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Brianne West
Environmentalist & Social Entrepreneur - Founder & CEO of Ethique - NZ EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Professional Background
Brianne West is a highly accomplished entrepreneur and thought leader in the realm of sustainability and eco-friendly beauty. As the Founder and Chief Executive of Ethique, she has dedicated her career to pioneering a revolutionary approach to personal care products, emphasizing the importance of creating a positive environmental impact. Under her leadership, Ethique has gained international recognition for its innovative products, which are not only beautifully crafted but also completely plastic-free and made from natural ingredients.
Prior to establishing Ethique, Brianne served as a Partner at Nous HQ, where she contributed her expertise in business development and strategy. Her role involved collaborating with a range of clients to enhance their operational efficiency and innovative capabilities. Furthermore, she has been an Activator at SheEO™, a global community of women who support female entrepreneurs, showcasing her commitment to empowering women in business.
Brianne’s extensive experience in the beauty and personal care industry, coupled with her entrepreneurial spirit, has made her a prominent figure in advocating for ethical and sustainable practices. Her journey reflects a deep-rooted passion for environmental sustainability intertwined with innovative business solutions aimed at reducing waste and promoting ecological responsibility.
Education and Achievements
Brianne West holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Canterbury. Her educational background laid a strong foundation for her understanding of natural sciences and sustainable practices, which she has adeptly applied throughout her career. The principles of biology and ecology influenced her vision for Ethique, igniting her passion for developing environmentally friendly products that do not compromise on quality or effectiveness.
As a forward-thinking leader, Brianne has led Ethique to achieve significant milestones, including securing various prestigious awards for her contributions to the industry. Ethique’s innovative products have revolutionized the way consumers think about personal care, encouraging a shift towards zero waste and sustainable lifestyles. Brianne's pivotal role in the company's overall strategy and mission has been instrumental in promoting awareness around the environmental impacts of beauty and personal hygiene products.
Achievements
- Founder and Chief Executive of Ethique: Brianne's entrepreneurial venture has successfully introduced a range of innovative personal care products that are not only effective but also sustainable, furthering the movement towards zero waste and environmentally conscious consumerism.
- Awards and Recognition: Under her leadership, Ethique has garnered numerous accolades for its commitment to sustainability and innovation, solidifying its position as a key player in the eco-friendly beauty sector.
- Advocacy for Women in Business: Brianne has played an instrumental role in initiatives aimed at empowering women through her involvement with SheEO™, where she supports and nurtures female entrepreneurs to thrive in the business world.
- Thought Leadership: Brianne is recognized as a thought leader in the sustainability sector, frequently speaking at industry events and workshops to share insights on eco-friendly practices and the importance of creating sustainable businesses.
Through her dedication to sustainability and innovation, Brianne West exemplifies the capabilities of integrating scientific knowledge with entrepreneurial acumen. Her journey serves as an inspiring tale of how one individual can make a tangible difference in the world through conscious business practices and a commitment to environmental stewardship.
Highlights
You know what, if you don't ask, you don't get. So I am asking.
I have set Incrediballs a goal of having 10,000 people on our newsletter list by the time we launch.
We're not too far off, but we need your help in spreading the word and getting people to sign up on our website.
What's in it for them (and for you)?
Well, we're going to be sending out a request for RSVPs for our first underground (literally) taste testing this week.
And there will be more to come pretty quickly after that.
And launch events, and early access to new flavours.
Really, it's the place to be.
We don't send spammy newsletters either. They're full of interesting bits and pieces, things you didn't know you needed to know and updates on how it's all going ridding the world of plastic bottles.
So you should be there. And you should tell your friends. (Link in comments.)
#smallbusiness #entrepreneur #plasticfree #sustainablebusiness #incrediballs
“How did you grow so fast without compromising your values?”
We just didn’t. (Compromise that is.)
I get asked this all the time by founders building ethical businesses because they often are being pressured by investors, retailers or advisors to give up their values in order to achieve certain milestones.
So I think it's time we flip the question over - how did your values contribute to you growing so fast?
They were everything. Without a solid brand that believed in making the world a better place, Ethique was just another hair care brand in an oversaturated industry. Our values drew people to us, engendered die hard loyalty, and bought people on the journey with us celebrating the highs and helping us through the lows. We changed the beauty industry not by creating the best shampoo bars, but by giving people something to get excited about and believe in.
Sounds a bit sentimental doesn't it!
But if you don't have a brand people can believe in, get behind and cheer on, you better have a lot of marketing dollars.
My favourite example of this was about six years ago when a big retailer (800 stores ish) in the USA approached us to range throughout all their stores. Huge deal for us then, as we were really only just entering the US market. We got through all the negotiations and all seemed well, though I had a nagging feeling the shoe was about to drop. And it did, with their shipping terms. ‘All items to be shipped in a poly bag.’
They wanted us to pop each bar into an individual plastic bag for their distribution centre. I queried why and it was ‘so products don’t leak’. I pointed out that they’re bars so not such a concern and was then told ‘its policy’. We tried to work through it with them with some alternatives but due to their systems they weren’t able to be flexible (big ships are hard to turn). Our last conversation went something like ‘you don’t have to worry though, we’ll take each bag off before it’s shipped so the customer won’t see it’. Not really the point.
We walked away and a month later a larger opportunity more in keeping with those values came through. They have 1200 stores.
We found making the decision to say no to several million dollars easy because our values were the foundation of the brand and what set the company apart. And most importantly, because those values actually mattered to us. It would have been hideous to know that each bar sold by that retailer was producing totally unnecessary plastic waste. And just imagine if it had become public knowledge.
This is probably one of my fave stories, because people think you can’t succeed on the world stage without compromising. You might come up against moments where it would be easier not to do things the right way, but if you embed those deep within the company and communicate them the right way, they will serve you so well with your customers and give you greater opportunities than those you might lose out on.
#sustainablebusiness #founder
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.