Well Made

By definition, an heirloom has proved that it's resilient, timeless, and special enough to have been passed down for generations. That's how Schoolhouse started, with the discovery of a collection of cast-iron molds that stood the test of time. For the past 18 years, Schoolhouse has designed and manufactured high quality home goods with "heirloom quality" as the guiding light.As President, Sara Fritsch works across teams to lead the company mindfully without wavering on quality. Their supply chain is a big part of their value statement and their competitive advantage. They manufacture as much as they can in the US, with the majority of their wares being manufactured and shipped from their very own factory in Portland.With transparency and control over their supply chain, and a high mix / low volume approach to their catalog, Schoolhouse stays true to the task of making modern heirlooms.In this episode, hear how Sara defines the criteria of making an heirloom, why employee engagement is their most important driver of success, and how — in a socially distanced era — home is more valuable than ever.

In April, Shopify launched Shop, the consumer-facing counterpart to Shopify. In the app, buyers have direct access to thousands of companies selling through Shopify. The Shop app not only connects shoppers to brands of all sizes, but it makes the checkout flows we're used to feel incredibly arduous and clunky. Even with its intuitive UI, simple payments, and transparent shipment tracking, Shop General Manager Carl Rivera says this is just version 0.5. Since selling his company Tictail to Shopify in 2018, Carl has continued on his mission to help brands and shoppers discover each other. To make a marketplace that brings companies straight to customers without the rising costs of acquisition.In this episode, Stephan talks to Carl about building a platform that gives brands the power of customization while giving customers the ease of streamlined simplicity. They discuss how the Shop team is prioritizing upcoming features, and why email is their main competitor. Carl also shares why the Shopify acquisition was the perfect fit and how the rapid growth of Tictail motivated him to slow down.Visit the Lumi blog for links, images, and a full transcript.

Emily Singer is the creator of the newsletter Chips + Dips. A couple times a month, she shares news about consumer brands and marketing trends, but her insights get deeper than data. She draws perceptive connections amidst brands, but she also gets personal, making the newsletter feel like a DTC diary.In the newsletter's 26th issue, Emily is four months into the COVID-19 pandemic and reflecting on a shift in perspective and an overall lack of excitement for new brands — How could I get excited about a skincare company’s content strategy when thousands of people were dying and when I, myself, was doing the bare minimum to care for my skin?Emily wasn't the only one in a brand rut. If you're immersed in the world of DTC ecommerce brands, you may have noticed that many of them fall within certain archetypes. These archetypes are well documented in a Bloomberg article titled Welcome to Your Bland New World. From fonts and photography to mission and story, the opinion piece chronicles similarities that make some of these brands seem downright interchangeable — but maybe similarity is not always a bad thing.In this episode, Emily reflects on this article, contemplating the comfort of sameness, our human inclination toward trends, why brands have to have soul, and why sometimes, toothpaste should just be toothpaste.For images and links, go to the Lumi blog.

Céline Semaan, co-founder of Slow Factory and Study Hall, focuses on human rights and environmental justice in the fashion industry. In this conversation, she emphasizes the importance of unlearning old systems before reeducating ourselves about sustainability. Céline discusses innovative initiatives like Landfills as Museums, showcasing the impact of waste on design. She advocates for a collective shift in perspectives around consumption and technology while highlighting the intertwined nature of activism and global challenges. Her insights offer a refreshing take on the pace needed for meaningful change.

At the beginning of the pandemic, we all discovered that toilet paper is a product that we've taken for granted. But since 2012, Danny Alexander, Co-founder and CPO of Who Gives A Crap has unraveled the true potential of the stuff.From launch, Who Gives a Crap has had purpose built into their business. They donate half of all their profits to non-profit organizations that are working to improve access to hygiene, water and basic sanitation in developing countries. With a 1,100% increase in sales, that's totaling out to a staggering $4m donation this year.On top of that, the bulk of the toilet paper they sell is made from 100% recycled paper, and the rest is made from bamboo.Their witty toilet humor and playful patterns may not be what you'd expect from a brand so grounded in giving back, and that's exactly the idea. In this episode, Danny talks sourcing, branding, and scaling to meet the demands of a pandemic.You can find images and link on the Lumi Blog.

In the US, more people are shopping online than ever. This stark jump in ecommerce has left a lot of industry experts asking how new ecommerce businesses can successfully launch in the midst of a pandemic, where does the ecommerce experience still falls short, and if the pandemic has permanently changed how we shop. To answer all these questions, we're talking to Dan Frommer. Dan is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The New Consumer where he researches and writes about why and how people spend their money. (You may remember him from Episode 94.)Head over to the Lumi blog for links and images.

Most of the spices you buy at the grocery store are several years old, but that's only part of the problem. When Diaspora Co. founder  Sana Javeri Kadri discovered how disconnected US spice pantries are from their origins, she started a company to change how we think about our spice supply chains. Diaspora Co. is one of only a few direct trade spice companies out there, and sourcing these spices has been a lesson in disconnecting heirloom spices from the influence of Western colonization. For example, indigenous varieties of turmeric were introduced to the Western world under names which simply reduced them to a color, but with Diaspora Co., Sana is bringing story to Indian spices. In this episode, Sana shares how a more transparent supply chain can be a huge step for food justice. 

Five months into a pandemic, going to the grocery store requires much more than a reusable tote. You're probably suiting up with a mask, hand sanitizer, and a grocery list to make sure that you're in and out as quickly as possible.Ithaca Hummus can only be found in grocery stores but the founder, Chris Kirby, built the brand to be flexible so they could adapt to times like these. He's always been focused on making sustainable, scalable choices for the business, and that hasn't changed in the pandemic.On this episode, Chris talks about how the packaging challenges of DTC made them focus their efforts on brick-and-mortar grocery, his biggest takeaways from being part of the Chobani incubator, and how they've had to shift their strategies to adapt to the new expectations of shoppers entering grocery stores.

"Intersectional environmentalist." You may have heard those two words separately, but Leah Thomas was the first person to put them together. "Intersectional" is a powerful framework that, when combined with the environmentalist movement, illuminates issues of inequity in climate change.As Leah Thomas talks about in this episode, Eric Garner's last words, "I can't breathe" take on an even bigger meaning when considering that poor air quality disproportionately affects the lives of people of color.Leah Thomas studied environmental science and communications before joining the team at Patagonia. With several years experience learning how to message the urgency of climate change, she started her company, Intersectional Environmentalist to provide people with resources that dismantle systems of oppression in the environmental movement.In this episode, Leah talks about how intersectional environmentalism has gone viral and how she's embracing the moment to build communities and resources for progress.

One of the biggest obstacles for True Botanicals was the preconceived notion that natural products don't work as well as those riddled with toxins. To prove the potency of natural ingredients, True Botanicals invested in top notch suppliers promoting biodiversity and clinical trials to prove that these ingredients outperformed leading skincare products.On this episode, True Botanicals founder Hillary Peterson talks customer education, pricing high performing products, her transition away from CEO, and how True Botanicals had to change their plans amid the pandemic.Go to the Lumi blog for links and images.