Journey To Regeneration

Inside Prota Fiori’s Sustainable Footwear Innovations

In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Jennifer Stucko, founder and CEO of Prota Fiori, a sustainable luxury footwear company working at the intersection of circular materials and Italian craftsmanship. Stucko explains how Prota Fiori emerged from a desire to rethink the environmental impacts embedded within traditional footwear supply chains while preserving the artisanal heritage of Made in Italy. The conversation explores the practical complexities of building luxury products with upcycled and regenerated materials, including apple-skin leather alternatives and circular manufacturing systems that require new supplier relationships, production methods, and quality standards. Stucko also reflects on the cultural challenges of introducing sustainability into traditional luxury manufacturing environments, the role of design and desirability in changing consumer behavior, and why craftsmanship may become even more valuable in an era increasingly shaped by AI and automation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Redesigning Business for Nature with Frieda Gormley from House of Hackney

In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Frieda Gormley, co-founder of House of Hackney, about the company’s evolution from a design-led interiors brand into a business grounded in regenerative principles. Drawing on her background in fashion and her growing engagement with ecological thinking, Gormley reflects on the limitations of traditional sustainability models and the need to move beyond minimizing harm toward actively restoring natural systems. The conversation explores how this shift manifests in practice—from rethinking supply chains and pricing to reflect true ecological costs, to embedding nature directly into corporate governance through a “Mother Nature” board role. Gormley also discusses the cultural and philosophical dimensions of regeneration, including the influence of indigenous perspectives, long-term thinking, and the recognition that the economy is embedded within nature rather than separate from it. Together, they examine the tensions between growth and regeneration, the challenges of operating within conventional financial systems, and the emerging possibilities for redefining value, accountability, and business purpose in a rapidly changing world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Seventh Generation co-founder Jeffrey Hollender on Why Responsible Business Isn’t Enough

In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder of Seventh Generation and a leading voice in sustainable business, about the evolution—and limitations—of purpose-driven companies. In his new book “Built for a Better World: How Seventh Generation Pioneered a Movement That Changed the Purpose of Business [https://bookshop.org/p/books/built-for-a-better-world-how-seventh-generation-pioneered-a-movement-that-changed-the-purpose-of-business-geoff-davis/9097897f759b8e0e?ean=9781639081745&next=t],” Hollender reflects on building a brand that combined environmental responsibility, consumer education, and human health, while also experimenting with employee ownership and values-driven culture. Our conversation explores these topics and how business can move from minimizing harm to creating systemic value, the tensions between mission and capital, and the governance challenges that arise as companies scale. Hollender also discusses the role of NGOs, public policy, and large corporations like Unilever in driving broader change, offering a candid assessment of what it takes to move toward truly regenerative business. The episode ultimately raises a critical question: how can businesses operate differently within systems that still reward short-term extraction over long-term value? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The Purpose Pledge: Les Szabo from Dr. Bronner’s on Redefining What It Means to Be a Good Company

In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Les Szabo of personal care company Dr. Bronner’s, a long-time leader in regenerative and purpose-driven business, about the limits of philanthropy and policy in addressing systemic challenges and the need for business itself to take responsibility for its full impacts. Drawing on Dr. Bronner’s evolution—from organic sourcing to fair trade and regenerative organic certification—the conversation explores how deep supply chain engagement, stakeholder accountability, and community investment can reshape how value is created and distributed. Szabo also introduces the Purpose Pledge, a multi-stakeholder initiative that defines what it means to be a purpose-led company through ten integrated commitments spanning governance, compensation, supply chains, climate, and more. Rather than allowing selective storytelling, the pledge emphasizes transparency, operational rigor, and peer learning to address trade-offs across stakeholders. The episode ultimately reframes regeneration not as a set of isolated best practices, but as a systemic transformation requiring collective action, shared standards, and new forms of accountability across business ecosystems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Vivobarefoot: Rethinking Shoes, Rethinking Systems

In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Galahad Clark, co-founder of Vivobarefoot, about rethinking business through the lens of human health, natural systems, and regenerative design. Drawing on a two-hundred-year family legacy in shoemaking shaped by Quaker values, Clark reflects on how industrialization and shareholder capitalism disrupted earlier models of purpose-driven enterprise—and how Vivobarefoot seeks to recover and reinterpret those principles today. The conversation explores the company’s challenge to conventional footwear design, arguing that many modern innovations address problems created by the industry itself, and examines how regeneration can be operationalized through circular models such as repair, refurbishment, and localized production. Clark also discusses the tensions between natural and synthetic materials, the limits of current recycling systems, and the difficulty of sustaining regenerative culture within a growing organization. Ultimately, the episode offers a nuanced view of regeneration as an ongoing process of realignment with living systems—one that reshapes not only products and supply chains, but also decision-making, organizational culture, and the broader purpose of business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]