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Esther Whieldon: I'm Lindsey Hall, Head of thought leadership at S&P Global Sustainable1.   

Esther Whieldon: And I'm Esther Whieldon, a senior writer on the Sustainable1 Thought Leadership Team   

Esther Whieldon: Welcome to ESG Insider, a podcast hosted by S&P Global, where we explore environmental, social and governance issues that are shaping investor activity and company strategy. 

Last week, we launched the first episode in our special series focusing on women in leadership. This is a new approach for us at ESG Insider to celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, which is March 8th.

Diversity in leadership has gotten increasing attention from many stakeholders in recent years. This topic sits squarely in the social or ‘S’ bucket of environmental, social and governance factors, or ESG. We’ve seen investors calling for diversity on company boards and management teams. And in some parts of the world, that push for diversity has extended to laws and regulations.  

Despite this increasing focus on diversity, gender diversity is still lacking in leadership. Recent research from S&P Global found that women represented just 5.4% of CEOs in 2022, slightly up from 5% in 2021. We’ll include a link to that research in our show notes.  

Esther Whieldon: So we know what the numbers tell us. But in this series, we’re digging beyond the data to understand how the few women who make it to the C-suite get there. We’re speaking to women CEOs and executives from across industries and all around the globe. Last week, we heard from the CEO of European aluminum and energy producer Norsk Hydro.  

Today, we’re turning to a new industry and a different part of the world as we talk with Alison Whritenour. Alison is CEO of Seventh Generation, an American company based in Vermont that sells eco-friendly cleaning, paper, and personal care products. Alison has been at Seventh Generation for more than a decade and became its CEO in July 2021. Before joining Seventh Generation, she worked at large American consumer products company Colgate Palmolive.  

As we'll hear in my conversation with Alison, she describes her leadership style as "Radically Human" end quote, meaning she leads with transparency, collaboration and leaning into listening to the advice and experience of her team. But before we get to that, let's start off with hearing about Alison's path to her current position as well as how she balances her career with being a mom of three children. By the way you'll hear her mention CPG, that stands for consumer product goods. Okay. Here's Alison.

Alison Whritenour: So I started my career in traditional CPG marketing. And through that really got my feet wet and my training and foundation in what it would like to be in product marketing, what it would like to really be a general manager of your business. And I did that for a little over 5 years, and it was truly a remarkable experience for me, part of the time I was also going back to school for my graduate degree, so I really had the opportunity to tie together the academic and the application. And through that experience, I think for me, it really reaffirmed that I just love the work of product, marketing and brand building. 

But the company that I was working for just I wasn't really working on a lot of the brands that I was using at home. And I started this search to really say, how do I connect the things that I personally care about to the work that I'm doing in my day to day. And it kind of took me -- it took me about a year actually before I kind of found and landed the Seventh Gen job. So those exploratories can oftentimes be quite winding. But it led me to Seventh Gen. And so I've been with the company for almost 11 years. So I jumped ship from a very large company, so I call it jumping from a cruise ship to a speed boat. But I did that rather early in my CPG career and really felt like I wanted to just take this opportunity to just explore a completely different avenue and path to what CPG marketing could be and also this opportunity to really use business as a force for good, which was the central model for how Seventh Generation was built from a business standpoint. 

And the rest is like a wild, wild ride. And I will say when I hit the ground running at Seven Gen, I think it really felt electrifying for me. It was this -- I really felt like this opportunity to do the work I love. It was so motivating for me to be with people who cared and valued the same things that I did. And the work was super exciting and entrepreneurial. I mean we were challenging big brands to do business better to clean up their ingredients, and that was really exciting for me. 

And so it inspired me to do as much as I possibly could. So I -- especially in early days, right, of building companies you have the opportunity to try multiple experiences. And so I really did that. I moved from shopper marketing, back to brand marketing. I took on different category roles. I worked on product innovation. And eventually before this role, I was running our sales team as an additional cross-functional experience. And so my time that Seventh Gen has really been built on working towards something that I deeply believe in and love and really just trying to maximize experiences in both learning and really kind of taking these opportunities and continuing to do work that I'm proud of.

Esther Whieldon: Did you have a goal at the start to become a CEO?

Alison Whritenour: No. In fact, like I don't -- I was trying to think about this the other day. I don't actually think that I like had the courage to say that I wanted to do this job until probably like 2018 or 2019. So it took me a while to even be able to say like, I'd like to be the CEO. I think I can be the CEO here. What will it take? 

And that -- I remember that they very explicitly because I -- when I went through it in my head, I was like, well, what's the worst they could say like, "No". And so it really took me a long time to articulate it. But I think what has always just come very naturally to me is my love for leading people and making decisions. And all the things that come with these types of roles were just naturally where I was leading towards.

Esther Whieldon: I asked Alison, once you realize who was interested in becoming a CEO, how does she approach that topic within her company?

Alison Whritenour: My sense is that, that happens differently in every company, especially given the size of companies. So given the fact that Seventh Generation was much more entrepreneurial, it just lended itself to a little bit more of an open door for these types of conversations. So I believe I just -- even though the opening the door felt uncomfortable for me, I think -- I'm guessing it was likely easier for me in a company that I felt comfortable and really understood than if I was in a larger space. 

That said, I think once I had the courage to say, "This is what I want to do, what does it take?" The response was, "Well, let's talk about the skills that you need to build or that you need to demonstrate to get there." And so really from there, it became about development opportunities and make sure that I was really kind of getting ready for these types of opportunities. It wasn't in that conversation that I was like, yes, it will be you or it will happen tomorrow, but it became more about skill building and really feeling comfortable and confident in bigger decision-making settings.

Esther Whieldon: Lindsay, you heard Alison speak at Green Biz before I did this interview with her. And you mentioned to me that even she has something in common. You both have 3 children.

Esther Whieldon: Yes. When I heard her on stage and she mentioned that my ears definitely perked up because as you know, I constantly have kids even first in while we're recording this podcast, and it's definitely a bit of a balancing act, a bit of juggling that has to happen.

Esther Whieldon: Yes. And I was curious what Alison's experience was. So I asked her, what's our secret to balancing her career and parenting.

Alison Whritenour: Ugh such a complicated question. every time I answer this, I do like to start with the fact that I don't really think there is balance or there is perfect solutions and that every individual is usually just juggling the things that they need to in the day-to-day, which is really how I live my life. I think it's often super blended between the responsibilities that I need to do at home with the kids where I want to be with the kids and then what I need to do professionally. And I just kind of block my days one at a time and figure out what's needed the most. And that's really just been a lot of survival for me, especially in their younger years. So they are 9, 7 and 5 now. But certainly, when they were babies and toddlers, there was a lot more hour by hour, day to day, and I'm feeling right now.

Esther Whieldon: Yes, for sure. And I think also just society is more comfortable with kids like being noisy in the background now or like from work from home type situations than maybe 2 years ago, right?

Alison Whritenour: Totally, although it's funny, people when I'm engaged in conversations, certainly, the participants on the call, they have no issue when kids are in the background, but it's so distracting for me and oftentimes, not lose my train of thought. So I'm always like, "Oh, what I go back in 5 minutes.

Esther Whieldon: So I'm usually the one who mines the most. We just heard Alison mention how hearing children making noise in the background of a work call is generally more accepted now. This theme also came up once she answered my question about her leadership style and how it has changed since the pandemic.

Alison Whritenour: I would probably self-describe my leadership style of probably radically human. I really believe that leaders are at their best when they can be themselves and that really then opens up the door for folks around them to feel comfortable and feel like they can approach leaders with questions, challenges, opportunities. So I don't know. I haven't asked the question recently for someone to play it back for me, but my sort of the way I would describe myself as someone who really leads with transparency. I really rely on my cross-functional team for their input. 

So collaboration is super duper important for me. And I just genuinely want to hear what they have to say. I mean they are the experts in the space. I'm the one who gets to sit at the center of it, but really deeply leaning into what they have to say and listening carefully is something really, really important for me. 

I believe what happened with the pandemic was also just a little bit more of that double-click into our personal lives. So obviously, I've got kids running to the background. I was juggling a lot. So that radically human nature of what my life looks like on the day-to-day, I think people got a front row seat, whereas oftentimes as a women, I think before that, we tended to cover that up or asset that wasn't there. And so really, gloves were off to say, "This is what my life looks like as a working woman." And as hard as that was at times and still is, I think, really does give someone that full transparency into who you truly are. 

Esther Whieldon: What would you say is the thing you want to accomplish, like your biggest goal as CEO, 

Alison Whritenour: My biggest goal as CEO, so a rather layered question. I think interestingly, in this role, I consider myself more of a steward or in service of what this company needs. So Seventh Generation has been around for over 34 years. And our mission is to transform the world into a healthier, safer and more equitable place for the next 7 generations. And so there are many leaders before me who had the honor of leading this company. 

And as I stepped into the role, I really saw it as my job to help steward the mission of this company and really fully live into the purpose of what we can be in the world, in the business community and to the consumers who buy our products every day. And I think that means something different for me than my predecessors because the environment that we're operating in is different. And there's many, many different macro factors that we all individually had to deal with. 

And so I think really just continuing to keep this spark alive of the mission of this company is really my role. And that's always been very clear to me since I stepped in. I also think about just really leaving this company in a place that I would feel super proud and whoever would be stepping in after me would know exactly what to do on how to run it. So just feeling like we have a super well-oiled machine here from a business operations perspective, and the continued ability to prove the business case that sustainability really, really does drive good business in the world is what I'm hoping to accomplish.

Esther Whieldon: And how do you and the company approach diversity, equity and inclusion? You mentioned it sort of here in passing about equity being important and all of that. But give me some details?

Alison Whritenour: Yes. Great. So as I mentioned, the mission of our company is to transform the world into a safer, healthier and more equitable place for the next 7 generations. So equity alone is really built into everything that we do. So I have the great fortune of running a company where this is established as part of our mission and our business model. 

And this really shows up for us, I think, in 2 key places right now. So in addition to selling products, green natural products that are better for personal and planetary health, we also do a tremendous amount of both advocacy and philanthropy. 

And our advocacy agenda is super focused right now around climate justice. So how do we really advocate for and bring attention, awareness, support for the marginalized communities that are most impacted by the climate crisis. And so these communities that we both lift up, listen to their stories really helped to champion what they need, they're at the center of what we think about in our day to day. 

In addition to that, we have a philanthropic arm here as part of even generation that gives 100% of our funding to frontline indigenous communities. And so these communities are making huge impact in fighting the climate emergency but get less than 1% of funding. And so we really felt like it was our responsibility to continue to fuel the groups that are really on the front line doing the most work for us.

Esther Whieldon: What would you say is the biggest challenge going forward for your company and your area, your field, your sector as well?

Alison Whritenour: Great. So the biggest challenge that we're facing right now certainly is in the macro environment that we're all facing. I think the pandemic and post-pandemic time period has been really complicated for us. I think we've seen the cost of raw materials and packaging really be incredibly volatile and skyrocket in our space. And we've really had to kind of react on the fly to a lot of the supply chain challenges that have come really off the heels of the pandemic. 

And so for our company, we really pour the heart and soul of what we do into our products. And so our quality of ingredients, our sustainability, the percentage of bio-based, so plant-based ingredients in our product, the percentage of PCR, so post-consumer recycled ingredients in our products. This is really what we do and what we stand for. And these cost a lot of money. And so for us, it's been really critical decision-making around what we do in the face of a lot of these cost increases. 

I think one of the things that I'm most proud about is the fact that we've been able to hold the line. We really have not taken any major steps back and to be able to come out of that time period and say that we really held true to our commitment to sustainability, I think, has been incredible. But the actual day-to-day in those decisions and in the operations that our team has felt is quite difficult. So I think that's really one of the biggest challenges that we've been facing. And I now operate under the assumption that, that's not going to change, and that's really how we need to pivot and operate as a company. 

Esther Whieldon: Earlier in this episode, we heard Alison describing her career path to CEO, which she said involved connecting the things that she personally cares about with our day-to-day work. So I wanted to know what career advice would she give to people who are just entering the sustainability field. 

Alison Whritenour: So I think 2 things around that. I think the first is that I was always working and have been working at Seventh Gen at the intersection of my passions in life and also my professional time. And so that just like continues to bring me so much joy, so much energy, it like, it fills me up on even the hardest days. And I think that's really important to stay in the work that really motivates you whatever that might be. For me, that's a mission-driven company, but that doesn't have to be the case for everybody. But following what you care about, I think, really, really matters. 

The other thing that I -- as I look back on my path, I think for better or worse, I always said yes to opportunities, like even ones that made almost no sense. So I recall, I was offered the opportunity to run our sales team almost right after I had gotten back from maternity leave with my youngest child. And so at home, we were like trying to figure out how we manage 3 kids in day care and that juggle. And then I was given this amazing opportunity to take on more work with a lot of travel. And I was like, sure, yes, that sounds great. And I really had no idea how we were going figure it out here out at home. But I just trusted myself and had deep trust in my partner that we would really just be able to figure it out. So sometimes the days fell very long and often complicated. But I never regretted saying, yes, especially to that opportunity because I was able just to learn tremendously from taking roles that were outside of my core area.

Esther Whieldon: So Lindsay, we heard a few key themes coming from my interview with Alison that I think will resonate throughout the series. The themes include the importance of following your passion and what drives you in your career path as well as being brave and stepping up because you may be surprised with what you're capable of.

Esther Whieldon: And please stay tuned as we continue bringing you interviews with women's CEOs and executives for our special women and leadership series.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of ESG Insider and a special thanks to our producer, Kyle Cangialosi. Please be sure to subscribe to our podcast and sign up for our weekly newsletter, ESG Insider. See you next time.   

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