Michelle Smith was on a corporate marketing career trajectory, with a steady income and a comfortable life in London. Then she came across Oxfam, and something stirred.

Michelle explains: “in the early 2000s I started following Oxfam and learning about the inequalities in supply chains. In particular, the supply chain for producing chocolate and how farmers were being exploited for us… by the time we got the finished product, the margin was being made by the retailer and distributor and not the actual producer. What the producer got wasn’t even a living wage. It was the first time I’d really come across this concept, and I was just mortified.”

Around this same time, Michelle also found inspiration in ‘Business as Unusual’ – a book by the late Anita Roddick (founder of the Body Shop). And Michelle tells us it “changed everything” for her. 

Anita “showed another way of doing business and making business the force of good,” says Michelle. “She showed captains of industry that not only can you be socially responsible but you can be profitable. It just lit me up.” 

Michelle recalls London at the time as a hotbed of “gorgeous, design-led brands whose ethos was about a beautiful, quality product, but also their social impact piece and an equitable supply chain.”

Fast forward a few years and the world began catching on and Michelle was back in Australia wondering ‘what’s next’.

She’d just brought her first child into a rapidly changing world (think Trump just being elected and the doom of climate change upon us) and she wanted to channel her anxiety into something productive, something good.

The long-bubbling idea of curated hampers, filled with only ethical, beautiful brands came into sharper focus.

“I knew better, I know you’re meant to test the market. But I thought, who would not want this?”

Immediately, Michelle’s marketing prowess kicked into gear: “I began cold calling and emailing B Corps, just from the B Corp directory.” She connected with executive assistants and marketing teams at like-minded organisations.

And before she knew it, Curated with Conscience was real.

What are the future plans for Curated with Conscience?

With the B2B side of Curated with Conscience established, with volume repeat orders and a steadily growing customer base, Michelle is pondering what’s next.

“This is probably one for Kearney Group next time we meet but I’m debating the wisdom of going hard in B2C. We have the website, we get orders, but there are not a lot of resources invested in B2C at the moment.” And Michelle is beginning to wonder… ‘what if’.

She’s also planning how to steadily increase their social impact as her business scales.

Moreover, Michelle’s looking to up her (already incredible) donations and charitable giving.

And lastly, Michelle tells us she’s looking at the prospect of curating their own branded products, or in working collaboration with a social enterprise to do so. But that’s “pie in the sky, blue sky thinking,” she quips. As if blue skies have ever stopped her before (we believe in you Michelle!).