the Eco Echo

This week in natural, sustainable & better-for-you brands and marketing.

Craig Dubitsky was an original Method board member, invented Eos lip balm and founded oral care brand Hello products, which recently sold to Colgate-Palmolive.

We cover:
How he sees "consumers" and "employeees"
How to get & keep a brand's soul
Why anyone can Skype him from Hello's site (he drops his number here, too)
Innovating with Emotion 
The convo that get him on-board Method back in the day.
Why acquisition can help the brand be better 
Where they are going next

Craig is a guy who loves people and brings it to the shelf. Let him inspire you to make more authentic connections in your biz, work and life.  

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. We interview Beatrice Dixon, Black female founder of the very hot, fast-growing brand of plant-based feminine care. Beatrice has a rare mix of no-BS real talk and higher consciousness that's a great model for purpose- or mission-driven leadership. 

This was a conversation that stuck with us - a truly inspiring mix of real talk on:
12:55 Educating for real in social content
20:36 Getting into major retailers 
24:46 Not caring about racist backlash 
28:12 Aligned Teams 
36:07 Why Acquisition is not "Selling Out" 
39:53 Why $10M revenue doesn't mean the founder has cash (and a BIG money breakdown on the costs and strains of a startup CPG company(
49:07 Why She Never Thinks about What's Next 

Join us each week for our hot takes on the latest in natural, conscious, sustainable and better-for-you brands, marketing, retail, startups and more. 

This week in sustainble, conscious, natural and better for you brands and marketing.

This week is a focused ramble:
- Pandemic's effect on cities and startup hubs
- Wal-Mart, Target, CVS and others take on the Plastic Bag (sorta)
- A startup raises a Series A to save - ok, restart - America's home recycling by monetizing it... good idea?

Join us and listen! 

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. Tracy Gray is founder and managing partner of The 22 Fund, and Executive in Residence at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). As a Black woman, she intentionally funds  women and people of color. There's plenty of no-holds-barred conversation on what it will take to change the system, drive equity, raise money when you're not a white man.

Her TEDx Talk entitled “Why It's Time for Women to Be Sexist with Investment Capital” led her to found a non-profit We Are Enough (WAE). WAE’s only mission is to educate ALL women on how and why to invest in women-owned, for-profit businesses or with a “gender lens."

Her long list of accolades includes a Bad Ass Woman in Green award and the Women of Courage award. This podcast will show you why!

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. We dig way into Facebook, Zuckerberg and which brands stand to lose. Lululemon buys Mirror - will we ever shop or check our butts the same way? We salute male beauty (and CVS), pour one out for Odwalla and note a surprising brand pursuing Zero Waste.

Join us each week for our hot takes on the latest in natural, conscious, sustainable and better-for-you brands, marketing, retail, startups and more. 

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. Regrained was founded when 2 friends saw how much grain was wasted every time they home-brewed beer. A decade later, they're startup jedis, working with Big Brands and forging ingenious partnerships to address the climate crisis at huge yet hidden scale. How? That grain is now a branded ingredient in their Regrained snacks and soon much more.

David MEETS Goliath, baby. 

Learn:
- Why their product line is a proof-of-concept experiment, even though it's in 1500 doors
- The surprising tech partner they cold emailed to get patented IP
- Why their compostable packaging didn't work the first time
- How used grain can be more valuable than virgin 
- Why hot dogs aren't upcycled 
- How he got on stages from TED to Iceland.

This startup will make you rethink the blueprint - whether you're a startup, a supply chain partner or at a major player.

Join us each week for our hot takes on the latest in natural, conscious, sustainable and better-for-you brands, marketing, retail, startups and more. 

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. You'll never guess what's gonna run your closet and save the planet. Plus: Brandless returns, Vending Everything and we debate whether New Hope's Spark Change platform will spark change. Bonus: Joy wellness? Or just trend reversal?

Join us each week for our hot takes on the latest in natural, conscious, sustainable and better-for-you brands, marketing, retail, startups and more. 

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. Interview with Sharon Werner, highly awarded and world recognized designer of many iconic, category-creating brands. Many of her brand and packaging designs remain top sellers and relatively unchanged after one (or two or more) decades.  

We dig into:
- the origin story of the Mrs. Meyers brand look, voice and feel
- why Lord Jones was a must-do product
- what makes for successful partnerships between client and designer
- what clients can do to ensure a more successful design 
- how she ensures a design is really working 
And more. 

Down to earth with zero pretense, Sharon inspires us to think about design differently in a world of fast, me-too trends. Get on your roller coaster! 

Join us each week for our hot takes on the latest in natural, conscious, sustainable and better-for-you brands, marketing, retail, startups and more. 

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. Black Lives Matter is reverberating in the industry, especially in beauty and other female-focused segments. We talk about the cancelling of female founders from Bando, Reformation and Refinery29, weigh in on ads, and talk about the more action-driven choices across industries, from NetFlix to LEGO to Wal-Mart and NASCAR. Brands in any purpose driven space may be unprepared for the cultural scrutiny that's here - and not going away. 

Join us each week for our hot takes on the latest in natural, conscious, sustainable and better-for-you brands, marketing, retail, startups and more. 

This week in natural brands and the sustainable marketplace. 

The tragic murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police officers has rightfully awakened, enraged and activated the world. Still a bit stunned, we left analysis of the events to experts but touch on brand responses, including &Pizza's paid activism policy. Also, some promising sustainability efforts and some male celebrities taking cues from NOTE: Sound quality low due to compromised wifi in Minneapolis. 

For thoughts on race in the world of green and wellness, please see our newsletter, dropping this weekend.