Entrepreneurship with impact: how Amélie Nguyen revolutionized toilet paper with Ecopop

Today in Ōdace, I welcome Amélie Nguyen, founder of Ecopop, a Belgian brand that has decided to tackle an everyday product that we never think about... toilet paper.

A bio-engineer by training, who has worked in the pharmaceutical industry (GSK, UCB, Pierre Fabre), Amélie is leaving a career mapped out to pursue a quest for meaning.

A trip to Australia was the trigger: there, she discovered another way of consuming — more responsible, more transparent — including for ultra-ordinary products.

Back in Belgium, she decided to completely rethink toilet paper:

• unbleached recycled paper

• free of substances that are harmful to the skin

• without plastic packaging

• Delivered by subscription, directly to your home

• with a measurable environmental and social impact

In this episode, we talk about unfiltered:

• Leaving the comfort of the salaried workforce to become an entrepreneur

• Launch a brand committed to mass consumption

• Finding an ethical supplier when no one believes in it

• Financing your project (crowdfunding, equity, frozen unemployment)

• Test your market before producing

• Managing the loneliness of the entrepreneur

• Building a viable business model without greenwashing

• Reconciling entrepreneurship, couples, life balance and mental health

An ultra-concrete, inspiring and lucid exchange, which shows that it is possible to do business differently — even in an ultra-competitive market.

🎧 An episode to listen to if you are interested in entrepreneurship, ecology applied to reality, responsible business models or if you dream of launching your own project... without bullshit.