We’re continuing with the launch of Season 2 of Real Good Company! We’re so excited to welcome today’s guest Raan Parton, Creative Director and Co-founder of Apolis. Raan started Apolis 15 years ago with his brother, Shea Parton, with the mission of connecting small, developing supply chains to larger markets. He and his wife, Lindsay Parton, lead Alchemy Works and have recently launched FREE MARKET_, a retail chamber of commerce, alongside business partner Paolo Carini.

The word “apolis” means “man of no country” and, for the Apolis business model, this word has expanded to mean global citizen. Jokingly dubbed “Carmen San Diego’s clothing company,” today Apolis makes essentially every product you can imagine—glassware, fragrance, shoes, bags, tailoring, technical outerwear from Poland, cashmere in Nepal, handwoven scarves in India/Burma border.

Raan created Apolis with the notion of not just wanting to be a spectator of different cultures and places but to be a participant. This required a fair trade relationship with supply chains. His desire was to not just be a tourist but to actually affect how consumers interface with different cultures.

As a leader in the business-for-good space, Raan talks about the greatest responsibility of selling products and to be a social enterprise that creates something that people want. A feel good product that people don’t actually want won’t solve anything. While a lot of businesses-for-good focus on the narrative, the focus actually needs to be on how to supply the demand. Social enterprise is able to change the trajectory of a supply chain when they are focused on items that have the exponential possibility of scaling.

Raan shares about the journey of creating a product that stands the test of time while focusing on the integrity of how it is produced. He delves into how Apolis has created a sustainable business model by not trying to do everything and sticking to their guns. He also shares about the process of creating sustainability over a decade and the financial and emotional investment that it requires.

Today’s podcast focuses on refining supply chain efficacy, the importance of integris for a true business-for-good, tips for how to keep a business alive for a decade, creating inventory that has efficiency in the consumer product business, and how to maintain work/life balance.

You can find out more about Apolis and Raan mentioned on today’s show here. Also, You can find Raan Parton on Instagram @raanparton. Get to know our hosts on Instagram @CaitlinCrosby and @AllieBridge. Please be sure to rate, review, and subscribe so that we can stay in Real Good Company!

Raan Parton: On Building a (truly) Global Product