Escape 100 2021 Spotlight: DAME

The Escape 100 is back for a third year. The campaign aims to shine a light on the organisations doing things differently: the ones that really are progressive, mission-oriented and care about the people in their teams and the planet around them. 

Throughout the application stage, we’ve been looking back at some of the winning organisations that were at the forefront of the campaign last year. The deadline for all applications is Friday 4th March, for more information and to apply click here. The highest scoring 100 organisations will benefit from an accreditation, visibility and an exclusive prize package.

DAME are on a mission to clean up the period industry with their reusable and plastic-free period products. We caught up with co-founder Alec Mills to reflect on being an Escape 100 winner and his experience growing a mission-led organisation.

A brief intro to DAME and what it's like to work there. 

As a founder I’m going to be very biased and say that I love it! Fundamentally DAME is very relevant to billions of people around the world. Having that purpose is a very good reason to get up in the morning – knowing that your day job is doing something for the greater good. As all start ups do, we have challenging days and complications, but we also have glory days and I couldn't be happier to be DAME’s Co-founder!

“I think what’s good about the Escape 100 is to look at how we’re doing from an employee’s point of view and what the company looks like from the outside too.”

Did the process of applying for the Escape 100 last year help identify any of DAME's core values or help celebrate certain successes? And if so what were these?

Yes it did. As a company we have a lot of internal markers in place in order to hold ourselves to account on how we are operating and our values. For example, going through the rigorous B Corp assessment and various other processes that keep us on a certain path, which then fed into the Escape 100 application. I think what’s good about the Escape 100 is to look at how we’re doing from an employee’s point of view, and what the company looks like from the outside too. 

On the other hand, were there any gaps or areas for improvement that the Escape 100 process helped you identify?

Because we have to operate in line with the B Corp model and that forms a framework for which we do things on a daily basis there wasn’t anything that jumped out at first glance, but it certainly made us think about our responsibilities around innovation, people and the planet.

With everything that has been going on over the past year, has DAME had to change during this period and if so, how has it evolved? 

With the pandemic, everyone started to work from home and there have been certain processes that we have had to adapt and change in order to ensure elements don’t slip through the cracks. Communication being one of them. You imbibe a lot when you're in the office with other people, the buzz and energy that the team gets from coming together in person is really exciting. Trying to recapture that creativity when working remotely and making sure our communication changes so that people are kept in the loop is important.  

We have an amazing Head of Impact who loves a good meeting warm up! Although we all work really closely together, he’s still great at getting us to do some sort of team exercise before workshopping. It’s so helpful for activating your brain cells and getting your head out of your inbox! 

What is a great achievement at DAME that you are proud of?

I’d say making a world-first product is really exciting. To actually be the first team to come up with an idea that’s going to help billions of people on the planet is such a rewarding feeling.  

Another first that I’m proud of is DAME being the first brand in our space to get the Carbon Neutral+ certification. This, along with other specific sector policies have felt like really momentus milestones. 

What has been the biggest challenge for DAME since the beginning? Has it been difficult to change mindsets?

I think the biggest challenge is that we’re trying to get people to question what they have never needed to question before, in terms of what is good for us and the planet. Two thirds of people stick to the same sanitary product they were first introduced to. In this day and age where there’s so much choice, by far our greatest challenge is education.