Shows
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursCleo Escarez, Founder of Redyoos. Recycling Jewelry to Support Clean TechnologyIn todays episode we speak with Cleo Escarez, the founder of Redyoos. A company focused on supporting the clean energy transition through recycling jewelry and precious metals. Redyoos supports the circular economy by reducing the need for mining for new finite precious metals, and provides a direct end of life solution for consumers and businesses to properly discard their pieces. The problem: Precious metals like silver and gold are critical for green technology like solar panels, batteries, medical devices, more. Yet An estimated $61 billion in precious metals is landfilled annually. These materials are ess...
2025-12-0556 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursAnna Hammond of Matriark Foods, Upcycling to Fight Food WasteIn todays episode we speak with Anna Hammond, the founder of Matriarch Foods. A company that upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into delicious, healthy products for food service, retail, and emergency food.We learn her story working in the arts to engaging local farmers in the New York City region, which lead to her discovering how we can extend the full value of our crops in our current food system. We discuss the skills she brings to the table, the scale of the problem of current agriculture industry and h...
2025-11-2150 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursDan Kurzrock, Founder of Upcycled Foods Inc. Unlocking Food Waste's Potential. S.3 E.4In this episode of Re.Vert Ventures, we sit down with Dan Kurzrock, founder of Upcycled Foods (formerly ReGrained), a pioneer turning the food upcycling movement into a thriving business.Based in the Bay Area, Dan shares how a college beer-brewing hobby turned into a mission to give “spent grain” a second life. From dorm room experiments to scaling a purpose-driven company, his story is one of persistence, creativity, and reimagining what we call waste.We explore his path through creative financing, evolving business models, and the broader impact of upcycling — from r...
2025-11-071h 06
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursJohn Erik Metcalf, Founder of Upgraded, Enabling Circular Hardware s.3 e.3In this episode of Re.Vert Ventures we speak with John Metcalf, founder of Upgraded, the leading tech subscription service in the US focusing on MacBooks. Based in Austin, we hear John’s story from childhood to being self employed to full time founder and everything in between. Culminating to John creating a platform enabling the a new model for device ownership and creating a scalable take back program for one of the leading consumer electronic brands in the world, furthering the circular economy in the tech space. We learn abou...
2025-10-2452 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursKen Elliott, Founder of IND Hemp. The Goodness of Hemp Interview, S.3 E.02In this episode of Re.Vert Ventures, we speak with Ken Elliott, founder of IND Hemp, the leading source of industrial hemp food, feed and fiber ingredients in the country.Based in Montana, we hear ken’s story of going from the environmental services sector to discovering the restorative properties of growing hemp. From there he decides to go full in on this magic crop and grow his industrial hemp business to becoming one of the largest in the country. We hear about his mission and god lead journey, the good...
2025-10-101h 08
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursAlan Mak, Founder of Version Tomorrow, From Finance to Fashion - Re.Vert Ventures S3.E01Welcome to Re.Vert Ventures Season 3 (formerly Growing Green Ventures). We’ve made a few aesthetic updates, but the heart of the show remains the same: exploring the climate crisis through the lens of entrepreneurship and digging into the journeys of founders making a real impact.This season, we’re focusing on the circular economy — reimagining waste as a valuable input, and exploring bio-based and regenerative materials across fashion, food, consumer tech, and beyond.Today I’m joined by Alan Mak, founder of Version Tomorrow, a production platform helping brands and creators...
2025-09-261h 10
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursLiz Ricketts, of The OR Foundation. Fighting Textile Waste at the Real End of LifeIn this final episode of the podcast, we speak with Liz Ricketts, Co-founder of The OR foundation to shed light on the last stage of life of our garments. We dive deep into their work, and the economic systems that allow this whole mess to happen in the first place. The OR Foundation is a non profit operating out of the US and Ghana focused on addressing textile waste and supporting the local community of Kantamanto market in Accra, Ghana, the worlds largest secondhand clothing markets. Their work sits at the intersection of environmental justice, education and fa...
2024-12-2259 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursAlex Husted of Helpsy, Ensuring Clothes Aren't Trash Through Reuse and RecyclingIn this episode, we focus on what happens to our clothes post consumption. We speak with Alex Husted the co-founder of Helpsy. Helpsy is on a mission to keep clothing out of trash by enabling the collection, sorting and responsible distribution of secondhand clothing and shoes. They provide pick up, sorting, and distribution services across America. Once collected and sorted Helpsy sells off their second hand clothes to thrift stores and distributors around the nation, making sure that the garments have a new life through resale or go to the correct recycling initiative. In 2023 alone Help...
2024-12-1959 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursRachel Sterling, Co-founder of Alternew. Tailoring Tech Meets Tradition.In the 6th segment of this series, we take a look a company is helping extend the use phase of our garments post purchase. I speak with Rachel Sterling, the co-founder of Alternew. Alternew offers bespoke tailoring and repair services for brands by connecting them and their users to local tailoring shops. This allows customers to tailor their clothes upon purchase to ensure perfect fit easily. In this episode we discuss: The business case of extending a garments life to reduce its overall environmental impact Identifying opportunities in underserved segments of the supply chain Suppo...
2024-12-161h 15
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursCarrie Peterson, Founder of Beacon's Closet. 30 Years of Secondhand RetailIn the 5th segment of the season, we speak to the founder of Beacon's Closet Carrie Peterson. Beacon’s Closet is a secondhand shop based in #NYC operating 4 locations where consumers can buy, sell and trade their clothes. Beacon’s has been around for almost 30 years in business and whose model inherently provides sustainable options for consumers by promoting the consumption of second hand items, and extending the life of garments in circulation. In this episode, we discuss:-Importance of consumer choice -Environmental impact of buying secondhand-Quality of mat...
2024-12-131h 05
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursJessica Schreiber, Founder of FABSCRAP, Saving Cities From Textile WasteIn the 4th segment of this season we focus on addressing the textile waste created in the design and manufacturing of our garments. We speak with Jessica Schreiber, the founder of Fabscrap, an organization diverting textile waste from landfills and creating a system for reuse and recycling. Fabscrap focuses on responsibly managing the waste found between the stages of a garment's design and production.In this conversation, we speak about:Forgotten waste components of garment design Fashions burden on municipalities waste infrastructureBenefits of addressing a sustainability issue as a non-profit vs. a for profit organization No...
2024-12-1152 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursCarmen Gama, Director of Circular Design at Eileen Fisher, Co-founder of Make ANEEW, Remanufacturing and Circularity in Fashion DesignIn the third segment of the season, we focus on brands, and their role driving this value chain. We speak with Carmen Gama, the Director of Circular Design for Eileen Fisher and the co-founder of Make ANEEW, a one stop shop for circular fashion that recovers value at scale from post consumer clothing. In this conversation we speak about: Effective takeback programs at scale Remanufacturing and creating new clothing from clothing wasteA brands’ role in enabling smart consumer choices, and redirecting responsible supply chainsOnly 1% of clothes are ever recycled back into new clothes according to th...
2024-12-0853 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursDan Robichaud-Carew, of Unspun, Weaving Fashion's Future ManufacturingIn the second episode of this season, we get to speak with Dan Robichaud-Carew, the Head of software and product management at Unspun, an innovative fashion tech company creating 3D weaved garments through their proprietary Vega manufacturing system. In this conversation we speak all things:the stagnant manufacturing industrywhat makes the fashion industry so different to other sectorsopportunities to innovate within the industry The manufacturing segment of the supply chain is fragmented, and results in huge environmental and social problems. 20% of the worlds waste water is derived from textiles manufacturing, and produces large amounts of material waste fr...
2024-12-061h 07
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursValentina Gomez, Co-founder of Werewool, Innovating Fibers in Fashion with ProteinsIn the first episode of GGV, we speak with Valentina Gomez, the co-founder of Werewool, a biomaterials company that develops fibers with tailored aesthetic and performance properties, derived form natural proteins found in nature.We talk all things:Start up life (funding, idea incubation, perseverance)Material innovation (biomimicry, organic performance features, protein derived variations, designing for end of life) Addressing fashion industries reliance on fabric blends, synhtetics and water intensive cropsThis company is on the front lines of new age fiber and textile development, reducing the industries impact by eliminating the ecotoxicity of dyes, r...
2024-12-0648 min
Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursInnovating Through the Entire Fashion Industry - Growing Green Ventures, Season 2.Too often we look at sustainability and issues of our climate in isolation. Achieving Sustainability in reality requires addressing our issues in a systemic approach, understanding how our actions impact those before and after us, to ensure we are not passing down more problems and responsibility down the line. While each industry has its own unique factors, most supply chain's are fragmented, only enhanced through globalization, resulting in the most impactful stages operating in places with little environmental oversight and regulation. Each segment has its own negative impact, both environmentally and socially, that makes this industry one of the mo...
2024-12-0602 minRe.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursGrowing Green Ventures Season 1 RecapSeason 1 Recap episode! Today I go through the main lessons learned throughout season 1. I am fortunate to be able to interview 9 incredible entrepreneurs across different sectors from biomaterials, museums, footwear, sustainable fashion, agroforestry, packaging and more. Each have their own journey and story to tell but there are some underlying commonalities in each. Some key findings include: Business: 'Sustainable' businesses create opportunities for impact outside of just positive environmental outcomes - simple innovations and rethinking our existing systems create ample business opportunities! Personal Development: Self belief and courage underpin the journey one goes...
2024-04-1617 minRe.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursBeto Bina of FarFarm: Agroforestry, Regeneration, and the Amazon Ep. 9In today's final interview episode of season 1, I get to speak with Beto Bina, the co-founder of Farfarm, an organization that works at the intersection of strategy, supply chain and impact. FarFarm supports brands creating sustainable products by sourcing materials in an agroforestry system, meaning sourcing natural materials in a way that promotes tree growth and native agriculture production all while supporting social development, primarily in his home country of Brazil. In other words: intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. Materials that Farfarm helped incorporate into t...
2024-03-1154 minRe.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursMatthew Hawthorne: Consulting, Circularity, and Clothes Ep. 8Matthew Hawthorne, is a thought leader in the circular textile space. He is the founder of TerrApparel, a circular outerwear brand, focused on closed loop apparel apparel brand. Using 100% recycled fabrics, fluorocarbon free waterproofing and wicking finishes. Now Matthew is a footprinting and circularity expert at Quantis, an environmental consultancy specializing in the fashion sector. Matthew's work supports brands in assessing their environmental impact, planning and transformation their supply chains, business operations, and external communication to ensure operations are within planetary boundaries. Matthew is the specialist in circularity within the fashion space, the process or reusing, returning or...
2024-03-0554 minRe.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursMiranda Massie of The Climate Museum: Action, Activism, and the Arts Ep. 7Miranda Massie is the founder and director of the Climate Museum, the first museum in the US dedicated to the climate crisis. The museum mobilizes the power of arts and cultural programming to accelerate the crucial shift toward climate dialogue and action, connecting people and advancing just solutions. The museum shines a light and uplifts the voices of the ‘silent majority’ or 2/3rds of Americans (a clear bipartisan American supermajority) that supports bold climate policy. Yet due to current and past cultural conversations around climate change, many feel we are in the minority, that most Americans are indiffe...
2024-02-261h 00Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursJames McGoff of TemperPack: eCommerce, Food Delivery & Packaging. Ep. 6James McGoff, the founder and Chief Product Officer at TemperPack, an innovative sustainable materials company focused on eliminating plastic from the supply chain, through sustainable packaging options. Their main products are focused on creating protective and insulative packaging for food and life science industries.TemperPack serves as a great story of ingenuity, grit, and timing that creates great opportunities for an entrepreneur. Combining a genuine interest in materials, and the ability to see the needs of growing industries like at-home food delivery services, and biological medicine, James saw a missing opportunity and was able to capitalize on t...
2024-02-1957 minRe.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursSamuel Falzone, Reconstructed: Sneakers, Upcycling, & Craft. Ep. 5I get to speak with Samuel Falzone, a footwear designer and creative, making beautiful products focused on reconstructing deadstock sneakers into new one-of-a-kind pieces. In his latest project 'Reconstructed by Samuel Falzone' Samuel emphasizes repairability in each of his pieces through his goodyear welted soles. Beautiful, rare products, with handmade finishes, that are meant to be repaired, are a new level of luxury that is rarely seen in our consumerist society today. Samuel is an up-and-coming designer in the New Jersey and New York City area. In our current linear model, most shoes are made, using synthetic a...
2024-02-1159 minRe.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursDavid Cutler of Fortuna Cools: Coconuts, Cold Chains and Culture. Ep.4David Cutler is the founder of Fortuna Cools and Nutshell Coolers, a company up cycling coconut husks into insulative packaging. His business employs and manufactures in the Philippines where this unique business opportunity started. Fortuna Cools capitalizes on an agricultural byproduct's natural characteristics of insulation and turns it into a product that directly replaces traditional styrofoam packaging for cold supply chains (think fish markets, etc.). It's rare to find a company whose model directly improves the lives of all those within their supply chain, from the raw material suppliers, manufactures, and customers. All while creating a...
2024-02-061h 01Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursJordana Guimaraes of Fashinnovation. PR, Tech. & Sustainability Fashion. Ep. 3Jordana is a force to be reckoned with. She is an author, PR executive, and entrepreneur, mother and wife! Her desire to merge the world of pr, tech innovation and fashion brought up about her latest venture: Fashinnovation! Fashinnovation is an organizing connecting voices within the fashion industry on innovation, sustainability, and DEI. Leveraging digital technology, and in person events, Fashinnovation creates spaces where the fashion community gathers to learn, and share new ideas that move the industry forward. Jordana is also the author of It Can Be You: Humanizing Homelessness, a book encouraging compassion and empathy f...
2024-01-2559 minRe.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursJoshua English of Structural Mycelium. Mushrooms, Chairs & Accidental Discoveries. E. 1Joshua English is a man of many talents. An artist and a designer, with decades of industry experience. His curiosity lead him to discovery a simple combination of organic materials that combined together turn into an extremely durable new material. In today's episode we go over Joshua's story from his 'perfect' corporate job to getting laid off and starting Structural Mycelium. How an accidental discovery jump started Structural Mycelium, the journey to entrepreneurship, the wonders of mycelium and mushroom, regenerative business models, and how materials selection and cultivation play an increasing factor in combatting climate change.
2024-01-251h 14Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursKatie Weiler of Viable Gear. Maine, Seaweed, and Entrepreneurship. Ep. 2Katie Weiler is on a mission to change the aquaculture industry for the better. She is the founder of Viable Gear, a company that seeks to reduce petroleum-based plastics in our ocean by using seaweed to make a plastic replacement for gear used in the fishing and aquaculture industries. In today's conversation we speak about Katie’s journey, from consulting, how her idea came to be, and working on the project simultaneously with her work in corporate America, to actually taking the leap and working on this full time. The beauty of seaweed and algae, and what mak...
2024-01-251h 19Re.Vert Ventures, Stories From Impact EntrepreneursWelcome to the Growing Green Ventures Podcast!Welcome to the Growing Green Ventures Podcast. In this 10-part series, we dive into the entrepreneur's journey, seeking to understand their personal experiences that aren't always so clear when looking from the outside. Through out this series, we speak with designers, business men, engineers, lawyers, and many more who are using their authentic skills and interests to build a business that addresses the climate crisis in their own right. This is one part business, one part personal development, and one part sustainability. Thank you for listing and enjoy!
2023-12-3001 min