Female Disruptors: Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks of ECOS On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
“Believe in yourself” was a phrase I heard from my mother often, and her words were powerful to me. Parents can too often underestimate the power of their words to their children, but my mom understood it intuitively. My mother believed so deeply in my abilities as a young child that I didn’t doubt her. I was very fortunate to grow up in that positive environment. We should give kids the gift of believing in them. From the loving support of your parents comes the internal strength and confidence to lead a company successfully.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks.
Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks is president and CEO of ECOS plant-powered laundry detergents and cleaners that are safer for people, pets, and the planet. She oversees four geographically diverse facilities across the U.S. as well as a European manufacturing platform and has been widely recognized for her leadership and influential voice in corporate social responsibility and sustainable manufacturing. Vlahakis-Hanks has led ECOS to become a Climate Positive company and the first in the world to achieve carbon neutrality, water neutrality and TRUE Platinum Zero Waste certification. As a woman of African American and Greek descent, she has created a corporate culture of diversity and empowerment with a leadership team that is 63% female and 45% BIPOC.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I grew up in a small town in Illinois, a town of about 3,000 people. My father was a Greek immigrant who created a cleaning products company out of his garage in 1967, and my mom, who was African American and a single mom, raised me. Although I worked at my dad’s company over many summers, working full-time in the family businesses wasn’t my plan. When I went to UCLA, I followed my passions — art history and exploring my ancestry. I spent semesters studying in both Greece and South Africa. I began my career working in African American art, public relations, and public policy. I was leading the American Hellenic Council, an advocacy organization representing Greek Americans, in 2003 when I got a call from my dad asking me to help him navigate a rough patch at the company, then called Earth Friendly Products. I knew we needed to strengthen our connection with consumers and our relationships with retailers, so I created our company’s first marketing department. Over the next decade, I worked in every aspect of the business and was eventually promoted to Executive Vice President. In 2014, when my dad passed away, I took over the role of president and CEO and have led the company for the past 8 years.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
I’m demonstrating that business can champion positive change in our world. I’m building a business that addresses some of the greatest challenges that we face — protecting the health and wellness of people and the planet, fighting against climate change, fighting for environmental justice, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. And we’re doing this by developing green cleaning solutions with the latest cutting-edge green science, building manufacturing facilities with unprecedented sustainability practices, and building teams to lead our organization to reflect the diversity of the consumers we serve.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My father was incredibly supportive, but he was also one who never missed a chance to remind you about a mistake that you’d rather he forgot about. One time, early in my career at ECOS, we had a retailer that wanted us to make a bottle of liquid laundry detergent in a smaller size for the same price. My father refused, insisting that he would never shortchange the consumer. The retailer said, “Make the change, or we won’t carry you anymore.” Of course, the sales team and I didn’t want to lose the business, so we all flew in to confront my dad and convince him to give in to the retailer. He was livid that we would put the retailer’s request before value to the consumer. He refused to budge, and I had to send the dreaded email to the retailer. But you know what? We never heard back from them on the ask. My father’s argument in favor of the consumer was the winning proposition. And I learned a very valuable lesson: Brands that deliver true value to their consumers are the brands that will win in the long term. We must remain committed to our convictions and have the strength to stand up even when the stakes are high.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
When I began my career, I was fortunate to have the support of some wonderful mentors, and that has made all the difference in my success. When I graduated from UCLA, I spent 5 years outside the family business, which I highly recommend to anyone who has a family business; it’s so important to go out and see how the world works and learn from others. I interned at a public relations firm, and my mentor there gave me some invaluable advice when I was hired for my first director of PR role at a swimwear company: “Surround yourself with the best.” That advice has served me very well over the years, and I still surround myself with the most talented, capable people. And I’ve learned that having a very diverse group is the best group — diversity in gender, race, background, and life experiences. Today, our leadership team is 63% female and 45% BIPOC, which reflects the diversity of our consumers and helped us thrive in a very competitive business environment.
Another of my mentors was Professor Paul Von Blum of the African American Studies Department at UCLA. He had a profound impact on my life — he taught me that art is a form of social and political protest. He helped me understand how important my values are and how important my ancestral legacy is in living a purpose-filled life. Aris Anagnos, the long-time president of the American Hellenic Council of California, was also an important mentor to me; he showed me what a true champion of change can be in his generosity to those less fortunate and his vigilant defense of oppressed people throughout the world.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
We’re a disruptor because we’re showing the world that cleaning doesn’t mean spreading toxins and that you can have cleaning products that are both safer and effective. Our innovative product offerings, like our plastic-free, liquidless laundry detergent that is environmentally friendly, easy to use, and works great, are changing the game in the laundry industry. We’re also disrupting the traditional manufacturing model by creating a business that’s carbon neutral, water neutral, and Platinum-level zero waste, using 100% renewable energy to make our products here in the U.S. and continuing to grow and thrive. It’s something that our consumers want in the brands they buy, and it’s something that makes sense from a business standpoint too. We want to show other companies that you can disrupt by doing good and do well at the same time.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
“Believe in yourself” was a phrase I heard from my mother often, and her words were powerful to me. Parents can too often underestimate the power of their words to their children, but my mom understood it intuitively. My mother believed so deeply in my abilities as a young child that I didn’t doubt her. I was very fortunate to grow up in that positive environment. We should give kids the gift of believing in them. From the loving support of your parents comes the internal strength and confidence to lead a company successfully.
“Leadership and Learning are Indispensable to each other.” President John F. Kennedy wrote these words for a speech he was to give on the fateful day in Dallas in 1963 when he was assassinated. This message has always resonated with me, and I experienced this connection first as a student at UCLA. As I grew in my role at ECOS, I decided to go back for my MBA at Chapman University in 2013 and was there when dad passed away in 2014. Despite my grief and the challenges of picking up the reins of a global company as the new president and CEO, I continued to finish my degree at nights and on weekends because I believed in the power of education to uplift and transform my ability to lead successfully. Learning doesn’t need to be confined to a university experience; we can all continue to learn every day through reading, researching, traveling, networking, and listening to the wisdom of others.
“Think like a retailer” is a powerful reminder to me from ECOS board member and 20-year employee Rick Fully that the key to success is seeing the world through the eyes of your customer. It’s so easy to think about your offering from your perspective, but it’s extremely important to always think about what you’re selling from the point of view of the buyer — whether a consumer or a retailer — to grow in the marketplace. Retailers want to carry your brand to improve their margins, differentiate them from other retailers, help them win the consumer, and drive them toward their goals, whether it’s a goal of profitability, sustainability, or diversity. The most successful salespeople are those who can get in the mind of the buyer. Rick’s message is so powerful that I named our ECOS scholarship to USC’s Food Industry Management Program the “Think Like a Retailer Scholarship” to inspire our team members to always follow this important advice.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Our evolution is revolutionizing cleaning technology with our plastic-free innovations. Our ECOS liquidless laundry detergent squares have been a huge hit with consumers, but they’re just part of our overall strategy to give consumers more plastic-free options for all their cleaning needs. From liquidless squares to dissolvable pods to new concentrate systems, we’re constantly leading the way to a cleaner and greener earth and a safer home. Ultimately, we’re driven by the mission that we’ve had for over 50 years — to protect the health and wellness of people, pets, and the planet by creating the most authentic, sustainable, and affordable cleaning products for all. As a society, we need to shake up many industries to answer the urgent call of the earth, and we’re doing that at ECOS in the cleaning products industry.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
When you’re a disruptor, you always have to prove yourself, but as a woman disruptor, you have an extra hurdle to overcome. I think male disruptors are more often taken at their word and aren’t as likely to be seen as irrational. Their out-of-the-box thinking is rewarded, and their innovative thought processes are celebrated. Too often with women, there’s a disproportionate amount of initial disbelief and lack of support. As women, we’re expected to conform and play by the rules, but to be a true disruptor it’s the exact opposite — you have to step out of conventional ways of thinking. This is something that society doesn’t readily accept from women, and it’s a challenge that female disruptors often come up against.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
Dr. Daniel Amen, one of America’s leading health experts and New York Times best-selling author, said something once that I often think about: “To feel successful, you must be able to be honest about the things that are really important to you.” I’ve read so many of his books, like The Brian Warrior’s Way, which is also the name of his amazing podcast with his wife Tana Amen, a nurse and wellness expert. His teachings have truly transformed my life and the lives of many others around the world. Dr. Amen is a long-time friend, and he has done some fantastic work on brain health and dangers of toxins, which is something that’s central to the work we do at ECOS creating safer cleaning products. Dr. Amen taught classes at ECOS to all our team members about taking care of your brain, your most vital organ. He and his wife Tana are true champions of health and wellness.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
The fight against climate change is the most important movement of our time with the most impact on our global population. It is truly the greatest threat that humanity faces. It endangers our health, our livelihoods, our very existence. I’m very involved in this movement, not only through my work at ECOS making environmentally friendly products using environmentally friendly practices, but also in my role as a board member at the XPRIZE Foundation, which is “leveraging the power of competition to catalyze innovation and accelerate a more hopeful future by incentivizing radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.” I’m especially excited about the $100 million XPRIZE for Carbon Removal supported by the Musk Foundation, which is funding the next generation of carbon removal innovators to fight climate change and rebalance the earth’s carbon cycle.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I’m deeply inspired by Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace, who once said, “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Every day I get to lead a socially and environmentally responsible company and make decisions that help protect people and our beautiful, shared planet.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow us at @ecoscleans on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and on LinkedIn you’ll find us at Earth Friendly Products. You can follow me at @kellyfromecos on Instagram and at @kellyvlahakishanks on LinkedIn. Check out ecos.com to learn how you can make wellness, green chemistry, and sustainability a bigger part of your everyday life.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks of ECOS On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.