Podcast
Brianne West- The Worlds First Zero-Waste Beauty Brand
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Podcast Summary
As founder and CEO of Ethique, Brianne West set out from the beginning to to create a company that was zero-waste, plastic and cruelty free, carbon neutral and is a Certified B Corp.
Ethique, headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand, is revolutionising the cosmetics industry by removing the excess water used in the packaging and creating beauty bars that are cruelty free, palm oil free, do not cause harm to your body, sustainably produced and biodegradable!
Since 2012, the beginning, Brianne and Ethique have:
- Prevented 11 million bottles from being manufactured
- Saved 2.5 million gallons of water
- Planted 241,826 trees
- Off-set 1471.720T of CO2
Brianne also gives us insight into raising capital via PledgeMe, a crowdfunding platform based in New Zealand. With their strong, zero-waste brand, they were able to raise $200,000 in 10 days from 152 people around New Zealand, 75% coming from female investors!
Key Investment Takeaways relevant to the podcast
I have noticed a theme around strong consumer brands that resonate on a sustainable and planet positive level, having huge success with “crowdfunding” platforms.
Brianne has no desire to become a public company and they are a successful, profitable enterprise. Many of her early investors have now made enough money to pay off their mortgages, should they wish to, which gives Brianne a HUGE feeling of positive impact. If you are someone who likes the idea of supporting small, innovative and ideally sustainable companies, keep an eye on the crowdfunding platforms. The average investment was around $1,500 in Ethique’s earlier crowdfunding raise. These platforms give smaller investors opportunities to invest. However, as with anything you want to invest in, make sure you understand the risks involved.
Brianne and Ethique launch their new sustainable LIP BALM range
As an innovator, Brianne is constantly on the look out for ingredients that support local communities and are great in her products. She also works directly with growers to cut out the middle man and make sure these communities get all of the money they have worked hard for! Have a look at the new, yummy Ethique Lip Balms! (I have mine ordered!)
You Want to learn more?
If you want to learn more about other top sustainable cosmetic brands, here is a nice article from Teen Vogue.
If you want to stay up on the latest from Ethique as well as read a wide variety of interesting posts on the beauty industry in general, check out their BLOG.
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