Green Career Spotlight: Sean Ansett, Senior Director of Sustainability at John Paul Mitchell Systems
At EMA, we surround ourselves with people, businesses, and organizations that share our desire to do better and leave behind a sustainable, healthy, and equitable world. For companies, such a commitment starts at the top and attracts like-minded employees. Whether you're the CEO, accountant, or office manager, you can do your part to encourage sustainability in the workplace. Still, having a point person and team that oversees sustainability goals is critical.
At our long-time partner, John Paul Mitchell Systems (JPMS), that role belongs to Sean Ansett, the Senior Director of Sustainability. We spoke with Sean about his job, advice for upcoming sustainability leaders, and much more. Enjoy!
Your position at JPMS is Senior Director of Sustainability. Can you tell us a bit about what you do in your role and how you got here?
Fortunately, sustainability has been at the heart of JPMS from the beginning and is part of our company's DNA. Our founders, John Paul DeJoria and Paul Mitchell, developed an off-the-grid solar-powered farm and built electric cars in Hawaii decades ago. We still source the awapuhi ginger used in our products from that farm today. Under our CEO, Michaeline DeJoria, we are working from that foundation to grow our sustainability commitments and honor the company's ethos of passion for hair and compassion for the planet.
My role at JPMS involves working with leadership, cross-functionally and with external stakeholders, to meet our sustainability pledges, including reducing our use of virgin plastic, reducing our carbon footprint, sustainable and responsible sourcing, and minimizing waste to landfills.
We call this program "Regenerative Roots."
How did I get here? I am a returned Peace Corps volunteer, and during my years of service in the Dominican Republic, I witnessed issues of social inequality and environmental degradation.
My Peace Corps experience inspired me to seek a career in international development and positive impact when I returned home. I then went to graduate school to study international business, and upon completion, landed a job at Gap Inc. on their social compliance team and later their sustainability team, managing programs in Mexico and the Caribbean.
I call my Gap Inc. experience my "real" MBA, as I was overseeing 30 programs across the world. I then pivoted to the luxury goods industry, leading Burberry's sustainability program out of London, UK, and then a stint at Apple. I then transitioned from an intrapreneur to an entrepreneur, founding several circular economy startups like Fairphone.
After having great conversations with several JPMS team members and being impressed by the company's entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to sustainability, I joined the JPMS family in July 2022.
What's an exciting sustainability project you're currently overseeing?
That's a tough one, as there are many. As I mentioned earlier, we have a pledge to reduce our use of virgin plastic.
As a part of that pledge, we have been on a journey to transition to post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic across our product portfolio. As a haircare brand, we recognize that some of our most significant environmental impacts arise from manufacturing packaging materials, and our design choices carry consequences.
The conversation is already taking place and will reduce our carbon, virgin plastic usage, and water footprint across our business. The use of PCR also contributes to the circular economy.
Every industry has its sustainability challenges. What are your industry's challenges, and how is JPMS working to help solve them?
Concerning sustainable packaging, there are many considerations. A significant one is the need for the product to perform well, including the packaging's compatibility with formulations, shelf life, and the water barrier the packaging provides when our customer uses it in the bath, shower, or salon. PCR materials are also opaque in color, so consumer education is important as the bottle's appearance will change. We call our bottles "purposefully imperfect."
Additionally, there's the challenge of inadequate recycling infrastructure in the US and other countries worldwide. You can design a package to be recycled, but whether it is actually recycled is another story.
Some municipalities need to provide access to material recovery facilities, and the types of materials that can be recycled vary across recycling centers. Regarding industrially compostable packaging, the United States has even less capacity.
We've seen a massive uptick in interest in green jobs, especially from Gen Z. What advice would you give to younger generations looking to work in sustainability?
We continue to need passionate and competent sustainability professionals in this field.
Getting involved early on and participating in your school's community beach clean-ups and environmental programs is a great way to roll up your sleeves, contribute to positive change, and expose yourself to sustainability challenges.
When I started in sustainability decades ago, there wasn't a clear career path. However, sustainability has become a business imperative, and job openings for Chief Sustainability Officers are increasingly available in companies of all sizes.
Some critical skills needed are influencing skills, as you likely will be working across the entire business, necessitating the ability to influence upwards, downwards, and sideways. Systems thinking is important to identify opportunities and examine the impact of business decisions on the environment and communities.
Being comfortable with ambiguity is key, as sustainability has many gray areas with long-term goals, and the direction forward is often unclear.
Increasingly, there are college courses in sustainability that will provide theoretical grounding. Like me, it's critical to seek an internship within an organization, who knows, they may even hire you. Think of an internship as an extended interview.
Second or third language skills are a plus, as value chains for products and services stretch across geographies and cultures.
Click here to learn more about sustainability at JPMS.