"I want new public sustainability metrics where brands stand up on stage and [rather than say, “We produced X amount of product”], they instead say, “We reduced the amount of product we made in 2020, and our revenues grew by 20 percent.” That’s the shift that we want to see brands proudly making with new circularity metrics…

…80% of a brand's carbon impact is in the making of new things, while their stores, offices, warehouses, distribution is 1% of their carbon impact. Sorry, but you've just got to stop making new stuff! Therefore you need to transition your business model."

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Jeff Denby, co-founder of The Renewal Workshop. His passion for sustainability in the apparel industry drove him to develop a new business model that diverts apparel bound for landfill to The Renewal Workshop facility where it can be renewed and enjoyed by consumers again. In this episode, Jeff reflects on the past, present and future of the apparel industry through the lens of sustainability. He emphasizes how both the COVID crisis and consumer awareness are driving immediate innovation in this archaic system.

THIS EPISODE IS PART 2 of 2

"These apparel brands need to be in a place where they realize that they're more than just selling rags to customers..."

Jeff Denby is the co-founder of The Renewal Workshop. His passion for sustainability in the apparel industry drove him to develop a new business model that diverts apparel bound for landfill to The Renewal Workshop facility where it can be renewed and enjoyed by consumers again. In this episode, Jeff reflects on the past, present and future of the apparel industry through the lens of sustainability. He emphasizes how both the COVID crisis and consumer awareness are driving immediate innovation in this archaic system.

Prior to The Renewal Workshop, Jeff was the co-Founder of PACT, an apparel brand that aims to change the apparel industry for good. PACT makes organic cotton basics in a transparent supply chain that aims to improve the lives of the farmers who grow the organic cotton and the workers who make the clothing. He managed supply chain, product development, and brand creative, while leading business development with key retailers. He led PACT through concept, fundraising, development, launch, acquisition, and growth spanning the full venture lifecycle of building a successful brand in the apparel industry. PACT has gone from selling its first collection of organic underwear online to a full-scale lifestyle brand available in more than 500 retail outlets with partners such as Whole Foods, Nordstrom, and Amazon.

THIS EPISODE IS PART 1 of 2

“A shower is so vital to our sense of self and our dignity, and dignity is a very powerful two way street. It's as much about how you feel about yourself as it is about how people treat you. When you don't have the ability to get clean and stay clean, the way that people treat you erodes really quickly.”

In this episode, Doniece Sandoval, social activist, entrepreneur and founder of LavaMae, shares how she is alleviating the plight of the unhoused by offering personal sanitation services by converting buses into mobile showers.

The transformative power of LavaMae is in offering one of the most simple, basic human needs--a hot shower--kindly, beautifully and unconditionally.

"I love change. I know, that’s easy to say when you're an agent of change. Change is also terrible and hard and painful. This is the balance we live in. People often come to me and say, “Why do you talk about change so much?” I'm a realist who knows change is always coming, like it or not. That's what drives me - getting myself more comfortable with change. And that's what I'm hopefully helping my listeners and readers with, too; really, we're helping each other."

Robert Safian is the editor and managing director of the Flux Group. He previously oversaw Fast Company’s print, digital, and live events content, as well as its brand management and business operations. Under his leadership, Fast Company won the coveted National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year in 2014. Robert created prestigious annual features like the world’s most innovative companies and the most creative people in business. He personally wrote more than 100 thought-leadership articles. He also currently hosts a new podcast segment for Masters of Scale called Rapid Response, dedicated to crisis response, agility, and leadership in fast-changing situations.

In this episode, Robert generously shares the distillation of his groundbreaking career, imparting innovative perspectives on life and doing business in these times. 

“Hip Hop is how I walk, talk, dress, paint, think, and act. That's just the way I interact with the world… I’m trying to find my power as a young black man and seeing all these toxic male narratives, and that had an effect on me.”

Khafre Jay’s experience in merging activism and expressive cultural arts led to found Hip Hop for Change, a 501c3 educational organization that uses Hip Hop culture to educate and advocate for social justice. Khafre’s activism is deeply rooted in real communities dealing with real issues. He is at home on the humblest corner, the corporate board room, in the booth, on stage, and at the lectern speaking truth to power. Khafre’s open-hearted style combined with visceral truth makes this episode an eye-opening education on Hip Hop, black history and culture, and current movements towards a more just America.  

Khafre travels the country now speaking academically at conferences, universities, consulting, and leading diversity workshops, and has also graced the TEDx stage. As a performing artist, Khafre has shared the stage with world-class acts such as Rakim, Method Man, Dead Prez, Hieroglyphics, The Pharcyde, Talib Kweli many more. He has used his art as a political tool and performed for the 2010 Democratic National Convention, for Kaiser's 2018 Health and Equity Summit, and the 2015 and 16 March on Monsanto, just to name a few. To top it off, since 2014 Khafre hosts Hip Hop For Change Radio, a weekly radio program on San Francisco's KPOO 89.5 FM that supports his local Hip Hop community.

“We see the lack of ethics play out in every aspect of our lives and in recent headlines. During this pandemic, the safety of Amazon's frontline workers or the Facebook ad boycott that started this summer…”

Raina Kumra is highly creative operational leader with a proven track record for building & scaling initiatives with15+ years in branding, go-to-market & growth strategy. She is the CEO of Juggernaut, an agency focused on digital, design & disruption through behavioral & brand strategy. Some clients include: The Knight Foundation, The Walt Disney Company & the Federal Government. Raina also helped build the tech ethics portfolio at Omidyar Network, investing in alternative business models and ethical interventions for the technology industry. In addition, she was a co-founder of Mavin, a mobile startup focused on affordable internet access - creating India's first net neutral co-op engagement and advertising platform.

Raina previously served as Co-Director of Innovation at the BBG, the world's largest international media organization & advanced the BBG’s mission to reach global audiences & protect journalists under the Obama Administration. Prior to that she was the Senior New Media Advisor in the State Department's Office of eDiplomacy. Raina led the conversion of Wieden+Kennedy New York to a full-service digital agency in her role as Director of Digital Strategies & spent over a decade in digital advertising, planning and strategy at top agencies such as R/GA and Bartle Bogle Hegarty. Raina has worked with The Knight Foundation, ONE.org Microsoft, Burberry, Nike, Nokia, Levi's, Unilever, Nestle, Avaya, IBM, Intel, Cantor Fitzgerald, Johnnie Walker, Match.com, ING Direct, ONE.org, Mentos, JWT, ABC Family, EA, ESPN, Brand Jordan, & several of the world's best brands.

"I would love see funerals actually reflect the human who is being honored. I’ve been to so many funerals in my life where I am sitting there and thinking, "This sucks! This gathering in no way reflects this human whom I loved so deeply."

This week we continue our conversation with Angel Grant & Michael Hebb, the founders of Death Over Dinner and The End of Life Collective, for an intimate discussion of how to discuss death in a meaningful and fulfilling way.

"We built 'Death Over Dinner' to reduce the distance between us and our being human.  Because when there are conversations about our end of life wishes that go unspoken between people who care about each other, that silence becomes synonymous with distance..."

Angel Grant & Michael Hebb are the founders of Death Over Dinner and The End of Life Collective, a community of care givers and care seekers gathered in one place to help you and your family through life’s most important time.

Angel served as Co-founder of Yoga in Common and Yoga in the Forest in coastal South Carolina, and has been leading teacher trainings with attention on somatic and emotional intelligence since 2010. She facilitates workshops, retreats, and supports one-on-one clients who are deeply committed to rewiring limiting patterns. The meditations Angel guides focus on empathy, rewiring addictions, and experiencing peace with death and dying.

Michael is also the founder of Convivium – a creative agency that specializes in the technology of the common table, and the ability to shift culture through the use of thoughtful food and discourse based engagements and happenings. He has worked closely with thought/cultural leaders and many foundations/institutions including: The World Economic Forum, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, X Prize Foundation, FEED Foundation, The Nature Conservancy.

“Buildings are intended protect us. We must quantify building materials and policies based upon their potential to help or harm the individual who will come into contact with them.”

Angela combines expertise in human factors and human-environment relations with experience as a professional ergonomist to help the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) further its mission of transforming buildings and communities in ways that help people thrive. As a member of the Market Development team, she supports the global growth and adoption of the WELL Building Standard, an evidence-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring the performance of building features to improve occupant health and well-being.

Prior to joining the International WELL Building Institute, Angela was the Ergonomics Department Manager for a large global financial firm. In this role she collaborated with the firm’s real estate team to develop guidelines around workplace design, partnered with the medical team to provide disability accommodations, and spent time working closely with clients to design and implement ergonomic workplace modifications to reduce and prevent workplace injuries.  In this episode, she discusses the role that buildings play in health and new ways to look at the design of wellness.

“I’m a generalist, overly optimistic and naturally curious about many things so I ask a lot of questions. Those qualities facilitate problem-solving. From one angle an entrepreneur is basically a problem solver.”

Alexandra Mysoor, Founder and Chairwoman of The Alexandra Mysoor Group (AMG), is a gifted entrepreneur having started several multi-million dollar businesses out of her home.  Her latest venture, MooCow Market, is an online, nationwide gourmet gift shop and organic delivered grocery store which Forbes described as “a company that revolutionized food delivery.”

Alexandra started her first company, Digital Marketing Agency, at the age of 24. She subsequently co-founded Generation Orange, a social commerce company that accelerated socially & environmentally conscious living.

She has been featured on NPR, San Jose Mercury News and was named CNBC's International Young Turk 2008 for her success as a self-made entrepreneur. Inc. Magazine named her a top entrepreneur to watch in 2011 and Huffington Post has named her a top 40 under 40 entrepreneur. Alexandra has also been a showcase speaker at numerous conferences including the Kaufmann Foundation Global Entrepreneurship Week, Digital Hollywood, Internet Retailer. Alexandra holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in Interdisciplinary Field Studies and studied at the Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.