The Laces Program and Shoe Recycle with Max Justus of Grounded People

Hello and welcome to this episode of Conscious Design. I'm your host, Ian Peterman, and author of the book Conscious Design. And I'm excited today to have Max Justice, co-founder and CEO of Grounded People, here on the show. They make 100% vegan and sustainable shoes, which Sounds amazing, and they are. So welcome to the show.

Hi, Ian. Thank you so much for having me on today.

Yeah, so just to start off, I'd love for you to share a little bit about the story of, you know, there's lots of, lots of things you could do with sustainable products. There's a lot of people picking different things, but you're— you guys decided that shoes, making them really sustainable, was, was your path. So I'd love you to share just a little bit of the journey of How did you get to deciding this is— let's make a super sustainable shoe?

Yeah, I've always had an interest in design, and I had a design company previously. And when I was doing some of the research for it into where the products were coming from that we were printing onto, I started to realize the detriments of fast fashion on the environment and decided that it'd be good to come up with a solution to that. Something that is sustainable, stylish, but also, you know, had the mindset of keeping the people that are producing it as well. So, you know, making sure that they're being paid fair wages, making sure that they're in safe working conditions, and that nobody's being taken advantage of in order to produce our products.

Right. Well, that's— and that's a big topic, right? Fast been fast fashion versus slow fashion. What does that mean? How do you go about doing that and make something that people actually want to have, right? Instead of it being, that's your grandma's shirt, your grandma's shoes. Yeah, they were cool, but nobody wants them anymore. So how do you, especially with that design background, kind of what are the things that you look at when you're going, okay, well, we want to make it Sustainable. We want to check all those boxes, but we also want it to be something, like you're saying, it's slow fashion. It's not something that you're gonna wear once. What are those things that you think about when you're going to go design— when you design these shoes?

Sort of a take, a new take on a classic look. So we wanted to not reinvent the wheel, but come with something that was fresh, something that had, you know, a different option So, like, using sustainable materials, that was really important for us to make sure that the shoe is, is, you know, moving forward with sustainability and environmentalism. So what we actually did was the materials that we chose for the cotton canvas, which is the outside of the shoe, the upper, that is actually made from recycled materials. So what they do is they receive a bunch of materials And then they're sorted out into different colors, and then those colors are reprinted into new fabrics. So there's no dye or any chemicals used to treat the fabrics. They're just being reprinted, uh, sort of on their second life. So that was really important for us.

Yeah.

And we also—

that's amazing. Yeah.

Thank you. Yeah. So, um, that was sourced from, um, our manufacturers, uh, in Brazil. They're actually the, the world's only 100% vegan shoe factory. So when we were doing the design, that was also really important to us as well, picking a manufacturer that also stood with the same morals and the same values that we do as a brand and sort of making sure that we're all aligned and have the same goals in mind.

Yeah, yeah, having your supply chain aligned is really, really important. And you mentioned before, you guys actually use this system, I believe, to help Transparency in your supply chain. So can you share a little bit about like what that is? Because it's a little bit of a different journey than most shoe companies, right?

We wanted to provide full transparency to our clients to show them exactly what we're doing, how our shoe is produced, where the materials are sourced from. So we actually use a technology which is called Retraced, and what that does is it shows exactly where every single material that is made to produce our shoe is sourced from. So not only our manufacturer where our shoes are produced, but also the different places where like our zippers come from, or the laces, or the soles, or— it shows every single place that our materials come from in order to produce our shoe. And that technology is called Retraced.

That's amazing. Did you find any— when you started using that, Did you find any surprises that you didn't know about, or were you able to go pretty thoroughly through that process?

Um, yeah, I mean, uh, we were able to, uh, locate exactly where all the materials came from, and it was pretty much exactly what our manufacturers had discussed with us before. We wanted to use, um, different suppliers for the different materials, but we wanted to keep it all very central to where our manufacturers are. That way there's not a lot of emissions being put out and a lot of travel for the materials to reach its destination. So all of our materials are actually sourced with inside Brazil, most of them within São Paulo. Our shoes are actually produced in Franca, which is in São Paulo in Brazil.

Yeah. Amazing. And when you're Because that's something I think people are still getting their head around of this whole, yeah, you make a sustainable product, but if it travels 1,000 miles 20 times just to get made, your sustainability all of a sudden starts to drop quite a bit.

Yeah.

Was it a challenge for you guys to be able to source everything? Because single country sourcing anywhere Seems a bit of a challenge for a lot of things. So I'm just curious how that went for you guys and being able to get it down to one country.

Definitely, yeah. Um, so, um, São Paulo is, is known, uh, well known for being footwear manufacturers. They have a long history of that. And actually, uh, the, the manufacturer we had selected, um, is a family manufacturer. So the father started it And now the son operates it. So they've been in business for a very long time. Some of the workers that have been there at the factory have been there for over 25 years. So it's a well-established manufacturer, and they were able to help us with sourcing the different materials that we wanted to select in order to produce the shoe that we wanted.

Wow, well, that's good for them. They're, they're definitely doing, doing a good job if they have all those resources.

Yeah.

Available, um, in, in your journey to find them, because it's always, it's always a bit of a process to find, find the right partner, kind of where, what led you to be able to find them? And, and, you know, with 100% vegan, what is that kind of, what was the driving factors to be able to get to them instead of another company, for example?

Yeah, well, I mean, it was a lot of research and development. So we worked with, you know, between 15— around 15 to 20 different manufacturers to see exactly, you know, who we wanted to work with, who we were going to select, to make sure that we picked the right manufacturing partners. And it was a process of elimination based off of the materials that they could source. You know, are they fair wage? Are they sustainable? You know, so there was— we had a a long checklist of requirements in order to meet what we thought would be the perfect manufacturing partner. And from that long list of candidates, it actually was narrowed down to about 3. And then from there, we made our selection based off of the information that we were provided and the prototypes that we had seen produced by the manufacturers.

Awesome. And how, how long did that process take you to get Through all 50 manufacturers, that's a lot to go through.

Yeah, yeah, it was a lot, a very busy time. So we, we were incorporated in 2020 and we had been sort of working on it since then, but it really picked up sort of the end of 2020, around October. It really started to pick up some steam and we really started working our way through the different manufacturers to reach our end goal, which was You know, the manufacturer that we had selected.

Hey, it's Ian here. So glad you're enjoying this episode of Conscious Design. If you want the full scoop on Conscious Design, what it is, how we do it, how you can do it, then check out our book. We wrote it so creative entrepreneurs like you can code social and environmental responsibility right into your brand's DNA. You can download the first chapter for free. Link is in the description. Enjoy the rest of the episode. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share. There's something— there's your laces program. I'd love for you to share. You guys do something special with the laces. Yeah, share about that.

Yeah, definitely. So, um, we wanted to have an inclusive shoe and a social aspect to it, which is why we also selected, uh, the meerkat as our brand logo. Um, it's a— a meerkat is one of the most social animals, and they work in communities to achieve a goal for the greater good of the community. So we felt that that was very, very— it emulates the way that we would like our community to act, where we can all work together to achieve a goal, which is a sustainable future in the fashion space and also just sustainability as a whole for the environment. So what we actually do is we partner with different charity organizations around the globe And each organization picks a special color of laces, and when the client is selecting their shoes, they get an additional pair of laces. They select the lace that they would like to support for the charity, and 100% of the proceeds from the sale of that lace goes to that charity.

Amazing. I love, I love the idea of that because everybody— I feel like especially adults, we do need laces. They wear out when we use our shoes, so It's great to be able to do that. And another—

Yeah, it's also a great way for people to show, you know, their friends and family what initiatives they support and sort of the value and the values that they have and the initiatives that they'd like to support. So it's just a great visual way for people to say, you know, I support this organization and here's my reasons why.

Right. Yeah, I hadn't thought about it. Yeah, you're basically wearing, right, you're— exactly what you're supporting right on your shoes, which is great. Um, one of the other things you guys do that I, that I saw, which not everyone— well, not, not hardly anyone that I know of— you guys have a program for bringing back your shoes, your old, old worn-out shoes.

Correct.

Um, that's quite an endeavor, so I'm just curious about the If you could talk about the process, like taking those in, do you rework them? Are you able to recapture some of the material? Kind of what can you, what can you do with an old used shoe if you're a shoe manufacturer?

100%. Yeah. We wanted to do a waste reduction program where people can send in their shoes that they've previously used, and then they'll be broken down and then materials will be sorted into recycled so that they can be repurposed and reused. Not necessarily to be shoes again, but so that it can continue its life as a product, but something different.

Got it. Okay.

So we've provided people with the option to send us the shoes that they've used, and then we will take care of the recycling on our behalf.

Amazing. And do you have— are there people interested in those materials? Like, is there specific industries that would Use it, or is it just kind of a broad, broad recycle and you don't have a specific thing in mind when you guys— No.

Yeah, so it's just meant to be recycled so that it doesn't go into a landfill.

Got it.

Any materials that could be taken off the shoe and repurposed just as they were, then that's fantastic. If not, you know, with wear and tear, not everything lasts, but being able to provide the option of recycling the shoes so that they can be Reused for different materials is something sort of that we wanted to provide our clients just in case they felt the need to do that or had the desire to. We wanted to make sure that we provided that option.

Right. Well, that's great. I mean, that's a great option. That's not, you know, I don't, I don't have a place to send my Nikes that I don't, that I know of, but to put them back and get them, get them recycled, which is, which is great. I think it's One of, one of the huge things to be sustainable is to take that material and not toss it, to actually go, well, it's not all ruined. The whole shoe isn't garbage typically. Well, some of my kids' shoes are all garbage by the time they're done with it. But for most people, especially adult shoes, they do have some usable material. So being able to separate it. Did you go through a design process to make it easier? To be able to deconstruct, or is it— or is that just, you know, part of the process? You just have to pull it apart and that's not— still not as fun.

Yeah, our design— like, our shoes are almost entirely made by hand, so they're very, very simple. We make them in small batches. We have a small group of people that produce our shoes, so we're not— we don't produce a large amount of each batch, so they're very small batch and like limited edition. And because they're almost entirely made by hand, it makes them much easier to take apart.

Okay.

So that was also part of our design, was to make sure that we're sort of using minimalist materials and only really what we need to. Which, I mean, was great for our design as well because it's a very simple monochrome style, but it's also very fashionable and could be worn You know, you can wear it at the office, you can wear it around town, you can wear it on nights out, but it's very simplistic as well. So there's, there's beauty in minimalism.

Yeah, there is. And as it's— because it's designed to be handcrafted and more of this small batch process, were you able to— does that mean it's less parts? Is there, is there any really big differences between hand Completely handmade, small batch, and, you know, larger production that you had to like really account for when you were doing that?

With larger production, a lot of the time they use machines, um, and they'll use presses and hydraulics to cut out the shapes of the shoes, and they'll do that in very large amounts. Our shoes are actually cut with an X-Acto knife. They cut out the different designs and then it's all sewn together. Yeah, it's actually really cool, the process. We actually have our production video on our website which shows exactly how our shoes are produced from start till finish. And so when you, when you go to our website groundedpeople.com, it actually shows you the full process from when they pull the fabric off of the wall to when they put the shoes in the box and every step along the way. So you get a full view exactly of how our shoes are produced.

That's awesome. Yeah, handmade stuff is cool, especially when you can make a little bit larger so that more people can— more people can have them.

Yeah.

Well, that's great. On the packaging side, is that— is there anything special about the packaging that you guys have done, or kind of what are your thought process? Because I know you guys are— you guys are really into sustainability, so Yeah, so we wanted—

we use recycled materials for all of our packaging, and we wanted to make sure— so I had one of the cards with me, one second here. I can't seem to find it right now.

I'll get it.

So all our materials are made from— or all our packaging materials are actually made from recycled materials. And something that's really cool that is included with each order is a postcard that has seeds that are embedded into it. So you can—

Amazing.

Yeah, and then wildflowers actually grow from it. And so that, and a bag also comes with the pair of shoes when ordered. So we thought it was really cool to be able to have sort of a different idea on Sort of like packaging. So not only is it recycled, but it can also be repurposed. So we wanted to make postcards that had wildflower on the inside so that when you plant them and water, then they grow wildflowers. And so I thought that was a really cool and interesting thing that we could do. So it's not just a piece of paper, but something that actually has a second meaning to it.

Right. Yeah, I had heard of them, but I, but I hadn't known of any companies actually using them. So it's great that you guys are. That's awesome. That's really, that's really cool. That was amazing. You can actually put seeds in, in the paper or in a glue and have it be fine and grow and grow, which is great. Cool.

Yeah, very cool.

Amazing. Well, I mean, I, I've looked at your, your guys's website. You guys have Really great shoes, and it's impressive what you guys have built. And you guys are young. As you said, you started in 2020, but I think 2021 is official.

Yeah, we launched on December 24th, 2021.

Right. So we're recording in May, so you guys are young, but doing well. I think it's going well. As how has things been? You guys seem to be out there and getting found and growing. So it looks, it looks good, which is great. It's good to see you guys are young, but, but really doing well.

Thank you.

I'd love to, if you can, pick your brain a little bit on kind of what is your long, long-term With this? And do you have any other product? Do you guys want to expand? Kind of how— what is you guys' vision for your brand and sustainability and what you're doing?

Yeah, so we have releases planned for the fall season. We have a fall release coming up of like a winter boot, and we have a few other designs that we're working on. that we plan to release as well. We plan to take on new charity initiatives with our Laces program. So we're always looking for different charity organizations that we can partner with to give more awareness and spread awareness about the organizations through our social medias and our different marketing that we do with Our online presence. So we're always looking to, you know, further the business and establish more partnerships with charities and continue to grow. We now offer free shipping in Canada as well as the United States.

Awesome.

Yeah, so just getting the word out there and letting people know that, you know, there are other options to the classic shoe brands that are sort of available, um, more sustainable options and, um, you know, still fashionable, still stylish, um, but also, you know, sustainable with a purpose in mind as well. Not just a shoe that is meant to be worn and then thrown out, um, but something that actually has meaning behind it. Um, you know, like our waste product— our waste reduction program. Or the materials that we're using for producing our shoes, the sustainability aspect of it.

Right. Well, this is amazing. And yeah, is there any— I want to give you the opportunity— anything else you want to add to share with anyone listening before we wrap things up?

Yeah, to follow us on social media. Grounded.People is our Instagram. The Grounded People is our TikTok. We post lots of great videos and lots of information about the business. GroundedPeople.com is our website. Please visit it and let us know what you think. We're always interested in what people have to say about our company and ways that we can improve it. So if there's anything that we can do, please feel free to reach out to us.

Amazing. And we will make sure for everyone listening, watching, there will be links in the description for all of that. And yeah, if you're— if you like vegan sustainable things, then definitely check out these shoes. And if you're a charity, you should also contact them and, and partner. So amazing. Well, I really appreciate your time, Max. It's been great talking to you and be able to share what you guys are doing.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on today. Thank you.