Growing with your Sustainable Brand

 Introducing Derek Sabori

 It is quite the journey when you start answering the phones for free and eventually progress to a vice president of global sustainability.  That is the path that Derek Sabori took though.  Derek works with the massive lifestyle and clothing brand, Volcom and has been with the company since 1996.  He comes to the Boiling Point by way of a chance meeting with Greg Hemming at the Sustainable Brands conference they both attended in June.

Derek’s position has him managing all parts of Volcom’s business sustainability from fabric choice to land use, waste to compliance.   His message to young people entering the business world, it is okay to connect your inner values with your career.  Hear about Derek’s journey in this episode of the Boiling Point.

In this episode

• Derek tells us how he went from being an art major to a vice president of a major company.
• He tells us about how Volcom sees sustainability as a major part of their operation.
• Derek explains how patience is a major part of making changes within a global brand.
• We hear how Volcom builds a real community behind its brand.
• Greg comments how it is possible to grow with a great company that has a great open culture.
• Dave notes that as you grow older you don’t need to change the person you always were.

Links

- Derek on LinkedIn

- Derek on Twitter

- Derek on Instagram

- Volcom's New Future

- New Future on Facebook

Founding Story of a Change Maker

Introducing Justin Perkins

The universe works in amazing ways.  By being observant and using your intuition the path of your life can become an amazing and impactful adventure.  One person that has followed such a path is Justin Perkins.  Justin is a native of Boulder, Colorado and is the senior director of brand engagement and business development with Care2.com, as well as the founder and president of the Olomomo Nut Company.

Care2 was one of the first “social good” websites to emerge back in 1998 with 30 million members and has petitions signed by hundreds of millions of people.  Olomomo was a hobby business Justin started back in 2008 that is now getting national distribution throughout natural grocery stores in the United States and soon Canada.  Both companies are certified B Corps.

Justin’s passion for social impact was sparked by a trip to Guatemala when he was a teenager.  It was a big shock for him to see how different the world was from mountainous paradise of Boulder.  Seeing how the rest of the world lived prompted his curiosity, and brought on questions like, “what does it all mean?”  His curiosity took him to Brazil to study international development and to South Africa for several months where he had a life-changing experience with a man named Billy that led him on a path to creating a non-profit.  This experience was so deeply impactful for Justin that he new he had to pursue something similar in his career path; only in such a way that he could also make a buck as well.

Tune into this episode of the Boiling Point to see how openness to new experiences and serendipity can open a path to a life full of meaning and passion.

In this episode

• Justin fills us in on the great things happening with Care2.com and Olomomo.
• Greg and Dave are mesmerized by Justin’s entrepreneurial origin story.
• Justin tells us about his friend Billy and how a chance meeting at a guitar store in Cape Town, South Africa changed his life forever.
• We hear how Care2 is taking on issues from Bill Cosby to corporate slavery.
• Justin explains how Care2 assists socially responsible companies as well as non-profits.
• Dave believes it is remarkable how Justin uses his intuition and how his life seems like a “choose your own adventure” book.
• Dave also comments on Justin’s curiosity for the world and how one half hour is not nearly enough to get the whole story.
• Greg sees how adventurers, artists, and entrepreneurs are all the same type of people. 

Links

- Care2.com

- Olomomo Nut Company

- Olomomo on Twitter

- Care2 on Twitter

- Justin's email (Care2)

- Justin's email (Olomomo

Bring on the Business Sustainability

Introducing Nick Aster

For too long sustainability was a niche topic discussed mostly by activists.  However, now there seems to be a shift in the tides where business is coming to the table to make a real impact.  One of the reasons for this is due to the hard work of people like our guest this week on the Boiling Point, Nick Aster.

Nick is the founder of TriplePundit.com, which is an online business sustainability publication he started as a passion project around 10 years ago.  After completing on of the first MBA programs in the subject of business sustainability, Nick wanted to get the word out on all he had learned and on some exciting people.  Five years later, Nick was able to quit his former job and work TriplePundit.com full time. 

Nick has seen the evolution of business sustainability from a niche topic to a cautious optimism as large corporations are starting to buy in and make their own impacts.  No longer does it seem that business sees activists as agitators, but now collaborators toward a better world and increased profitability.  Sure, for some of these companies it might be just great PR or lip service, but more often then not these companies are taking the issue seriously.

In this episode

• Greg tells us about his visit to the Sustainable Brands conference in San Diego (where he met Nick).
• Nick tells us why he believes there has been a change in mindset from big companies toward participating in sustainability.
• He tells his motivation to make an online publication like he has and about its growth to 500,000 readers a month.
• Nick and Greg talk about being mission based media companies.
• Nick also talks about an interesting conversation he had with a massive corporation at Sustainable Brands that had him greatly encouraged.
• Nick tells us the greatest starting places for your business to start its path toward sustainability.
• He also tells it why it is important to make practical impacts that are not abstract and are directly connected to you and your business.
• Dave appreciates how the track to sustainability could be so practical and useful to business.
• Greg joins the cautious celebration that businesses are really starting to jump on board with this concept.

Links

- Nick's Twitter

- Triple Pundit's Twitter

- Triple Pundit's Website

- Sign up for Triple Pundit's Newsletter 

- Sustainable Brands Conference

Wear your Label and Defeat Mental Health Stigmas

Introducing Kyle MacNevin and Kayley Reid

Mental health has traditionally been a taboo topic to talk about openly.  This left many unable or unwilling to reach out for help and caused them to suffer in silence.  However, recently there has been a shift of opinion, which has allowed those with mental health issues to speak more openly and as a result those who hadn’t sought help are now more open to the idea.

Kyle MacNevin and Kayley Reid were on the cutting edge of this movement when they launched their clothing line Wear Your Label.  Wear Your Label is a for-profit, social enterprise that puts mental health front and center while helping to obliterate mental health stigmas.  Best of all, part of the profits from each sale go to help out groups supporting mental health initiatives. 

Mental health is not like any other illness or injury.  When you break your arm and have to get a cast, everyone understand that you are injured and on the way to recovery.  Mental health is not as visible and therefore not as easy to understand… that is until now. 

Wear Your Label has been able to build community and belonging to those who may have previously felt isolated by doing just as their company name says.  The clothing tells the world, that you have had some struggles and are in the process of recovery.  In an industry so notorious for exacerbating certain mental health and body issues, they have really turned a page. 

In this episode

• Kyle and Kayley tell us about their personal struggles and how talking about them led to a great social business opportunity.
• They describe how they want to shift the stigma into tribes of understanding and compassion.
• Kyle tells us how owning a mental health problem and working on it does wonders toward feeling better and starting the conversation with others who may need to talk.
• We hear about how mental health has drastic effects to business and how businesses that are tackling the issue have seen great results.
• Kyle and Kayley tell us how there is more than just washing instructions on the inside tag.
• Dave mentions how being vulnerable encourages others to do the same.
• Greg is inspired that the company is not only a social enterprise but by how it’s whole purpose is to generate conversation.
• Dave suggests this episode for anyone that is seeking to understand what the millennial generation really wants.

Links and References

- Wear Your Label Webpage

- Wear Your Label on Twitter

- Wear Your Label on Facebook

- Wear Your Label on Instagram