Monika Gawlowska is the founder of Flutter Labs, a Hamptons-based company that makes natural essentials for everyday living, with a focus on non-toxic cleaning products. Based in Southampton, she uses simple ingredients like alcohol, water, baking soda, castile soap and real essential oils, with no synthetic fragrance. Her line includes an all-surface cleaner, glass cleaner, floor cleaner, dish soap, dishwasher powder, laundry detergent, wood polish, air fresheners and DEET-free tick repellents. Many of her customers first meet her at her stand at local farmers markets. Her work began after a serious illness and a long recovery. Back at home, she started reading the labels on everyday products and was surprised by what she found. Her first product was a simple essential oil spray for her own kitchen counter, which she then started making for friends. It grew into Flutter Labs. Monika believes a home should feel calm, look good and smell good, and that a scent as simple as sweet orange can change how you feel in your space. Her one wish for listeners is that they start reading the labels on their cleaning products. Use Code "Create10" for a listener discount!
Connect with Monika
Instagram: @flutterlabsus
00:00 Welcome Monika Gawlowska of Flutter Labs to Create the Space
01:22 Meet Monika: Founder of Flutter Labs in Southampton
03:10 Moving to the US and the Surprise of Clorox in Everything
04:18 Fragrance Fatigue: Why Your Body Stops Noticing Chemical Scents
05:03 How Essential Oils and Natural Fragrance Affect Your Mood
06:08 Have We Gone Too Far With Sanitizing Our Homes?
07:33 Reprogramming What Clean Really Smells Like
08:16 Dirt, Germs and Building a Strong Immune System
10:22 The Energy Your Cleaning Products Bring Into Your Home
11:51 How a Serious Illness Led Monika to Natural Cleaning
13:06 From One Kitchen Spray to a Non-Toxic Cleaning Brand
14:47 Baking Soda, Vinegar
Multi-cam CUT - NO CAP - with Monika ===
[00:00:00] Cody: Hello, my friends. Welcome back to Create the Space. If you know me, you know I love to keep things as local as possible. One of the reasons we moved to where we did was because of the incredible farmers markets that are here during the summer, fall, and a little bit of the spring. And today, I am so excited to introduce you to this amazing brand that was made right here where we live.
[00:00:21] Cody: The founder is on today. Her name is Monica Gawlowska, and she has created a line of beautiful, intentional cleaning products that work fabulously, smell amazing, are made with zero synthetic fragrance. They are made without any harsh chemicals and using ingredients that belong in the spaces where families live, gather, and grow.
[00:00:43] Cody: These products are so fantastic. I was a pretty diehard fan of my former cleaning products, and not that I don't still use these, but I have 100% converted to Flutter Labs in my home. There are a couple of products that I now really love. I just bought a case of their laundry [00:01:00] detergent. Their wood polish is fantastic.
[00:01:02] Cody: Their dish soap is amazing. They're just super beautiful. I love them. Anyway, I'm so excited to share this conversation with Monica about this beautiful company that she's created and her amazing solution to making the everyday chore of cleaning a little more magical. Welcome, Monica. I'm so happy to have you here.
[00:01:26] Cody: Hello, Monica
[00:01:29] Monika: Hello, Cody
[00:01:30] Cody: I'm so happy we are finally doing this. Monica and I had a few technical challenges, but we are here, and we're so happy to be here.
[00:01:37] Monika: Yes, absolutely. I agree with you.
[00:01:41] Cody: Well, Monica,
[00:01:42] Cody: I know you in person,
[00:01:43] Cody: but for people that are here, please tell everyone just a little
[00:01:46] Cody: bit about yourself,
[00:01:47] Cody: where you're talking to us from,
[00:01:49] Cody: and how you got started in doing what you're doing.
[00:01:52] Monika: Hi. So I'm located in Southampton specifically a Hampton base. This is where my [00:02:00] business are really happening. I own Flutter Labs. This is company which generally produce, natural essential for everyday living.
[00:02:10] Monika: We specialize very deeply in cleaning products because I truly believe cleaning products in this country are the very serious problem for the health reasons.
[00:02:21] Monika: So I decide to create this company and create actually this line because, I just realized that every cleaning product which we use, includes something which is very, very toxic for our health. So it's coming to our lungs constantly, and we don't realize this at all because you don't think about it clearly.
[00:02:42] Monika: Everybody is very concentrated on the skin products, but, you know, skin is really very huge barrier on our body. Our lungs, they have a different approach to this. Is the reason why so many young women are diagnosed with the lung cancer, and they right [00:03:00] now they are proof that it's connected to the cleaning products.
[00:03:03] Cody: Wow. Yeah, and you know, you and I are very aligned on how we think about the home and how we think about how the home's role in the health of both ourselves and of our families, so I'm fully with you. And I'm curious about one thing, 'cause you're obviously not from this country. You had mentioned that this isn't as big of a problem in other countries.
[00:03:23] Cody: Did you see that? Like, were you surprised coming here at sort of what people were cleaning with or using? Like, was that sort of a surprise? Was that part of it for you?
[00:03:31] Monika: It was a surprise, but I came from the country where people use more simpler, more natural approach to maintain their homes.
[00:03:40] Monika: And here, what I was really, surprised in with cleaning product in the beginning when I came here is the amount of Clorox in each of them. Totally. And when you... yes. This is, this is overwhelming, and right now when you use Clorox constantly every [00:04:00] day, if you think about it,
[00:04:01] Monika: you became resistant a little bit to this, yeah, to the fragrance.
[00:04:05] Monika: But the fragrance still go inside your lungs, and then it's just, you know, create a lot of problems with this. Right now, when you stop using products with Clorox and start suddenly after two months using again, in five second, I guarantee you're gonna have a headache.
[00:04:22] Cody: Yes, 100%. You bring up an interesting point.
[00:04:25] Cody: People get very, you know, some people might be hearing this and be like,
[00:04:28] Cody: "Oh, they don't bother me.
[00:04:30] Cody: I just, this is just not me."
[00:04:31] Cody: And here's the thing I'll say about that, is that your body is so intelligent that it will just turn that off, like if, so that you can survive and keep going, right? That doesn't mean it's not actually having an effect.
[00:04:44] Cody: I am so sensitive to fragrance, and I think back on my life and I'm like, "Oh my God, as a teenager I wore perfume, and I had all the regular stuff around me,
[00:04:52] Cody: and Tide and everything,
[00:04:54] Cody: and like fragrance on fragrance on fragrance, and it didn't bother me." But that's because I was so used to it, [00:05:00] and my senses were so dulled.
[00:05:01] Cody: And once you really do take that out, you realize like how strong that is and how much of an effect it's having.
[00:05:08] Monika: Yeah, definitely. I agree with you. And I believe fragrance has a huge like impact on your mind and your brain. Because if something smells good, you feel good. If something smells bad, you automatically you just don't feel good about it,
[00:05:23] Monika: and you don't feel comfortable.
[00:05:24] Monika: So my products, beside they clean,
[00:05:27] Monika: I believe they smell really good. They do smell really good.
[00:05:31] Monika: Because I think it's very important to make your brain happy, because if your brain is happy, you are happy, your body functions differently. And my products, they don't only clean the surface, they also clean the air around you.
[00:05:46] Monika: This is the most, it's part of things, because I use real essential oils,
[00:05:49] Monika: different combinations from different reason. All of these oils in my some of my products are intentionally there. I actually know what I'm doingwith [00:06:00] sanitizing, making feels smell good. Nothing there smells like Clorox.
[00:06:05] Monika: I can guarantee this.
[00:06:07] Cody: No, I've smelled your products, and they do not smell like Clorox, or I would not be having this conversation, honestly.
[00:06:12] Monika: Yes.
[00:06:14] Cody: But you bring up something interesting around sanitization, and I wanna talk to you about this, because I think that our society has gone way too far with that.
[00:06:23] Cody: Like I actually think that it's a problem,
[00:06:25] Cody: because our homes are sort of living ecosystems, and if we have this approach that we constantly needing to be killing everything via sanitization...
[00:06:35] Cody: like, yes, there's appropriate times. If you drop a bunch of raw chicken juice on your countertop that you eat on, you're probably gonna wanna use a product that deals with that, right?
[00:06:44] Cody: But just in terms of general everyday cleaning, we actually don't need to be sanitizing our homes on a regular basis.
[00:06:52] Monika: Oh, I agree with you 100%. I think the biggest problem with health guts [00:07:00] generally is because we became too clean.
[00:07:02] Monika: You see, if you think about it, you have to eat really nasty stuff to keep your guts healthy, you know?
[00:07:09] Monika: Like sauerkraut, like kimchi, like, you know, sour cucumber. You know, this stuff, when you look inside what is there, it's like, wow, what's going on there, yeah? But I agree with you. I think, we became little bit too clean, and it starts from the babies. Yes. Like, mama constantly cleans the hands, everything else, and this baby doesn't build healthy immune system.
[00:07:34] Monika: Isn't true? I agree 100% with this. Yes.
[00:07:37] Cody: Yeah. Yes, I think it's such an important conversation. I wanna go a little deeper and talk a little more about this because I think part of the thing around cleaning is to really help people reprogram some basic truths for themselves. One of them is that not everything needs to be sanitized in general.
[00:07:53] Cody: That's actually not healthy. And the second one... And so we'll talk about that, and I just wanna earmark this other one so I don't forget, which [00:08:00] is you've mentioned something before about the brain and fragrance and what we associate with clean. Like, certain people, not everybody, but a lot of people that have grown up with mainstream products, they don't think their clothes are clean unless they smell that Tide scent, right?
[00:08:14] Cody: So there's this association that we've built up with what clean smells like that really needs to shift. We'll come back to that. I wanna stick with the sanitization thing that we're on, which is that, yes, I mean, they actually did a study, and I can't quote this, maybe I'll put it in the show notes 'cause someone will come after me.
[00:08:29] Cody: But, where they looked at the health of children in two different groups. They played on a playground that was, like, full rubber, you know, like rubberized, rubber playground, plastic, no dirt. And then they looked at children that played in the mud and played in the dirt, and they followed those children over, like, a winter or something
[00:08:47] Cody: and saw how many times they got sick. And the kids that played in the dirt got sick significantly less than the children that played in the rubber playground. And there is just this real, like, thing we all, I [00:09:00] think, myself included, you know, we all need to sort of have a moment with ourselves and really start to understand, like, what is dangerous and what is just healthy to be exposed to so that we can have strong bodies.
[00:09:13] Cody: We don't wanna have bodies that require living in a plastic suit. We don't wanna have bodies that require us to live in a sanitary environment. We wanna have bodies that are flexible and adaptable and can handle, you know, germs.
[00:09:26] Monika: Yes, I agree with you 100%, you know.
[00:09:29] Monika: Yeah. And I always encourage young, and when I see small children with mothers, like, just please let him eat this dirt once in a while. It's just like, it is so important that this child is gonna just dive in into, like big hole of dirt once in a while. And he's gonna try cat food, dog food by mistake, yeah. And this way you build,
[00:09:52] Monika: and this way I build my immune system.
[00:09:54] Monika: My immune system collapsed when I came to this country, actually. Because it's so [00:10:00] much nasty stuff here. And again, you know, they killing everything, yeah?
[00:10:05] Cody: Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's a huge conversation that we're having really, and, you know, it's worth exploration for people that haven'tthought about this.
[00:10:13] Cody: You don't have to go on some crazy rabbit hole because, boy, you could really go on a crazy rabbit hole with this. But just to really, like, for the purpose of this conversation, you know, what we're using in our homes really, really matters, and if we can switch to...
[00:10:27] Cody: You know, I agree with you so much.
[00:10:29] Cody: Like, when I work with people one-on-one in their homes,
[00:10:32] Cody: I will ask them what they're cleaning with because their cleaning products and what they're putting in the air,
[00:10:37] Cody: on the surfaces, like, they're either... Forget even just the fragrance and the toxicity of it. Like, that is so valid and true, but on another energetic level, like,
[00:10:47] Cody: it's not a high energy, right? Like, these essential oils that you're using and the beautiful intention that you put in your products, when every time you're cleaning with that, you're bringing that energy into your home and you're enhancing your home [00:11:00] versus just, like, killing everything.
[00:11:02] Monika: Yes, absolutely.
[00:11:03] Monika: And, you know,when you bring good cleaning products with real ingredients... like my ingredients are very simple. My ingredients you're gonna find in the kitchen of almost every house, I would believe. Right. You know? They're small details. And I use such a simple essential oil. It's very safe dosage, that it's gonna clean, and everything in your house is gonna change because it suddenly...
[00:11:24] Monika: It's not only good, you know? It just feels good because the air is so clean and soft.
[00:11:31] Cody: I love that. I love that softness.
[00:11:33] Cody: That's really, really beautiful. And eventually, after we say this,
[00:11:36] Cody: I wanna talk a little bit about how you got into this. Like, what inspired you to start this company?
[00:11:40] Cody: I'm curious. But before we do that, I wanna talk to you about sort of, what do you hear people say? Like, are they confused when they come to you? Like, do you know what is the, like, shift that you feel like people need to like, to really get themselves on board with switching to more natural products?
[00:11:56] Monika: You know, I get to this business because I got sick and I spent [00:12:00] so much time in the hospital, and I lost my colon, you know. I would say it took me probably over two years to recover from this surgery, and it's very nasty. It's very devastating for your body, especially as a young woman, you know?
[00:12:14] Monika: There's so many steps of these problems with colon. So suddenly, when I was back home
[00:12:20] Monika: I couldn't understand why I got really sick because
[00:12:23] Monika: I was always this person who was healthy
[00:12:27] Monika: So I was, you know, I was home,
[00:12:28] Monika: and I always had a very good relationship with nice essential oils and fragrances.
[00:12:34] Monika: So sweet orange was was making me happy, you know, uplifting. I always was using this stuff. I really like it because it really influence your wellbeing. You feel so good. So I start reading, you know, trying to understand what happened. I start reading the labels of the products, what is inside the labels, and start, you know,
[00:12:54] Monika: Google, blah, blah, blah.
[00:12:55] Monika: And the result was actually scary what is inside your home with these old, you know, [00:13:00] chemicals. It's just on your counter, on your floor,
[00:13:03] Monika: on your sheets, on your clothes, everywhere.
[00:13:06] Monika: Like, in your shampoo. And I'm pretty sure you know that.
[00:13:09] Cody: Yes.
[00:13:11] Monika: It is the reason why I start using, first of all, for one bottle my solution with couple essential oils to clean my kitchen counter, and I just realized this work really good.
[00:13:23] Monika: So then, you know, I make another one, another one, another one, and I start actually, giving away to my friends. It's just like,
[00:13:33] Monika: "Clean your house," you know? Just don't mess around. And they really like it, and actually they told me this is good idea because they told me that cleaning products actually are very left behind
[00:13:47] Monika: entire this revolution to help you
[00:13:49] Monika: healthy lifestyle. And it's, yeah, you have couple, couples of brands, but they own already by huge corporations,
[00:13:57] Monika: so it's over, absolutely over for them. [00:14:00] And I think, first of all, we have to educate people, so when the people come to me in my stands, different, you know, events, they say that I really wanna do it.
[00:14:12] Monika: I know it's, you know, it's not really healthy. A lot of very young people, which makes me very happy, very young people are very aware of the problem. And they ask me what they should start first. They buying this product and always coming back. Our retain customer rate is very high. They love the fragrance.
[00:14:33] Monika: They keep telling me that, like,
[00:14:35] Monika: "We love how this, like, smell in our living room," you know? And it's so healthy, and very simple ingredients like alcohol, water, essential oils. This is what you can find in your kitchen. Yeah. So it doesn't interact with anything else.
[00:14:50] Cody: Yeah. That's beautiful. I'm not much of a prepper.
[00:14:53] Cody: Like, I don't have a home full of, like, just in case there's an apocalypse. But the thing that I think that everyone needs to have an [00:15:00] abundance of in case anything were to happen is just baking soda and vinegar. Like, you can really do just about anything cleaning wise with baking soda and vinegar.
[00:15:10] Cody: One or the other, right? That's true. Or both. Maybe some lemon. But, like, we think we need, like, all these different things, and that's because of the society that we live in. But, like, yeah, simplifying and finding a beautiful product that you love and that you use is just, you know, so important. And then I know you make a dish soap, too, right?
[00:15:28] Cody: And I think, like that's such a big one for people because they're literally eating it, you know? Like, if you're washing your dishes with Dawn, you're eating that. And Dawn maybe not,
[00:15:39] Cody: not be the worst one out there, but there are definitely, like, a lot of incredibly toxic things that we are inadvertently...
[00:15:47] Cody: And, you know, here's what I wanna say about all this. There is a lot that we cannot control, right? Like, we cannot control what's going on for the most part with our food supply or with... You know, we can make intentional choices around that, but, like, in [00:16:00] general, there's some very big things that are stacked against us when it comes to the health and the health of our families.
[00:16:06] Cody: But the reason I care so much about the home is that these small decisions that we can make in terms of what we do and do not allow into our environment, both energetically and physically, can really have a big impact on how we feel both overall and the progression of health for our families.
[00:16:24] Monika: Yes, I agree with you 100%.
[00:16:26] Cody: Yeah.
[00:16:27] Monika: We all have this emotional connection with our homes, isn't? Yes, this is true.
[00:16:32] Monika: And that's the best, the most important things, kind of events in your life mostly happen in your home. You spend most of your life in your home. So I think it's very important to feel connect and good in your home.
[00:16:43] Monika: Because your brain function much, much easier. Your stress level dropping down. And I, I believe, like, in your business, you create energy, yeah?
[00:16:54] Cody: Yeah.
[00:16:54] Monika: And you... Yeah, you create good energy. This is your core business. Yeah. My [00:17:00] business, I would say, protect this energy.
[00:17:03] Cody: Ooh, that's beautiful. Yeah. Yes. And, you know, it's interesting when you put it that way because I love what you said, just, you know,
[00:17:09] Cody: the home, I always think of it like we want our homes...
[00:17:12] Cody: And this is not true for so many people. I'm learning more and more, like, the more I connect with people around this, the more I'm learning that the home is a real source of stress for a lot of people, whether that's because they have a lot of stuff and they don't know how to get rid of it, or, you know, they can't keep up with things, or whatever it is.
[00:17:29] Cody: Like, or the repairs or anything, or it just doesn't feel right. You know, there's a lot of... Or they think their home is too small,
[00:17:35] Cody: or they think their home is too this or too that, right? And I always say, like, you can make any space feel good. Like, I've worked with people with really large homes, and I've worked with people with really small homes, and I've worked with people with super fancy homes, and I've worked with people that, you know...
[00:17:48] Cody: And this is all, like, relative, right, to what people think it is. But just this idea that your home is alive and your home is part of your family, and we need to really [00:18:00] treat our homes with that respect. And, what we're literally... It's almost like what we're feeding them in a way. Like, the if you really wanna go to a certain level, like, the cleaning products are sort of what we're feeding our homes in a way, right?
[00:18:12] Monika: Yes.
[00:18:12] Cody: With how we're using them. Yes, yes. Putting down the drains and putting on the floors, right? And so when you're really, like, flooding your home with this energy, I do, I think it really, really matters, and I think it's so interesting. And I think people are coming home to this, pun intended, right?
[00:18:27] Cody: Like, I do think the pandemic shifted this for people 'cause we started spending more time at home. And now that stayed. A lot of people work from home. Like you said, we spend a large... Even if we're just sleeping here, we still spend a large majority of our time in our-
[00:18:39] Monika: Yes, we do.
[00:18:40] Cody: Yeah, in our homes.
[00:18:41] Cody: And so I'm curious, like, how did you feel that shifted for you when you started using these products?Did it help you get more interested in tending your home in general? Sort of like, what did that shift for you?
[00:18:52] Monika: You know what? I just start enjoying my home much, much better.
[00:18:57] Monika: When I started using this product and I could [00:19:00] smell in the morning sweet orange
[00:19:03] Monika: or, you know, I don't know, I was using lemon or pine. You just have this glass of wine in very much better atmosphere, I would say. You know? You're so relaxed. I believe home, if we're lucky, we have very calming, very good, very de-stress home, if we're lucky. And I truly want my home to be very, very easy, very simple, and very relaxing.
[00:19:30] Cody: Yeah.
[00:19:31] Monika: To relax this, it's like your feng shui. You know, everything has to be kind of, you know, like, you know, synchronized. It has to be harmony, you know. The stuff has to be...
[00:19:45] Monika: your furniture, you know, your stuff has to be organized accordingly, and it has to smell good, yeah?
[00:19:52] Cody: Yes. Well, we always say that feng shui is, you know, includes the five senses. Like, there's all different ways to shift the [00:20:00] energy of the space, and what you're talking about is through scent, and that's a very powerful way. Like, one of the recommendations from my teacher... And this, you know, this works for some people and not for others because some people don't like any scent at all, and that's totally valid.
[00:20:12] Cody: Like, some people don't want to smell anything, and that's fine too. But if you are someone that connects to scent, which I do and I know you do, this, you know, having your home have, like, a signature scent that smells like your home, that's a natural scent, right? Like, whether an essential oil. I mean, pretty much would have to be an essential oil.
[00:20:28] Cody: But is a way that we can kind of honor our spaces and kind of allow our nervous systems to sort of relate to that. Like, "Oh, this is what my home smells like. Like, this is my home scent," right? Scent is such an important thing. Like, you know, whether you wanna talk about pheromones or whatever it is, it is so, so, so important to have that enriched.
[00:20:50] Cody: And, you know, we can shift the energy of our space through scent. We can shift the energy of our space through sound, you know, frequencies. We can shift the energy of our space through what we see, and we [00:21:00] can shift the energy of our space through... Yeah, wait, did I, I don't know if I go to the five. What did I do?
[00:21:04] Cody: Scent, sound, sight, and what's the fifth? What I'm missing the senses. What are they? But yes, there's a lot of different ways that we can shift the energy, and I think scent is a powerful one. Taste, taste. There it is.
[00:21:17] Monika: Taste, taste and touch, I believe.
[00:21:19] Cody: Yeah? Touch. Touch, yeah. Yeah. And I mean,
[00:21:21] Cody: Taste and
[00:21:21] Monika: the touch
[00:21:22] Cody: I don't know. Like, yeah, taste is, I think taste is important, like the food that you have around in your home. You know, what I'm trying to say, I, sorry, I took a long winding road. People think that feng shui is all about one thing, right? Like, most people are like,
[00:21:34] Cody: "Oh, it's about where your, what direction this is facing and your couch."
[00:21:38] Cody: You know, whatever it is. Or where, where your head is when you're sleeping. Or like there's a very sort of rudimentary view. And while you can find schools of thought that might follow that, really what I believe it's about is this multi-sensorial experience. Like, what is our experience that we are having when we are in the most important place for our bodies and minds and souls, [00:22:00] which is our home, right?
[00:22:01] Cody: And that is multi-sensorial. So this is why I care so much about every little detail, including the cleaning products, which I actually don't think is a small detail, I think it's a big detail. When you can include all five senses in your concept of how you're crafting your space, it can really, like, open things up for somebody.
[00:22:19] Cody: That was really long-winded. Thanks for staying with me on that one.
[00:22:24] Monika: No, I agree with you. You know, a home is a very multi-sensory space, especially after COVID, during COVID. We spend so much time inside, yeah?
[00:22:33] Monika: And we have so much time to think about it, and I think everything changed after COVID, definitely.
[00:22:39] Cody: Yes.
[00:22:39] Monika: Yes. Yes. People don't go out so much anymore. People are not so... I don't know, something changed. Like, people stay home more, more and more. I see this. This is a trend.
[00:22:50] Cody: Yeah. It is. I agree with you, and I love it 'cause I'm such a homebody. I always have been. I'm curious, actually, was this a big change for you, or have you always sort of been more sensitive [00:23:00] to your environment and more in touch and more, like, around that?
[00:23:04] Monika: I think I was more sensitive to my environment. I think my brain is very sensitive to a lot of sound, fragrance, you know, even the small, very small changes in weather, they affect actually my brain. And I think as, as a child, my parents, I don't think so they knew they have a child with very sensitive brain because nobody was talking about it,
[00:23:24] Monika: you know, so long time ago. But up to today I have very sensitive brain, and I can
[00:23:30] Monika: I wouldn't smell, but I can feel people energy very easily. I just know that something is wrong. I know that's everything, everything is fine. I just know. This is, you know, this is entire... Your brain is just like showing, your body showing in so many different ways, not about your face.
[00:23:48] Monika: It's about your eyes. It's about your actually fragrance. It's coming out of you. Everything is there. It's everything is there, you know? You can smell it. You know, if you see our pets, if you see our pets, how they [00:24:00] smell everything, they know who is stressed out. They know who is relaxed. We lost this sense of smell long time ago
[00:24:07] Monika: because of the evolution, but these pets they know.
[00:24:10] Cody: That's so interesting.
[00:24:12] Cody: And I think it's... Oh, go ahead.
[00:24:13] Monika: It's that's it, you know? For me, the smell was always very important. I always smell everything, everything, the worst smells, the best smells. I even smell food up to today.
[00:24:26] Cody: Well, it's so funny that you bring that up because I am similar. Like, my husband thinks... He's like, "You are... What is wrong with you?" Like, I... That is one of the primary ways that I like, my sense of smell is quite heightened, you know? Like, if we have an issue, I've smelled multiple issues going on in our house.
[00:24:44] Cody: Like, here's a really interesting example. For months, it was driving me crazy. Like, at certain times when you flush this toilet, there would be this, like, very strong sewage smell in our house, and I was like, "What is going on?"
[00:24:54] Cody: Like, something is wrong, and he's like, "No, no, just someone used the bathroom and da, da, da."
[00:24:58] Cody: I was like, "No, there's something [00:25:00] wrong." I was, like, smelling the walls trying to figure out what was going on, and it turns out we have a subpump in our basement in the like, a closet, and it wasn't properly sealed. And the plumber was like, "This is where the smell is coming from," and they sealed it, and I never smelled it again.
[00:25:14] Cody: And my point is that I use my smell a lot. Like, I am very aware and that I think that when you start to shift what you clean with, what you use on your body, what you allow around you, what you wash your clothes with, when you start to shift that, that sense comes back online because it's being killed by all of the fragrance in the world.
[00:25:35] Monika: Oh, absolutely. I agree. If you just stop using anything for a while, and you, you then you just smell like sweet orange. It's so rich, yeah. It's so rich. You know what? When I was in my, like, the sickest days of my life, only one fragrance actually could get me out of my bed. It was sweet orange, you know?
[00:25:56] Cody: Mm.
[00:25:57] Monika: It's like you smell in a good energy, and it's like, [00:26:00] "Oh, okay, I can get up." You know? It's change everything.
[00:26:04] Cody: I'm with you
[00:26:04] Monika: on that. I agree with you.
[00:26:05] Cody: Yeah. I wanna go into the products a little bit, Monika. Can you just kind of take us through all the different products and sort of tell us about them and, and what they, what they're used for?
[00:26:15] Monika: So we have a nice collection of...
[00:26:19] Monika: I will start from all-surface cleaner, the simplest,
[00:26:22] Monika: the most popular product. It's very simple ingredients. You have alcohol, water, and three very simple essential oils. Sweet orange, pink grapefruit, and balsam fir. So it's very nice, soft combination which sanitize space which you have to sanitize, but it's also so light
[00:26:47] Monika: and so pleasant that you could use this many times a day, and you will not gonna get really, overwhelmed with the fragrance because it's very cheerful, very nice, you know. Then we [00:27:00] have a glass cleaner of the fragrance of lavender, so you don't have to kill yourself with the Windex and all this
[00:27:07] Monika: toxins, you know. Windex, God. When you, like, spray, you know. Ugh. You spray on the glass. And, you know, and then you breathe in. It is like, ugh. Can you imagine? I'm pretty sure you remember.
[00:27:19] Cody: I smellmember that.
[00:27:20] Cody: It's a thing that I call it smellmember. Like, if you say the word Windex, I can smell Windex in my brain.
[00:27:25] Cody: Like, I will never forget what Windex smells like. It is-
[00:27:28] Cody: Yeah, yeah. ... a very, very recognizable scent.
[00:27:29] Monika: Yes. That's great. Yes. We have also floor cleaner. It smell like eucalyptus and sweet orange. Ooh. And when you use this on your floor, it's like right away the fragrance of essential oils going around, and it's very clean, organic smell.
[00:27:47] Monika: You feel fresh. You feel really good. We have a dish soap, which is I think is great product because in the end of the process I decide to add a few drops of sweet basil because I wanna bring my-[00:28:00]
[00:28:00] Monika: Yes. I wanna bring my customer to kind of cooking, you know, herbs situation because it's the dish soap.
[00:28:08] Monika: So dish soap should little bit smell clean but also could smell a little bit like the food, you know? Mm. So it's the reason what I I brought sweet basil because it's very gentle, very happy, you know, fragrance. We have also... This is important, very important, actually, product. It's dishwasher powder.
[00:28:27] Monika: When you using conven-
[00:28:27] Monika: Oh, great.
[00:28:28] Monika: Yes. When you're using this conventional powders or these little bit pearls, I tried to find for myself something which is actually healthy and smell, it smells good, but I couldn't. Every time when I was doing my,was running my dishwasher, and I open, it was like, it was like, it's, it was like a hit in my face. It's so bad. Yes.
[00:28:50] Monika: So I- And it doesn't go away.
[00:28:52] Cody: And it doesn't go away. No, it doesn't go away. And then, I create dish powder and I put eucalyptus inside. Nice. So, [00:29:00] you know, so it smells really nice, pleasant. No scratching in your throat when you,
[00:29:05] Cody: when you breathing, you know?
[00:29:06] Cody: It's really nice. We have also very good scrub with a lemongrass and tea tree, which is actually very good tool to kill even black fungus. It's a kind of paste. Very simple, very simple ingredients. Baking soda, castile soap, you know?
[00:29:20] Cody: It's very, very simple. All my ingredients are very simple. We have three different, air refreshness.
[00:29:27] Cody: Pine, very refreshing chamomile and lavender, very grounding, and floral, which is very good for the winter because it brings you up right away, because it's a jasmine and geranium. No artificial fragrances in my products. Everything is essential oil, so it's very, very, very safe, especially safe for the children, for your children and your pets.
[00:29:49] Cody: Pets spend most of the times on the floor or on the counters, so it's very safe. And very recently we're extending our line not only to the cleaning products, [00:30:00] but to the kind of, like, natural essentials for everyday living.
[00:30:05] Cody: Mm.
[00:30:05] Cody: so I brought three different tick repellents, which are absolutely-
[00:30:09] Monika: Yes. Deet free, and, is one for the garden which comes in the 16 ounces.
[00:30:13] Monika: Everything is on the website. And I think it's a good volume for the price, because it's a 16 ounces bottle, and you can use it in everywhere you're sitting outside. You can on your furniture, on your paths, you know, on your table. And we create one for people, very small, four ounces. It smells, I think smells delicious.
[00:30:32] Monika: It smells like good perfume. And the last one is for dogs. I believe dogs should use this. Cats, unfortunately, cannot use this, product because they grooming, and that is huge problem for me because-
[00:30:43] Monika: They're licking it.
[00:30:44] Monika: Yes.
[00:30:45] Monika: Yes. Yes. And I have a cat, and I love them, but, you know, the ticks situation here is pretty problematic, and I don't want them to get sick.
[00:30:53] Cody: That's amazing. I'm excited to go shopping after this. I've only seen you at the market, so I'm not sure that I've seen some of these products that [00:31:00] you maybe haven't had with you. Is that possible?
[00:31:02] Monika: You know what? It's funny because everybody when was walking next to my stand is like, "Oh, my God, I smell something so good."
[00:31:08] Monika: You know? They just like... I just grab them through the fragrance. You, they coming because they cannot just stop.
[00:31:14] Cody: Right. I know. It's so good. Yeah, and tick repellents, we live here on the East End,
[00:31:20] Cody: and it's a real problem. Yeah. So that's so great that you've created something.
[00:31:23] Cody: And luckily, my cat is indoor, is an indoor cat, so we don't worry too much about that, but definitely with my dog. So that's so great. What is the future looking like for you, Monika? Are you feeling pretty satisfied, or is there some... Like, what about laundry detergent? Are you gonna go there?
[00:31:37] Monika: No, actually, I'm sorry.
[00:31:38] Monika: We have laundry detergent. I forgot about it.
[00:31:39] Cody: Oh, you do.
[00:31:40] Monika: Okay. Yes. Laundry detergent,
[00:31:44] Monika: it's 32 ounces, very concentrate liquid.
[00:31:48] Monika: It smells like lavender and patchouli, very grounding. So when you smell these clothes or your sheets, it's just very kind of relaxing and very [00:32:00] easygoing fragrance, and it's 32 ounces, and it's very, very concentrated.
[00:32:05] Monika: So it's takes you, you know... It's gonna takes you a while to actually use it, until you use it every day. But actually, nobody's doing this every day.
[00:32:14] Cody: Yeah.
[00:32:15] Monika: Did I forget about something? Oh, another product which is very good. It's my, one of my favorite products. It's wood polish and cleaner. Ooh. So this is a...
[00:32:25] Monika: Yes. When you have a lot of good...
[00:32:26] Cody: you know, you see around me, this, this stuff, this, You have a lot of wood. Yes. There's a lot of wood.
[00:32:32] Monika: This is my cottage, you know? It's very... It's cedar interior. Actually, I-
[00:32:35] Cody: Oh, I love cedar.
[00:32:37] Monika: Yes, I think I bought this house because of this cottage, you know?
[00:32:40] Monika: Because it's, this cottage is...
[00:32:43] Monika: and I put my wax, my cleaner on the wall like Siberian fir because my wax and my cleaner includes a lot of Siberian fir essential oils, which is amazing. I have to tell you, if you try this product once, [00:33:00] everybody who try this product once,
[00:33:01] Monika: they say like "This is different than-"
[00:33:03] Cody: This is what I'm doing as soon as we log off, because you've identified a couple gaps in my routine that I need to fill, and one of them is a good wood cleaner.
[00:33:10] Cody: Yes. And if you have a lot of, you know, like wooden stuff,tables, chairs, you know, whatever you have, you know, floor.
[00:33:19] Cody: Once a while, you have to put this wax. It's not about cleaning. It's giving them second, chance in life. You know? Theyy became so alive right away because they absorbing the moisture
[00:33:31] Cody: Right. Totally. I have some wooden countertops in my pantry that are... Like, I should do it more often, but when I do get around to doing something like that, it's just like, oh, they look so good, and they feel so much better when they've gotten some moisture.
[00:33:45] Cody: It's like they get so dry and, like, dull. Yes. You know? Yeah.
[00:33:49] Cody: That's true. That's true.
[00:33:49] Cody: Yeah. That's incredible. Thank you for taking us through all that. I'm very excited. And I'm also curious, I asked you this, but we got, got distracted with the laundry detergent. What is, like, the future looking like for [00:34:00] you?
[00:34:00] Cody: Are you happy with sort of where things are at and just kinda wanna grow your reach? Or are you really into... gonna develop into X category? Like, what are you excited about right now?
[00:34:08] Monika: I'm excited about it, that I'm getting a lot of feedback from my customers and future customers which I really like it.
[00:34:15] Monika: So the sales business is expanding. I'm very happy about it. I want to bring a few more products, and I've shifting slowly from cleaning products to kind of, like, lifestyle, you know?
[00:34:29] Monika: It's gonna be lifestyle. And I think I'm bringing next pets products, and I think I'm gonna bring, because I think I owe this to my customers, couple of my skin products.
[00:34:39] Cody: Ooh.
[00:34:40] Monika: I have a very good skin products which I'm using for years. I make all my skin products. I don't buy any commercial skin products because I think they are not the best choice, I would say. Yeah. So I'm using very simple oils and, and very simple, you know, essential oils for my skin, and I think I owe my customers, like, a few [00:35:00] bottles maybe of these products because it's really gonna change their life, their skin is gonna look so good, and it's such a simple oils, you know, like, apricot oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, and you see the difference in your texture of your skin.
[00:35:15] Monika: And it just like, looks so nice, and I think I'm gonna do it probably next year.
[00:35:21] Cody: That's amazing. That's so wonderful.
[00:35:23] Cody: Well, this has been so exciting, so please tell everybody... first of all, I just wanna give you some space to talk. Like, if there's anything I didn't ask that you wanted to share, please let us know. And also tell us where's the best place to connect with you. Monika has generously created a discount for everybody that's listening to this podcast, which I will put in the show notes, so you can try all of her products at a special offer, which is so awesome.
[00:35:45] Cody: Thank you so much. But yeah, tell us, like, the best place to connect with you.
[00:35:48] Monika: The best place, if you are around the Hamptons,
[00:35:51] Monika: we participate, in farmer markets. I'm always happy to meet my customers. I'm always happy to talk about how to create cleaning [00:36:00] system for them, how to use the products. the best ways to find me, contact me through my website.
[00:36:06] Monika: You can find my email there, and, or Instagram account, Flutter Labs US.
[00:36:12] Cody: Amazing. Where did the name come from?
[00:36:15] Monika: You know, it came again from my, love affair with good fragrance. You know? I was always creating this, mixing this, you know, stuff and like when I create the product it is kind of, like place where different fragrance is fluttering.
[00:36:29] Monika: You know? It's like going around. When you get to the space, this fragrance is gonna be present there for next two, three days. So this molecules of this essential oils in the air just are everywhere. So I just create something. You know, labs coming from laboratorium is very easy, so I have to follow certain formula to make this effective.
[00:36:49] Monika: But-
[00:36:49] Cody: Right.
[00:36:50] Monika: Flutter is really the fragrance.
[00:36:52] Cody: I love that. That's so beautiful. And is there anything that is on your mind or heart that you wanna share before we say goodbye?
[00:36:59] Monika: I just wanna say [00:37:00] that I hope people gonna read the labels of the products, of cleaning products, and I'm always happy to answer any question and concern.
[00:37:08] Cody: That's great. Yeah, especially for people that are, you know, just maybe hearing this for the first time. I think this audience is pretty forward-thinking, but if, you know, send it to a friend, share it with a friend so that everyone can really start to shift this because it's so important.
[00:37:22] Cody: You know, at the end of the day, it's not a hard change to make. It's really not. It's a very simple change to make. No, it's not. And you know, you can do this really easily, by just getting rid of the stuff that you've been using and starting fresh, and it's a really important one.
[00:37:36] Cody: So thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Don't leave me yet. You and I will say goodbye, but we'll say goodbye to everyone here. All right.
[00:37:41] Monika: Thank you very much.
[00:37:42] Cody: Thank you. Bye.
[00:37:44] Monika: Bye.
[00:37:45] Cody: Okay, so this episode today really made me think of this idea of practical magic. And yes, I know it's an amazing movie, but also it's one of the things that I really love about feng shui. I feel like I say that all the time, but there are so many [00:38:00] things, and it's how the small, ordinary things that we do in our homes can become something much more intentional and much more powerful and then also much more fun.
[00:38:10] Cody: So cleaning can be one of those things. In feng shui, when we're thinking about cleaning, we're not just removing the physical dust or putting things back where they, quote-unquote, "belong." We're moving stagnant energy. We're deciding what gets to stay in our home, and we're really creating the space for what we want our home to cultivate, whether that's abundance or rest or more energy.
[00:38:33] Cody: So the next time you clean your home, try adding one layer of intention. Open a window before you clean if you can, if the season allows, and even just a crack will do unless it's super humid, and decide, like, "What am I ready to clear?" As you wipe down a surface, imagine you're clearing away whatever has felt heavy or stuck, and when you're finishing, place something back with intention.
[00:38:53] Cody: Maybe it's a candle or fresh flowers, or maybe it's just putting the thing that was there back with a new thought, a [00:39:00] new idea in mind. So it doesn't have to be complicated, and I will stand here forever to say that ideally, feng shui should not feel complicated. It should feel accessible. It should feel practical.
[00:39:12] Cody: Yes, you wanna be guided. You want someone that has trained to help you see what you might not be seeing on your own. However, there's real magic in simplicity. Your home is, of course, already a member of your family, a part of your life, and when you can become more conscious of the conversation you're having it, with it through the simple acts like cleaning, then we can start to really deepen this relationship, and you'll be amazed at what your home starts to tell you.
[00:39:40] Cody: If anyone out there listening is really into this idea of intention and sacred space and rituals, I am opening a super private container that I'm not going to be talking about publicly at all because I wanna be very protective of the energy, not to be a gatekeeper or not [00:40:00] to be, like, exclusive, but because what we're going to be doing inside this container needs to be held at a certain level of secrecy and also just confidentiality is really the better word.
[00:40:11] Cody: So if you're really curious about that, head over to Instagram and DM me the word sacred. This is not a, uh, trigger word. There will be no automation that's coming to you after this. It'll just let me know that you heard this episode, you're interested in what I'm talking about, and I will personally respond with the details, and we can have a conversation.
[00:40:29] Cody: A little asterisk on that, a basic knowledge of basic feng shui is required for this space. All right, everybody, I'm looking forward to seeing you next time, and have a beautiful week. Talk to you soon. Bye.