August 2023 Newsletter
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.
