BPCM’s Lauren Daum on Being Your Own Biggest Advocate and Finding Joy in Climate Action
Welcome to In the Office, an SFF series spotlighting industry insiders that work at the intersection of fashion, sustainability, ethics, and culture, and the career paths that got them there. This week, we spoke with Lauren Daum, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Communications at BPCM, a global communications agency whose leadership in sustainability is recognized worldwide for its effectiveness in creating business opportunities that reverse the impact on the planet.
From material pioneers like MycoWorks to textile recycling innovators like Evrnu and non-profit organizations like the Apparel Impact Institute and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Daum helps her clients craft their story and architect how to tell it to achieve their mission and reach their goals.
Below, Daum discusses the importance of being your own biggest advocate, how to find joy in climate action, the value of upskilling as a sustainability comms professional, tips for getting started, and how to work with clients who may be greenwashing.
My career path.
From an early age, I wanted to center my career around writing and storytelling, but it took some time to find my niche in sustainability & impact communications. I have always loved literature and stories; instead of children’s books, my dad used to read me poetry from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow or classics like The Count of Monte Cristo. From a young age I learned to process and understand the world, events, and people through stories.
As I got older, I thought I wanted to pursue fashion journalism, which coupled my passion for storytelling with a deep appreciation for fashion. I took every possible opportunity to garner relevant experiences. My earliest internship was at the local Santa Barbara Magazine, writing everything from hotel, restaurant, and boutique reviews, to wedding coverage. I also became an ambassador to Teen Vogue, working events in LA and participating in in-book stories and photoshoots.
In college, I interned in NYC with luxury brands like Saint Laurent and Miu Miu, and publications like Harper’s Bazaar, where I started to recognize the deep storytelling that goes into building the image of a brand from the inside out and communicating the brand’s voice and values. Also, around that time, my eyes opened to the detrimental effects of the fashion industry, and I did a lot of research and learned about the social and environmental facets and potential solutions.
My first job out of college was in the fashion division of a large PR agency, working with a couple “slow fashion” brands. My next post was at a boutique PR agency, where I focused on fashion but began working with more innovative fashion brands and biotechnology companies. That led me to a dedicated sustainability position at the communications agency BPCM, where I am today!
Having a formal education helped me acquire the tools I’d needed, and experience taught me how to use them. But consistent, informal studying, learning and staying on top of what’s happening in the industry is invaluable and what helped accelerate my career path.
Why I chose fashion as my medium for social change.
In late junior high, I began experimenting with fashion and found it to be such a meaningful tool for communication and self-expression. My mom would tailor and redesign pieces I would find at consignment stores, and I began shopping for unique shoes on Ebay – I still love the idea of a one-of-a-kind piece with a story.
What I found fascinating about fashion is that it’s a medium that every single person engages with and makes decisions around every day; it signifies so much, intentionally or not – motivation, values, preferences, identity, affiliations, and more. And beyond everyone’s daily experience with it, at its finest, fashion is art – and as such, it can be such a powerful medium to push boundaries and spark discussion.
In college, I took a ‘supply chain’ course in which one of the projects was to map a supply chain in an industry of our choice. Given my interest in fashion, I was always working to integrate the industry into any of my classes and set out to map the supply chain of what I thought would be a simple subject: a cotton T-shirt. I visited the websites of a ton of apparel brands and quickly realized that brands and retailers did not map or disclose their supply chains.
It only took digging slightly deeper to see the social and environmental harm caused by the industry and the antiquated, veiled nature of fashion’s supply chain. Of course, I read about Rana Plaza, which transpired a few years prior, and the overall damage from the fashion industry – in many ways perpetuated by the fast fashion space.
I knew I wanted to be a part of industry transformation and solutions, but at the time of my graduation, most fashion brands, retailers, and companies (aside from the likes of Patagonia and Eileen Fisher) were not publicly talking about sustainability and impact. And there were even fewer reporters writing about it.
When it comes to “sustainability communications,” the real focus is on impact.
The biggest misconception about PR is that it has a narrow connotation; it’s not just amplifying messages or planning events. For us, communications starts at the beginning of the process, not the end – there is deep development and consulting work that goes into servicing my clients and creating effective strategies to communicate their stories to the world.
In broad strokes, communications is helping brands and companies shape and tell their stories, build credibility and relevance, and inspire culture - leveraging a range of channels to do that, including the many types of media (including social media), tastemakers, events, and more.
While we use the word “sustainability” for our practice, what we really focus on is impact. We look at all brand decisions through the lens of how companies and initiatives can more positively and tangibly impact people, our planet, and the bottom line.
Comms and marketing play off and feed into each other. Still, I see communications as focused on telling stories and educating a very wide range of stakeholders. Marketing is more directly focused on promoting or selling products and services to a specific target market, leveraging company-owned and paid channels.
A big part of the work we do is helping companies who struggle to find ways to unpack and translate their sustainability initiatives, innovations, technologies, and impact targets into meaningful messaging that resonates with both experts and regular audiences. We focus on everything from brand and company launches to innovation news, strategic partnership development, thought leadership positioning, financing, corporate announcements, impact reports, and so much more.
A typical day in my shoes.
Each day is entirely different - but often teeming with client meetings, internal brainstorms, writing sessions for press releases, pitching and media correspondence, and strategy building, and peppered with editor meetings, broadcast and photo-shoots, media events, and much more.
The hardest part of my job.
Right now, sustainability is a hot topic, and innovation in fashion feels like the Wild West – with companies jockeying for investment dollars and brand, media, and consumer attention. As a result, there’s a lot of noise in the space to break through (think: the swell of coverage over recycled water bottles as a sustainable solution). And even when it comes to true innovators and pioneers, nuance can be lost when the media pursues clickbait headlines and quick distribution of news.
We do our best to maintain clear, honest client communications and serve as educational partners – not just to our clients but to media and consumers as well.
Advice to comms professionals working with clients and dealing with greenwashing.
The first question is whether the client knows that they are greenwashing. Often, diluted messaging can come down the marketing pipeline, and brands may not be aware that they are greenwashing. The best publicists are trusted advisors that educate their clients, help them understand the nuance and risk of their claims, and advise what should be added, removed, or pivoted to make them credible.
If the clients are intentionally promoting greenwashing and are not open to guidance, that’s an ethical question for the communications professional. At BPCM, we carefully consider companies before we begin working together for full-service communications for our Sustainability & Impact practice. For companies that are just starting on their sustainability journeys, we have a robust consulting practice to service their needs and help build their roadmap and may eventually move into full-service communications for the built-out initiatives.
Ultimately, the risk is greater than the reward for brands, companies, and communications professionals considering greenwashing; media and consumers are becoming more sensitive and attuned to it, and increasing responsibility and accountability are and will be put on brands for honest, transparent communications.
The best career advice I’ve gotten.
Be your biggest advocate – whether for a raise or promotion or even creating boundaries to enable yourself to do your best work. It’s knowing your value and not waiting for change or opportunities to come to you.
And building on that - if you have a team, it’s also committing to be their biggest advocates and allies whether they are in the room, creating a culture of feedback as a gift, helping them do their best work, and intentionally creating space for growth.
The career advice I didn’t listen to
I was encouraged to pursue lucrative careers in tech or finance growing up. I can’t count the number of times I was told English was a “useless”, “limiting” major that bifurcated to teaching and writing (Note: two fantastic career options – but it also opens up so many more).
There is not one right track for everyone; we are all gifted with unique skills, passions, vocations, resources, and networks that afford us the opportunity to do one-of-a-kind, additive work in this world. Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has a wonderful TED Talk, “How to Find Joy in Climate Action,” and encourages thinking through the questions:
What are you good at?
What is the work that needs doing?
What brings you joy?
The intersection of those answers is healthy soil to plant and grow one’s career ambitions.
Three must-have skills needed to succeed as a comms professional.
There’s so much that goes into being a great publicist; you need to be a writer, networker, analyst, strategist, creative, innovator, and communicator – from writing a pitch to managing tough and nuanced conversations. If I were to boil it down, I would say:
Writing
Creativity
Analytic Thinking
Communications experts – especially those that claim to be SME in sustainability – have a serious responsibility to commit to accurate and transparent communications, which frankly requires big upskilling. They must truly understand sustainability to properly advise and guide clients and avoid falling into the trap of greenwashing.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned since becoming a Director
Dive into adjacent fields and industries! When working with fashion and lifestyle brands, understanding communications-adjacent fields from digital marketing to SEO, web analytics, and social media marketing, helped me create the most strategic and effective communications plans.
When working with B2B companies, understanding adjacent spaces of policy and finance helped anticipate trends and position companies as true thought leaders in their respective spheres. And looking at what leaders in the beauty, CPG, food, and other industries are doing is an infinite well of inspiration.
My advice for getting started in sustainability/impact comms?
Take every opportunity to write and learn about the space – whether it’s through free online resources, panel discussions, or trustworthy media publications.It’s also never too early to start taking a critical eye to brand communications you’re seeing - are the claims precise, supported, and put in the proper context? And any related work experience is valuable – including internships;
BPCM has a strong internship program and is hiring for Fall interns and entry-level positions now!
MORE IN THE OFFICE
