The world wants extra leaders like Jeff Shardell. Shardell is the founder and CEO of Humble Manufacturers, a naturally-derived private care firm primarily based in Taos, New Mexico, that’s been doing one thing uncommon within the $500 billion world private care business: rising with out compromising. No flashy advertising gimmicks, no artificial elements, no VC funding, and no race to blitzscale. Only a clear sense of function and the persistence to let it work.
Earlier than launching Humble, Shardell spent years in tech at corporations like Netscape and Google, the place he joined when it had barely 100 staff. That background formed how he thinks about scale, focus, and management. What makes his story price telling isn’t simply the expansion of the corporate; it’s how he’s quietly constructed a group, a tradition, and a product technique that extra leaders may be taught from.
Simplicity Is Not the Identical as Straightforward
Shardell didn’t got down to begin a CPG model. After leaving Google, he was attempting to detox his life—consuming cleaner, residing more healthy—and at some point realized the deodorant he was utilizing didn’t match the invoice. The “pure” choices on the shelf on the time have been stuffed with questionable elements, and worse, they didn’t work.
So he went to his kitchen and began experimenting. What got here out of that was a formulation with simply 4 clear, recognizable elements. No preservatives, no synthetics, no advertising fluff. That formulation continues to be the spine of Humble’s product line.
It’s simple to get caught up within the complexity of enterprise and product growth. However Shardell took the other route. He stripped issues right down to the necessities and constructed belief by being radically clear. That belief has change into the muse of the model’s progress.
What Google Bought Proper (and What Most Startups Neglect)
Shardell’s time at Google left an impression. One of many first classes he realized was about restraint. “For a very long time, we didn’t construct a browser or OS,” he stated. “The main target was to do one factor higher than anybody else.”
That considering carried over to Humble Manufacturers. Earlier than launching soaps or lip balm, Shardell needed to win on one factor—deodorant. He stored the corporate targeted on doing it exceptionally properly earlier than contemplating growth.
In immediately’s tradition of extra, sooner, louder, that form of persistence feels nearly revolutionary. Nevertheless it works. Credibility opens doorways. You don’t should be every little thing to everybody. You simply should be the very best at one thing, after which construct from there.
If You Should Work With Celebrities, Make It Actual
Celeb partnerships in CPG are nothing new. Most are transactional and, frankly, form of hole. However Humble Model’s most high-profile partnership got here from a really completely different place.
Jason Momoa was filming close to Albuquerque and stored shopping for Humble Manufacturers’ deodorant from an area store. Finally, he reached out immediately on Instagram and requested about collaborating. “He wasn’t on the lookout for a licensing deal,” Shardell stated. “He had ideas on scent profiles and packaging. He cared.”
The tip end result was Humble Model’s paperboard packaging line and considered one of its most profitable scents, Rockrose & Cedar. The connection wasn’t about slapping a reputation on a field—it was actual, artistic, and constructed on shared values. That made it significant, and extra importantly, it made it sustainable.
Shardell’s recommendation for working with celebrities? Don’t chase them. Allow them to discover you. If the connection isn’t genuine, it’s not price it. The viewers can inform the distinction.
Don’t Simply Rent for Expertise. Rent for Curiosity.
Operating an organization out of Taos, Shardell didn’t have entry to a deep bench of shopper product veterans. However that didn’t trouble him. At Google, he had labored with folks from every kind of backgrounds—philosophy majors, professional athletes, artists. What they’d in frequent was curiosity and a powerful work ethic.
At Humble Manufacturers, the hiring philosophy has stayed the identical. Herald individuals who assume in another way. Individuals who ask questions. Individuals who care concerning the mission. The technical stuff might be taught.
Too many corporations chase résumés as an alternative of individuals. Shardell’s group is proof that in case you discover the fitting mindset, the remainder normally works itself out.
Step Again So You Can See the Complete Image
Shardell splits his time between Taos and the Large Island of Hawaii. It’s not for present. It’s how he stays sharp.
“Taos is the place I construct. Hawaii is the place I mirror,” he stated. That area to assume helps him keep targeted on the large image, make higher selections, and keep away from the tunnel imaginative and prescient that may creep in once you’re too near the day-to-day.
That steadiness has additionally pressured him to construct a group that’s empowered to make selections. He’s not hovering over each element, and that’s the purpose. He focuses on what excites him; gross sales technique, product innovation, and storytelling, then offers the remainder of the group room to personal their work.
The end result? A extra resilient firm that doesn’t crumble if the founder takes every week off.
The Subsequent Chapter (and the Packaging That’ll Get Us There)
Humble Manufacturers is rising. New merchandise are within the works, although Shardell’s advertising group would slightly he not spill too many particulars simply but.
However what excites him most isn’t a brand new scent or product, it’s packaging. Yep, packaging.
“We’re shifting away from single-use plastics. Our objective is to go totally biodegradable,” he stated. Meaning paperboard tubes, post-consumer recycled supplies, and even experimenting with bioplastics.
It might not sound glamorous, but it surely’s a giant deal. Packaging is usually the primary interplay a buyer has with a product. It shapes notion and drives shopping for selections in methods most individuals don’t even discover. Get it proper, and it will possibly set you aside. Get it incorrect, and also you may lose belief earlier than anybody even tries what’s inside.
Last Ideas
Shardell isn’t attempting to disrupt the non-public care business. He’s attempting to construct a enterprise that feels good to run. An organization folks can imagine in. A group that likes coming to work. A product that earns repeat purchases as a result of it’s easy, sincere, and efficient.
He’s proving you don’t want to maneuver quick and break issues. You simply want to maneuver with intention. And if extra founders operated with that mindset, we’d find yourself with fewer unicorns—however much more corporations price retaining round.
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