The “Mighty Sisters” aren’t your typical superheroes. Instead of climbing skyscrapers or fighting crime, sisters Bronwyn Kopacek and Claire Martinez make their impact via Mighty Market, their low-waste shop and bulk refill apothecary located in downtown Martinez.
Opened in early 2020, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the business started as a way for Kopacek and Martinez to share the natural products they sourced while addressing family members’ various skin conditions.
The shop carries a variety of reusable containers — spray bottles, jars, glasses galore — which customers can fill with the market’s numerous plant-based bath, toiletry and skin care products. The sisters also encourage customers to bring in reusable containers — anything that can fit on a scale — to fill.
Kopacek and Martinez sat down for an interview about their business. Their answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: What pushed you to start Mighty Market and center the business on reusability and sustainability?
Kopacek: I’ve always been like the eco-conscious person in our family. I think growing up in South Africa, there is very much that kind of innovative mindset, but also that respect for land and culture, and understanding that food is medicine and what you put on your body is medicine, too.
But also just having the issues in our family that we’ve had with skin issues and the refilling part, just being frustrated standing in the shower. I would be like, “There’s so many containers and so many bottles taking up space.” I’m that person that was, like, one day, we’ll just take little capsules of things — what you need, and that’s it.
I think the reason we pushed to actually physically start the business is both of us are moms who finally, after so many years, were in the same area again, getting to raise our kids together. This society is not set up for you to be the mom you want to be and have the career you want to have. So that was our way of trying to make it work.
Also I think we come from an entrepreneurial family in general, like our dad always had in South Africa a side gig. Our brother has never, up until last year, earned a paycheck from another person. He’s always only had his own business. So we just come from that kind of family.
Q: And what pushed you to do it together?
Kopacek: Well I had this experience from working for startups, helping other people build their brands, build their businesses, so I was like “we can do this together.” I know she’s smart and I don’t think I would want to partner with anyone else. Did I convince you (Martinez) more to do it than you wanted to?
Martinez: No, I did. I fully trust anything that she says or does, like I’m just on board.
Kopacek: Which is hard for a Virgo!
Martinez: There aren’t many people who I’d close my eyes and say yes to, and you (Kopacek) are one of them. She brings the confidence, too, and that’s kind of been helping me out.
Q: What does your slogan “small steps lead to mighty changes” mean?
Kopacek: Our slogan is “small steps lead to mighty changes” because we want to meet people wherever they are on their journey and not have them feel like they have to be this perfect citizen.
Martinez: A lot of our customers aren’t used to it and seem a little intimidated. Small steps means starting with like one bottle of shampoo and then you kind of work your way up.
Kopacek: We have something for everyone along the journey. We have tooth tabs so you don’t have to worry about things like a toothpaste tube but we also still have the tube from David’s where it’s completely recyclable and reusable.
We’ve had people up until, like, a few months ago, come by and be like, “I’ve walked by here for three years and I’ve never come in. I’ve been scared to.”
Martinez: Yeah, they felt like they would be judged.
Kopacek: Right. I hate the term zero-waste and I don’t include that anywhere in our online presence or marketing or any of our vocabulary because I feel like that is very much this unattainable level to reach, and it’s just not realistic.
Q: Why does Mighty Market emphasize local sourcing and have you faced any challenges with that goal?
Kopacek: The fact that it has less distance to travel, so carbon emissions is a big reason, but also just supporting the local economies. I think that’s what everyone needs.
One challenge is finding wonderful quality products, but also wonderful quality products that can be sustained at our sell-through rates. It’s like another small business — they don’t necessarily have systems or ingredients or anything else in place that can expedite their output.
So it’s finding that good balance in what we carry with the super local special goodies that take time.
Q: How has the business shaped your interactions with the local community?
Kopacek: We’ve gotten to meet wonderful people out there. Sundays here are so fun, like with the farmers market and the breweries and everything, it’s super fun. We tell people to come here on a Sunday to experience downtown, and then get their fill.
We opened up our second location in Lafayette, and we just left a month ago (and transferred our lease). We have some people who have been wonderful customers of ours for years and we gave them the space to start their business. It’s a resource that we think the community will benefit from — they help new families kind of come together, where they can learn postpartum recovery. For us, we love that, and we love that they were moms, and also business owners and have kids that they’re taking care of.
Q: How has owning a business together shaped your relationship with each other?
Kopacek: We definitely talk more now. I feel like we’ve grown up as a close family.
Martinez: We only hang out with each other!
Kopacek: We do! I think we would be close whether we had this or not. It helps to lean on and share with someone who knows what you’re going through. I do feel like entrepreneurship and motherhood are two of the hardest things to go through but two of the most isolating things. You’re not clocking in and clocking out. You don’t get to clock out.
Q: What keeps you motivated to grow your business during its lows?
Kopacek: Staying true to our vision and our ethics. I feel like there’s a lot of greenwashing that happens today across big and small brands.
We live it down to like every level, we stay true to what we believe in. I think that’s why our customers know how we live and how we believe, and we do try our best at any opportunity we can to stay true to leaving a better footprint behind for the next generation. That’s a big part of our focus.
Bronwyn Kopacek
Age: 42
Position: CEO and co-owner of Mighty Market
Education: Marketing degree at Collin College, Design and visual communications degree at FIDM
Residence: Martinez
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
Family: Husband, two kids, dog
Claire Martinez
Age: 38
Position: COO and co-owner of Mighty Market
Education: Some courses at Collin College
Residence: Pleasant Hill
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
Family: Husband, two kids, two dogs, cat
Five things about Bronwyn and Claire
- Their favorite way to enjoy quality time together is driving in the car.
- Bronwyn has a dog named Mojo. Claire has two dogs — one named Miley and one named Grasshopper — and a cat named Ruth.
- Bronwyn is a Pisces and Claire is a Virgo. Their family has so many Virgos that they do an annual “Virgofest” trip every year.
- Bronwyn’s biggest pet peeve about Claire is how hard it is to convince her of things. Claire’s biggest pet peeve about Bronwyn is her lack of punctuality.
- Bronwyn’s favorite quality about Claire is her ability to see the good in people. Claire’s favorite quality about Bronwyn is her selflessness and ability to tune into others’ feelings.
