🎙️ New Episode: Robin Parmelin, Founder of Ecosports
A real talk about building community, creating change, and what sustainability actually means in sport.
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Not every brand in sport or wellness needs a community.
Not every founder wants to shape culture.
But the ones who do: they’re wired a little differently.
Last week, I sat down with Robin Parmelin, founder of Ecosports, who’s been quietly and steadily building something special in the background:
A place for people who care about sport and the planet.
A community of practitioners.
A movement. Not a moment.
We didn’t talk about campaigns.
We talked about commitment.
Why this matters
Robin isn’t building on trend.
He’s building what more founders in sport should be:
A job board that became a network;
A network that became a co-created academy;
An Academy that helps people not just learn, but belong.
They don’t need a course. They want to change their lives.
His approach is painfully simple:
Ask the community. Build with them. Create what’s actually missing.
Then launch.
Three ideas that stuck with me:
1. Community is a mindset, not a channel.
You are not building for the community, you’re building with them. You’re at service.
2. Sustainability isn’t a marketing move
If you say you’re a sustainable brand, show me. Not in a landing page. In how you operate.
3. Good things take time, but they last
Don’t start with noise. Start with one person. One story. One result that matters.
Real or Just Vibes?
We played a quickfire game where Robin reacted to buzzwords in the industry:
🟡 Carbon neutral product lines? → Just vibes
🟢 Sustainability ambassador programs? → Real (when done right)
🟡 “We care about the planet” on a billboard? → Usually just vibes
The louder the message, the less I tend to trust it.
A question we asked each other:
What would it take for sustainability to stop being a trend and start becoming the standard?
The answer?
Long-term thinking.
Not just values. Operational change.
And less fear around doing the work in public, with all the mess.
Why brand builders should care:
Whether you’re launching a run club, scaling a wellness brand, or rethinking your company’s purpose…
Robin’s work is a reminder that:
You don’t need to be loud to lead;
You don’t need to be perfect to start;
And community doesn’t scale through perks. It scales through presence
📣 Listen to the episode now on YouTube or just hit play on Substack.
(Embed video/audio player here.)
💬 Hit reply if this made you think.
🧠 Or forward to someone working on something that actually matters.
Thanks so much for being here.
Francisco
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