Episode 8: Ep 8 – Conversation with Gianluca Pandolfo ( Sales Director EMEA, Patagonia)

In this episode, we talk to Gianluca Pandolfo, Sales Director, EMEA region at Patagonia, the American clothing company. Gianluca spent 10 years in The North Face before joining Patagonia seven years ago. He starts by talking about his sustainability journey and then about Patagonia’s mission leading to its current status as a B Corp taking us along on Patagonia’s sustainability initiatives. Gianluca then talks about the importance of their customers and how they take consumers along the sustainability journey. The conversation then moves to Issues regarding repairing clothes and moving away from make -> waste culture to a sustainable lifecycle for their products and how it helps in a strong customer relationship. Gianluca then talks about Patagonia’s unique relationship with its employees, who are supported to be socially active in their own geographies. Then Patagonia and its partners’ relationships are explored and how Patagonia’s lead in social and environmental justice movements and having high standards can bring press scrutiny. The podcast episode ends with Gianlucas’s thoughts on what Patagonia’s future looks like. Guest BioGianluca Pandolfo is responsible for the strategic management and sales (Retail & Wholesale) and business development operations within the EMEA Markets including distribution and channel strategy, market competitiveness, leading teams and individuals, and improving processes. Key moments timestamps[00:25]- Gianluca’s sustainability journey[02:31]- About Patagonia’s mission[04:21]- On Patagonia becoming a B corp and B Corp vs Benefit Corp[06:49]- Patagonia’s sustainability initiatives[09:02]- Taking consumers along the sustainability journey[10:24]- Issues regarding repairing clothes[12:04]- Patagonia and its customers’ relationship[14:21]- Patagonia and its employees’ relationship[18:24]- The joy of literally hugging trees[19:10]- Patagonia and its partners’ relationship[21:17]- On social justice vs environmental justice[24:53]- On having high standards and dealing with press scrutiny[26:58]- Gianlucas’s thoughts on Patagonia’s future Check out the full episode transcription at: https://https://morewithlesspodcast.com/           Quotes“Patagonia is committed to transparency, accountability, and fixing problems with honesty, whenever they come to light. So that is the starting point. And we do mistakes, but this is, there is also the positive side of doing mistakes because it’s showing to everyone that no one can do everything right and then if you wanna be a pioneer in anything, or if you wanna do something it’s inevitable that you will do mistake. What is important is to admit those mistakes and take action. So the mistake is a problem itself, but how you deal with the problem is what is making a difference.”  – Gianluca Pandolfo  “So whatever you wanna repair – a shirt, a jacket, a competitor jacket, doesn’t matter. We are there to repair them and to make you happy. Because everyone has a product and we need to understand “product is memories”. So we need to keep that product alive as long as possible. And we are responsible of that product, not only when we buy and we use it, but also when we are going to dismiss it.” – Gianluca Pandolfo  About UsVenkata Gandikota is a frugal innovation and impact investing evangelist and Prof Jaideep Prabhu is a Professor of Marketing at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and co-author of an award-winning book on frugal innovation. If you have questions or feedback on this episode or our series, reach out to us. Twitter: https://twitter.com/morewithlesspodLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/more-with-less-podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/morewithlesspodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_hymDe_ez7RbRko0PLsFkwWebsite: https://morewithlesspodcast.com