Yas is a visionary entrepreneur and circular economy pioneer, renowned for her dedication to impact-driven leadership. As the Founder and Chief Evangelist of Circonomy, Yas has led the transformation of the organisation from its early days as local Brisbane initiative World’s Biggest Garage Sale (WBGS) to its status as a groundbreaking force in the circular economy and reducing waste at scale across Australia.
Circonomy’s innovative circular services and unique recommerce model have been pivotal in addressing waste management challenges. These sustainable solutions address corporate challenges to reduce waste at scale – through refurbishment, repair and recovery, sustainable de-fit and re-fits, circular asset management, and circular activation.
In the past 12 months, Circonomy has spared a colossal 638 tonnes of office furniture & fittings from the fate of landfills, rescuing over 53,000 items. Furthermore, through strategic partnerships with leading retailers and businesses, Circonomy has developed targeted circular solutions that enhance corporate sustainability efforts. The company collaborates with industry leaders such as Officeworks, Mirvac, David Jones, and Catch, forging paths towards environmental stewardship in the commercial sector.
Circonomy began in 2013 with Yas Grigaliunas looking to raise money for a cause. With over 55,000 Charities and NFPs in Australia, the idea began as a way to solve donor fatigue. Yas asked herself – “how do I raise money without asking people for money?”
In countless homes, an abundance of dormant goods ranging from furniture, clothing, appliances and more were no longer in use or destined for landfill. Combining her passion for fundraising and sustainability, Yas had an idea.
The World’s Biggest Garage Sale was born – activating dormant goods to create a world without waste. The first ever WBGS event, supported by 50 of Yas’ friends and family as volunteers, raised $15,000 in just one day. This event planted the seeds for what would become a revolutionary movement across the corporate and retail landscape – dormant goods for good.
Between 2014 – 2017, whilst working fulltime in her corporate career, the buzz surrounding the annual one day WBGS event spread like wildfire, fuelling an ever-growing passion within Yas to create a different model, where people and planet came together for a purpose. Yas leveraged her extensive business experience and passion for exceptional customer service to share WBGS’s impact, rallying her network to support with corporate donations and products.
It was in 2017, alongside passionate volunteers and enthusiastic partnerships with companies like Newscorp, Coles, National Storage, Goodman, Cisco, Data #3 an 1800-GOT-JUNK? to name a few, WBGS had raised a total of $300,000 by mobilising dormant goods. Yas realised that this concept was so much bigger and impactful, and went all in.
Like her very own idle asset sitting dormant, Yas’s vision expanded with a rebrand. With the heart and impact of WGBS, and knowing that it wouldn’t be big enough to achieve Yas’ vision, the brand Circonomy was created in 2018. These values were weaved into the design of her “profit for purpose” enterprise, creating meaningful employment opportunities (jobs) through the commitment to designing solutions for a more circular economy.
Yas became a walking talking billboard for the brand, sitting in the front row everywhere she went, to ensure her company could evolve into what she envisioned – long before the words ‘circular economy’ were trending or popularised.
An initial capital investment via an Accelerator program (River City Labs), followed by Yas being selected as one of the inaugural Ventures to be funded by Coralus (formerly SheEO), elevated and enabled the onboarding of the first full-time employees, and the evolution of the vision escalated.
Despite the worldwide halt due to COVID-19 – Yas’ unwavering commitment carried on. Through intensive fundraising, with Yas even holing herself up in a “capital-raise cave”, Yas has been able to scale up Circonomy into the innovative product, service and software business it is today, and partner with many leading businesses and organisations to create lasting impact.
Circonomy’s unique supply model is coined by Yas as a “surprise chain” – mobilising dormant goods in whatever form they come in to keep them at their maximum value. This model provides circular solutions for retailers and businesses with customer returns, missing parts, slow-moving stock, insurance salvage and even de-fit projects, and makes quality goods accessible and affordable for Australians.
Through this, we’re also able to give back to local and vulnerable communities – such as donating goods affected by natural disasters that are unable to sell, or providing charities and NFPs with donated office furniture renewed and repurposed from de-fits to transform their space.
This model has helped to divert waste from landfill and reduce the need for new, creating both social and environmental impact all across Australia.
Yas’ journey from her humble beginnings in Brisbane to taking her mission nationwide is truly inspiring. Through her authentic, passionate leadership, Circonomy is not only addressing environmental sustainability but also creating significant social impact, showcasing the vibrant spirit and transformative power of Brisbane’s changemakers.
This article was written for Brisbane or Bust.
