Meet Heeva Asefvaziri of Flush Packaging

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heeva Asefvaziri.

Hi Heeva, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thanks so much for having me, great to be able to talk with you. I remember being a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 2006 when I first heard that there was a Packaging Program on-campus in the College of Business. I was feeling unenthusiastic and out of place with my current course of study when I met with the Director of the program, Dr. Jay Singh, who spoke so passionately about the future of packaging that I was instantly hooked. A few weeks later, I formally switched majors and never looked back.
After graduation, I immediately started work as a Junior Packaging Designer and just hit the ground running learning how to create corrugated packaging designs and interacting with companies all over Southern California. After a few years, I quit my job and started a packaging consulting company with a desire to grow a business of my own.

After working for many large companies, I wanted to shift gears and think about how to bring highly customized and tailored structural packaging designs to the smallest of businesses. I’m talking about micro businesses who run their business off of their kitchen table. After about a year of research, I came up with the idea to create a line of packaging uniquely designed for common containers like glass bottles and jars so that they can ship safely, at the lowest cost possible, while getting rid of bubble wrap and packing peanuts to create awesome unboxing experiences. This was the birth of Flush.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Having a varied design experience background within packaging, working on hundreds of projects for many different companies prepared me well for an initial outlook on how I would go about creating these new designs but there were some unique challenges along the way.

One unique challenge was learning how particular customer segments like to market their products to their customers – whether it be candles, jams, essential oils, or CBD – to name a few. Each of these markets has its own idiosyncrasies when it comes to product preparation, care, handling, aesthetic, and so on. But many of these customer segments overlap when it comes to using a common container like a glass Mason jar that can be used for candle making, jams, etc. So creating something that will be viable and with as much utility as possible that would appeal to multiple market segments has become one of our top priorities when it comes to product development.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Flush imagines a future free of bubble-wrap.

We are a next-generation packaging company that focuses on creating protective and efficient structural packaging designs for e-commerce and other businesses across the US. Through thoughtful design, we make packaging that is sustainable, reduces material waste, lowers shipping cost and damage rates while creating a great unboxing experience that drives growth for small and large businesses.

Our products are uniquely designed around common containers like glass bottles, jars, tins, etc. that until now depended on packing peanuts and bubble wrap to provide protection during shipping. Bubble-wrap sucks. No one likes to pack/ship or receive a box full of the stuff. It’s wasteful, unsightly, and requires a larger than needed box. Understanding the nature of harsh shipping environments and creating packaging designed around shipping cost thresholds allows us to work backwards to arrive at an efficient design that takes into account real-world use and takes on even the most disgruntled delivery drivers.

We are most proud of solving the problems that many businesses have just accepted as a necessary evil of getting their product from A to B. You don’t have to be ok with breakage. You don’t have to be ok with an ugly box being the first impression with your customer. Packaging should reflect and build your brand, not take away from it. I love talking to business owners in LA and across the US and hearing about the problems they’re experiencing with their current packaging – the calls usually go on for quite a while as they go down the laundry list. It’s a great feeling when they realize bad packaging doesn’t have to be the status quo.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most people who know me for my work don’t know that I am a competitive ultramarathon runner. During college, I decided one summer to run from Oregon to Mexico with my dad alongside me. It was a half-baked idea, but we made it happen. To date, it is still the single most profound experience I have ever had.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@flushpackaging.com
• Website: https://flushpackaging.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flushpackaging/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flushpackaging/