In this episode, we’re taking a look outside the very familiar food industry and a closer look at the emerging sector of plant-based food, with food activist, entrepreneur, and CEO and Co-Founder of Heura, Marc Coloma.

Marc’s mission to transform the food industry starts with his own company, which acts as a symbol for what is possible; investing in food innovation to solve not just taste and nutrition challenges, but also ones related to social issues.

Social activism is something Marc has been passionate about since he was a ‘rebellious’ child. His life and career were shaped by a drive to ask 'why?' and a desire to transform anger at what is imperfect in the world into a vehicle for positive change. As a ‘good rebel’, Marc is determined to shape his work around things that matter to him personally.

In many ways, Marc’s ambition (and success) in this foray represents a modern shift in business; where people recognize a friction that exists between values and behaviors and work to close that gap. Marc calls it the 21st century way of doing business: companies already do make people’s lives better by providing solutions to existing problems, but now they can also make “multiplied impact in the value chain”.

While shifts to address environmental, social and nutritional challenges need to take place across many sectors, for Marc, the focus started with the food industry, where many of the issues arise from modern day lifestyles. We are good at scaling solutions quickly in the food industry, he says, but equally at scaling their consequences. This is part of the impetus for the plant-based movement towards alternative solutions, or as Marc and his team call them, ‘successors’ of the current food system.

Plant-based food are under a tremendous amount of scrutiny today, not just from the media but from frustrated customers and disappointed food retailers. Marc says a part of the declining performance is the fact that the industry was scaled too fast in a bid to tap into (warranted) enthusiasm to transform the food sector. But here speed came at the cost of a great customer experience, and most importantly, great taste. Marc says with transforming the food sector in sight, we forgot about the most critical target to win over – the customer.

Heura, the plant-based food company Marc co-founded in 2017 and leads today, is outperforming its European competitors on taste. Marc stresses this is pivotal in changing consumer behavior, while supporting the rituals that people love. Taste will always win, and you may get one shot to prove that to customers.

Marc believes plant-based food is only in the ‘early beginnings of potential’ and that we must expand frontiers of what we thought was possible. Planetary limitations are a reality of the future (put simply: many more people, consuming many more calories) and must be addressed in new ways.

Jo and Marc also discuss how, in the end, it’s easy to blame others for inertia in current food systems, but that blaming an entire industry, sector or category is not helpful, particularly when change starts with us – with individual actions. It’s also not helpful to reject or distrust a growing and emerging industry like the plant-based one, especially one that does not exist to destroy anything but to help maintain the traditions we hold close to our hearts.

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To look outside, Marc learns through others, hearing first hand testimonies from people that spark unique ideas and an interest to learn more deeply about something new. Meanwhile, time in nature, hiking and sports like boxing, and yoga help him stay grounded.

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Marc Coloma is a food activist and CEO at Heura. Born in Barcelona, Marc has been involved in social activism since he was 16 years old. In 2015 he decided to take part in an entrepreneurship

In this episode of Looking Outside, we explore personal and professional growth from the angle of imperfection; not having it all figured out and embracing what you don’t know as a lever for learning. Even if you work for the world’s biggest and best brands. Just like our guest has done, Marco Andre, author of Imperfect Stories and Head of Marketing and Generative AI at Novartis.

Marco shares how his journey from tech to pharma had no master plan, he was simply a geeky guy that liked designing things. A sustainability engineer by training, a jazz drummer by night and an author in his spare time, Marco has embraced adaptability and flexibility throughout his career. All while working for the world’s leading brands, P&G, Google and now Novartis.

Instead of a well-defined ‘life plan’, Marco describes his career journey as a desire to tap into his creativity, particularly as someone with “no shortage of ideas”. Creativity can mean assembling LEGO or writing stories, but it can also be expressed through learning a new topic. For Marco, his curiosity led him to Generative AI which he now heads up for his company, and speaks about on the public stage. He doesn’t call himself an AI guru, however. In fact, Marco approaches AI the same way he advises others to; with acknowledgement of the emotions that surround it (the 5 stages of AI grief), and with proactive experimentation.

Jo and Marco discuss how AI needs to be intentionally and carefully explored, as it’s important to stay close to the changes in the external world instead of living in denial with blinkers on. But that ultimately the way we use it (and when we choose not to) is up to us.

Even though Marco spends a lot of time presenting about AI and other topics, he makes it a point to do so with authenticity. He believes the time of polished and perfected TED Talks is over, and people want to hear more from leaders who have learnt from failure, who don’t know everything and who admit when they are scared. This, Marco says, is the new leadership that people – especially young people entering the workforce – expect. It requires us to think differently about traditional career paths that tied our professional expertise and personal development to one company for most of our lives.

It also requires businesses to adapt to enable and incentivize these types of next generation leaders. It’s important, Marco explains, for companies who are particularly inward focused and disconnected with their customers, to think differently about how they “inject oxygen” into a stale environment by bringing in the outside world.

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To look outside, Marco goes for a walk to clear his mind. And when he’s trying to look differently at a topic, he leverages a small group of trusted people to gain a perspective that differs to his own. Then, taking in theirs and considering his own, he makes up his own mind.

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Marco Andre is the Global Head of Marketing and Generative AI Excellence at Novartis. He is a keynote speaker, AI advisor to executives and a published author.

Marco has worked for 20+ years in companies such as Google, Procter & Gamble and YouTube, where he held local, regional and global roles in Marketing, Sales, Partnerships and Operations. Marco’s achievements include scaling a country marketing operation 4x in two years, managing a $20M brand budget across 18 EMEA countries and advising C-Level executives on digital transformation for brands worth $40B in sales.

Outside of work, Marco is the author of the book - Imperfect Stories, and builds a ton of LEGO. He is a proud owner of 20+ sets, with his favorite one being the Star Wars Millennium Falcon.

• Follow Marco on LinkedIn and...

On this episode of Looking Outside we discuss the evolved art of photography and its role in capturing the state of nature and wildlife as a form of conservation, with nature photographer and conservationist, Derek Nielsen.

A photographer for more than 20 years, Derek’s journey to capture images from across each continent of the world started with curiosity; his passion for global travel prompted him to bring a camera wherever he went. Soon, this became a mission with a sense of responsibility to be an ambassador for the wildlife and nature degradation that can’t speak for itself, through his photos.

Fearless since he was a child, Derek has been driven throughout his life by a calling to see things that are less comfortable and unnerving. He describes this as a “free fall of curiosity” that followed his passion for and companionship with nature. And prompted him to do more than just record and observe.

Derek’s describes how photographers are storytellers today, tasked with providing more to their audience than beautiful images or documents of facts, but to move them through stories that they otherwise wouldn’t have the ability to hear.

Derek’s stories incentivize people to do small or big action in support of the conservation cause; whether it’s a monetary donation or simply picking up their trash.

One story Derek shares is in a moment of connection with a baby chimpanzee while he was visiting the Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. The moving photo that captures the moment they locked eyes helps Derek tell a story of wildlife protection – and therefore inspire future photographers and donations. He says it’s in this way that photographers can play a bigger role in the world than garnering likes on social media.

Having travelled to more than two dozen countries, Derek has seen some haunting things, and explains how important hope and optimism is in not becoming overwhelmed by the deterioration of the world, desensitized to problems, or disconnected from every day life back home. He seeks this out by surrounding himself with people who are kind and with the things that are driving positive change, not just with things to be outraged by.

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To look outside, Derek finds play. Whether it's Ping-Pong with his wife, a dog wrestle, or messing around with his nieces and nephews. Play re-centers him back to family and the things that are important in life. He calls this both instant happiness and a non-negotiable.

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Derek Nielsen is a conservation-driven fine art photographer of nature and wildlife who wants to inspire the world to fall in love with nature. After 20 years behind the lens, Derek's journey to capture, share—and ultimately help preserve—the fragile beauty of our planet has taken him to more than two dozen countries and every continent, from Rwanda’s endangered silverback gorillas to the overfished waters of Antarctica. His images and storytelling educate people about important conservation topics. With an emphasis on what is worth saving, he brings large-format fine art prints of beautiful landscapes or exotic animals to people's homes and offices so they can enjoy the benefits of nature daily.

• Find more at dereknielsen.com
• Follow Derek on LinkedIn, Instagram.

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Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is...