Sustainability Modeling Software for More Climate-Aware Supply Chains — Julia Collins, CEO of Planet FWD
Led by CEO Julia Collins, Planet FWD has developed software to provide consumer brands the insight need to understand and reduce their carbon footprints. The company has also developed its own sustainable snack brand called Moonshot.
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What problems does Planet FWD tackle and what makes the company unique?
Our mission is to help brands bring planet-friendly products to market by helping them deeply understand their carbon footprint and then putting them on a path to carbon neutrality. To facilitate this carbon light approach, we provide access to the data and information that brands may otherwise lack in making supply chain and go-to-market decisions. We also work to connect our brand partners with suppliers that we have independently verified across various measures of sustainability.
What are your product offerings today?
We have developed a carbon modeling software tool that can be applied to numerous industries from food to fashion, though food remains our initial industry of focus. To demonstrate the feasibility of making sustainability a core part of the value proposition of a consumer brand, we built our own brand called Moonshot to be the first explicitly climate-friendly product in the snack category. Ultimately, our mission is to serve all brands in the consumables space.
How does Planet FWD make money, and how do you anticipate this changing as the company continues to grow and evolve?
For the software side of our business, we employ a SaaS business model. Brands pay for access to our platform that enables them to better understand their carbon footprint, actively seek solutions to reduce this footprint, and ultimately source better and more sustainable ingredients from verified suppliers on our platform. We are working with and talking to brands of all sizes, from some of the largest food manufacturers to startup brands. On the snack manufacturing side of the business, we sell our Moonshot snack products through the Moonshot website and in physical stores through retail partnerships.
What was your path prior to Planet FWD, and what led you to start Planet FWD?
I think I have always had a deep connection to food, and I attribute that to my grandparents. My grandparents moved from the deep South to the Bay Area during the Great Migration, a time when millions of black people moved from the South to the North to take advantage of new economic opportunities. They moved to establish a dental practice serving the black community, but because they are such sweethearts, they served anyone and everyone that they could. Therefore, I was taught that all people are equal, and all people are equally worth serving. I think that ethos naturally translates to community, and I have always believed that the best moments between people happen when we are sharing food together. I also became aware that food can be medicine and was attracted to the plant-based movement for health reasons. After giving birth to my son in 2017, my thinking and worldview shifted to a broader concern about the well-being of the world and planet. This shift naturally led me to start thinking about building a world in which every product is a contribution to the solution rather than the problem.
Planet FWD isn’t your first company. How are you applying previous lessons learned to this venture?
I have certainly learned a lot about how to build a business, but I think my deepest and most pivotal lessons have been personal in terms of how I show up as a leader. I have implemented mindfulness, breathwork, and meditation as means towards this end. It is these practices that have enabled me to show up as my best self for my team at Planet FWD. More specifically, these practices critically shape my ability to manage and lead a Board, attract talented team members, and develop a customer base.
What advice would you give to yourself 10-15 years ago?
I would highlight the importance of rest as a strategic imperative for a leader and team members. I used to take my lack of vacation or sick days as a badge of honor, but I have since realized that the lack of rest manifests itself in suboptimal outcomes, especially as it relates to company culture.
I would also advise myself to slow down and develop relationships with investors outside of the capital-raising process. Too often CEOs and entrepreneurs rush themselves into these relationships that are highly consequential in how a business is operated and whether or not it achieves its ultimate mission.
Flashing forward ten years, where do you see Planet FWD?
In some ways, I am hopeful that I have worked myself out of a job. If we operate with a sufficient sense of urgency over the next ten years to address climate change, that would be the best outcome for all. Nonetheless, I believe there will always be a need for brands to be supported in their desire to increase sustainability. I distinctly remember looking at my pantry shortly after my son was born and feeling a real sense of dread that everything in it was contributing to the environmental problem in a negative way. I am hopeful that by the end of the decade I will be able to look at my pantry and smile with the knowledge that this problem has largely been solved with some of that solution coming from Planet FWD.
Do you have any habits that keep you focused or motivated?
I think I’ll share a habit that I was able to successfully break relatively recently. Throughout 2020 I had developed this reflex of reaching for my phone and consuming the news upon waking up. I found that it was diminishing the effectiveness of my breathwork, meditation, and exercise that I do in the morning. As such, I started putting my phone in the closet and placing a glass of water in its place so that I start my day on a healthier note. I don’t think there will ever be a shortage of news, but there is always a shortage of time spent with yourself especially if you live in a larger household.
Do you have any book recommendations?
I am really enjoying Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I have been interested in regenerative agriculture for years, but I have strived to educate myself about indigenous practices with respect to the conservation of land. It was recommended by an indigenous scholar that we are working with as part of Planet FWD and our efforts to develop expertise around these practices. The book tells the story of a Native American woman who has grown up with the wisdom of her ancestors with regard to land management but has also received a Ph.D. in botany and plant science. It is really about the integration of these two approaches and how they can be combined to protect the planet. It is beautifully written.
Do you have a podcast recommendation?
I really enjoy The Daily from the New York Times for news, but I would also recommend How to Save a Planet as a great balance between highlighting the most important issues and bringing thought leaders in to provide potential solutions. Every time I listen to the podcast I come away with a new idea or perspective as well as a new person to follow.
Do you have a quote that keeps you focused?
My grandfather used to say: “You are never as good or as bad as they say you are. There are so many moments as an innovator where you are either considered the most brilliant person in the room or totally dumb, and that can affect you. I always go back to this phrase.
Is there any way that listeners can support your mission as Planet FWD?
I think we all have a role to play as individuals. I would encourage everyone to take a personal inventory of their skills and abilities and then take an inventory of the communities that they belong to or play in. I would argue that drawing the connecting lines between these inherent abilities and the opportunity to make a difference within a particular community is the best way to have an outsized impact on the problems that we face today. I would also encourage people to be grateful that we are alive in a narrow window of time in which we still have an opportunity to address the problem.
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THE TORCH is an interview series from Entrepreneurs for Impact. We profile CEOs and investors mitigating climate change. Our goal is to highlight their work and inspire others. As we deal with multiple crisis, from Covid and racial injustice to climate change and economic recession, we need some of this positive light in what seem like dark times. Onward and upward.