support you as an alumna?

The Georgetown Women’s Forum is really an amazing event. I attended two years ago, and it was so great. They had a cocktail party, and if you had a product, you could sell your product next to other Georgetown alumnus. I went and did that, and I was nervous about it that day, and I had forgotten how amazing Georgetown alums are, and how everybody’s your greatest cheerleader. It was really wonderful to connect with so many people.The Georgetown Women’s Forum is a wonderful way to continue to support women, so I’m definitely looking forward to going to that again.

Finally, what is one piece of advice you would give to any Georgetown student who might be interested in entrepreneurship?

I would say to really try to understand your industry and what your value proposition is for your product or service–how is it better? I would also encourage students to understand how you are going to market yourself and get the word out. Throughout the entrepreneurial process you can question yourself and talk yourself into starting tomorrow.

At some point, you have to quiet your doubts, fears, and just take the leap to start today. You are never going to know it all, and you can learn along the way.

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