The Idealists

After a failed search for a natural perfume that was chic, modern and long-lasting, Frances Shoemack decided to do something about it. In 2012, she founded Abel, her own perfume company based Amsterdam. What started as frustration turned quickly into a mission to create the world’s best natural perfume. Her holistic business philosophy doesn’t stop at 100% natural ingredients but also guides the way she runs the company. Together with master perfumer Isaac Sinclair, a growing team and fan base, Abel challenges the status quo in the industry. Hear how Frances built a fragrance brand (without external funding) that changes the way the ‘world’ thinks about natural perfume.

News as we know it leaves us cynical, divided, and less informed. But what to do about it? Rob Wijnberg, a founding member of The Correspondent, had a vision: Unbreaking news! With an online platform shifting the focus from the sensational to the foundational, he created the antidote to our daily news grind. Putting journalism before financial gains and not taking ad dollars of any kind you as a reader have the power to decide how much you pay for as a membership fee. Today, over 50,000 members from 130+ countries form a community committed to collaborative journalism. In this episode, we talk about the role of news, the company's founding principles that guide every decision, and why getting fired can be a good thing.

Michelin stars, Gault Millau points — in the fine dining universe, the measures for success are pretty straightforward. But what happens if you want your legacy to be more than some rating on a list? Matt Orlando’s answer is simple: Serving delicious food while being responsible along the way. For the chef and owner of Amass Restaurant, sustainability is a frame of mind. Ice cream from leftover bread? Sure. Coffee grounds on crisps? Why not. His drive not only sparks creativity in the kitchen but permeates hiring, the culture, his guests and eventually lays a path for the whole industry.

Putting the money where the mouth is: Patagonia’s approach as a textile (turned activist) company is unparalleled. With annual revenues over $1bn selling outdoor clothing and gear, it is a capitalist success story – but one that ultimately serves one purpose: To save our home planet. Patagonia involves a myriad of initiatives to preserve and restore the natural environment, awarding more than $90m in cash to grassroots activists. Mihela Hladin Wolfe is Patagonia’s Director of Environmental Initiatives overseeing all initiatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We’re excited to share our conversation about what it means and takes to commit to finding solutions to the environmental crisis entirely.

Tuomas Toivonen is the co-founder of Holvi, banking for Makers and Doers. The Finnish fin-tech start-up is designed to help micro-entrepreneurs run their business from one place; combining banking and business tools. Of the get-go in 2011, they put their customer at the heart of everything — and still today, they’re working hard to make life easier for the same customer segment and even more holistically. Together with his 100+ team, located in Helsinki and Berlin, Tuomas is optimising the future banking for said freelancers, providing them with one simple to use (and fully digital) service. In this episode, we talk about creating a new category in a very traditional industry, facing cultural challenges while entering new markets and keeping the vision and values aligned during an acquisition!

It might be a surprise, that Helsinki (the capital of Finland) ranks amongst the safest, happiest places on earth. Just around 650k people shape “the world’s most functional city”, emphasising the quality of life and the intent to do things a little bit better every time. Jan Vapaavuori, Mayor of Helsinki, has a broad experience as a national politician and even was Minister for Economic Affairs before assuming office in 2017. We talk about the advantages of the Nordic model, how Helsinki is going to attract international tech-talents and if there’s a difference between running a company and running a city.

In 2010, the United Nations decided that water is a human right. A year later, two Dutch business partners founded lifestyle brand Marie-Stella-Maris with a bold mission: Clean water for everyone, everywhere. Their built-in social bottom line contributes directly to a better world: A fixed amount for each purchase goes to clean drinking water projects. Carel Neuberg, co-founder and CEO of the social enterprise, started this journey to prove that it is possible to use commercial success to make an impact in the world. In this conversation, Carel shares the founding story of Marie-Stella-Maris, explains the power of a strong D2C brand and why they invest in an in-house creative team.

Dutch fem care brand Yoni was founded by two long-time friends in 2014. Their mission? Changing the way we think and talk about menstruation and normalise the subject – instead of medicalising it. With years of nearly no innovation in the fem care industry, Yoni’s biodegradable tampons, pads and liners are made from 100% organic cotton. Free from chemicals, plastics and shame. A radically clear communications strategy and the power of simple packaging design put Yoni on the mainstream retail shelves in Holland. But the ambition is to become the one go-to for women worldwide. In this episode, we talk to Mariah Mansvelt Beck, co-founder and CEO of Yoni, about creating a community brand that challenges taboos as well as her personal transition from founder to CEO.

Back in 2009, Dutch bike company VanMoof was founded by Taco and Ties Carlier, two brothers with the game purpose to make cities better and humans happier. Ten years later, they not only sell popular next-gen electric bikes with subtly integrated technology and a slick design but also created a loyal community of riders across the globe. With additional brand stores in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, London, Paris, Taipei and Tokyo, they invested in bringing their Amsterdam-worldview to metropolises. Hear how Taco Carlier, co-founder and CEO of VanMoof, built a global direct-to-consumer brand shaping the future of cities while scaling the company at speed.

Nathan Gilbert is the executive director of B Lab Europe. B Lab is a non-profit organisation aiming to prove that businesses can help society with its greatest challenges. Through the so-called “B Corp Certification”, they measure a company’s social and environmental performance. Together with the whole B Corp community, Nathan is reinventing business, enabling leaders to use their company as a force for good and creating viable solutions for a more inclusive economy. In this conversation, we dive deep into B Lab’s mission, the power needed to transform our economy and how the ideal future looks like.

To evade the so-called coffee paradox, four coffee enthusiasts set out to form the Coffee Collective in 2007 in Copenhagen. Hear how co-founder Klaus Thomsen built a sustainable business with a mission to create the best coffee experiences in the world while bringing better returns to the farmers. Klaus belongs to a new generation of entrepreneurs taking a stand and inspiring others to improve the coffee industry collectively — one bean at the time. In this episode, we talk about purpose-driven profits, transparency from seed to cup, and continued investments in the company culture for future growth.

Henrik Marstrand is the founder and CEO of Mater, a furniture brand dedicated to sustainability, ethics and craftsmanship. Listen to his take of growing a Copenhagen-based impact company that solves the global waste problem through design. By balancing idealistic ambitions and practical business realities, Henrik is part of a new wave of entrepreneurs using the power of consumerism for lasting change. In this talk, he gets real about balancing ice-cold business with idealism, closing the furniture loop with renewable material solutions and having the right brand narrative.

Hear why Maximilian Strecker, PhD Student at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, founded the Consortium Purpose, a platform offering interdisciplinary dialogues. Consisting of companies, researchers and purpose experts, the consortium faces and explores the increasingly urgent question of meaning in society and at the workplace. In this conversation, Max shares deep insights into his research circling organizational sense-making, meaning as one of the key business currencies of the future, purpose-oriented leadership, and the return of the human in the corporate world.

By focusing on design, functionality and sustainability, Swiss backpack company QWSTION encourages customers to consume less but better goods. Hear how Christian Paul Kägi, co-founder and creative director, built a global lifestyle brand that keeps lifting the standard in sustainable production. A decade into the journey, Christian stands for a new generation of entrepreneurs showing what’s possible by asking the right questions. In this episode, we talk about a key ingredient in hiring, the power of trial and error and the story behind Bananatex®; a fully biodegradable fabric made from banana plants.