The Future is Green: Krystell Theisen Escobar Of Eco Chico Kid’s Resale Boutique on Their Top Strategies for a Cleaner Planet
An Interview With Martita Mestey
EDUCATING THE YOUTH: I cannot express how important it is to educate our kids about resources and the impact of waste. This is something I started with my kids when they were tiny. If you teach early, they make better choices. Hands-on lessons about recycling, energy conservation and sustainable habits will help them take ownership as they grow. One example is decluttering closets. Kids collect so many toys and items that, before we know it, their closets and toy boxes are overflowing. Sift through items that are not played with or have outgrown and donate them, and now you have a cleaner space in your home. It only takes one generation to transform our habits as a society.
As we face an unprecedented environmental crisis, the need for sustainable solutions has never been more urgent. This series seeks to spotlight the innovative minds and passionate advocates who are leading the charge in environmental conservation and sustainable practices. We aim to explore the most effective strategies, breakthrough technologies, and transformative policies that are shaping a more sustainable future for our planet. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Krystell Theisen Escobar.
Krystell Theisen Escobar is a mom, wife and entrepreneur who leads her life with purpose and heart.
She founded Eco Chico Kid’s Resale Boutique in 2023 with a passion for supporting parents and educating kids about the importance of reuse and sustainability.
Guided by her values of family, personal responsibility and stewardship of the environment, her vision is a world where reuse and local exchange are ubiquitous among parents.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
I was born in Villahermosa, Mexico, and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of seven, first spending one year in Brownsville, Texas, and then relocating to Minnesota. In Brownsville, my mom worked for an aunt who had two warehouses and sold second-hand clothing by the pound. My mom ran one of the stores, and I would often run up and down the 12-foot mountains of jeans there on Saturdays. I can remember the smell like it was yesterday. At that time, Mexican and American children were still separated for half of the school day.
Eventually, we moved, and I was educated mostly in Minnesota while also spending summers with my grandparents on their small plantation in my tropical home region in the southern Gulf of Mexico. In sharp contrast with the American life I was adopting, my grandparents lived in harmony with nature. They taught me a lot about the land and helped me understand the importance of our Earth and everything it provides for us.
Ever since I can remember, there has been a longing in me to share the message that sustainable living is possible and more joyful than consumeristic living. Now in my adult life and my chosen home of Minnesota, I’ve taken many steps to make that happen, gaining experience in management, business planning and financial development. As I raised my three boys, I saw a great need for a reinvented second-hand experience for moms who love buying used and those considering it for the first time. Eco Chico was born in 2023, allowing me to use my talents to help parents and families of the next generation, while also making a difference for our planet and our budgets.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
In the early 2000s, I attended the University of Minnesota and did an exchange management program with various fashion companies in Milan, Italy. It was a fabulous and rewarding experience that I will never forget, but I must say that at the time, I didn’t understand why I had chosen that program. The debate at Università Bocconi was about the rise of fast fashion. I had just spent six years studying French, and every wall in my bedroom had an Eiffel Tower, but at the last minute, I didn’t go with my long-planned semester in Paris, but chose Milan instead.
There were so many lessons from those experiences, but one big one is that everything we do matters. What you are doing right now, whether at the level or below what you would like to be doing, do it with great care, and it will help you get where you want to be. Be open to following your intuition into new places and creating new things by adding your unique perspective.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
1. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY: As leaders, we have to lead with intention, not materialistic things. This has also helped me keep my team lean but highly productive since self-funding my startup. We are motivated by so much more than mere numbers and financial performance goals.
As a mother, I teach my kids how things are made and how the Earth is impacted when we consume. I hope they will make sustainable choices and that their whole generation will follow.
I’ve discovered one key underlying practice that has helped us achieve more sustainable practices. In today’s society, we have so many choices. We can have or do anything we want, just at our fingertips, but understanding what truly satisfies us is very important. I don’t judge anyone’s reason for consuming apparel or other consumer goods, I just ask that we take a step back and ask if we are truly best addressing our needs.
2. UNDERSTANDING PROBLEMS AND FIXING THEM: The skills I’ve learned come from my family. As an immigrant, my parents and grandparents had a big impact on helping me navigate life in three cultures. Immigrants who come to the United States are willing to do a lot to make it work and solve complex problems.
I felt fortunate growing up and realized I had a responsibility to help solve some of these problems for my community. This is why I founded my first business in communication in 2004 and my second business in financial services in 2008. Both are still in operation and provide an upper-middle-class income for the families they support by serving an important niche that needs our problem-solving competencies.
That is why Eco Chico Kid’s Resale is a mission-driven, for-profit company. With this business, we are providing a best-in-class solution for a much broader and rapidly growing market. As we operate, we learn more and can solve more problems that have limited growth in the past.
3. HAVING A TRUE VISION: One of my biggest passions is helping the community and bringing diverse people together. I believe in people and their good intentions. We all want similar things deep down. It’s my mission to provide a place where people’s good intentions meet convenient options to live more sustainably. We are doing so in an environment that is streamlined and welcoming to all families, and we do not expect perfection from parents. As I see the impact on families, my vision only grows. I would love for there to be an Eco Chico in every community where families raise children.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
We’re based in West Saint Paul, Minnesota, but as Eco Chico’s message spreads, our multi-cultural and multi-lingual competencies position us to be a national and even global brand. With technology’s rapid advancement and quickly evolving perceptions about reuse, we are moving to expand our communication and operations. Our corporate name, Earth, Wind, and Fire, a representation of my three kids, is also a brand focused on sustainability solutions for the Earth, not just kids or resale. I’ve learned to do one thing at a time, but just as multiple children have taught me different profound lessons about life, many concepts exist for adoption to reach truly impactful levels.
We have plans to expand. This will give more families access to our exchange within a more convenient proximity and allow for the widespread growth of awareness amongst Twin Cities families.
Other new projects recently launched are our Eco-Baby Club, aimed at equipping expecting moms with tools for raising babies sustainably, and our Green Community Partnership program, which currently operates with four local area schools and provides both school and apparel needs for children. Additionally, the Trash for Treats program is where we partner with and market other local businesses serving families to incentivize kids to take action in keeping our environment clean.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What pivotal moment led you to dedicate your career to sustainability, and how has that shaped your approach to environmental challenges?
A significant flood in 2008 nearly wiped out my hometown in southeast Mexico, shifting my perspective on climate change. Later on, when I worked in insurance, I attended a conference with Zurich Global, where my hometown specifically was identified as an area where climate and related political risks were keeping businesses from making significant investments. You can’t unlearn or unsee these things, and there is a frustration when you know the solution comes down to simple everyday choices in the hands of consumers. The world was not ready for widespread reuse adoption, and a highly fragmented and independent second-hand industry had only a handful of financially sustainable models, but not many that wowed consumers.
In 2012, I became a mom and have adopted nearly 100% reuse since then. I studied the current models, dabbled in reselling online, and eventually, in 2020, when I began to homeschool my kids, I went deeper into online resale. I knew solving the consumption issues related to raising kids was a worthy endeavor, so I opened Eco Chico in 2023.
Could you describe a groundbreaking project or initiative you’ve been involved in that significantly contributed to sustainability?
I am very proud of our Green Community Partnership Program. This program promotes a greener lifestyle and greener pockets in our community. We pay for reused items for resale and offer organizations the opportunity to fundraise through our ecosystem of parents. As a result, we help provide opportunities to generate funds for community partners, and parents can get more involved while addressing their own need to purge. The program recently doubled, and I expect we will serve many more local nonprofits that also tend to the needs of children and families.
This is just one part of what we do. I engage with local shoppers and community members daily who are seeking out secondhand and sustainable clothing and goods. I believe in the power of simplicity in capturing consumers’ attention in this noisy world. Offering innovative and conscious alternatives, such as consignment, resale and peer-to-peer trade, is still groundbreaking today. I dream about a world where we don’t take it for granted. When an eco-friendly system is built into our daily lives, we’ll see environmental change.
How do you navigate the balance between economic growth and environmental preservation in your sustainability strategies?
Economic growth comes from the creation of NET value. As a society, we often look at the absolute value, not net value, which subtracts the costs to society and the planet.
Creative professionals and business professionals are different. Business analysts often cannot properly quantify the intangible value of being the more beautiful or more innovative brand, the less damaging or the culturally relevant brand.
Since the late 1950s, we’ve learned that quality items feel better and cheap ones feel cheap. Consuming more of these unsatisfying items just doesn’t feel right anymore. Resale allows all of us to access this abundance and create more value from what is already there, and in the process, economic growth that has been wasted will be salvaged. If I were at Bocconi now, in 2025, I would probably encounter the heads of their recently created resale operations.
What emerging technologies or innovations do you believe hold the most promise for advancing sustainability and why?
We are a cashless, digital operation, which has given us many strategic advantages. But we are just as a society on the cusp of widespread adoption of innovative currency and value exchange platforms that will continue to make business frictionless and reduce the carbon footprint of every transaction. There are so many new commercial innovations in textile recycling and repurposing. Eco Chico can play a role in diverting textile waste to support these initiatives on a local level.
I have done advocacy in the past as the chair of the previously named Chicano Latino Affairs Council of Minnesota, and I know that the community would gather around proven solutions were they thoughtfully presented. Conservation is not an issue that belongs to a political philosophy or party. The enthusiastic and loyal shoppers of Eco Chico are quite spread out in terms of their lifestyles, politics, incomes, cultures and ages.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Top Strategies for a Cleaner Planet”?
1 . EDUCATING THE YOUTH: I cannot express how important it is to educate our kids about resources and the impact of waste. This is something I started with my kids when they were tiny. If you teach early, they make better choices. Hands-on lessons about recycling, energy conservation and sustainable habits will help them take ownership as they grow. One example is decluttering closets. Kids collect so many toys and items that, before we know it, their closets and toy boxes are overflowing. Sift through items that are not played with or have outgrown and donate them, and now you have a cleaner space in your home. It only takes one generation to transform our habits as a society.
2 . EDUCATING OURSELVES AS CONSUMERS: This plays a crucial role in protecting the environment. It’s about choices when walking into a retail store. As consumers, we are bombarded with different brands of soaps and detergents full of chemicals. By understanding the impact of what we buy, from packaging and production to transportation of materials, we simply overindulge. Shoppers should understand what this is doing to our environment, open our options and look for eco-friendly products. We need to support solutions that meet our needs for convenience AND sustainability. We will spend more, but can compensate by saving on others as more affordable solutions become available.
3 . FOCUS ON DAILY ACTIONS: It’s important not to get overwhelmed by the big problem. Start small. When we tackle the daily small things, those impacts will add to the overall good. For example, when going to the grocery store, take your reusable bags instead of paper or plastic bags from the store. That alone helps lower pollution, conserve resources and decrease carbon footprint. When you stick to small eco-friendly choices daily, this will ultimately help the environment for future generations.
4 . BE INVOLVED IN NATURE: Nature is a precious part of our lives, and I hope that people respect it more and take full advantage of our beautiful planet. Whether you are taking a walk in your neighborhood or skipping rocks by a nearby river, being involved in nature helps us witness firsthand the beauty of our environment and what Mother Earth provides us. There is an educational side to this. Being present in nature also lets us see the visible effects of pollution, litter, and damaged wildlife and ecosystems. This is why educating our youth and ourselves about conscious consumerism keeps us aware that protecting our planet is more important than ever. When we understand that our negative actions affect natural spaces, we can fix them one day at a time.
5. REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE: These are essential practices to incorporate in everyday life to conserve our neighborhoods, cities, states and planet. Take small steps, and they will make a more significant impact. Your contribution matters. Cutting down on waste and recycling will reduce pollution for future generations. Eco Chico is a business committed to sustainability while supporting families, not giving them more chores. Our future is our children, so we need to start teaching early, make a difference and embrace a more eco-conscious lifestyle. The choices are endless, but choose wisely. Our future depends on it.
In your view, what are the key steps individuals, communities, and governments need to take to achieve a more sustainable future?
Freedom is valuable, and I believe consumers always feel most satisfied and proud of their choices when they’re made freely, not constrained by cost, access or lack of information.
Empower yourself and your kids to make choices that reduce waste, conserve resources and limit stressful clutter. When individuals act, the nature of reuse will connect others to new habits and more connections.
Local governments can meet with communities and set regulations for a specific community. The sum of all community members will not produce the same preferences, and that’s why local governments are so important. Higher levels of government can promote proper incentives to reduce damage and promote the recovery of polluted environments. Incentives for private businesses to undertake the mission to maximize net community value are also necessary, and I know many passionate and highly motivated leaders like myself are ready to take on the work.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I have learned from my two prior businesses that people and society will move, and you need to find your place. I am so grateful to have the second-hand movement and use my best talents, abilities and resources.
I have put my life savings into it and committed myself decisively to follow this journey wherever it may take me. Second-hand is still an extremely fringe concept in my homeland of Mexico. Why can’t I be one of those leaders who provide solutions, as people decide to move in that direction? We are starting to find more ways to have a better pulse on what second-hand parents want and need, and we use in-store and community events to have an active conversation with our customers about their needs and aspirations. This is the Eco Chico style and brand.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
You can find more about me and Eco Chico on my Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.
You can also utilize my decluttering tool at ecochicoresale.com.
This was so inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
The Future is Green: Krystell Theisen Escobar Of Eco Chico Kid’s Resale Boutique on Their Top… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.