About
In 2011, David Luba, Derrick Emsley, and Kalen Emsley were inspired to start a clothing brand that gave back to the earth and formed the company tentree with a simple mission: for every garment sold, they would plant ten trees. Two years later, the trio successfully pitched their concept on Dragon’s Den (similar to Shark Tank). In three short years, tentree planted their first million trees and by 2020 surpassed 50 million trees planted. In 2021, PCNA’s Trimark partnered with tentree to make tentree apparel available to the industry and in this session, we’ll visit with co-founder David Luba about the critical thresholds they crossed while building a high-impact brand:
- How to build both mission and profit into a unifying vision
- How to position branded merch as a resource for replenishment
- How to use technology as a tool for transparency and growth
- How to build high impact profits that are good for the planet
Join us as we celebrate Earth Day in the month of April with our special guest David Luba. Our interview with David will be followed by a 20-minute networking session to help put into practice what we’ve learned and as we strive to make every day earth day in 2022!
Schedule / Format
12:00-12:40 PM ET - A conversation with Dave Luba
12:40-1:00 PM ET - One on one networking with your industry peers
Speakers
Dave Luba
Co-Founder,
tentree
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The idea to sell clothing that plants trees came to David while studying finance and economics as part of a student exchange program at the University of Manoa in Hawaii in 2011. After graduating with a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) and spending many years participating in competitive outdoor activities he started a business that gave back and protected the beautiful world he played in. This business is tentree, for every item purchased tentree’s are planted. tentree is a top 10% B-corp globally, is 100% carbon neutral across scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and has planted 70+million trees in less than ten years (~31 million trees since Jan 1, 2019). David has been recognized as a Clean 50 emerging leader and E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year under the social impact category. Beyond this, David and his team are improving tree planting transparency for consumers and organizations around the world by scaling Veritree, the world’s first ground-level verification system for global reforestation projects.
Mark Graham
President and Chief Brand Officer,
commonsku
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Mark is the co-founder of commonsku, a business software application designed specifically for the promotional products industry. Mark is one of the founding chefs of PromoKitchen and is the host of the popular PromoKitchen podcast where he interviews industry thought leaders as well as business luminaries such as Seth Godin and Dan Pink. Recognized with multiple honors in the industry, including ASI's Distributor Entrepreneur of the Year, ASI’s Hot List, and PPAI’s Rising Stars, Mark has been featured in several major media publications (PPB, Counselor Magazine, Stitches, and Advantages). An innovative leader, Mark frequently mentors promotional entrepreneurs through writing, speaking, and training, and shares his technology expertise with promotional professionals across North America (PPAI Expo, ASI Chicago, ASI San Diego, PPPC, MAPPA, SPPA, Promo East, Partnering Group, NALC, ASI Power Summit).
Bobby Lehew
Chief Content Officer,
commonsku
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Bobby Lehew is the Chief Content Officer at commonsku, a cloud-based CRM, order management platform designed for the promotional products industry by promotional product experts. A 25-year industry veteran, Bobby was formerly the CEO at Robyn, a branded products fulfillment company that specialized in private-label, e-commerce company stores. A PPAI Gold Pyramid Award winner, a PPAI Silver Technology recipient, an Addy Award recipient, and recognized (in his work with Robyn) three years in a row by Inc. Magazine as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., Bobby is co-host of the popular industry podcast, skucast and he is a national speaker on topics related to B2B marketing, company stores, productivity, and storyselling. Featured in ASI’s Counselor magazine as one of “41 people who are shaking up the market with new and innovative approaches,” Bobby is an ardent bibliophile and loves working at the intersection of art and commerce.
Merch
100 lucky attendees will be selected at random to receive a tentree Organic Cotton T-Shirt courtesy of PCNA. Winners will be selected and notified after the event on April 20, 2022.
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About commonsku, PCNA & tentree:
commonsku, PCNA, and tentree share a similar passion: We each strive to inspire our world through work.
commonsku is the promotional product industry’s modern cloud-based solution that allows you to run your entire promotional products business from creating presentations to invoicing your clients, building shops, and more. We inspire growth through simplicity.
PCNA is the leading promotional products supplier, they provide everything from backpacks, water bottles and wireless power banks to stylish polos, jackets and hoodies – thousands of products in all, with the capability to imprint logos on each and every one of them. But ultimately what they do is this: Inspire Pride.
tentree makes Earth-First essentials using the most sustainable (and comfortable) materials in the world. Every time you purchase an item, tentree plants 10 trees. By planting trees for every purchase, they make big change accessible to everybody and show the lasting impact that one small choice can have. tentree inspires Earth-First choices in a world where the planet and its people come first, always.