North Carolina-based company uses sustainable products to build connections worldwide

GARNER, N.C. (WTVD) -- ABC11 is highlighting people and products that are North Carolina-made, with the spotlight on Garner-based company Feelgoodz.

Feelgoodz is a travel-inspired lifestyle brand that makes sustainable footwear, Turkish towels, and home accessories. Founder Kyle Berner launched the company in 2008 after a chance encounter with a rubber tree farming family in Thailand.

While backpacking in Thailand, Berner's flip-flops broke. He bought a pair at a local market, calling them the most comfortable he'd ever worn. Fascinated to learn they were made from natural rubber sourced from the country's southern farms, he visited a plantation, became fast friends with the family, and soon after started Feelgoodz.

The company now partners with global artisans and farmers to produce eco-friendly products using natural materials. Based in Garner with 17 employees, Berner said the Triangle has been key to its growth.

"What has been interesting is in the Triangle area, there's a ton of resources," Berner said. "It's been really interesting to find really good talent, a really good team of people with a diverse skill set. Any resources that we feel we need, we feel like we have access to because of the infrastructure that's been built here."

Feelgoodz supports hundreds of rural farmers and artisans worldwide, using natural rubber, recycled rice husks, and other materials to produce items like vegan leather sandals and natural rubber flip-flops.

The company recently expanded with a luxury hospitality collection, designing spa slides and in-room slippers for five-star resorts.

"We are getting into the hospitality industry, working with resorts," Berner said. "We're developing a whole collection of spa slides and in-room slippers and really trying to tackle a lot of the issues that exist in that world."

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