Saskia van Gendt is an environmental scientist and the first Head of Sustainability at Rothy's, the San Francisco-based, direct-to-consumer fashion company. Rothy's items are made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles and post-consumer recycled materials. Saskia oversees their initiatives to use more reusable materials, design products that eliminate waste, and advance their goal of making the brand - and fashion industry at large - ever more circular to better serve our planet and future. Sa...
Apr 05, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Wes Carter is the President of Atlantic Packaging, the largest, private packaging company in the U.S. which has been operating for 75 years. As a third generation business owner, he is on a mission to make packaging smarter and sustainable. In this episode, we discuss the moral obligation he feels for packaging companies to care about environmental issues, inspire greater responsibility in customers, and innovate to better serve our future. He reveals the power of collaboration between competito...
Mar 29, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Since 1923 Hasbro has delighted generations with beloved toys, games and brands that are synonymous with childhood. Kathrin Belliveau is the first Executive Vice President and Chief Purpose Officer of the self-described "global play and entertainment company," where she is charged with bringing their purpose to life in ways that make the world a better place for children, fans, and families. In this episode, Kathrin talks about why it's critical for companies in all sectors to embrace sustainabi...
Mar 22, 2022•39 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Bayer is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world – generating $48.90 billion in revenue in 2021. At the helm of Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability for Bayer’s Consumer Health Division is Daniella Foster. Daniella joined Bayer in 2019 with a powerful vision for how consumer engagement and cross-sector collaboration can transform millions of lives including those in underserved communities around the world. With aggressive but attainable goals to be climate neutral by 2030...
Mar 15, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Damian Bradfield is the Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer at WeTransfer, the leading cloud-based content-sharing platform that is in the business of making tools to shape and move ideas for creatives globally. While best known as a service to easily transfer large files to colleagues and loved ones, WeTransfer is a powerful storytelling company on a mission to make the internet more open and democratic. In my chat with Damian, we discuss how WeTransfer came to be, how it is creating impact...
Mar 08, 2022•43 min•Season 3Ep. 17
It started with a punk-rock band in Seattle in the 90’s and a kid who had a knack for screen printing t-shirts from his bedroom. That entrepreneurial start led to the launch of ScreenPrinting.com in 2004 which generated $8 million in revenues in under three years. As his business grew so did Ryan, as a successful business owner and social change agent. Through Allmade he is now reimagining what eco-friendly, socially conscious apparel and printing looks like and challenging the biggest brands in...
Mar 01, 2022•43 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California with a mission to save our home planet. It was founded in 1976 by Yvon Chouinard and was the first B-Corporation in the state. Rick was Vice President of Environmental Initiatives and Special Media Projects for Patagonia for 15 years during which he founded the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. In addition to his accomplishments at Patagonia, Rick is recognized as one of the world’s foremost mountaineers. Along with Yvon and anoth...
Feb 22, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Unilever is a purpose-led global company that owns over four hundred brands we use every day. Its purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace by empowering consumers to make responsible choices. In this episode, I have a great conversation with Unilever’s CEO of Health & Wellness, Jostein Solheim, about the new division he is leading for Unilever and his re-radicalizing of Ben & Jerry's, the activist ice-cream brand he led for 8 years. This episode of Lead With We was produced and ...
Feb 14, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 14
AppHarvest is a high-tech, controlled-environment agriculture company based in Morehead, Kentucky committed to solving the growing food crisis. They are a B-Corp on a mission to combine conventional agriculture techniques with today’s cutting edge technologies to dramatically increase crop yield using a fraction of the natural resources. Jonathan Webb is its Founder & CEO who shares why he decided to bring this project to his home state, why now is the time to act now on sustainable agricult...
Feb 08, 2022•43 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world's largest beer brewer by both volume and revenue, whose portfolio includes more than 500 beer brands sold in over 150 countries. Under the leadership of its new CEO, Michel Doukeris, the industry-leading enterprise is revitalizing its brand with a new purpose and sustainability goals to drive future growth and impact. In this episode, I speak with Michel about his leadership philosophy and his ambitious 10-year plan. This roadmap hinges on the company's commitme...
Jan 31, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Eddie Bauer recently celebrated 100 years in business, and the iconic outdoor brand is focused on making the outdoors accessible to everyone. It’s a mission that deeply resonates with me as I believe that reconnecting to the natural world will help us repurpose business to restore the planet. In this episode, I speak with Eddie Bauer’s Vice President of Marketing, Kristen Elliot, about the many ways Eddie Bauer is bringing this mission to life, from their new outdoor gear rental program to worki...
Nov 29, 2021•34 min•Season 3Ep. 11
John Hardy is an ethical jewelry brand whose production facilities are based in Bali. In fact, they’re the biggest employer on the island. In this episode of Lead With We, I spoke with their CEO, Kareem Gahed, about how John Hardy employs local Balinese artisans to hand craft their pieces and build communities and a culture of humanity and courage. We dig into the details of what ethical production truly means in the jewelry business and how the company’s vertical business model enables greater ...
Nov 22, 2021•27 min•Season 3Ep. 10
As PepsiCo’s Global Marketing Director of Sustainability & Purpose, Maddy Kulkarni has been an integral part of charting a new course for one of the world’s largest enterprises. And now she’s passing on that knowledge to younger generations as a professor at the University of Texas. She even created her own textbook! In this episode Maddy and I chatted about the importance of educating the next generation of business leaders on how to blend purpose and profit, the case studies she uses from ...
Nov 16, 2021•33 min•Season 3Ep. 9
My new book, Lead With We, is officially out in stores and online, so in this episode we’re turning the tables and I’m in the hot seat for a change. In this episode Goal 17 CEO Greg Mollner, who has been our partner on this podcast from the beginning, interviews me about how my personal and professional journey led me to rethink business as usual and create the new business paradigm I lay out in the book to better serve humanity and the planet. Greg and I chatted about the collaborative strategi...
Nov 08, 2021•28 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Dr. Mark Goulston has had a fascinating career as a psychiatrist, from helping those contemplating suicide to assisting the FBI with hostage negotiation, and now coaching the world’s top executives at companies like IBM and Goldman Sachs to become better leaders through his company Michaelangelo Mindset. Oh, and did I mention he’s written nine books? In this episode I spoke with Mark about the type of leader the world needs now and in the future and some of the techniques he uses to draw out lea...
Nov 01, 2021•32 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Stacey Pool became Chief Marketing Officer at the fast casual restaurant chain Noodles & Company just before the pandemic started. In this episode Stacey shares how she’s leading this purposeful company through these unprecedented times. We talked openly about how COVID has taught us to be vulnerable as leaders, the balancing act of looking out for the wellbeing of our employees while still providing opportunities for professional growth, and using transparency and innovation to stay ahead o...
Oct 25, 2021•22 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Bragg Live Foods has been in the natural foods space for over a century. Now the family-owned original health food company is a movement for healthier and happier lives with CEO Linda Boardman at the helm. In this episode Linda and I spoke about how she’s leading the company at such a pivotal time in its history, especially given the explosion of clean food and her personal passion for health and wellness. Hear our deep dive conversation into how she's capitalizing on today’s consumer trends and...
Oct 18, 2021•25 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Dan Widmaier is a bioengineer who’s taking on the fashion and beauty industries. As the Co-Founder and CEO of Bolt Threads, he’s ushering in a new era of regenerative lab grown materials that can help us reverse course when it comes to the health of our planet. In this episode Dan and I talked about the science behind Bolt Threads’ patented materials, and how they’re being adopted by big brands like Stella McCartney and Adidas. In what was a fascinating conversation, I heard about his growth str...
Oct 11, 2021•33 min•Season 3Ep. 4
As we witness the acute effects of climate change and economic inequality, business needs radical reshaping. Andrew Winston has advised countless companies on how to create positive impact, and in his new book, Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take, he charts a way forward for the future. In this episode Andrew and I talk about what it means to be net positive, how he co-authored his book with former Unilever CEO Paul Polman who shared his experience at the ...
Oct 04, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Business has the power to tackle the existential problems we face in today’s world, but first we must redirect market forces to support companies creating positive change. And that’s why I’m so excited to share my conversation with Wayne Suiter Matamoros, Managing Director of Product and Experience at Unreasonable Group, which runs a business accelerator called Unreasonable Impact focused on just that. Together with Barclays, Unreasonable Impact has helped scale green economy companies that are ...
Sep 27, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 2
It’s hard to overstate Paul Hawken’s contribution to transforming the relationship between humanity, business and the natural world. His books and leadership have built the foundation and laid out the roadmap for how we work together to address the climate crisis. It was a privilege to speak with him about his new book: Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation. In this episode of Lead With We, Paul and I talk about what “regeneration” means, the actions business and humanity mus...
Sep 21, 2021•44 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Common Future is a mission-driven non-profit organization that has diverted nearly $300 million into marginalized communities through grants and low-barrier loans since 2001. And they just received a game-changing gift from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. It was a pleasure to chat with CEO Rodney Foxworth on the precipice of this new chapter for Common Future. We spoke about his plans for building up this BIPOC-led organization to close the racial wealth gap in America, how his own experiences w...
Aug 02, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Deanna Bratter heads up sustainability at the world’s largest public benefit corporation: Danone North America. It’s a $6 billion food and beverage company with a massive portfolio of well-known brands. It was so refreshing to get Deanna’s perspective on finding the intersections between purpose and profit when advocating for change within a behemoth organization. We also spoke about the responsibility of not only being a B Corp but also a Benefit Corporation and how that has helped Danone set b...
Jul 26, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Rachel Lincoln loved fashion, but she didn’t love how she saw the industry treating workers and the planet. So she joined a small California-based activewear brand prAna and worked her way to Director of Sustainability where she is now transforming the entire industry through the Responsible Packaging Movement (RPM). RPM is a coalition of pre-competitive brands who share knowledge and practices that reduce packaging waste and promote the use of sustainable materials and a powerful example of lea...
Jul 19, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Whether you know it or not, JUST Capital is playing a crucial role in business by supplying the economy with critical knowledge that holds companies accountable based on what they hear directly from the American public and how the American public believes they should behave. In this episode, JUST Capital CEO Martin Whittaker and I had a thought-provoking conversation around the present and future of business. We explored how JUST’s public rankings help direct market forces to build a better futu...
Jul 12, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Diversity, equity and inclusion should be top of mind for any business leader, but we don’t often think about age when it comes to DEI. In this episode of Lead With We, I’m sharing a conversation with AARP’s Jean Accius, who shared some fascinating research about how businesses benefit from a multigenerational workforce. We talked about why age diversity is a competitive advantage, how businesses can be more inclusive of workers over 50, and what Jean thinks the private sector can learn from non...
Jul 05, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 21
As CEO at Urban Remedy, Paul Coletta is pushing back against our industrialized food system by trying to cracking the code to bring ultra fresh, clean, and convenient food to consumers at scale. In this episode of Lead With We, Paul and I chatted about their “progress not perfect” approach, taking an omnichannel approach to brand building, nurturing culture, reimagining change with innovative partnerships such as healthcare and hospitals. Hear his vision for how technology could help reduce food...
Jun 29, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 20
As a college student, Ryan Lupberger wanted cleaning products that were actually clean. But even nontoxic brands used wasteful plastic packaging. So he decided to create the eco-friendly, zero-waste cleaning brand, Cleancult. In this episode of Lead With We Ryan shares how focusing on product efficacy helped everything else fall into place, partnering with CarbonFund to ensure operational sustainability, and the surprising advice he got from his parents for weathering the long and winding journe...
Jun 21, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Rebecca Henderson teaches at the Harvard Business School, but she’s a vocal critic of “business as usual.” In fact, her scholarly research focuses on how we need to change capitalism in order to overcome the myriad of crises humanity is facing, and she recently published a book on the topic called “Reimagining Capitalism In A World On Fire.” Rebecca and I have some things in common, so it was a pleasure to speak with her one-on-one about how we can shift our economic system to drive positive cha...
Jun 14, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Rachel and Andy Berliner started Amy’s Kitchen based on their own need. Like many new parents, they needed some convenient meals after the birth of their daughter, Amy. But they couldn’t find high-quality, frozen, organic vegetarian food in stores, so they decided to make it themselves! In this episode of Lead With We, I spoke with Rachel and Andy about how they helped bring about a major shift in the American food system, and how they built a business that aligns with their values. This episode...
Jun 07, 2021•27 min•Season 2Ep. 17
