The concept of Pookipoiga was initiated by Sree and Megan.
Megan was a Social Worker and Public Health Specialist who wanted to continue to use her powers for good instead of evil. Throughout her career, she has worked with a Nepali community. She worked for three years, taking her public health skills along with her in order to open a health centre (Bhumethan Community Health Centre found in 2007, sadly fell down in the 2015 earthquake) in a rural village (Ramechhap) making a huge impact for the community focusing on preventative health. She has since worked in Mental Health and Refugee Settlement. For Pookipoiga, Megan focuses on the people who make the products - throughout the whole product cycle. She is an Emergency Nurse in one of the prominent Melbourne hospital now and in her spare time you will see her at some major events (when it is COVID-free), volunteering for St John's Ambulance Service as a First Responder.
Sree is a Manufacturing Engineer who was dissatisfied (and a little embarrassed), with his industry since he used to be involved in making Press tools, Injection molding etc, encouraging mass production. In 2009 he met Megan and was touched by her story and went and saw what she did in Nepal and started helping her fundraise for the health centre, she founded. He founded the Cashmere brand, Nine Yaks in 2012 to help fundraise for the Health Centre. He worked for 12 years before he came to the conclusion that he wanted to use his skills for better and encourage sustainability. He thought deeply about how much unnecessary harm we have done to the world through our consumption pattern and wanted to make a change. He wanted to do more with less. He wanted to find a way to incorporate the adage of 'reduce, reuse, recycle, upcycle'. He is the chief chai maker, storyteller and planet guardian (he even take time to rescue sticky tapes and anything which comes into our store) at POOKIPOIGA.
Two awesome people, together they created....da da da...Pookipoiga (Check out our impact here!
We have talked about the masterminds behind the concept, but what exactly is Pookipoiga? "Pookipoiga" is a Finnish word (or in Finnish Pyykkipoika) which literally translates to "little washer boy", which is normally used in Finnish for "clothes peg". Pookipoiga evolved from an idea that the world is a great place and we need to do more to look after it. So, that's a start, but where do we go from here? People love things, so we should probably sell things, but what things? And what could be good for the world?
We focus on products that people love and make sure that they are ethical, sustainable and fair trade before it comes into the store. We stock a lot of different goodies, although we are particularly in love with: Denz recycled stainless steel earrings, Elvis and Kresse, Sabine and Sparrow baby goodies, Gail C Ceramics, Mojo upcycled candles, Summer Salt Body, Apiary Made beeswax wraps, Topheads Sunglasses, Organics for Lily teas , Milton Ashby, Thurlby Herb Farm insect repellents, Lore Lore knitwear, Nine Yaks, Conscious Step socks, and Able and Game cards.
A lot of our suppliers do great work with communities, which is a big reason why we work with them, but we also have a spirit of giving in our store (virtual and real). For every purchase, we donate a meal to vulnerable Australians through SecondBite. You buy something, someone eats something and food doesn't get wasted- win win win!
Opening Hours (please Google for the most updated seasonal time or just call 0422258229):
Monday to Saturday: 10:00AM - 5:00PM special January opening hours for holidays
( call for any other time or appointment as we might be around till later). Google will have the most up-to-date time as we dynamically update there while staying late!