Danielle Conte of Conscious Coconut: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change & Become More Sustainable
Talk to kids about what animals, places, etc. that they love and research ways they can get involved! Teaching kids that they have a voice at a young age will make a huge difference in their confidence and impact.
As part of our series about how companies are becoming more sustainable, we had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle Conte — Founder of Conscious Coconut.
Danielle Conte launched Conscious Coconut in 201. She previously worked in investment banking but decided to travel over to Bali to teach Math & English. Unfortunately, during her travels on day 2, Danielle found herself face planted during a motorcycle accident. The kind people in Bali had preached about coconut oil for injuries along with the practice of yoga and healing. With this, she became a true coconut oil fan and created Conscious Coconut. She’s entirely involved in the process as her certified organic, fresh coconuts are all processed within 48 hours of harvest and the oil is extracted within 2 hours from opening the nuts. Because of this specific method, Conscious Coconut has 4x more antioxidants than the average virgin coconut oil. Our methodology also preserves 50% lauric acid and up to 70% MCT — the highest percentages found on the market. The result is a water-like oil that has a mild and light aroma and taste.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was working 90-hour weeks as an investment banker at my “dream job” and finally mustered the courage to ask for my first vacation in two years.
On my flight home, I wrote an email to my boss resigning. He replied quickly — “D! Are you nuts?” I replied — “probably, but if I can work this hard for someone else; I can only imagine what I can do for myself and others”.
Shortly after I booked a flight to Bali to teach math, English, and computer skills to Balinese children. The second day in Bali, I crashed my motorbike near the school that I was teaching at. Being so remote, a healer gave me coconut oil for my injuries. At first, I thought he was crazy for wanting me to use coconut oil on my body, but I quickly learned that the high percentage of lauric acid renews your skin, accelerating the healing process for repair and renewal of damaged tissues. My scars were fading, my face cleared up at 28, and my energy was higher than it had been in years. I had to share, and Conscious Coconut was the perfect way to do it!
What is the mission of your company? What problems are you aiming to solve?
Life is complicated, wellness should be simple. At Conscious Coconut, our products only have two ingredients — coconut oil, and love. We exist to bring you organic, virgin, small-batched coconut oil that can replace over 20+ products in your beauty and wellness routine. Our goal is to simplify your wellness routine so you can focus more on living your best life.
We believe in dreaming big at Conscious Coconut. Our fair-trade certified company was founded on big dreams about creating a company based on giving back.
We believe in a life well-lived. We believe in experiencing more and wasting less. That is why our products come in a variety of sustainable, travel-friendly packaging that is TSA-approved.
At Conscious Coconut, we believe in creating products made with love, so you can create a life filled with love.
Can you tell our readers about the initiatives that you or your company are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?
Conscious Coconut is a social enterprise committed to coconut oil. Our fair trade, organic coconut oil is certified through Fair Trade USA ensuring safe working conditions and just compensation for farmers and factory workers. We are both cruelty free and Fair Trade for humans. Once our products arrive in the States, they are packaged and shipped by adults with mental and developmental disabilities at the MacDonald Training Center in Tampa. And for EVERY product sold, we donate a meal to a child in need through Feeding America. We are committed to raising awareness for childhood hunger in the United States. Since our launch at Wanderlust Chicago 6 years ago, we have donated 500,000 meals through our one-to-one platform!
We support fair trade practices for all our farmers and factory workers overseas. This ensures their basic necessities are met — including clean water, amenities, and access to education. The farmers that we work with strengthen their livelihoods by investing in renewing their coconut trees and providing microloans to diversify income. Not only does the Fair-Trade standard require farmers to employ responsible waste and water management practices but also to be trained on pest control to support healthy crops and ecosystems.
We support the Fair-Trade Community Development Premium. On top of the sale price of a coconut, our farmers in Davao City, Philippines earn an additional premium of up to $90 per metric ton of coconuts sold. These funds are invested into much-needed community projects like healthcare, education, agricultural training, and business development.
Caring for our planet is at the heart of Conscious Coconut’s mission. By committing to sustainability — in our packaging, shipping, office environment, and supply chain, we never willingly contribute to waste. Every part of Conscious Coconut packaging & products are also recycled, recyclable, or biodegradable. Responsibility lies in the choices we face every day — especially when it comes to sustainable personal care & wellness.
We believe you cannot have a conscious self-care routine without keeping the environment at the forefront of your mind. Here are a few fun facts about our packaging!
Our jars are glass, fully reusable & recyclable!
We LOVE bamboo because it’s beautiful, highly renewable, absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen.
Every packaging box we use is made of 100% recycled paper.
As of June 1, our packets and wipes will both be 100% biodegradable. Both are constructed with a plant-based bio-sealant for the inner layer and sealant film. The ink is also bio-based.
Our bamboo viscose wipes are currently 100% biodegradable. Each wipe biodegrades in less than a month.
We ship sustainably with 100% recycled packaging paper never using plastic for protection. If needed, we use 100% Recycled Corrugated Bubble.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
Our business is a universal web that recognizes all the hands that touch our product every step of the way, from the communities where the trees are grown in the Philippines to our order fulfillment center in Tampa. Throughout the process, we are humbled and astounded by the professionalism and success ratios of our employees’ hard work. For example, there are minimal errors and mistakes made at Macdonald Training Center in Tampa. MTC employs adults with developmental and mental disabilities. We are grateful for MTC to package and ship Conscious Coconut orders. There are so few mistakes in our fulfillment due to the employee’s skills and commitment. We are grateful to provide jobs to folks that need it while also achieving our business goals.
The youth led climate strikes of September 2019 showed an impressive degree of activism and initiative by young people on behalf of climate change. This was great, and there is still plenty that needs to be done. In your opinion what are 5 things parents should do to inspire the next generation to become engaged in sustainability and the environmental movement? Please give a story or an example for each.
Show them how you recycle in your home! Teaching them about different materials, why we separate each, and the benefits to the Earth from those actions
If you’re by the water, beach cleanups are great! Explain to kids what happens to sea life and the environment when trash is left on the sand or in the ocean.
Talk to kids about what animals, places, etc. that they love and research ways they can get involved! Teaching kids that they have a voice at a young age will make a huge difference in their confidence and impact.
Volunteer in your community! This will teach kids the importance of having a hand directly in the places that you’re living, going to school, and playing in.
Use reusable bags for grocery shopping! This is a great visual way to show kids that all those plastic bags add up quickly and cannot be recycled.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
You don’t want to rush a moment of this! It’s important to plan but it’s also vital to be in the moment because this is everything you’ve dreamed of. From building your accounting system to packaging design and customer relationships, it’s fun to piece it all together and find what makes you efficient and happy. Master your processes and find what really works for you. Because this is YOUR business — not your boss’s, or your professor, or your mother or friends’. You’ll be the one up at 4am reconciling expenses, not your most recent advice-giver!
The key to this whole thing is forgiveness. Forgive yourself. Then forgive yourself some more. You’re going to make “mistakes” 100 times a day. But they’re not mistakes! You’re learning how to function both personally and professionally. And eat. Remember to eat fruits and vegetables and drink water and matcha tea and not too much coffee. Try not to eat that big sandwich because you’ll crash early evening and realize you still have 8 hours of work to accomplish.
Start your day with some sort of a ritual because the rest will be complete insanity. You planned on an accounting day and next thing you know you’re halfway to Miami with a trunk of coconut oil and succulents from Lowes for a pop-up at Exhale Spa. And you’ll love every moment of it. And If you don’t, take a moment — whether it’s in your car or at home or in the last middle seat of an airplane — to say a quick thank you, because you chose this and it chose you.
Try not to take things so personal (though, if you’re sensitive like me, it’s very hard not to). So, breathe, send a quiet “I forgive you” to the person you dislike at the moment and then forget about it immediately and move on. Five minutes later you may get an order from a large boutique hotel wanting to carry you in 500 rooms — and then 20 minutes after that a customer might write an email calling you a moron. It’s truly magical and it all flies by.
Surround yourself with people who get it. There is so much goodness and love in the world, and people want to see you succeed! So, for that one person that isn’t supportive there are 100 more that are — you just may need to find them. If I’m not aligned and having a hard day — and I know a certain friend will throw a jab about anything, really — I go to yoga instead. Staying in a positive headspace is key. Do what YOU need to do to get and stay there. If you fall off, forgive yourself, sage yourself, eat a burrito — whatever you need to do to get cruising again. You may need to explain to friends and family that you’re really in need of their support. For me, those that respected my wishes during the deep start-up days are still around today. Not everyone made it but I’m grateful for it all because I wouldn’t be the woman, I am today without all their relationships.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’m privileged to work with amazing souls day in and day out who inspire me. From friends to store owners, coconut farmers to postmen, customers to mentors — their energy and gentle encouragement keep me going. Also, my relationship with the MacDonald Training Center is extremely important to me. To spend time with adults with disabilities who have this awesome, creative energy never fails to put a big, goofy grin on my face. You can find me there several times a week but when I’m town! And of course, I’m inspired by farmers in Asia to the kids we’re feeding here in the States. I take little bits of everyone, everywhere I go.
You are a person of great influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I live by the words “One Love”. We are all one and doing the best we can despite how it seems from the outside. It’s not for us to judge — it’s for us to love. And when you put love out to the Universe — it’ll come back and topple you over!
We are committed to working with folks that share our same mission and values from customers to vendors, co-packers to retailers. Some brands throw certifications around like a volleyball and others live and breathe them. Customers are smart and educated and know the difference. If a customer is looking for witty wine quotes on social media, they probably won’t stick around for long but if they’re looking for a brand that is mindful, healthy and deeply committed to giving back, then we’re the brand for them. We not only share stories on how we’re affecting change worldwide but how CUSTOMERS can be the change themselves. We want to give everyone the tools they need to live their happiest and healthiest lives and whether that is not harming animals, clean water in the Philippines, safe working conditions in a factory in Guangzhou, or a positive message to share with your work husband in New York — it all counts and it all paves the way for a better future.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you tell us how that was relevant to you in your own life?
I wrote this in my senior yearbook, and I didn’t realize at the time how this would guide me towards becoming the person I am now.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
We love getting to know our customers and being out in the community. Sign up for our emails or follow our team on Instagram to see what events we’re at and how we’re staying involved!
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
Danielle Conte of Conscious Coconut: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.