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Scandinavian countries regularly top global happiness charts, and Scandinavian businesses punch above their weight on the world stage. So what can business leaders learn from the Scandinavian approach to life? How can applying Scandinavian values make businesses more attractive to potential employees? Host and Cofruition founder Sam Floy speaks to Shaun Russell, founder of sensory brand Skandinavisk and Chair of the B Corp Beauty Coalition.
If you've listened to the episode and would like to find out more, visit www.skandinavisk.com or follow Shaun Russell on LinkedIn.
For anyone interested in the for-purpose business space, Shaun suggested watching Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth and reading Yvon Chouinard's Let My People Go Surfing, and How I Built This by Guy Raz. Shaun is inspired by Anthony Molet, CEO of Davines Group and a founding member of the B Corp Beauty Coalition that Shaun now chairs.
Episode Outline:
Chapter 1: Introduction to Better Business Radar podcast
Chapter 2: Interview with Sean Russell, founder of Skandinavisk
Chapter 3: Discussion of B Impact Assessment and its impact on Skandinavisk
Chapter 4: The B Corp Beauty Coalition and its goals
Chapter 5: Recommended books and resources for purpose-driven business
Chapter 6: Conclusion and ways to follow Sean and Skandinavisk
Episode Transcript:
Sam Floy
From Nordic noir TV to minimalist design and the cozy concept of hygge, much of the world is drawn by the Scandinavian way of life. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland seem to have it all consistently found in the top five countries for happiness and many other positive metrics. On the business front, Scandinavian companies often punch above their weight on the global stage. Living Copenhagen myself, I can tell you firsthand that things are different here, mostly for the better. But how can the Scandi secret to a good life be applied to building better businesses? That is the topic of today's show. This is Better Business Radar, a practical and, dare we say, inspiring podcast about smart ways to grow better businesses. And I'm Sam Floy, a B2B entrepreneur and founder of Cofruition, the company behind this podcast, bringing you weekly insights from interesting thinkers, doers, leaders and experts.
Sam Floy
Today's guest is Shaun Russell, founder of Skandinavisk. Skandinavisk is a sensory brand built on the idea that a more Scandinavian approach to life leads to a better balance for the individual, for society, for the planet. They've won multiple international awards and have been a certified B corporation since 2019, which is something we discuss in detail. Shaun is a fellow British migrant to Denmark. We start our conversation with Shaun, sharing how he defined the Scandinavian way of life and what drew him to leave the UK to embrace it.
Shaun Russell
I'm an Englishman. I've lived in Scandinavia for more than 20 years now, and it takes time to understand how and why it's different. A lot of people come here and think, oh, they're just like us, they look like us, they talk like us, they speak the same language as us, they laugh at the same jokes. We assume, therefore they are like us. They're maybe just a little bit quieter. On a superficial level, yes, you could argue that's the case. Actually, once you're embedded in the region, as I was, and I lived both in Denmark initially for four years, then Sweden for six, and had Nordic roles. After about ten years, I actually came to the conclusion, AHA, I think I really now understand why Scandinavia is so different, so special and such a reference for the rest of the world. For me, it was based on this concept of balance.
Shaun Russell
Balance in three areas, balanced with the environment that surrounds them, in the sense that in this region, nature dominates and seasons dictate. It's a very sparsely populated region. You're surrounded by wooden water. Forests are more than 50% of the land, no one's more than 50 km from water. There's more boats than people, the light in the summer and the dark in the winter. You very much adapt to the scale and drama of nature, which isn't necessarily the case in warmer climates or big metropolitan cities. Balance with Nature the second piece, balance element is balance within society. I think we all have heard about the Scandinavian model, the lack of inequality, or relative lack of inequality, certainly compared to other countries, more even distribution of wealth, very low poverty levels, and very few extremely wealthy individuals, which creates a more healthy society, which, of course, is also reinforced by the Scandinavian social welfare model.
Shaun Russell
Last but not least, balance of the individual, which is represented both by priorities and the way in which Scandinavian manages their day. Compared to, say, an English person like myself back in the day when I worked in London, you grind your way through the week, you work long hours and then you get to Friday and you party and everything kind of explodes. You tend to have a tendency to defer happiness. You wait until a later date. It could be the Friday afternoon drinks, it could be the vacation, but it could also be a distant idea of happiness, such as a bigger house, a concert I'm looking forward to. Life is a grind until you get to that destination. Whereas in Scandinavia, I feel it's different. People embrace the everyday. They find comfort, satisfaction, fellowship and togetherness in small everyday moments. Of course, it's famous for hygge, this Danish word that kind of represents this Scandinavian approach to life.
Shaun Russell
It's very true. It's very timeless. It's not a fashion, it's something that's been going on for centuries. It's very much balance of the self. It's the priority of finding happiness in the everyday, despite the rain, despite the cold, often together with others, but equally alone. The balance even goes so far as I never forget seeing some tapestry once in an old restaurant or shop. It was 8 hours work, 8 hours rest, 8 hours sleep. Eight plus eight. And, having lived here for 20 years, that is exactly what they do. I mean, to the letter. People get to work at 08:00 and they leave at four. I'm sure you know that, Sam. You can't believe that. The office is empty at 04:00 on Friday. It's even earlier. They prioritize and they make time for themselves and they make time to rest as well. I think that secret, or the insight I had my eureka moment ten years ago, AHA, it's all about balance, and it's a balance of those three things was quite profound for me.
Shaun Russell
Once I'd understood it, I thought, this is an amazing story that the world needs to learn. This is essentially the secret to Scandinavian living, and I want to find a way to tell it. That was the start of my business.
Sam Floy
So Skandinavisk is an embodiment of that story, of that insight that you landed on, would you say?
Shaun Russell
Yes, absolutely right. And it was simply then, how do I find a way to tell something so rich, so detailed, so exotic, actually, because I kind of realised, no, they weren't like me. They had a very different approach, but they didn't communicate it. Perhaps it was because it was unconscious, it was just something that carried through generations and they aren't necessarily aware of that as their approach. I just found it profound and inspiring. I thought, how do I translate this into something that can touch other people? The idea eventually landed on Candlelight because Candlelight was that very much a kind of this is one of my first ones. Very first here. Skandinavisk original white block of wax. Put it on the table in the middle of the room. Most rooms in Scandinavia, it's a source of heat and light. It brings people together, it softens the moment.
Shaun Russell
It's the famous catalyst for a moment of hygge. It's informal, it's inexpensive, it's inclusive, it's democratic, it's a starting point for a story. I thought, of course, it has to be candles. I've never been involved in the candle business. I didn't know how to make a candle, what goes into it, but I knew that Candlelight was a perfect canvas to tell the story of Scandinavia, and that was my immediate starting point. But quickly I realised, because of this complexity and richness of this story, the candle flame is a part of it. It's not enough alone to communicate this exotic story to other people. I need to fill it with something more. That's how I came upon the idea of putting fragrance into the flame perfume scent and creating a series of fragrances that reflected different aspects of the Scandinavian region. Aspects which to me, after more than ten years at the time, were precious to the locals, but exotic to the outside world.
Shaun Russell
What I mean by that is the boreal forests of Sweden, which is spruce, pine and fur. Or the Norwegian fjords, which is also the fruit basket of Norway. Or the archipelagos off the south of the southern coast of Finland. Or on both sides of the country of Sweden, or even southern Denmark. Or the hookah, or the love or the tranquility. Each fragrance represents a chapter in the story of Scandinavia. Individually they're important and people can experience them and hopefully get a sense of Scandinavia from that individual experience. The more chapters that we bring to life, the more people get a broader, richer experience of something that from the very beginning, I thought was complex and rich in itself. We're, in a way, with creating the book on Scandinavia through sensory experiences.
Sam Floy
So, Shaun, I think what I find quite interesting is that you've had this insight into the Scandinavian way of life, shall we say, but you've then brought those values into how you've run the business. How have you felt that transfer, should we say, from the Scandinavian way of living into how you run a business here?
Shaun Russell
I'm a big firm believer in walking the talk and living what you're promising. I've worked in corporate America for 20 years, plus or minus. I know Hierarchies, I know different levels of bosses and job titles and so on, but Scandinavia, I was found very flat from a business perspective. Very little hierarchy, everybody has a voice, particularly when I was living in Sweden, that was extremely noticeable, that, it doesn't matter whether you're the most junior person, you can sit in there with this big CEO and you're not afraid to voice your opinion. Actually, you encouraged to do so. I initially found that quite difficult because I was experienced in London and so on, but again, I just found that, well, that's the way they do stuff, in much the same way as they leave early, earlier than I would have done. Everyone has an opinion, everyone wants to contribute, everyone wants to give their best.
Shaun Russell
And so I wanted to create an organisation that was pretty flat, which I have done. We have about 25 people in total. I also wanted to create an organisation that was inclusive, specific to nationality or gender or any kind of religious preference. I believe in the Scandinavian ideal of leaving no one behind, which is part of that social welfare model. We're very keen to make sure that there's an inclusivity in our recruitment. That goes as far as employing refugees, people who've escaped situations that none of us can ever imagine, people who aren't necessarily always accepted by societies they arrive in, sadly, including some Scandinavian societies, but people who should be given a chance and given help to kind of learn Danish integrate into Danish society. Ever since the refugee crisis in 2015, we have employed one refugee per year. We've trained them, we've helped them integrate, we've helped them with the kind of admin of living here.
Shaun Russell
Of course, we've had a look to see if we could employ them. Now we have three people from that program permanently in our offices, including now, most recently, one Ukrainian evacuee from the war. Hierarchy, the ability for everybody to have a voice inclusivity in terms of leaving nobody behind structurally, that's how I've built the organization of the company.
Sam Floy
Were there moments where you felt, I don't know, perhaps your pre Scandinavian instinct, let's say, is to do something a certain way, oh, we should put in this particular organization structure or this particular way of doing things, and then you've perhaps caught yourself saying, oh, no, actually, we need to do it a different way. Have there been any of those sorts of moments where you've caught yourself in that way?
Shaun Russell
No, I think because I've been here for so long now, more than 20 years, it's kind of seeped into my bloodstream over time. First ten years, I was, like, noticing it while I was working for big corporates and then for then the first ten years of my own business. Initially it was only me, of course, and then kind of trickled in. Now we have what would be called an SME sized business. So it's never really been catching myself. Maybe I should do it the old way. I think sometimes there's always a need for an executive decision. Inevitably in any business at the end of the day depending on the decision that needs to be made. If no one can reach an agreement but something needs to happen, then somebody has to make that last judgment call. That is my role as a CEO. I suspect I use that far less than a typical CEO outside Scandinavia where decision making is channeled up towards the top.
Shaun Russell
I really want to encourage decision making without me having to make the decisions and that seems to work well. I think firstly it encourages engagement amongst the people and Scandinavians themselves, they have an expectation that they are influencing decisions or making decisions whereas I think elsewhere that isn't necessarily always the case. It's more like kind of soldiers and generals. It creates a stronger glue within the organization and then it relates back to culture, of course, and what's the kind of culture you build? I'm trying to build this inclusive democratic culture that's a reflection of Scandinavia itself. We're always attempting to reflect the better practice version of the world that Scandinavia represents. The consequence of that I hope, is that we are ultimately better practice ourselves as a business, that we therefore can perform better and achieve our business objectives. There is an ulterior motive but it's not linear in the sense that there's no real directness that you can't read it in a business book.
Shaun Russell
But just because again, Scandinavian companies punch above their weight in the world, I think Skandinavisk can do the same thing by reflecting those principles.
Sam Floy
I'm curious, is there a culture clash for the people who are not from Scandinavia who joined the company? And do you have to sort of.
Sam Floy
As part of your onboarding to sort.
Sam Floy
Of say it's okay, you leave at 04:00 p.m. Or you will be asked to speak up in meetings? There actually any pushback from that or points of resistance?
Shaun Russell
No, I would say no pushback. I think obviously people like leaving at 04:00 p.m.. There's no problem there. I think some people coming from some of the cultures but we have find it kind of weird that they are involved in business meetings where we discuss strategic subjects. I think they feel uncomfortable about raising their voice. I think the Scandinavians that we have and our company is roughly half Scandi and half non Scandi, so it's really nicely balanced. English is the language, the company language. Of course in a way, although we're trying to reflect Scandinavia, we are a very internationalized version of it and that's also partly because our focus on where we tell our stories and where we sell our products tends to be outside Scandinavia. After all. I never thought you could sell hygge back to the Danes or skog the forests to the Swedes.
Shaun Russell
I was proven wrong there. We have a very healthy business in the Nordic region, which we're very happy with. Of course my original Eureka moment was, AHA, I need to tell the rest of the world this story. UK, China are our two largest markets, and we export to about 40 countries in total, with probably 1000 retailers around those countries. Having an international team with a Scandinavian DNA is exactly what I need to reflect the business priorities as well.
Sam Floy
You've also, I forget exactly when it was, but Scandinavia is now a B Corp, which is this category of businesses which signs up to certain commitments or a certain way of doing things. Expand on that a little bit?
Shaun Russell
Not quite. B Corp certification is a complete company certification of social and environmental impact. It is basically you choose to submit to become a B Corp. Of course, most companies probably don't even know what a B Corp is, so they don't submit. We're looking back in 1819, we're looking for some kind of third party validation of our responsibility, our business efforts beyond profit. I e were we truly walking the talk of being better practice? B Corp is literally the only way, from a complete company point of view, that you can actually validate that. They'll ask you multiple questions on six areas on your governance, on the impact to how your company is structured and what the purpose of the company is. It will ask what's your impact of your actions? Not on your strategy or your plans, on your actions in the areas of your people, your customers, your suppliers, the community that you affect, and the environment.
Shaun Russell
Right? You've got governance and those then five areas, the impact of your decisions. You go through a nonlinear process of questions, which you submit ultimately to reach a threshold score. There's roughly 200 questions, but depending on how you answer a question, you'll probably get a different follow up. There's no way of tricking the system. Essentially, you answer as honestly as you can, you have to provide evidence for your answers, and then it will lead you down till you get to your question. 200. At the end of there, if you haven't scored 80 points or more, you haven't qualified as a B Corp, or at least you haven't got to the next stage, which is then a live audit with a B Lab, which is the nonprofit behind B Lab, assessor who challenges you on your entire submission. That whole process for us took roughly six months.
Shaun Russell
Apart from starting my own business, it's the next hardest thing I've ever done. Certifying as a B corporation, it teaches you the massive difference between how good you think you are as a person, as a leader, as a company, versus how good you truly act. The gap is there in black and white and it's brutal. It's brutal because even though we just scraped through, you just realise how many other things you should be doing, how many guilty secrets have been exposed, but probably even more important than that, how many things you didn't even realise you're supposed to be thinking about. If you're running a business, employing people, producing products, affecting others, are there any.
Sam Floy
Bits that you can still remember?
Shaun Russell
I mean, like I say, it's comprehensive. They'll drill down to where are you producing the suppliers that you are using? Who owns those companies? Is it the female owned? Is it minority owned? What are the employment practices in your suppliers? What about your suppliers? What kind of energy do they use? Are they using green energy? If not, why not? Your entire supply chain essentially is being analysed as much as what's your policy on recycling in the office? Are you reducing the energy consumption? What evidence have you got for that reduction? You can't say, well I turned the radiators off on Friday afternoon. You actually have to provide tangible evidence and were able to that we managed to reduce and this is before the energy crisis, we'd managed to reduce energy consumption by roughly 10% per annum, which was complete luck because we hadn't done it on purpose.
Shaun Russell
It's probably a slightly milder year than it was the previous year. It just kind of covers everything possible and recommend it for every business because you can just go to B Corporation net and you can find what's called the Self Assessment form. It's the B impact assessment. You can do it yourself free of charge. I thought I could do it in a weekend, which was back then, I thought I'll do in a weekend and see if we have a chance. And it was a soul destroying experience. I kind of felt empty by the end of it and I thought there's no way we're ever going to pass. It was a very humbling experience, but you build the case and you get some help. We managed to do it through six months. The assessment then has to be you have to do it every three years. We're just currently going through recertification and every three years or so the questions get tougher.
Shaun Russell
It actually gets harder and harder to become a B Corp. That's probably why there's only 6000 worldwide and about 80 in Denmark. It's a very high bar and I always think that's the why we chose that because I think it's much harder to certify a company than it is to certify a product. There's plenty of product certifications we could have chased after, but the complete company certification really kind of nails you to the wall and has been really mind opening for me because I think most B Corps have this constant feeling that because they know it in their reports that I'm not good enough, we can get better. There's a continuous improvement mentality which I think is very healthy.
Sam Floy
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Sam Floy
It's a lot of work and from what I gather you're able to call yourself a B Corp in the industry and in the world. But I mean, do you feel this has made you would Skandinavisk still be a great business if you didn't have B Corp or has becoming a B Corp really sort of elevated you to a new level or to something that you wouldn't have got otherwise?
Shaun Russell
Definitely it's made us better, no doubt. I mean I'll give you one immediate tangible example. We completed the certification with the product collection that we had at the time, summer 2019. Because it essentially gives you a map for improvement because all the gaps we decided literally took the unprecedented step to replace that entire collection less than a year later because we then knew how much better it could be. We relaunched a new collection a year or less after certifying that was more local, more natural, more organic, more ethical and more responsible. Not to say it's perfect, but it was a step ahead of what we already had which had helped us get certification. We go through the recertification and we had that improved product collection, which is the primary impact that we have is the products that we sell that we feel confident that we will improve on our score.
Shaun Russell
And that's just one example. I think the other piece is it embeds sustainability and social responsibility into your company. It gets the whole organisation much more motivated to be a part of a B Corp is quite a source of pride. There's not so many of us around. It attracts a different kind of individuals. We become more interesting. Not in the way I thought because I thought it could be a marketing opportunity. I think awareness is so low from, let's say commercial point of view that it doesn't really have that kind of endorsement benefit yet. I think that will come but more in terms of let's say graduates from business schools who are looking to do something more responsible. Senior management, people who are tired of corporate life like I was, and want to do something with more purpose, journalists, retailers who know they need to take more responsibility for the products they stock, for the products they sell.
Shaun Russell
It becomes quite a magnet, which has been beneficial. Of course it places more responsibility on your shoulders, but it doesn't distract you from the other business objective of profit. In fact, most people would argue that B Corps have a tendency to outperform regular businesses on traditional metrics, financial metrics, but of course it puts more pressure on your organisation, but it's worth it.
Sam Floy
It's fascinating because I think a lot of people who are running businesses and are interested in building better businesses, often there is almost feels a bit trite now, but there's obviously the financial element, but there is this sense of doing good, and that being good for business. I think it's curious that this framework seems to be the scorecard at least that you've come across in terms of how are you actually performing and opening up the idea of all these different areas. I mean, if someone perhaps doesn't have the ability to spend a weekend or a fortnight going through this self assessment, what are perhaps some changes in perspective or key principles to think about things?
Shaun Russell
I would say, to be honest, find the time. If you're running a business and you want to be responsible about it, you have to find the time. There's no kind of shortcuts. You have to learn. I mean, I'm learning all the time and I'm 51. I embrace that. I think people just want the kind of executive summary and then I can make a couple of tweaks here and make myself look good. That's greenwashing. It's definitely not very Scandinavian to do it on a very superficial basis. Be aware of the impact of the products that you sell. I mean, simplistically we say our objective is to leave a lighter footprint from a product point of view and to leave no one behind from a people point of view. They're very simple. So show me the evidence. Well, leave a lighter footprint. We can because we've moved from paraffin wax or palm wax to Swedish rapeseed wax.
Shaun Russell
We've introduced organic ingredients to our cosmetics. We use groundwater from dent that's more than 100 years old and replenishing. We use bioplastics if we have to use plastics. We use post consumer recycled metal. It's multiple small incremental changes that in isolation are good, but in totality represents something much bigger. The same applies to your people as well. I'm sorry, folks, you have to spend that weekend and destroy yourself with realisation that you're not as good as you thought you were, but it will help you to get better.
Sam Floy
We've actually touched on it too much. The demand side of your business, you have a very ethical and sustainable way of creating your candles and the cosmetics, how do they actually end up in consumer shopping bags, whether that be virtual or physical?
Shaun Russell
Well, like I said, we have quite a lot of retail partners. The majority typically are bought from a Danish, British, Chinese, what have you, department store, design shop, beauty store, et cetera. Increasingly those are purchased through their online channels. We have them our own online channel as well. But we serve Europe and North America. We try to give added value to the people who buy from us directly because we're small, we're independent and of course it helps us if it's direct, but of course, we also have tremendous retail partners, so we're pretty accessible. That's, again, part of the idea of Scandinavia. The Scandinavia is a democratic region. The rest of the world admires it for its democracy and its inclusivity. I want to make sure my brand was also democratic and available and visible and inclusive. Whether it be the retailer partners that we work with or the price points that we sell at, of course we are not entry level, we're not mainstream, but we try to make sure our products are accessible and you ultimately pay more for quality and sustainability, which is very much what Scandinavia also represents.
Shaun Russell
Again, living the values of the region. I think there's always a question for producers about what's the impact of the product after the customer has bought it, used it, finished it, thrown it away or what have you. The famous stage three, which is the largest source of the footprint. There's only so much you can do when you're not in control of that stage. What we try to do is to minimise waste post purchase. What I mean by that is if you take our glass, we design the glass to be reused. It's not just a plain piece of glass with a sticker on it's coloured, it's dishwasher safe, it's protected with a lid that can be used again and again. You can put tea lights in it. We've just introduced candle refills, so wax blocks that can just be dropped in. It's a design piece that can last essentially forever.
Shaun Russell
Actually, you're just consuming the wax or the diffuser liquid. When you finish that's phase one of the products usage. Phase two is your design piece, your ornament, what you put your toothpaste in, what you use for your herbs, what you put your tea lights in, what have you. That's how we do the glass. With the cosmetics, which we don't tend to put in glass, it's absolute minimisation of the impact of the materials that will be left once the product is finished. Bioplastic that is recyclable, so there's no incremental cost of extraction. Post consumer recycled metal, so it's already been processed and we try to use metal as much as. Possible because it's the most recycled material on Earth and it's super easy to recycle. All our hand creams, which is our largest cosmetic category, are in metal for that reason alone. What's not is typically in bioplastic, which we blow in Scandinavia.
Shaun Russell
We don't even have to transport empty bottles around the world, but we make it locally and then it's fully recyclable like any other plastic. That piece, that challenge of I think historically most brands, like, they're glad they sold the product now. It's not my problem. Yes, it is. It is your problem. It is our problem. It's my problem. We need to find ways to offset the ongoing residual impact of the products we sell to others. Legislation is coming in the EU to that effect to kind of make producers responsible for the post use.
Sam Floy
You've obviously got a good finger on the pulse, I think, of what cosmetics and the future of these sorts of products being sold. This industry, which is often spoken about as having lots of waste and not very sustainable, not very ethical, do you think in five years time this is still going to be something where there's independent brands such as Skandinavisk who are flying the flag or is it plausible that this could become more mainstream?
Shaun Russell
I think it's happening already, but like anything, like any industry, changes slow and painful. I was a founder member of what's called the B Corp beauty Coalition. This was something that was initiated in the early 2001 and I was one of seven founding brands that basically put the architecture together for a collective action initiative at that time of about 20 B Corps in beauty. We all met B Corp standards, but we also were operating in beauty. We came together to decide that we had to find a way to work together to improve the sustainability standards of the entire industry. Because of what exactly you just said that it's simply too much waste, lack of responsibility, lack of visibility on the supply chain, both in terms of environmental impact but also social impact. Of course the blatant encouragement of consumption through essentially detrimental messages regarding the external self, the visual appeal of an individual.
Shaun Russell
A really quite ugly industry despite its name. I was part of the founding group. We launched January last year and soon after we formed the Supervisory Board, which is the oversight, and I became the chair of the board. I'm essentially now leading more than 60 B Corps with some really big brands and a lot of small ones and bunch of stuff in between. We are now finding ways to work together, to share better practice, to become an open source platform for knowledge whereby if beauty customers or beauty producers are thinking about what they need to bear in mind essentially to help them make the right decisions without pushing ourselves specifically and then what will happen next. What we're now defining is some high level goals that we as the B Corp beauty Coalition believe we need to achieve which are leadership moves within our industry which will better for the environment and which we will then publicly track and record our progress against.
Shaun Russell
High level goals with obvious examples and I'm not saying we've finalized them yet, but a net zero commitment, a common measurement methodology and time frame that's way ahead of Paris. Of course the complete removal of microplastics which despite general public opinion is still granted exceptions in certain types of beauty products, the transition to 100% biodegradable ingredients and that's just the formulations that's before you get into packaging and all the complications of that thing which is also disproportionately impactful. Yeah, we've got a lot going on. I think what's interesting about the beauty industry is we use the word beauty or it's been attributed to our industry and it's been attributed to our industry through improvement of the self. Actually it's also the description of the nature that we need to protect. What I'm trying to do, simultaneous to the actual work that we're doing on improvement is to influence the narrative within the industry to get people to rethink the meaning of beauty, to protection of the beauty of nature in order to enhance or protect the beauty of humans.
Shaun Russell
That mindset. If we can get that mindset into the general public's heads, I think that's powerful. Secondly, I'm a really anti consumer person because to take the idea of beauty consumer now, and I've challenged this in front of a room full of senior beauty leaders in Paris, you rethink that phrase which is what's used constantly in the industry as a description of their customers. These people are mindlessly consuming the beauty of nature in order to satisfy their own egos. We have to get rid of these descriptions. People should not be described by their sole role as consumers. They are in fact citizens. If you think of yourself as a citizen and your responsibility to your fellow man woman, but also to the place that you are in and the protection of it, I think it changes mindset. Both beauty and citizen I think are very important words that I personally and also the BCOP Beauty Coalition want to use to influence change beyond the actual hard work that we're doing to.
Sam Floy
Make it happen, but very nicely ties us back into how we started the conversation about this balance between nature and the individual. I think you're right, having arrived at this, we're in this situation where there is this individualistic view of beauty and I think that's a really nice framing just to view it as the broader ecosystem, the holistic thing of being beautiful within a beautiful environment. That's a lucky way to surmise.
Shaun Russell
I just add something on there and I think because it's a tremendous privilege to lead the coalition. We're a small Scandinavian brand working with some very big retailers. There's again, that thought leadership in Scandinavia that we're trying to reflect, too. It's no surprise to me that the head of NATO is from Scandinavia or the leading members of the EU are Scandinavian. There is a trust in Scandinavian companies outside that they're trying to do the right thing, that they are inclusive, that there's purpose as well as profit. I just find I've become incredibly Scandinavian in the last, particularly the last ten years, when I've just realized, yeah, actually, I buy it. It makes a lot more sense than what I lived before, and I'll embrace it and I'll try and get more people to do it too, because I think it's better for everybody.
Sam Floy
We'll finish now just with a couple of quick questions. You interact a lot with people in the beauty industry, and maybe it doesn't have to be the beauty industry, but is there someone who inspires you in your working world?
Shaun Russell
I've got a few in the old days, I remember seeing Bob Geldof on stage and Al Gore when he presented An Inconvenient Truth. That was back in the day with my first Awakening, where I just realized, oh, my goodness, there's some stuff going on in the world that's really ugly, and there's certain individuals who are just taking responsibility and leadership on it. I think the B Corp process, the guru that everyone looks up to, is Yvonne Schaeinard, the founder of Patagonia. What he's done to protect the planet and now how he's bequeathed his company back to nature is truly inspiring, radical, relevant, but more closer to home, I think, most recently through the B Corp Beauty Coalition. The guy who came up with the idea of the coalition, who was the CEO of Davones, the pioneering Italian hair care brand, for 20 years, he's been a and we've become quite close.
Shaun Russell
He's very much an inspiration for demonstrating that you can genuinely live your values and build a successful, profitable business.
Sam Floy
For someone who's interested to learn more about this industry, or perhaps this way of doing business, what would you say is a very good entry level resource, whether that be book or podcast or website or something?
Shaun Russell
I think in terms of business with purpose, the Bible is yvonne's book. Let my people go. Surfing is called that. It was printed about 15 years ago. I think it's been reprinted ten years later. It's the book on purpose driven business. I have it always by my desk and at home. I have two copies, exceptional, I think. Another one, which I always find interesting. Actually, the book, more than the podcast, is How I Built this by Guy Raz. It's probably one of the top podcasts in the world, but he published a book not so long ago on his own observations on interviewing entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders for what, 1015 years? I thought that was really real, tangible, practical use. In fact, I was just reading it last night because I've got a question in my head about something and each chapter breaks out a different thing.
Shaun Russell
Is it people? Is it strategy? Is it product? Is it financing? Is it relationships? You can really just pick it up and just remind yourself, oh, yeah, based on what? His observations with a couple of case examples is quite a very useful book and I think probably underrated compared to his actual podcast.
Sam Floy
Very good. And where can people learn more about you and Skandinavisk? Sure.
Shaun Russell
So skandinavisk.com. Of course. That's our home for Europe and North America. Of course, the regular social media channels. People can follow me on LinkedIn. That's where I tend to personally update stuff that is specific to me. Also the B Corp Beauty Coalition as well. We also have a shop. We just opened a flagship store in central Copenhagen, which is in a beautiful courtyard in the center, just on the same street as the National Museum, just behind Tivoli and the famous Houses of Parliament, Borgan. It's a lovely little interlude in any person's little walking tour of Copenhagen. They can see where we work, they can experience the whole collection, and they can probably see what else is coming up too. Also, you can find that on Google Maps.
Sam Floy
Great. Well, Shaun, thanks so much.
Shaun Russell
Thank you very much, Sam.
Sam Floy
Cool.
Shaun Russell
Thanks for having me.
Sam Floy
Thank you for joining me for this episode of Better Business Radar. It's been fascinating speaking with Shaun and his purpose driven approach to building and growing the company. If you'd like to find out more about Skandinavisk, visit skandinavisk.com. You can also follow Shaun on LinkedIn for updates and news on the B Corp Beauty Coalition. Links are in the episode description. Now, you might also be interested in another podcast by Cofruition called what the Denmark? It's hosted by me and my Danish cohost, Josephine, and we take an outside in look at the country. The most relevant episodes from a business perspective is probably season one, episode two, where we explore the pros and cons of flat. Hierarchies. Back to this podcast. If you enjoyed the episode and would like more insights from leading thinkers and doers who can help you be smart in growing your business, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Sam Floy
I'm Sam Floy. This has been Better Business Radar. Speak to you next week.
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