In With the New

Lauren Gregor is the Founder and CEO of Rent-a-Romper, the first shared closet for little ones to help parents and the planet. Lauren discusses what inspired her to start Rent-a-Romper, how consumer mindsets towards clothing rental have changed in recent years, and the many ways that Rent-a-Romper is working to make children's clothing more sustainable. Listen in to learn how it all works. Learn more here in the show notes.

Spencer Williams is the CEO and President of West Paw, creator of American made, high quality, eco-friendly dog toys, beds, leashes, and collars. Always looking to push the envelope in sustainable manufacturing, West Paw uses recycled ocean-bound plastic, recycled-plastic-bottle stuffing, and a proprietary fully-circular plastic that can be ground up and recycled into new toys again and again. Check out the show notes here.

In this episode, Avril Tomlin-Hood speaks with Ted Fleming, founder of Partake Brewing, about his mission to craft a variety of award-winning, expertly brewed, low calorie, non-alcoholic beers that people are proud to drink anywhere. Ted discusses the rapid growth of the non-alcoholic beer segment, and shares the challenges and rewards of growing Partake, including the positive impact the company has had on its consumers. Check out the show notes here.

Desirée Dupuis is a social entrepreneur and founder of Kove Ocean Foods, a seaweed-based CPG food brand, along with VOES & CO, an ethical, sustainable vegan fashion brand. Desirée is passionate about living a life of purpose and making an impact in the world by creating permanent, sustainable change. She has been living a vegan lifestyle since 2008 and is proud to use her voice to advocate for animals as well as the planet. Check out the show notes here

Tara Milburn is the founder and CEO of Ethical Swag. In this episode, Tara shares her passion for using business as a force for positive change and shares how she started Ethical Swag, a sustainable promotional products company. Check out the show notes here.

Adam Molson is the VP, Rental Communities and Sustainability, at Daniels Corporation, a Toronto-based real estate developer committed to building communities that have a positive impact on the environment. Daniels is on a mission to decarbonize real estate development by focusing on the whole life carbon impact of the homes they design and build. Check out the show notes here.

In this episode of In With the New, Avril speaks with Christie Lagally about her journey from aerospace engineer to founder and CEO of Rebellyous Foods. Rebellyous Foods is on a mission to build a world where food production is not a dirty business, and they’ve started by creating the perfect plant-based chicken nugget. One with the same juiciness and texture as a chicken nugget – and at a similar price point. Check out the show notes here.

Did you know that the current food system feeds animals and not people? In this episode, Avril interviews Elysabeth Alfano, CEO of VegTech Invest, about the inefficiencies of the current food production system and the need for a more sustainable approach. She delves into the impact animal agriculture has on the planet and what people can do to move towards more environmentally friendly options. Check out the show notes here.

Are you looking for a way to find trusted vegan and cruelty free products? In this episode, Avril interviews Vikas Garg, the founder and CEO of the abillion app. They discuss Vikas' personal journey to veganism and how it inspired him to create the abillion app. After his parents fell ill, Vikas started thinking more seriously about the role food plays in his life. He decided to go vegan, which really instilled a sense of purpose in his life. This led to the creation of the abillion app, which is a social commerce platform for the global vegan movement. Check out the show notes here.

Genia Mineeva is the founder of BEEN London, a sustainable, handmade accessories brand that British Vogue named one of the most innovative fashion companies in the world. Genia started her career as a political journalist in the BBC newsroom, where her inquisitive nature led her to question why so many reusable or recyclable materials end up as waste. What she discovered led her down the path to launching BEEN London, to give new life to innovative materials rescued from landfill. Designed and manufactured in East London, BEEN London has had a real, measurable impact on the fashion industry by proving that waste can become beautiful, inside and out. Learn more here, in the show notes.

In this episode, Avril speaks with Jeremy Lang, founder and VP of Sustainability at Pela. The company is best known for their biodegradable phone cases as well as their countertop composter, Lomi. We live in a world where the food system is broken. So much food is either lost or spoiled. What makes Lomi incredible is that in just 3-5 hours, it breaks down food scraps into nutrient-rich plant food. This leads to easier waste disposal and reduced food waste being sent to the landfill. Check out the show notes here.

Dr. Lara Ramdin is the Chief Innovation and Science Officer at Upcycled Foods Inc., which powers the B2B upcycled food economy with product development expertise, cutting-edge technology, and a growing portfolio of ingredient solutions. The company’s patented food upcycling technology creates proprietary ingredients that are delicious, versatile, clean-label, and nutritious from food that would have otherwise gone to waste. Upcycled Foods’ flagship product, ReGrained SuperGrain+®, is the industry-leading upcycled ingredient made from rescued brewer’s “spent” grain (BSG) that has already been cultivated, harvested, and used once but still has more to offer.

Keri Andriana is the Founder of Amschela, a UK-based luxury accessory brand that focuses on encapsulating the intrinsic charm of the modern-day contemporary woman with on-the-go sustainably made pieces for life. Amschela is PETA-approved and strives to use high-quality, environmentally friendly certified materials that are sustainable, serve to reduce our carbon footprint, and are not harmful to animals. The brand is also a champion of social mobility impact, providing opportunities to young people who wish to work in the fashion industry.

Craig McIntosh and Carissa Campeotto are the Co-founders of Trendi, a Vancouver-based tech company reducing food waste by using robotics and automation to upcycle it into valuable products. Trendi’s BioTrim units go direct to the source — farms, fisheries, distributors — to convert surplus or unsalable (visually nonconforming) foods into shelf-stable, nutrient-dense single commodity ingredients. Because these products are processed on-site at optimal freshness, they retain a “straight from the farm” flavor but in a compact form that can be stored and transported for a fraction of the cost of fresh produce. Trendi uses the resulting freeze-dried or pureed products in its smoothie machines and also distributes them to manufacturers.

Ani Wells is a sustainable fashion consultant, impact communications specialist, and the co-founder of Simply Suzette, a storytelling platform and consultancy exploring the juxtaposition of sustainable fashion with a focus on denim. Ani works closely with market leaders in the denim world, advising them on sustainably focused campaigns and communications to create global impact. She has had the honor of leading the Conscious Fashion Campaign in collaboration with the United Nations and Transformers Foundation due to her depth of knowledge in sustainable production and the denim supply chain. She is passionate about telling the stories of the people behind the supply chain, championing sustainable innovations, helping brands use their businesses as a force for good, and helping consumers navigate the blurry world of sustainable fashion.

Kimberly Chamberland is the Founder and CEO of Big Mountain Foods, an award-winning plant-based food company established in 1987. Going back to her vegetarian roots, she has established herself as a true culinary expert and pioneer in her own right. Today Big Mountain Foods remains a family-owned business with distribution across North America. They are committed to sourcing local, cruelty-free, sustainable, plant-based ingredients and developing food that not only tastes great but is good for you.

Jessica Malach is the VP of Marketing and Insights at Social Nature, a product discovery and trial platform powered by almost 1 million natural shoppers. She leads their United States and Canadian consumer insights and brand partner programs. Jessica began her career in the natural health industry in 2004, leading company growth strategies with senior roles at Alive Publishing Group, Vega marketing team prior to a $550 million USD exit, Bullfrog Power renewable energy company, and Pinto product data and personalization tech provider recently acquired by SPINS. She is passionate about sharing knowledge with the industry and has been a contributing speaker on marketing and consumer health trends to Strategy Magazine, Natural Foods Merchandiser, Whole Foods Magazine, Nosh, Plant Based Foods Association, Canadian Health Food Association, and the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Graham Stewart is the founder and EVP of Fibre52, a cost-effective, eco-conscious processing technology which massively decreases the environmental impact of cotton dyeing. Graham has decades of experience as a textile and apparel production fiber to brand specialist in the textile industry in production, marketing and leadership roles. For the past two years, Graham has been developing Fibre52’s patent-pending technology which retains cotton’s natural properties, resulting in stronger, kinder fabric that offers moisture-management performance and strength properties that rival petrochemical-based textiles.

Sasha Bricel is the Director of Marketing at Nature’s Path Foods, a pioneer in the organic food movement, and a leader in sustainable food design and development. Sasha is responsible for bringing Nature’s Path brands to the world, growing the Nature’s Path Organic Leadership legacy, and driving leadership effectiveness. Sasha is a Cannes and D&AD award-winning marketer and leader with over 10 years of experience working with some of Canada’s biggest companies to manage and build purpose-led brands that aim to change the way the world works.

Lindsay O’Donnell is the Founder and Marketing Director of Piquant Marketing, a creative and strategic marketing agency that has worked with over 100 vegan and vegetarian food and wellness brands. Lindsay’s passion for growing and supporting "foodpreneurs" and food brands started at Whole Foods Market and led her to found Piquant in 2016. Lindsay is also the co-owner and marketing partner of Planted Expo, Canada’s largest plant-based event.