Luke Wilson / CANARY
Article by Miguel Sagaz —
Since launching The Style Nomad, my vision has always been to create an editorial space focusing on quality over quantity. Each piece we publish is engaging and dreamy while firmly rooted in authenticity.
I particularly enjoy connecting with individuals who bring a wealth of life experience. It’s sometimes easy to only focus on results, or the curated version of our lives, but by sharing both successes and struggles, we celebrate our common humanity.
I am fascinated by the process itself, often valuing the journey as much, if not more, than the final destination. This is the case with Luke Wilson, founder of CANARY. Someone who is experiencing success and the growth of a sustainable brand (not easy to achieve), while being vulnerable and open about the struggles he has faced in the process.
I was introduced to CANARY products, and I must say, they don’t just hold promise for the future but also embody the present. In this era, our choices as consumers should demonstrate a level of consciousness without compromising quality.
While I usually get to meet and interview in person, this is a wonderful introduction to a pretty cool guy who is not only doing great but being great to the planet in return.
Luke was kind enough to respond to some of my questions, and I didn’t want to edit anything out.
Luke Wilson / CANARY
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Luke Wilson / CANARY _______
At The Style Nomad we would love to know what made you decide to start a company with such a strong focus on sustainability, and why in this range of products?
“Sustainability” was instilled in me at an early age, growing up on a small but self-sustaining family farm in Texas. We were organic before it was a thing. My amazing mother was a late hippy and always talked about limiting excess waste and loving and respecting the earth. After that, years later, I earned an MBA with an emphasis in Sustainability, graduating back in 2010. I aimed to infiltrate big companies and sell the business and economic values of trying to do better, which was a challenge then but becoming more common now. After 13 years working for large companies, I felt it was time to give it a go on my own, but I wanted the backbone of the brand to be focused almost entirely on a “sustainable” mission. I was looking around the house and was continually disgusted about the amount of basically single-use plastic in the bathroom. Coincidentally around this time, I reconnected with a childhood buddy who was already producing several products in this space. I reviewed his portfolio of products, put an assortment together, and brought the brand to life in January of 2023.
How has CANARY managed the balance between the quality of the products and sustainability while remaining competitive in the market?
One of our main brand tenets, and I think the most important one, is that we want to make the best products possible in these categories and within the lines we’ve drawn regarding best sustainability practices and guidelines. This includes not using parabens, SLS, phthalates, artificial flavors, colors, scents, etc, as well as being fairly traded and with minimal impacts on the earth as much as possible. These guidelines we’ve imposed on ourselves create products that naturally cost more than commercial mainstream products that we still compete with, which is just an uphill battle. But in assessing the competitive landscape of our more direct competitors (sustainable, plastic-free focused), I strongly believed that they were way over-priced, likely mostly due to being relatively small themselves and to cover the high costs of marketing and advertising. But our mission is to be more accessible and affordable than these brands so that the masses can join us on this mission, and not just more affluent folks, or those already highly passionate about sustainability. When the masses join in, tipping points can occur and true change can happen. As a result of these higher costs and lower retail price targets, we are challenged to run an operationally lean company as we scale. But, we love a good challenge and my business partner and I, along with our supporting cast, are very experienced operationally at managing profitable businesses.
You will learn more, and likely be happier, if you try and fail, than if you just follow the flock and play it safe. Life and progression are about trying, failing, trying, failing.
LUKE WILSON, FOUNDER OF CANARY.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced with CANARY, and what have been some of your biggest satisfactions?
For me, this is the first time I’ve been involved in building a brand from scratch (I won’t count my very short-lived attempt at starting an organic cotton baby clothing company back in 2010), and I wasn’t honestly prepared for how hard this is to do! I’ve learned since both firsthand and after meeting with and talking to so many others this last year, that it just takes lots of time, hard work, and persistence. And it has only been a year, so I’m learning to be patient. But at the same time, it has been so fun and satisfying to start to see the work pay off and see some success. I’ve been able to balance a great life leaning in more to help raise our kids (vs being in an office all of the time). I also LOVE receiving reviews from our customers. In our drive to make the best products possible, that means that we want the customers to love it so they keep coming back. And in some of our marketing copy, we talk about putting smiles on faces each day, and based on many of our reviews I think we’ve been able to actually do that. And that feels so great!
Best piece of advice someone has given you, and that you continue to apply to this day.
Hmm, I have two. Both are fairly generic, but they also keep bubbling up more and more lately. Both stemmed from my late mother who overall just really pushed us to be ourselves, do good, and try our best.
The first piece of advice, I believe made popular by Rick Rubin, is to simply do or make what you love, without trying to make everyone happy or what you think that others will love. If you love it and are genuine about it, then others will see and appreciate that and will likely love it too.
The 2nd piece of advice is that you will learn more, and likely be happier, if you try and fail, than if you just follow the flock and play it safe. Life and progression are about trying, failing, trying, failing. And I’ve had so many failures this last year with Canary. But I’m learning and it has been enjoyable. So I think that advice still rings true.
Some of my favorite products from Canary are the soaps and the mouthwash. Do yourself a favor and try them!
You can find out more about CANARY through their website.
https://www.canarycleanco.com
Special Thanks
Luke Wilson / Founder CANARY
Megan Bennett / CEO & President Light Years Ahead
Julia Haney / Senior Publicist & Influencer Specialist @ Light Years Ahead.