Bazoo's Beginning

We’ve done it! It’s the official launch of Bazoo and we are live on all platforms! It’s been a long journey to get here but we’ve learnt more than we ever thought we could and feeling grateful for all the support which got Bazoo to where it is. A special shout-out to our family and friends!

If you’ve landed on this page thank you for your interest and we’ll try to answer any questions you might have about the newly launched Bazoo…

Tom grew up in Droitwich, Worcestershire, and my parents are first generation immigrants from Bloemfontein, South Africa, who originally moved to Teddington. Tom and I, both 23, met at Exeter University, where we enjoyed our three years of studying, playing sport and socialising. We have both always had a deep enthusiasm for the environment, and were always those ‘annoying’ housemates dedicated to recycling and doing the small bits we could. Tom was studying Business Economics, whilst I was studying English Literature. In our third and final year at Exeter, Tom introduced me to the Exeter student start-ups team, who were a hub of experienced mentors which student entrepreneurs could approach. Tom has always had a passion for doing something different, and starting something that was going to have a positive impact for the world. We decided to approach the start-ups team with an idea for a University events ticketing platform, which of course, in a matter of weeks we put on hold due to COVID-19’s incoming.

Our entrepreneurial ideas were put on hold while we sat our exams in lockdown at our family homes. The unknown was ripe as we finished University in the most historically anticlimactic way; no graduation, no drinks at the pub in post-exam celebration, no real social interaction with any friends or family, and a very daunting job market. Tom and I decided to be reactive to the situation we found ourselves in and after catching onto the idea of bamboo toilet paper… literally, Tom caught a toilet roll falling off the shelf in my mum’s laundry cupboard! Our minds raced at everything we could do, wanted to do and more with our very own bamboo toilet paper company. We are proud that we didn’t say “that’s too difficult” or “that’s too complex” to a lot of things… and we wouldn’t be here if we had!

Bazoo was born – it’s a slang word for your bottom! – and we transformed our bedrooms and living rooms into toilet paper havens. We lived and breathed different plys, gsm (that’s the thickness of each sheet), cardboard boxes, catchy phrases, cardboard rolls, animal designs – you name it, we dreamt it.  It was hard work with a lot of early mornings and late nights (which we know doesn’t stop here!) and a lot of also thinking THIS WON’T WORK!

Amongst the chaotic excitement of starting our own business, on our own terms, which put the planet first; we needed to make a video which showed who we were and what we did; so we dived straight into my favourite two days of Bazoo (yet)… shooting our marketing video! We sourced a family-friendly grandpa, a six-year old child and my mum. Of course the grandpa and six year-old got their scripts a week before shooting, had a practise session and plenty of time to shoot their sketches. And in full daughterly fashion, whilst my mum was cooking lunch, I asked her to get changed and she repeated her never before seen lines as I read them out. She nailed it. All three of them were fantastic at capturing Bazoo’s energy and it is a launch we are really proud of.

Having worked on Bazoo for 196 days, we are still in the earliest of days and we know there’s a long road ahead. However, it has been incredible to see something we built from the ground up turn into a finished product which is finally being shared with the world, FOR the world. Of course we’re still nervous; what will people think? How will they react to our new product? What would their criticisms be? Have we missed anything really important? But we kept saying to ourselves that we had to start somewhere, there’s always going to be mistakes made, and it’s just about how we grow from them.

We know we’re not the perfect company by any means – we’re currently working in our family homes with lots of zooms and facetimes - but we know that with your help and support, we can make a huge difference to our planet and all the beautiful species inside it.

What are you waiting for? Head over to our shop page to see our product range, and sign up to our newsletter for exclusive limited edition Bazoo gifts.

Thank you for being part of the journey with us.

Love Sanmarie & Tom x