Karli Slocum: VP, Product & Marketing, 3form

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Technology meets sustainability This week, we’re back at the NeoCon SURROUND podcast studio with friend of the pod and two-time guest, Karli Slocum for the second of our 3part (see what we did there?) NeoCon ‘live’ broadcast specials.  Bobby and Andrew hear an update from Karli on a range of exciting processes that 3form is implementing to make production more sustainable and how they’re pushing the conversation through both innovation as well as education. As Bobby points out, Sesame Street can be a great place to start in understanding the exciting advancements happening in the space, so you won’t need to be a full-fledged scientist to tune in and enjoy. Connect with our hosts on LinkedIn: Bobby Bonett Andrew Lane Follow Karli Slocum on Linkedin References and resources: Related and referred BTE Episodes: Get in touch with us with your questions on emerging technology, innovation and more at [email protected] or drop us a voicemail at the BTE Hotline at 1-917-934-2812. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced by Rob Schulte.

This transcription was made possible by an automated service, in some cases it may contain errors. 

Karli: [00:00:00] If you don’t have to sacrifice those things. So if you can get a product and it is a hundred percent recycled and it isn’t marked up price wise and companies invest in that, then maybe designers don’t have to make that choice. Maybe it’s all just sort of exactly what they’ve always wanted aesthetically, but they’re getting it as a hundred percent.

Andrew: Welcome to barriers to entry, podcast on the surround podcast network. This is the show where we obsess. Over the not too distant future of the architecture design and creative industries and the ideas, tools, technologies, and talent that will take us there. I’m Andrew Lane, co founder at Digby, and I’m joined as always by Bobby Bonet, chief growth officer at the Sandow design group, and we.

Our broadcasting live today from the Neacon podcast studio, sponsored by SnapCab brought to you by the surround podcast network. That’s a mouthful.

Bobby: Yeah. And you can tell us the end of the day because you’ve got the, um, the tired voice, Andrew, this is actually gravelly, gravelly, gravelly

Andrew: radio voice is due to an evening at a piano bar.

Last night, kicking off Neocon. Were you tickling the keys? I tickled, I tickled nothing. Um, but to talk to anyone you had to scream. And as the night wore on I was like, I need to record two podcasts tomorrow. I need to stop trying to talk to these people. And this is my failure beginning to creep in.

Bobby: Well the right time, of year to spend, um, a night at a piano bar is the summer and it is the summer of BTE.

That’s why we’re at the Neocon podcast studio today.

Andrew: Exactly. It’s death taxes in the summer BTE, the only three certainties in life. That’s

Bobby: right. That’s right. Um, well, we, we are at the end of day one of Neocon. If you can believe it. Any trends that you want to call out from your roaming of the halls at the Merchandise Mart today, Andrew?

Andrew: I mean, I think the biggest thing that I would call out is that it’s popping in here. It’s a very busy time. We brought a first time Nia Conner around with us a little bit. Our last guest, Cosmo Kramer from BitReel. And he was just amazed by how many people they pack into this thing. The elevators are nightmarish.

Right. Right. Um, shrinking

Bobby: every year.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Um, but you know, the one thing I would say is I think that, uh, innovation is definitely on the agenda this year. Um, we’re seeing some cool, uh, companies that are doing some really tech forward things. They’re integrating into, um, booths with traditional manufacturers and doing a lot of different things.

Um, you even have a little bit of that up in the, uh, design scene lounge brought to you by Sando Design Group. Thank you. Yeah. How about you? What have you noticed? I’ve noticed.

Bobby: I’ve noticed that we have a guest in the pod today, Andrew,

Andrew: so

Bobby: let’s get to her. Uh, joining us as a two timer, the third barriers to entry to timer, making her a certified friend of the pod.

There’s a merch idea for you, uh, producer Rob, um, Carly Slocum is three forms vice president of product and marketing and someone who is not only eternally curious, but hell bent on pushing boundaries with that curiosity. Last year, Carly came to us to talk about showrooms of the future, giving us a sneak Peek under the hood of three forms, virtual showroom this year.

She’s back with more to share on the product development side. And by the way, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share that Carly is a champion of BTE and the surround podcast network as three form is a proud partner of the network. Carly, welcome to the Neocon podcast studio.

Karli: Thank you. It is absolutely wonderful to be back with you guys.

I can’t believe a year went by. I know.

Andrew: Almost to the day, yeah. Has it been a tough year, Bobby?

Bobby: He’s staring at the gray hairs popping out from underneath my Master Dynamic headphones. I do think we kind of skipped over this last year, by the way, Carly. Can you give us the 3 form value prop and elevator pitch?

Andrew: The 3 form 1 1, if you will.

Bobby: Yeah,

Karli: absolutely. How long did it

Bobby: take you to write

Karli: that?

So we specialize in translucent material, so it’s resin and glass. And, um, essentially what we can do is just form it into all kinds of different shapes. We have a lot of different designs that designers can use to really fulfill whatever they might imagine, um, as far as different types of surfaces that they want to put into their designs.

And so, I think one of the biggest things that, um, people come to us for is the fact that, you know, you can add color, and you can really design a space with these materials that allows natural light in. So, we all sit in different boxes like the snap cab, and We happen to be in a Yeah, there we go. A light allowing box right now.

And there’s some natural light coming in. And so it’s really essential that we have these types of materials.

Andrew: What are some of your favorite places where that shows up? Like, what are some cool applications that you’ve seen that people might be able to place and think about?

Karli: Yeah, I mean, I think the fun part of my job is that designers really use it as a tool.

So they can just do absolutely amazing things. So everything from, you know, Some pretty basic space division where you [00:05:00] just want to allow some natural light in to these amazing art sculptures to, um, huge outdoor canopies, um, pretty much the sky’s the limit. And so I think the best part of my job is just to see what designers end up doing, you know, and then, um, One of my favorite things is that you can backlight the material.

So when you backlight it, it just pops. And so that’s probably my, like the funnest way that I see designers use it.

Bobby: Since we last podcasted or podded, casted. I think that’s the right past tense. Thank you. Um, we, uh, I had the good fortune to visit you in Utah, Carly. And something that really stuck out to me was the level of collaboration within the three form organization.

Um, that must come through when it relates to. The reasons and ways in which designers want to work with 3form is, is that, that level of collaboration? Can you talk about that culture that exists at 3form?

Karli: Yeah, I mean, I think it goes back from day one because we essentially, Make everything custom, right?

And, and we don’t have a warehouse full of, you know, pre made goods. And so we really think about, and we tool our processes to work with designers so that they can come to us with an idea. And then we have all the experts in house to take that idea and take it all the way to fruition. And the designer can really step away at a lot of parts of that process.

And so in order for. Us to do that, you have to have a lot of collaboration. And so I think it’s just inherent to the business. And when we work together as teams, we are ultimately thinking about what our customer wants to do. And we see these really amazing and, um, completely rad ideas that they have.

And it takes a lot of people sometimes to sit down and be like, okay, how do we help our customer accomplish this? And so it kind of happens naturally. And I think it’s just, you know, because our business, we are, um, pretty much Custom making everything and, um, so in order to do that, you’ve got to have that collaboration.

Bobby: That doesn’t sound tiring. Custom making everything.

Karli: It’s fun.

Bobby: From, from custom to cocktails. Um, when we last spoke, we were talking about grabbing a virtual cocktail in the three form virtual showroom. So can you talk about just in the last year where that project and that initiative has taken you?

Karli: Yeah, so it’s still a big part of what I’m exploring.

Um, one of the things that, after building our first showroom, a couple of things that I noticed. One was, it’s been really hard to keep it updated with new products. And we regularly come out with new products. And one of the things we’re always trying to figure out is how to translate translucency Like that?

Yeah. It’s a tongue twisted. It’s a tongue twisted in a virtual space. Um, especially when it’s, it is more complex than glass when we do resin. So it can have different inner layers, uh, which can be organic, it can be textiles, it can be metallics, it can be a digital print. Everything is sort of different.

So trying to figure out how to regularly. Update our showroom to reflect what we can do has been difficult. And so, um, one of the things that I’m exploring is trying to figure out how do we do this in a more robust way? How do we do this more regularly so that when we do come out with multiple different products throughout the year, that I can update the showroom in a impactful way for designer to really kind of understand or see how they could use it.

Bobby: You obviously think about showrooms differently and we’re at Neocon, we’re at the Merchandise Smart. And with the backdrop of floors and floors and floors of showrooms, but three form doesn’t have a showroom at the Mart. Um, so how are you activating at Neocon and how does three form think about generally activating at trade shows?

And what are the ways in which you’re kind of continuing to push the envelope to have unique experiences at events like this?

Karli: Yes, we had a showroom here for years and, um, We stepped away around COVID and we’ve had this opportunity on this fantastic opportunity with Cindy Allen and interior design to outfit their showroom with, uh, numerous materials.

And really it’s, it’s fun for me. Cause I just sit back and watch because it’s, it’s her insane creative talent. And she works with Ryan Smith. He’s our chief creative officer and they come together and we’re Watching them, like just watching over the shoulder and watching the creativity pop. It’s just amazing.

And I think for

Bobby: anything,

Karli: yeah. And it’s just so cool how they start with an idea and how it evolves over time. And I, you know, to me as a marketer, I just think of, you know, the fact that we’re not furniture, that we provide these, you know, um, materials that could be used in so many different ways. And I’d love to work with more showrooms and be able to provide materials to them so that they can design their showroom the way that we do.

The way that they want and helps their product shine. Um, but also kind of just be peppered everywhere in the Mart would be kind of my ideal dream. Yeah, there’s

Bobby: this, there’s this fantastic color story and design scene, um, that when you see designers walking through there, first of all, they interact with it.

I think they’re blown away by it. And then they start to like, look at the product from different angles, wondering how the, how the color comes to life. What’s the story you’re wanting designers to walk away with? [00:10:00] Um, after they see three form at the design scene space this year.

Karli: Can I do two? Yes, of course.

So, I think the biggest thing is, um, designers that know us know that we’re, we’re known for color and being able to pull off some really bold colors, also some muted colors. Um, but being able to see that, you know, with a very high traffic showroom, you can accomplish that. But also with, you know, the durability And the scratch resistance that comes with, uh, our resin material.

Um, but secondarily is one of the things I’m here to talk about, which is our continuing

Andrew: job for us. Yeah,

Karli: sorry. Um, just our committed, our commitment to sustainability, because some of the materials we have up there are made of a hundred percent recycled material. And we have a bin, um, that is located, uh, in the showroom where people can throw their single use plastics that we can then take, you Ship back to our supplier, and then we can actually make a new product out of it.

So really trying to help people understand that it’s, um, a whole different world and it’s starting to be where I know that’s what we’re going to get into next about recycling. And so tying that together, right? And the fact that at the end of the day, when you compare. Kind of our original Varia material with our 100 percent recycled Varia.

There’s no difference aesthetically between the two.

Andrew: Maybe you can talk a little bit about Varia and then we can kind of dive into it as like that being the level set product that we can understand and kind of go from there.

Karli: Yeah, so Varia has been 3Form’s flagship product for 20 years, that’s how the company was founded.

It’s essentially just, in its makeup, it’s uh, two pieces of PETG with what we call inner layers sandwiched in the middle. So we call it the sandwich. Um, and what that brings to our customer Is this insane amount of versatility and what they can do with the material itself. And, um, we have other materials that we’ve introduced over the years, but it continues to be one of our most popular.

And so that’s where we focused our attention over the years as well. Um, not to say we haven’t in the other products, but more so in this line, because it is so popular. And it traditionally has been made a 40 percent recycled content. So, and that was through mechanical recycling. And so we’ve done a bunch of investment to get it up to the point where it’s at a hundred percent recycled.

And again, focusing on that main product line, because it is the most popular, it’s where we can have the most impact. And, uh, we just felt like as an organization, and the reality is, is when you’re making resin, you have to really make sure that you’re investing in, um, being part of a solution and not adding to.

Kind of the problem that we have currently in our environment with so much plastic waste.

Bobby: Carly gave us some homework before this episode. Um, so I’m going to see if Carly read her homework also. Can you explain the difference? First of all, I had to learn what an extruder was, um, heading and heading into today’s recording. Are we going to, are we going to quiz you on this, Bobby? We certainly can.

I think I have some of the answers, but you mentioned mechanical recycling and now three forms doing, um, Some amazing things with molecular recycling, which is how you get to that 100 percent recycled results or products. So, how does mechanical recycling differ from molecular recycling, and how does that allow you to get from a 40 percent recycled version of Varia to a 100 percent recycled version of Varia?

This is like transparent translucency.

Karli: I did do my homework. I’ve been living and breathing this stuff for a while. Um, so traditionally we’ve been using mechanical recycling. So to break that down, it’s essentially taking your typical, like, water bottle, clear water bottle, um, something that’s easily recyclable, and they shred it, and then they’ll pelletize it.

And then you could take those pellets and you can create a new material out of it. The, there’s some downsides. I mean, it’s a really, it’s a really important part of the recycling sort of ecosystem. But you can only do that so many times. It actually just starts to break up over time. And it’s also really hard to achieve a translucent product through that process.

It usually gets a little like murky, um, and it doesn’t have that clarity that we need in our product. And I can’t claim any sort of ownership over this new technology, but we found a new technology that’s called molecular recycling. And there’s, it’s actually been around for a while, but there’s like different versions of it, different ways to do it.

And essentially what it does is it takes plastic and it can take a broader range of plastic. So not just your single use water bottle, but other bottles or plastics that have a lot of color or dye added to it. Those are very hard to recycle via mechanical recycling. There’s also other things like.

clothing, so there’s a lot of synthetic fibers, like think your yoga pants, things like that, um, that can go through this process, and essentially it breaks it down into the molecular level, hence the name, molecular recycling. Um, there’s a couple different names for it, but molecular recycling, and then it basically takes all the molecules from these different components that [00:15:00] were in the body.

that item, and you can isolate them and then take the molecules that you need to kind of build up a new product. And the really cool thing is, is that you can do that over and over and over again. And because you’re taking it down to that molecular level, it’s not going to break down like it does with It doesn’t

Andrew: degrade in the same way, yeah.

Karli: Right, exactly. So we’re actually pairing the two together because they’re both important. So we’re using both mechanical and molecular recycling to get to that 100%.

Bobby: Can you help us contextualize the positive impact three forms making with like big numbers impact on the environment by moving to that 100 percent of various textures being made from recycled materials?

Karli: Yeah, I mean, I think the natural thing that you question about is like, well, what’s the, um, like carbon emissions, for example, of a process like that. And what we found was when you compare molecular recycling to the traditional, uh, sort of, um, making of virgin plastics, it’s actually 25 percent less carbon emissions than doing it the traditional way and going from fossil fuels and, um, creating virgin material.

And so that was a really positive move forward. And so then, you know, we continue to dive into it and, um, looking at the different processes, whether there’s, you know, a lot of, um, emissions and whether there’s any sort of pollution, things like that. And so what we found is that in general, it is a much better process than virgin material.

And so it was a pretty easy, um, Switch for us in the sense of like from a mindset. We do. We knew we definitely wanted to go in that direction The hard part actually is the supply chain So trying to get your hands on this like material because really we are facing You know big bottling companies want it like, you know, Pepsi Coke.

They all want to use different material in their bottles, um, to offset sort of, you know, their impact on the environment. And, um, the logistics in the United States is just not really set up, um, the way you might see it in some countries in Asia or in Europe, where they have a much more sophisticated waste management program to collect the right types of plastic to go into the right sort of recycling types of processes.

So, um, but I think now, you know, As it kind of tends to work here is that once you can start making money off of something like this, then I think that that will then change the waste management system. It’ll probably change how that works so that some more of that material gets to the right people that can process that plastic waste and turn it into something new.

So um, that’s my prediction for the future. That’s what I would hope will happen. Capitalism

Andrew: wins is the prediction. Yeah.

Karli: Yeah.

Andrew: What’s that collaboration like? Like, are you bringing new kinds of talent into the organization who are a part of the evaluation of this process? Are you working with, you know, or seeking out specific types of external partners?

Like, how are you, how are you adjusting your overall production process, uh, to bring in these new skills that are required to be able to tackle these kinds of problems?

Karli: Yeah. So we have always had, uh, material engineers. Uh, material scientists on our team because of the nature of the business that we’re in.

And because we’ve also always been very committed to sustainability, they’re also extremely passionate about that. So they’re out constantly learning. They’re going to conferences that none of us in here would want to attend, to be honest. And, uh, yeah, and they bring it back and they give me, like, the TLDR of what they learned at, you know, a, uh, plastic waste conference.

Um, and then we are collaborating with some of our traditional suppliers. So our extruders. And, uh, And, um, and various people that are also very motivated to move in the right direction. And I think that to me, that’s just such a positive sort of sign that, you know, and it’s not just three form, it’s been really seamless to work with these different partners that also see such a huge need to figure out what to do with all this plastic waste.

And to kind of put that into perspective, there’s 9. 1 billion U. S. tons of plastic waste. That is, you know, that’s on the earth right now. And so, what this process does is it allows us to use the plastic that’s already created and turn it into something really cool and really beautiful and something that’s more long lasting.

It’s a lot of

Bobby: area.

Karli: It’s a lot of area, yeah. And so, um, so it’s a really positive move forward, you know. And maybe, um, I’d love to think of a day where we just reuse the plastic that’s already been created and stop creating virgin material.

Andrew: So back to capitalism, um, you’re selling this to designers, um, you know, and you’re obviously looking for their feedback all the time.

Like what’s that initial response been like, and how are people, um, feeling about some of these new processes and where you’re headed?

Karli: Um, I mean, the original response was really, um, I think amazing, like it was more than what we even [00:20:00] hoped for. We, we tend to see a pretty big window in between when we launch something to when something’s ordered.

And we were getting orders right away for our textures line, which is the line that is 100 percent recycled. Um, the other piece of it though, is that we have introduced materials throughout the years that are also 100 percent recycled through different processes, but aesthetically they had just a very specific look.

And you could really. Only maybe envision using them in just certain areas or, um, in specific applications. And so what’s I think been really well received is the fact that there has been no change to the, to the aesthetics of the product and there’s no change to the product characteristics. Um, it still has the same rigidity and same durability and all the, you know, we can still form it and do all these cool things with it.

Um, that that’s been really well received. So no longer do you have to sacrifice the aesthetics to get, to get Something that’s 100 percent recycled. And so I think that, and now it’s almost kind of like convincing somebody. It really is a hundred percent recycled because it doesn’t look different, right?

It does look the exact same. What’s wrong with it? If it’s, yeah, yeah. So it doesn’t have that look. Yeah. So that’s kind of the catch, but yeah, immediately, um, it was very well received and we’re going to continue to. Add more products and roll out new textures, but also look at how do we get more of the right materials so that we can expand it in more of our area line.

Bobby: You mentioned new products, but, um, light art is a family brand is light art leveraging this technology as well.

Karli: Yes, the light art. Um, absolutely. We just launched a, what we’re calling clear coil is made. That one’s actually 100 percent molecular recycled. So that comes straight from that source because of the way that we’re able to manufacture it.

Um, and so we have six new shapes, um, that we just launched a few weeks ago. They’re here at neocon. Um, but you could check out light art. com and they’re basically these, uh, 3d printed pendants and they’re clear. So to have 100 percent recycled clear light fixtures and just the way the light sort of shines through them is just beautiful.

So you have to check them out.

Bobby: Can you do 110 percent recycled content? Like how do you continue to get better? I’m sure there’s, you know, increasing the percentage of the product line at three form. That’s 100 percent recycled content. Increasing the amount of the usage of molecular recycling. But, you know, realistically speaking, what’s next on the product road map or the product development road map to continue to embrace your commitment to sustainability and your commitment to using recycled content and those types of technologies?

Karli: I think we have other product lines. So we have Um, Arcota, which is our exteriors line. We have Chroma, which is an acrylic. And so we’re investigating right now how do we move those materials further along as far as it’s recycled makeup. Um, that’s, that’s, that’s part of it and on the product development side.

And we’ll continue to look at how do we, uh, increase the recycled content for each one of those. But I think the other thing that’s, Outside of product development, but is equally as important is what happens to our product at end of life. And with this new process, you can take a panel of area. We can take it back and we can recycle it and we can make a whole different panel of area and just sort of have this amazing circular experience with our product.

And so that it. The struggle in that is how do we identify where it is? How do we identify that it’s end of life? How do we get it back? But ultimately, I think that is also a very much an ideal state, um, is not only to continue to invest in more recycled content in our materials, maybe it’s a new material, um, in general, but then how do we get back what’s already out there and then repurpose it and turn it into something new.

Bobby: Are you guys really good at the molecular recycling process? Is that something that you have to look at? How do we get more efficient with, with this? Is it a new technology for three form? Is it something you’ve been studying for a while? Is it something that you have a vendor that you just plug into or is there room to grow and improve there as well?

Karli: So there’s a couple of suppliers that we work with and they’re absolutely looking at what more can they do. Um, it’s really interesting because, you know, at first it sort of expanded it into, Typical sort of additional single use plastic. So I mentioned them before when they have more dyes and things like that.

Um, they were really problematic to recycle. But there’s other areas that I don’t think we think about. So one of, actually one of the main areas that, uh, feeds This, um, whole new technology is actually medical packaging. So you [00:25:00] ever think about like when you go to the hospital and they sort of peel off, you know, the top and there’s like, you know, your surgical tools and it’s a one time thing.

And I think we can all be happy that that’s the case because that means it’s sanitary. Um, but you can only imagine how much that medical packaging is produced and thrown away every day in every single hospital. And so, um, the, uh, suppliers that we work with are, you know, already in this business, and they’re trying to figure out how do we get this done.

that packaging back? And how do we create something new out of it? So they’re constantly looking at this. I mean, clothing is a big one. You know, they are able to, um, there’s one supplier that we work with that is currently working on, um, how do you take clothing back to that molecular level? How do you kind of separate all the inputs that were, you know, put into it, um, to create something new and that’s sort of, um, still evolving.

So they are looking at all these different, what we call like feedstock. So how do you get these materials back? And then, and like I mentioned, the logistics of how do you get it back? Um, so it’s been fantastic to partner with them, um, and see their motivation and figuring that out as well.

Andrew: So you guys have a real innovation culture, I would say internally, like you’re always trying new things.

Like how does the company rally around these kinds of initiatives? Like how do people get involved to make sure that you’re going for that 110%, as Bobby put it?

Karli: You know, it kind of goes back, I think, to, One of the other questions about how do we collaborate and it’s part of our ethos. So it’s just part of what the company was built on.

And so there’s this entire culture around, it’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to, you know, try new things. I mean, Fleck was one of our first a hundred percent recycled products that we launched back in 2019 and it took 10 years. So just the investment in trying to figure something out. Um, out, um, that really paved the path to where we are today.

And so it’s just, um, part of what we do. And it doesn’t, it’s not like this, you know, big hill that we need to climb. Um, and again, like we know, um, that we are producing resin products. And so we have a responsibility to improving kind of the makeup of those and making sure that they, um, that we’re. Doing less harm and ideally in a future state, no harm at all.

In fact, that we’re helping kind of take materials back. So I, you know, I’m trying, I’m probably making it seem easier than it is, but I think it’s a true investment in the right people. It’s a true investment in that culture. It’s a true investment in, um, the fact that we are going to fail, but we’re going to learn for those failures and we’re can continue to go down the path that we think is right.

Bobby: Don’t use that quote as the opener. We are going to fail. Rob, we’ll pick a different one. Um, you mentioned it earlier, the importance of molecular recycling, allowing you to create a product that I’m going to really paraphrase. And this isn’t what you said, but create a product that doesn’t look like it was recycled and Fleck is a product that.

Kind of intentionally looks like it’s recycled or maybe just as a byproduct of the process So when you’re thinking about educating designers and you know aesthetics and lead time and price I think tend to be maybe the one two and three in some order Most important product attributes. Are you continuing to look at as an organization?

How do we inch sustainability and that importance up? When it comes to your interactions with designers as a product attribute that needs to be looked at on the same level as those three other traits

Karli: absolutely, I think um And, you know, there’s some great ThinkLab data that we were just, uh, participating in.

Little plug for, yeah, sort of intentional, non intentional, but the, uh, they had some great data that just showed year over year. I think the sustainably first designer was at like 4 percent and now they’re at 9 or 10 percent of where they’re really using sustainability as one of the main drivers. Um, on how they look and specify products.

So I’d love to see that continue to grow. I think it’s important. Um, we do continuously hear that aesthetics first, lead time, price, and then somewhere down the chain at sustainability. But I, I also tend to think, well, if you don’t have to sacrifice those things, so if you can get a product and it is 100 percent recycled and it isn’t marked up price wise and companies invest in that, then maybe designers don’t have to make.

That choice, you know, maybe they can, maybe it’s all just sort of exactly what they’ve always wanted aesthetically, but they’re getting it as a hundred percent recycled.

Bobby: I mean, you’ve got innovation, technology, and sustainability all wrapped together as part of this various textures story. How does that like really help for you as a marketer define three form as a brand in your marketing campaigns and help you continue to differentiate three form from your competitors and from the alternative solutions?

Karli: So sustainability has always been one of our main pillars and it will continue to be and it’s so fun and I think real when you’re talking about your brand and tying it together and I think we really live and [00:30:00] breathe that and really want to bring that to our customers and do it in a way where they can understand like molecular recycling.

Is, is not an easy concept to necessarily grasp. Um, most people don’t know much about the traditional forms of recycling like mechanical recycling. They don’t really need to though, and so I’m trying to just make it really easy to understand that, you know, these are new processes that we’re embracing and we’re trying to do it in a way where there’s nothing Again, there’s nothing sort of compromised about the end result that a designer is going to use.

So, I love that, um, and obviously if we can tie it in with a new product line, uh, like textures, um, it’s a win. Um, but I think what’s important is when people resonate with your brand and understand what your goals are. And really, our biggest thing is we want to be as sustainable as possible and we want to be your expert in translucent materials.

And so those are the two things that we really keep focused on every day and working with designers and how to kind of fulfill like their dream space with our materials. But then, you know, get the recycled content too.

Andrew: Have your cake and eat it too. I love it. I love it. It’s plug time, Bobby. Yeah, we got here.

Bobby: What else are you up to, Carly? What else is 3Form up to?

Karli: Oh my goodness. So, uh, we have a bunch of new products coming out this fall. So I can give a little teasers on those. Very

Bobby: nice, yes.

Karli: So we have, um, another new light art amazing sort of internal collab in a way where we’re going to be mixing some different materials for some big sort of ceiling, uh, fixtures.

And then we have some more recycled content, Varia coming out. So we’ve got some new textures coming out in the fall, but this time they’re going to be on board. Both sides of the material. So if you’re not familiar with the way it looks today is it, the texture, it looks like it’s on both sides, but if you were to go up and touch it, it’s really on one side.

And, um. It’s actually crazy, um, to think that it wouldn’t be easy to do that, but it’s actually really hard to put a texture on both sides, uh, in the way that we manufacture materials. So, um, it’s really fun to be brainstorming on the designs and everything because you can now really use both surfaces. to, um, really bring a new aesthetic to life.

And so, a lot of dimension, a lot of fun color, um, all coming this fall.

Bobby: What do you mean by internal collab, by the way? Is there going to be three form, can you share, is there going to be three form, like, resin in a light art? Product like what does that work

Karli: funny? So that’s how it started So light art was using three forms varia in their light fixtures, which is how the companies came together like 15 years ago But we also have a third brand called three form elements and it’s you know, things like felt marker boards tabletops and The felt and the light art are coming together for some really big sort of ceiling applications and light art does have acoustic fixtures, but they’re kind of, you know, product ties, right?

Whereas this is an entire ceiling system with integrated lighting.

Andrew: So as a two time guest and friend of the pod, you know, that we like to end our pods by allowing our guests to share any advice or things that you would recommend to someone who’s interested in learning more about molecular recycling, perhaps.

Uh, that they could check out in order to, uh, get themselves moving on that, uh, learning curve.

Karli: Yeah, I would just say the more that I dove into this process, the more I learned in general, I was actually kind of shocked about how few plastics get recycled today. However, if we all educate ourselves and we push our local.

municipalities to invest in it. If we’re thinking differently about how we purchase, we think differently about, you know, using single use plastics, we can all, you know, do a better, be better stewards, right, of the earth that we live on, the planet that we live on. And so this earth that we love. And so I think that it is, To all of us to be better educated, and I don’t think you need to know about all the technology behind the scenes, but just thinking about what we can do in everyday lives, whether it be to reduce your own footprint, but also pair that with how do you push your local government municipality to move in the right direction as far as plastic collection and then what they do after they collect it.

Andrew: I heard a really cool quote earlier today in an adjacent part of Chicago that was that waste is a man made concept and there is no such thing as waste in nature. So chills. Yeah.

Bobby: Most of what I knew about recycling and I’m not sure it was like from that Sesame Street episode ultimately in terms of that one Sesame Street, there’s a Sesame Street episode where like you follow like the bottle to like the recycling plant and you go in assuming that You throw a bottle in your recycling can, and it’s made into a new bottle the next day, but that’s not how, that’s not how it works.

Karli: Sadly, no. [00:35:00] No, sadly. Not yet, anyway. But

Bobby: thank you for enlightening us. We’ll try

Andrew: and get that for the, that episode for the show notes for YouTube.

Bobby: Where can folks go to learn more about, um, the Varia Textures line and, and, uh, no new plastics, Carly?

Karli: Uh, so go to our website, it’s 3 form. com. You’ll find a whole different experience if you go to 3 Forum.

com, but 3 Forum. com, and we have a landing page there. You can get there through the home page, but also on LightArt’s website as well, so that’s LightArt. com. They have a lot of great information there as well, but I’d also just, you know, suggest that you just go out and Google and understand what you can do in your local communities to figure out how you can Be part of the process.

Bobby: Great job, Carly. Do I read a song, Andrew?

Andrew: I’d love to, as always, we would like to extend a big thank you to the barriers to entry production team, our producer nearer to us than ever. Uh, Rob Schulte here in the booth, uh, and everyone else back at the studio by Sandow pod cave, who are actually also nearer to us than ever this week, the whole cruise here.

Um, various entries are part of the surround podcast network. Make sure you go to surround podcasts with an S, uh, dot com and smash that fellow button. Come back and join us next time as we continue to break down the barriers entry.

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Andrew Lane

Andrew Lane is Co-founder of digby, co-founder of Interior Design Magazine’s (MAD) Awards and co-host of the podcast Barriers to Entry.

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Bobby Bonett

Bobby Bonett is Chief Growth Officer and EVP Strategy at SANDOW DESIGN GROUP and co-host of the podcast Barriers to Entry.

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