CEO Blog: We're Thankful For Five Years Of Sustainability Consult

Blowing out the candles on
our five-year anniversary cake

On Thanksgiving 2008, I launched Sustainability Consult, creating the responsible and ethical business I dreamed of working for, where we would choose our clients carefully and influence the way sustainability is communicated. We would push our clients to be more sustainable in their actions and more credible in their communications. It was a gamble but I was certain that there was a better way of doing consultancy.

Five years later, Sustainability Consult now has five full-time employees and supports clients in Europe, the US and Canada. We have grown steadily and we consistently attract top talent to our Team. We have built our reputation in the bioeconomy and renewable energy sectors and across EU environment and energy policy. I am more certain now than ever that the market needs a firm like ours, where consultants with science and media backgrounds help clients communicate credibly on sustainability. I see Sustainability Consult as 'the anti-greenwash firm’, strengthened by having its finger on the energy and environment pulse in Brussels.

Over the last five years, we have developed our voice and our personality. We are happy to be different. We're only as good as our people, our clients and our community. We have been incredibly lucky over the last five years to have built a fantastic Team, worked for clients who inspire and challenge us and to have brought together the Brussels environment community through initiatives like Green Drinks Brussels, Sustainability Communications Lunches and (launched this week) The Big Swap and The Good Library.

Sustainability Consult is a member of 1% for the Planet, a network of responsible businesses who donate 1% of sales to environmental non-profits. This year, in partnership with Natuurpunt, we opened up woodland in Flanders and I was made the first European Ambassador for 1% for the Planet. I am extremely proud and honoured to spread the Love Blue message.

The last five years have been turbulent for the economy and our clients. I am incredibly humbled that we have been able not just to survive but to grow during this time. Our internship programme has enabled many young people to get a foot on the green jobs career ladder and we maintain close ties to our alumni. I've learned that when you have a vision and passion and love what you do, you can build a team of people who share that vision and who will do their very best to make the dream a reality.

On our fifth anniversary, I would like to say a very heartfelt thank you to my Team for their love, dedication and support, for challenging me every day and for helping to build the company of the future. Deepest gratitude to my friends and family for their constant support and of course, all this would be nothing but a dream without our amazing clients.

Blog by Kathryn Sheridan