In this episode of Five Lifes to Fifty , we sit down with Jenny Liu, Head of Sustainability for the Advanced Performance Materials business at Chemours. Jenny takes us inside the world of chemistry — not just as a science, but as a powerful enabler of sustainability, innovation, and everyday life. From electric vehicles to semiconductors and the hydrogen economy, we explore how advanced materials are quietly shaping the future, and how Chemours is leading the charge through bold sustainability g...
Apr 15, 2025•37 min
Episode 14: Sustainable Mining & the Future of Copper In this episode, we sit down with Andrea Vaccari from Freeport to explore the rising demand for copper and its crucial role in the clean energy transition. From electric vehicles to wind turbines, copper is everywhere—but how will we meet skyrocketing demand sustainably? We discuss challenges in mining, the shift toward responsible sourcing, and why designing for disassembly is key to a circular economy. Whether you're in product design, ...
Feb 13, 2025•33 min
Merck's Jeffrey Whitford joins the team for episode 13 of Five Lifes to Fifty. Jeffrey is Vice President of Sustainability & Social Business Innovation at Merck (known as MilliporeSigma in the US and Canada since Merck's acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich in 2015), and has a deep background in education, communication, advertising, marketing and strategy. He uses those skills to develop and execute compelling platforms to showcase his organization's efforts in Corporate Social Responsibility. Toda...
Nov 21, 2024•34 min
In episode 12, we welcome Ethan Soloviev, Chief Innovation Officer at HowGood, to Five Lifes to Fifty. Ethan is also an owner of High Falls Farm, and is the author of "Levels of Regenerative Agriculture" and "Regenerative Enterprise: Optimizing for Multi-Capital Abundance." Ethan is an international expert on regenerative agriculture, regenerative business, and innovation, with experience in 34 countries. He is the founder of the Regenerative Enterprise Institute, an Associate of the Carol Sanfo...
Sep 26, 2024•36 min
In episode 11, we welcome Bob Mitchell, CEO of the Global Electronics Council (GEC), to Five Lifes to Fifty. Before beginning his tenure at the GEC in 2023, Bob worked at the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) where he served as Vice President, Human Rights and Environment from 2016. He also has previous experience with Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE). The GEC is is a mission-driven nonprofit that leverages the power of purchasers to create a world where only sustaina...
Jul 19, 2024•36 min
In episode 10, we welcome special guest Connie Hensler, Global Director of Environmental Management and Product Stewardship at global flooring manufacturer Interface. A long-term and passionate advocate of a more sustainable approach to design and manufacturing, Connie joins Neil, Jim and Shelley to discuss how to break traditional product development thinking with moonshot goals, all while achieving financial - and sustainable - success. In this Episode Shelley - For the sake of our listeners w...
Jun 07, 2024•29 min
In episode 9, the latest in our ongoing series of guest-centric features, we’re pleased to welcome Al Iannuzzi to the podcast. Al is Vice President of Sustainability at Esteé Lauder Companies. Al has made his career as an Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability Executive and author, and has over 30 years of experience as a subject matter expert in the EHS&S field. His 2017 book ‘Greener Products’ is a must-read – insightful, engaging and a fitting accumulation of the wealth of knowl...
Apr 12, 2024•30 min
In episode 8, we’re pleased to welcome another guest to the podcast – Stanley Black & Decker’s Product Sustainability Senior Director Dan Fitzgerald. If you don't know about Stanley Black & Decker, it is the largest tool company in the world with over 100 manufacturing facilities worldwide. In his role, Dan leads the ‘innovate with purpose’ pillar under the corporate social responsibility strategy, which includes goals focusing on addressing unmet societal needs, circular design, and sus...
Mar 08, 2024•31 min
In our latest episode, Jim, Neil and Shelley welcome special guest Bruce Uhlman. As Senior Manager, Applied Sustainability at BASF, Bruce leads their applied sustainability team in North America. BASF is the largest chemical producer in the world. Bruce discusses the reasons why product managers need to be embedding sustainability into their products, the difficulties of accurately defining what 'sustainability' truly means, and BASF's portfolio steering framework (among a variety of other topic...
Feb 08, 2024•25 min
In the final part of a three-part series on embedding sustainability into the stage gate process, Neil, Jim and Shelley discuss the launch phase of a product. From voluntary reporting to confidential disclosures to avoiding delays, there are a number of important final hurdles to clear as you approach the finish line. Listen back to parts 1 and 2 of episode 6 to follow the stage gate journey from beginning to end. In this Episode Shelley: The launch phase is when you are getting ready to take yo...
Feb 02, 2024•28 min
In the second part of a three-part series on embedding sustainability into the stage gate process, Neil, Jim and Shelley discuss what comes next after the discovery and scoping phases. Is the proposal technically viable? Is there a valid market opportunity? Are you asking all the questions that need to be asked? As the funnel narrows, it’s time to gather more information and more detail. Can you make a justification for what you’re proposing? In this episode What is unique about sustainability a...
Jan 19, 2024•21 min
You’re at the beginning of product design and need to embed sustainability. But how? In this episode we answer how to use sustainability as a lens for discovering opportunities in the discovery and scope stages, which are the initial stages in product development. We also cover the importance of being quantitative and how hot spot analysis and life cycle thinking can help. In this Episode What is unique or specific about how to embed sustainability at these two stage gates? Neil: When experts th...
Jan 09, 2024•18 min
Episode Notes In October 2023 California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253), which directs the State Air Resources Board to develop regulations requiring corporations that do business in California, with annual revenues over $1 billion, to publicly disclose their GHG emissions, was signed into law. In this episode, we discuss what this legislation means for product managers and individual products. Are we going to start to see product-level impacts become enterprise-level repor...
Nov 09, 2023•22 min•Ep. 5
Episode Notes It's not enough to just make a product more sustainable. At the end of the day, you also need to capitalize on that sustainability improvement because it’s an investment. In this episode, we answer how understanding the six stage gates to developing any product is essential to leverage sustainability improvements. We also discuss using single sustainability scores, trade-off and decision-making hierarchies in organizations, and why life cycle thinking is essential to not lose custo...
Sep 27, 2023•38 min•Ep. 4
Episode 3: What is a Sustainable Product? It is crunch time for the climate, and you need to create a sustainable product. But what is that? And is focusing on carbon enough? In this episode, we answer what is a sustainable product and why your “sustainable” product may not be sustainable tomorrow. We also discuss why narrowly focusing on carbon is an oversimplification of sustainability and what could differentiate a great product manager from a good one. Episode Notes What is a sustainable pro...
Jul 25, 2023•29 min•Ep. 3
Sustainability needs to be a key design factor in product design. But even if a company has sustainability goals, why is it hard to implement? This episode discusses the barriers in middle management, multiple decision factors, and translating information to meet your audience.
Jun 14, 2023•32 min•Ep. 2
The next 30 years will redefine product winners in the marketplace and speed and interdisciplinary awareness is key. Product Managers are central to bringing all the elements together and ensuring sustainability is embedded into product design.
May 12, 2023•25 min•Ep. 1
