5 Things to Know Before Starting a Career in Sustainability

Welcome back to another solo episode of The Resilience Report. 

Today, I'm going to be sharing 5 things to know before starting a career in sustainability.

If you're new to the podcast, a little bit of background as to where I'm getting these tips and tricks: I've spent the last 11 years working in the cleantech sector in a mix of both renewable energy as well as smart buildings. I've also been on board of directors of key environmental groups and most importantly and probably most relevant to this show, I've spent the past year and a half interviewing experts across all different industries, so this episode is really going to be combination of all of that different expertise. 

These five different areas are in no particular order. I've really tried to condense down as many topics as possible. Maybe just say that the last one is the one that took me the longest to figure out; again, it has been 11 years that I've been in this space and I'm really just starting to get comfortable with this one, so do stick around until the very end. 

So, #1 and I think that this is so important when you're just thinking about doing a switch over is to know that a path and a career in sustainability is absolutely not linear. So please give yourself a little bit of grace. And what I mean by this is that maybe you are lucky enough in that you did study in environmental sciences. That could be, but there are so many of us who maybe studied something else and, with time, are shifting over into the sustainability space. Because sustainability, certainly at the level we're seeing right now in corporations, is relatively new. It is exciting in the sense that even those of us who are just kind of building that expertise in the space, we do have an opportunity to learn along the way. 

Sometimes, and this is important to keep in mind, you might maybe not find a role that is 100% in sustainability. Although it is 100% separate from this podcast, I currently hold a role where half of what I'm doing is marketing and half of what I'm doing is sustainability. And, in speaking to a lot of experts, this is the reality for a lot of companies, big and small, just because again, this is a relatively new area. So it's this opportunity for the company to have that formal support within the organization as we kind of buildup that expertise along the way. A perfect example of that within our past episodes, we had the Director of Sustainability and Nutrition from Taco Bell. So you can tune into that episode to hear a little bit about how she's combining those two roles as well. And just to kind of closeout this particular item, the sustainability space is changing so fast. So this might feel less linear as well. Regulations are changing, customer demand is changing. Certainly the political landscape has  been changing. Keeping this in mind that maybe you're going to have to pivot along the way -  maybe you'll have to take additional certifications, maybe add on a little bit of additional expertise, whether through volunteering or otherwise. So just really keep that tip #1 in mind that a career path in sustainability is probably not going to be particularly linear. 

Tip #2: understand that your role is going to be at the heart of all departments. In your experience today, it might be that you've been siloed off a little bit in your own department, maybe by choice or because you really just don't need to interact with all the different departments. Sustainability is so cross functional in nature that this is really something to get to know that you're going to have the opportunity to get to know all these different departments. It might feel a little scary if you're introverted. I know a lot of my sustainability peers are not the most extroverted people. But know that is kind of this interesting hub where we can go get that information that we need to do our roles correctly. Let's take an example: emissions. You are going to need to talk to your shipping department to figure out the distances that you are shipping your products or that you're receiving your materials. You might need to talk to your human resources department to understand how far your employees are traveling to and from the office or for business travel. You might be talking to your marketing team as to how they're talking about emissions. 

And because companies are still new in the sustainability space like we just talked about, sometimes you're not going to have this opportunity to have a full big robust sustainability team. You might, if you've been hired into that role, have an opportunity to form less of a formal team, but more of a committee. And in that committee you're certainly going to be wanting to pull in representation from all different departments, so you're going to be able to have kind of that center of expertise where you're going to be able to have folks who really generally care about sustainability go back to their departments, take that message and actions, and be able to make sure that you are seeing progress.

I also always say to students graduating that, if you are applying to companies and you're interested in working in sustainability, make sure from day one and even before that in your interviews you are asking about the sustainability committees to make sure that you can get involved from day 1. It's an excellent networking opportunity, but also it is a way for you to get to know those folks all across different departments. The last thing I would say on this and probably the one that surprised me the most is that, in those cross departmental relationships, you're 2 allies that are probably going to help you see the most progress in your role are legal and sales. This might seem a little bit far apart, but legal because the reality is the regulatory landscape is changing so fast when it comes to sustainability. So having that collaboration with them is going to help guide you in how you are preparing your company and your team for different regulations that are coming up. And then on the flip side? You also have the sales team. Now, where do they fit them? Well, for many companies, the reason why they're taking action, if it is not from a regulatory standpoint, is because their customers are telling them it's important. And I've definitely seen this with a number of our guests on the podcast, where the reason that the corporations where they were working really started taking sustainability seriously was because their customers were telling them so. 

#3: budgets will forever be tight. It is a challenging exercise working in sustainability. The reality is sometimes the return on investment is not always the fastest thing. Of course don't get me wrong, there are certain things like saving energy, the end of the day it's pretty quick, you right away see the tangible turnaround of reduced costs. However, there are other projects that are longer term and maybe you're doing them to help meet regulatory requirements that are only going to come into place in 5-10 years, so they're slower moving. And at a time where all companies have to be really mindful about planning, it might be that you have a pretty tight budget. So, you're going to need to get creative. 

Now, in knowing that you have a limited budget, you have a couple of different opportunities to look inside and outside your organization. Inside I just mentioned, maybe it is creating that formal alliance - that Sustainability Committee within your company - where folks have their own day jobs that they're able to use a little bit of their time to be able to support you in the sustainability space.

There's also a wonderful opportunity to lean into sustainability internships. Please do check your provincial or state level, because increasingly governments are providing sustainability when it comes to helping fund internships. Also, if you're going to go external, these same subsidies can sometimes apply to help get a part-time consultant to support you with sustainability. This is something I've personally had with. It is phenomenal when you're just getting started. You're getting the team going in terms of sustainability at a company, have that third party come in, be subsidized by the government. Again, those tight budgets, but they're able to guide you along the way so that you're focusing on the right actions. 

Then finally, and it's totally free, in keeping that budgets are going to always be tight when you're working sustainability is that the sustainability community is so exceptionally helpful. This is something I've never seen in any other area in the sense that there's always kind of (in the corporate world), the sense of competitiveness or kind of race to the top in the sense that you're going to help others, but maybe not that much. Whereas when we're working in sustainability, we recognize that even as competitors, when you really care about environmental or social impact, you are so focused on getting the industry there that it is going to make it go faster by working with other people in the space. And it's all hands on deck and really helping each other. So just build up your network because the folks who are working in sustainability are usually so willing to lend a hand, whether it's reaching out on LinkedIn or going to a trade show focused on sustainability, you might find some phenomenal resources that can support you even when you have those type budgets. 

All right, #4, and this is somewhat tied back to your budget. If we all had unlimited budgets, you would do everything all at once in terms of sustainability. But the fourth thing to keep in mind is that, just because your project is super important to you or maybe the most visible from a sustainability lens, it might not always be the one to start with. What I would say is that if you were trying to build up corporate buy in for a sustainability program, you definitely want to get a pulse as to what is important not just to you as a sustainability leader, but to leaders within the organization and your customers. And this is where it's super important to go get that voice of customer - internal and external. And you often hear this called a materiality matrix. Probably not new to most of you listening, but for those who it is, this is really just an opportunity for you to get those different voices and to be able to structure and look at what is most important within your organization, with your customers, and then kind of benchmarked across with competition. This is something if your budget is too tight to do, it can be really expensive when you go to outside consultants, especially some of the big names out there. 

You have a couple of different options. You can either research online and you can kind of do a rough version of you're a startup, an entrepreneur who's listening right now and you want to do a materiality matrix. There are a lot of free tools that are available online. If you have a bit more money, maybe it is that is leveraging the external consultant that we just talked about (maybe you can get through a subsidy, and they can support you). I've also seen student groups. This is an interesting one. You can reach out to local universities who maybe have a program in sustainability or consulting and see they are willing to have their students for a semester have one of their class projects be to do the materiality matrix for your company. I think this is a great, great, great opportunity that is low lift for you as an organization. Maybe something that you further refine with the consultant after, but you can get it to a really good spot through those students. 

So, once you've done this materiality matrix and you've really understood where the most important actions are, you're probably going to have so many different projects that you can work on. But really, there are a few different things to keep in mind. One is obviously try and see where you can have the quickest ROI. Like those low hanging fruit where you feel like you could have some quick wins and if you have some naysayers – for example on the leadership team who are not so sure about the sustainability program - being able to show that you were able to achieve concrete wins within a short window of time is certainly important. It's also going to allow you to have that momentum so that you can work on maybe some of those bigger milestones that just take longer, maybe a multi year project, it's maybe requiring different stakeholders across the organization. So, it allows everybody to feel like they're seeing some progress while in the back end you're moving those bigger milestones. Let me give you an example. Go back to my baby of emissions. Lowering your emissions to net zero, for example. That is a multi year commitment. It is sometimes some of us are talking about 17 to 27 years from now. And that is a really long time to keep people excited. 

So maybe you're going to have some wins along the way that are a lot more tangible. For example, you might be putting in an end-of-life program for your products where you were helping your customers when they're done with your product properly get rid of it to make sure that it's either coming back into the cycle or that is being repurposed and upcycled in a proper way. Or that you were taking the necessary measures to make sure that it is recycled properly. So you have that long term plan that you're continuing to work towards those emissions, for example, but then you have those quick wins that people can see. OK, this is the program it's in place. I can do it right away. I don't have to wait the 17-27 years by the time that Net Zero targets are going to be reached to see the company make progress. It's really about kind of being nimble and open to seeing where you're going to focus your efforts and see that progress over time. 

So, before I shared that last final one that I told you took me the longest to figure out, let's do a quick recap. #1 your path to a career in sustainability is probably not going to be linear. #2 you are going to be the center hub between all of the different departments, so get ready to figure out who your different allies are. But it is really exciting because you get to really have that central function #3 your budget will probably always be really tight, so it's important that you get creative that you figure out how you can have the most impact internally and externally by leaning on those different stakeholders. And #4 was learning how to prioritize and making sure that you really understand the priorities of other stakeholders within your organization, your customer base, and relative to your competitors. Because it can't just be what's important to you as a sustainability leader, but what is really important to the organization and making sure you're balancing those bigger, bolder projects with those smaller wins that you can really showcase along the way. 

#5: this is the area that's taking me the longest and that I think has added the most to my career. When we're in values-based work, sometimes we just feel that, when we care so much about it, like “well, everybody must agree with us”. You know what? I think in some ways when you have a long-form conversation like a podcast, you can often find points where you agree with each other. However, the reality is we can't all agree on everything, and so even if you really, really care about sustainability and it is so core to what you do, know that you might have coworkers, you might have customers, you might have suppliers who don't agree with you. And I would say the most important thing is to have those conversations with them to figure out well, what does resonate with them? Is it the specific words you're using that maybe feel confrontational to them? Or there may be some words that have become really politicized and that you can be more mindful about? Just know that everybody has a right to their own opinions, and sometimes it can feel a little bit jarring when you really, really care about something, but really opening up those conversations because you're then going to be able to reach that many more people, if you're able to find some common ground. 

So, for me what this looked like was I was putting together some training material on sustainability and I invited a colleague who, on paper, cared less about sustainability and certainly the way that it is positioned in the media I asked him if I could run him through the training to let me know if there's anything that he felt like would kind of shut him down if he were asked to participate in the training. And for the most part, we were completely on the same page. He was so comfortable with the training. He asked lots of great questions, but there were a few slides in my deck where I was using terminology that he really felt like was politically charged. I had never thought of it that way. But he said to me “if you use that word on your slide, you're going to lose anybody who feels the same way as me because they're going to feel like you are shaming them or that they are kind of below what you're trying to share”. And so, we did some light tweaks: I would say out of a deck of like 35 slides, it was maybe 3 or 4 slides that we changed, and it was light edits. But in listening to what he had to say and really understanding his logic, it made my training that much stronger. 

So, the most important one that I saved for last, which was that not everyone's going to agree with you. But I would say you could proactively reach out to those folks and figure out how to best align maybe at to specific areas that they care more about than others. Just really figure out how you can resonate the most broadly in your role of sustainability because your role really is an opportunity to pull folks together and I think that is kind of the most exciting, beautiful thing. 

It can certainly be a very challenging role. There are some days where you feel like you're pushing a giant boulder up the hill every day, but I wouldn't change it for the world. And I really hope if you're listening all the way to the end of this episode it is because you're serious about working in sustainability. Whether you are thinking of just getting started as a student or whether you're doing that mid-career pivot, I hope that these “5 things to know” before doing so will help you along the way. If you would like to hear from more of our guests to share their own tips and tricks, certainly feel free to tune in to any of those episodes. And I hope to see you back on the next episode of The Resilience Report!