Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1137964
W hen Dallas entre- p r e n e u r S u z y B a t i z l a u n c h e d Supernatural in October, it sold out on Goop.com in less than two hours. The line of nontoxic essential-oil and plant-based home-cleaning products has been a hit ever since its Gwyneth Paltrow stamp of approval — if not for the gorgeous, aroma-therapeutic scents, then for their actual effectiveness when it comes to cleaning. Prior to launching Supernatural, Batiz was best known as the founder of Poo-Pourri, the all-natural spray used for eliminating toilet odors, which she debuted in 2007. Post Poo-Pourri success, Batiz found herself in a unique position as a successful entrepreneur. She began investing in myriad companies, several of which failed. "I was running towards any idea and trying to grasp onto something — and not for the right reasons," she says. "After my second bankruptcy, I learned to focus on the things that turned me on and make me happy. Make sure the idea is passionate and alive inside of you, because that's what's going to give you the energy to continue on." What was brewing in Batiz was a mission toward detox. "Our world is toxic," she says. "And we have to pay attention. We have to detox everything we have. I believe switching cleaning products is an easy step." And so, Supernatural was born — not out of fi nancial motivation, she says, but from a personal passion to eliminate chemicals from our daily routines and break unsustainable and unhealthy behavior. "My mom died of MDS a few years ago, and it turned into leukemia," she says. "Doctors believe it was caused by chemical exposure. It was traumatizing to me to see my mother die of something that could have been prevented." Batiz began investigating the industry and soon recognized a gap: Few brands, if any, were making sustainable products that were concentrate based. Supernatural fi lls the void, with its pack of four glass spray bottles and four essential-oil-based concentrates — each formulated for a specifi c area of cleaning, from wood and fl oors to counters and granite. "I put a lot of restraints on the brand," says Batiz of the two-year production process that went into creating Supernatural. "I wanted to make sure it was not only natural, but also as effective as the chemicals we usually use. It had to have a low-carbon footprint. It had to be beautiful. It had to be super sustainable. It had to be easy to ship." The list goes on, but when the Starter Pack box ($75) of Supernatural arrives at your door, the attention to detail is evident, from the mandala-inspired logo to the design of the 100 percent recycled and recyclable cardboard packaging. From there, the process is simple: Empty the concentrates into their respective bottles, add fi ltered water, and clean. Last month, Supernatural debuted a line of four essential oil blends for personal aromatherapy and diffusing — yet another way Batiz intends to clean up our homes. Diffused essential oils are often used as home-fragrance replacements for candles, which typically contain and emit harsh chemicals that pollute our indoor spaces. As for the future, it's simple: "We could get into an existential wormhole, here," Batiz says, "but I do believe we are naturally evolving, and there is something in our force that knows we are killing ourselves and have to make a change … There's an evolutionary wake-up call in all of us. Any way that we can continue to break patterns and be disruptive and challenging, that's what I want to be involved in. Pattern- breaking behavior." 38 SUPER VISION Suzy Batiz BY CHRISTINA GEYER