Beyond the Brand is a series of slow conversations with incredible people building things that matter. We talk about the quiet parts of the process—the shifts, the pauses, the choices that don’t always make it to Instagram. These are stories of shaping a life and a livelihood with care.
This month we’re excited to share our conversation with Shane, of Sustainabub, a non-toxic baby essentials brand that sell the softest muslins and wraps ever. They aim to both empower parents to nurture meaningful bonds with their babies, and families to nurture meaningful bonds with the planet.
What inspired you to start your brand?
Sustainabub was started with the idea that there was a better way to do things.
When I first came up with the idea, I was going through a period of buying family and friends lots of baby shower and new baby gifts. It was difficult to find something I felt was right. Products seemed to be, in general, either poor quality, cheap and not sustainable, or extremely expensive.
I had previously worked as an international business consultant, so I knew from this role and from working with companies across lots of industries that it didn’t have to be that way. You could get an excellent quality product, made sustainably and thoughtfully, and at a fair price.
How has your brand evolved since its launch?
Sustainabub has continued to evolve into what I always wanted it to be. As the company matures, I feel that it continues to get closer and closer to this vision.
We want to be more than just a “company selling products”, we want to be a brand that people instinctively trust, known for its values and its care for the community, and that produces quality products
What does slow business mean to you and how do you integrate it into your work?
Sustainabub has been built with the slow business model from the beginning. Everything we do, we want to make sure it is right and we can stand behind it. Decisions aren’t made with just the next 3 months or even the next year in mind, it is made with the next 30 years in mind.
The slow business model, for me, is the way to do this. All the things we want to achieve as a company can’t be built focusing on the short term, lower quality and lower ethical standards. I am extremely passionate and care about every detail to do with Sustainabub, and the slow business model allows me to keep this passion alive for the long term.
Are there any specific tools, rituals, or daily habits that help you stay true to your business values?
I have a few simple rituals that help me stay true to the business values. The first is taking time away from the noise of life. I do this in a simple way by going out for a walk with my dog and leaving my phone behind.
We are surrounded in a world full of noise, people wanting your attention, and apps designed to keep you online. They are amazing tools, but taking time away, clearing your mind at the start and end of every day, allows me time to think and stay true to the business values.
Second, I try to immerse myself with brands that hold the same values and that I find inspirational, even if they are in slightly different industries. This can be buying products from Naked Paper and Seep, following amazing companies like Gooseberry Fool and Conscious Craft, and I am lucky I have close friends, like Molly Ellan Art, who has just started their business and is doing amazing things while trying to help her local community and causes that mean a lot to her.
How do you ensure your business stays aligned with your values?
I really feel that as a brand we have no other choice but to stay aligned to our values. The name, Sustainabub, was very specifically chosen so that as soon as you saw it you began to form a picture in your head. From the very foundations of building Sustainabub, we built it with these specific values in mind. Our community has a certain expectation now of us. It is up to us to live up to the expectations and try our best to exceed them.
How do you connect with your customers in a meaningful way?
Everything we do is made with our customers at the centre of it. We want to connect with them because it is their decision to support us and we feel the right thing to do. Ultimately, we don’t treat them just as customers. This for us goes beyond the purchase and we care about what they are going through, what makes them happy and what may not. We look for ways that can help and if they have questions, even if it is something not to do with us, we always look to help where we can. This commitment has guided us to better serve them. Just a quick example of how connecting with our community in a meaningful was has had tangible results is that in our guide on how to use our wrap, we specifically included tips for baby wearing in the warm and cold weather as we knew this was a common question from our customers.
What role does community play in your approach to business?
Community is very much at the heart of Sustainabub. We want to be a good stakeholder as well as a good business. Decisions are guided by this, with the belief that if we can serve our community better, this will then serve the business better too.
How do you define success beyond profit?
I define this in a few simple ways. On a personal level, it is the impact we have on individual customers. Whenever we get a positive comment, review or message, it genuinely makes my day. Having this positive impact, and knowing we exceeded the customer’s expectation or helped them, is exactly what I want.
Additionally, success has been being able to help the community and do various initiatives to help those who may be less fortunate than us. An example of this was when we gave 60 wraps to local baby banks, and another was over the recent Black Friday period, we donated 10% of revenue to Save the Children. Being able to do this extra element, and hopefully help others, is a key part of how we define success beyond just focusing on profit alone.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in growing a business at your own pace?
Keeping to our intentionality around the values we have set, and not changing the plan. On social media and in life, you often see brands seemingly become an overnight success. While I am always delighted and I genuinely love to see people succeed, you can wonder at times if you are doing something wrong, or if you should be more like them. You often compare your
business to theirs. This is natural though. This is the point you have to take a minute and think that this isn’t a sprint, and it isn’t about who can get there first. The world is big enough and has more than enough opportunities for those that want to succeed and do good for them to do exactly that.
If you could go back and change one thing about how you started your business, what would it be?
Getting help in the areas I was weaker at from the beginning. I had a really clear vision in my head of what I wanted Sustainabub to be, from the values we have, to the copy we used, to the packaging, the images. I always say that I am quite creative in my head and that I can visualise well, it is just when it comes out of my head that is the problem! I have been really lucky to work with the likes of Rebrandr, as they have been there to really bring this vision to life which has been crucial for Sustainabub.
What exciting projects or launches can we expect from your brand soon?
We have some really amazing ideas in the product roadmap which hopefully will happen this year or early next year but a big focus has been on the operations side. As we grow, we want to make sure that we have the capacity and capabilities behind the scenes to grow with it. We have found a couple of amazing partners to help with this and I actually feel that this will improve our community’s experience with Sustainabub.
One of the things though, I really am excited about is the plans we have to help our community. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while now but have been waiting to find the right people and the right moment. This is something I know the Sustainabub community will really appreciate and will hopefully benefit them.
Where do you see your brand in five years?
I really see Sustainabub doing exactly what we are doing now but on a much bigger scale. We have seen the demand for Sustainabub in countries across the world so if there is demand for us, we want to be there and to serve as many people as possible.
The way we have built Sustainabub, and the values within it, means as well that the more we grow, the more of a positive impact we can have.
What’s one small change every business could make to be more mindful and responsible?
Embrace sustainable technology. There are lots of great apps and companies out there that can really help businesses move towards being more mindful and responsible and the great thing is that they are often a lot easier to implement than you realise. Something as simple as using an app like the Ecologi plug in is a great first step.
I am a believer that simple small steps in being more mindful and responsible can have a much bigger ripple effect than people realise.
What advice would you give to someone looking to start a conscious business?
I feel it is really important when you are looking to do this to put the community at the heart of what you do and to take your time.
Even before you have built your business, really spending your time and imagining what exactly your future community would want to see at every touchpoint is important. This will really guide you in how to create your product, what your packaging should look like, what type of content you should produce, etc. When starting a business, and even when you are running it, there are a million decisions you need to make. It can be overwhelming at times. However, by having put the community at the heart of what you do, you can often find the answers are already there.
Where do you see the future of conscious business heading, and how do you hope to contribute?
I am of the belief that the future is conscious business. In every industry you are seeing the growth of businesses doing the right thing, even if it is small steps. Populations in general are demanding this. They want to support companies that care and are looking to be better stakeholders in their community.
Sustainabub, I want to be one that champions this model. I truly believe we can build Sustainabub into a globally recognised brand, without compromising on values and ethics. I want to show that you can build a brand that is trusted, that produces excellent products, and that grows while staying true to your values. I also want our growth to directly translate into more impact, more support for families, and more positive initiatives within our community. That is what success looks like to me, and that is the contribution I want Sustainabub to make
What is your connection with Rebrandr?
I am really lucky to have had the connection I do with Rebrandr. I said earlier about how I had a really clear vision of how I wanted Sustainabub to look and be perceived. Rebrandr have been the one to really help us achieve that.
When Rebrandr first got in touch, it was at a time when things weren’t going as smoothly as I hoped they would. I knew what I wanted but it wasn’t translating. I then got a message on Instagram and, in the conversation that followed, they were able to tell exactly what I was trying to do and, within a short period of time, really brought my vision to life. The whole team at Rebrandr genuinely have been nothing but the most supportive and I feel that they really have Sustainabub’s best interest at heart. Abi, Amy and Flo are all individually amazing but as a team they are next level and I really can’t thank them enough. I am beyond excited to continue on this journey with them and see what the future holds
Head over to Sustainabub to learn more about Shane's 'Let Them Be Held" approach to a baby's first days, and browse Sustainabub's gorgeous items.