Yes Definitely! – Empathy spawns Tracy Ruggier’s new business

Corporate life has no time for empathy and care. It’s a hurdle to success.

That’s what Tracy Ruggier’s bosses told her when she was called out, several times, for being too interested in the welfare of others.

Nine to fiving was not for her, and in retrospect exiting a dogeat-dog world became the best decision that she had ever made.

‘Decade-long journey’

Today Ruggier owns and manages one of South Africa’s fastest-growing bottled water brands.

It’s called Yes Definitely! and the Western Cape brand is making inroads, everywhere.

“We started out thinking ‘let’s get it just not one shop’, and then ‘let’s try another, and another’ and before we knew it, we were bottling day and night,” she said.

Also, the brand caught the attention of retailer Checkers Shoprite’s local entrepreneurship programme.

The big time knocked on her door and she embraced it.

“It’s been a decade-long journey,” said Ruggier.

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There is no such thing as overnight success. In fact, bottled water was a by-product of a different kind of vision.

A desire to create and showcase opportunities for South African artists.

While she was in the corporate universe, Ruggier had a lot of exposure to local artists who seemed to always struggle to find audiences for their work.

This is what got her thinking and weighing up various opportunities.

“I wracked my brain and thought, how could I come up with something that could include artists? But it must be, had to be, something that was fast moving so that I could spread the word, fast,” she recalled.

Showcasing visuals

Water was the answer and the next challenge, how to get the art onto the bottle. Bottled water is usually packaged in round bottles, but that was not conducive to showcasing visuals.

“So, the square bottle was invented,” said Ruggier.

“Then, we had artists submit work and we put the artwork on the bottle, always with a link to their Instagram profiles and their web pages,” she said.

The idea was to create a direct channel between artist and consumer. The process of selecting artists, with so much talent around, was turned into an Idols-like talent competition, said Ruggier.

Winners were chosen and it was their pictures that made it to the bottle.

“Once they started submitting work, then more and more got to hear about it,” she said.

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Ruggier started Yes Definitely! with R3 000. She has never debt funded any part of it. It was all out of pocket.

“I had a little business making vegan food which was paying the bills and it was putting petrol in the car. I would go out and sell food and then get paid and then I would buy a pallet of water bottles until I could get the business to fund itself.”

Her side-goal, to create a circular economy, where ecofriendly, locally produced products bring about a positive impact on the economy and people’s lives is coming true.

So far, more than 100 artists’ work has been showcased on her water.

Their creative designs have gained a cult following wherever it’s sold and the bottles have become collectors’ items.

Best part of all, for Ruggier, is that her intended goal of providing artists with a platform to move on to greater levels of success, is working.

International work

She called it “love stories” and said that several contributors have been commission for international work since the project’s genesis.

“A film director came over from Hollywood, picked up the bottle and gave the artist whose work was printed on it a job in animation,” she said.

“We had an artist here and his father was a tool and die maker and he would doodle every night, and his little 10-year-old son submitted and scanned his doodles, now working full time for a large retailer in graphic design.

“There was a girl that was bullied at school. And now she’s become a big hero because as her work has gone onto the bottle.

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“There was a guy living on the streets, he submitted work, and now he’s exhibiting in Cape Town galleries.”

And there are many more examples that Ruggier said she can talk about.

It’s the most satisfying part of her day, to know that her idea came to life and created the opportunities so desperately wanted to make, for others.

Now, almost 50 Checkers stores and several independent retailers’ shelves have become galleries for artists, taking South African talent to a new market and a potentially new area of appreciation of talent.

Plans are afoot to conquer the balance of provinces. Yes Definitely! has also crossed the border.

Ruggier said that orders from the United Kingdom and Dubai have started streaming in. “It’s just been phenomenal,” she said.