Early Career and Discovering Passions
Having been a student at the same school since Kindergarten, Lizzie was eager for a change of scenery. This led her to attend the Island School in Eleuthera, Bahamas during her sophomore year of high school. Her transformative experience there introduced Lizzie firsthand to sustainability, something she had never been exposed to before. She described the beautiful and innovative campus to me - everything was run on solar panels and wind turbines. Lizzie reflected, “What stops people from getting involved in sustainability is that it can be depressing and overwhelming - it is a huge and messy problem and causes people to question how they can individually make a difference. I am lucky because I was able to see the solution before I fully understood the problem.” Lizzie’s time at the Island School sparked a passion for sustainability that continues to drive her work today.
Lizzie pursued a degree in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, driven by her passion for sustainability, but unsure of the specific role she wanted to play. After her undergraduate studies, she gained experience working in the nonprofit sector before attending Yale Business School where she earned her MBA and Masters in environmental management. While at Yale, she focused on how she could mitigate climate change in the private sector.
Founding Finch
Lizzie spent two years at Unilever, working to make their over 400 brands more sustainable. “I was able to see how sustainable ice cream and sustainable body wash was made. It was cool to see that range of sustainable products.” Through that time, many of her friends and family came to her seeking advice:“I just had a baby, what brand of diapers should I buy… or does aluminum in deodorant actually cause breast cancer? I did not have all the answers but I knew there was a market for making these answers based on data, while also being accessible to the average human. That is how Finch was born - with the idea in mind of how we can meet people where they are to better explain how they can live more sustainably.”
Finch has recently changed their business strategy from targeting consumers to targeting businesses. Previously, they offered a browser extension that allowed customers to explore sustainable products rated by Finch. However, Finch discovered that there was a larger market for this data to be provided directly to businesses:“We score products based on the scale of 1-10… we use this data that scrapes from thousands of sources, explaining what type of environmental footprint a product has based on waste, climate change, water, and other factors. We then sell this data to a wide range of companies such as manufacturers or retailers.”
Lizzie explained that the data Finch collects is especially valuable in the trends of product innovation over time. For example, “Laundry detergent is having a moment where it was powder in cardboard boxes, and then it was plastic with liquid detergent, and now there are drops and sheets.” This data is very attractive to consulting firms such as McKinsey or BCG, which Lizzie is hoping to eventually acquire.
Lizzie’s Take on Sustainable Fashion
Lizzie explained that Finch has not collaborated with clothing companies because they have not included clothing in their data analysis due to the fact that: “clothing is so embedded into who you are as a person, what your style is, and what your price point is… Yet, aside from food, sustainable fashion is probably the most important place to have an impact.” One major criticism Lizzie has encountered is how one can argue with fast fashion considering its affordability. Lizzie asks the vital question: “Yes it is cheaper but for who? For the end consumer, it is great to pay $20 for a T-Shirt you wear a couple times and then throw away. But, in terms of the supply chain and the people impacted by making that T-Shirt, it is certainly not cheaper and is more costly in a variety of different ways.” Lizzie suggests that individuals who have the means to do so should consider supporting sustainable fashion brands, even if it means spending a little bit more.
Advice for Future Entrepreneurs Interested in Sustainability
Lizzie advises that potential entrepreneurs should offload the things they are uninterested in to ensure they have ample time for their passions. Lizzie explained, “When you focus on something like sustainability, you may not be very knowledgeable in accounting or the legal sector. As quickly as you can, get an accountant or legal help. Get people to help you with the things you do not want to spend your time working on so you can free up your schedule with things you are passionate about. Because, if you are not interested in something, you are probably not going to be very good at it.”
