Stories move people. Data informs.
Those who truly want to embed sustainability
must learn to tell stories — not just to report.
Why it's so difficult
I sometimes sit in conversations and realise: the data is right. The intention is right. But the words are missing. And then nothing changes.
Sustainability reports are aimed at rating agencies, banks, and regulators. The employee in the next office isn't mentioned — and doesn't feel addressed either.
CO₂ equivalents, ESRS data points, GRI indicators. All important. None of it changes how a person makes a decision tomorrow morning.
What people believe, decide, and do depends on the stories they've heard. The story behind sustainability is the most powerful one a company can tell.
Honest communication invites criticism. That's why many stay silent — even though this very honesty builds trust.
Those who don't tell their own story
will have it told by others.
Sönke Eckl-Henningsen · Founder VisionAlpin
What I do
Not a campaign. Not a new format. The connection between strategy, language, and the people who need to believe it.
How does sustainability get from the report into everyday life? I help you develop language, formats, and messages that speak to employees at every level — not just informing, but truly moving them.
Learn moreLeaders who want to live sustainability don't need PowerPoint slides. They need stories that are honest, that land, and that bring others along. I help you find them.
Learn moreFrom internal team workshops to the main stage: I speak about sustainability communication in a way that requires no prior expertise — but changes perspectives.
To the webinarESG reporting is a tool, not a goal. I connect your sustainability strategy with communication that works both internally and externally — consistent, credible, human.
Learn moreI help leaders develop their personal origin story — the one moment that explains everything. Because people follow people, not topics.
Learn moreThree stories that show how it's done
No theory. Real examples from companies that understood: Sustainability is not what's written in the report. It's what people believe.
Case Study · Interface
In 1994, Ray Anderson happened to read a book — and declared his own company part of the problem. Then he turned everything around. Without a law. Out of conviction. Interface doubled its profits and became a global blueprint for sustainable business.
Source: Ray Anderson, TED Talk "The business logic of sustainability", 2009; MIT Sloan Management Review, 2009.
Case Study · Patagonia
In 2011, Patagonia ran a full-page ad in the New York Times — on Black Friday — asking customers not to buy their bestselling product. Revenue increased. Because honesty builds trust. And trust is the most valuable asset a company can own.
Source: Patagonia ad "Don't Buy This Jacket", New York Times, Black Friday 2011.
Case Study · Behavioural Psychology
No campaign, no penalty, no app. A US energy provider sent households a single sentence: "Your neighbours use 15% less energy than you." Consumption measurably decreased. People don't change through facts — but through the feeling of belonging.
Source: Opower (now Oracle Utilities) Nudge Programme, USA; Allcott, H. (2011). Social norms and energy conservation. Journal of Public Economics.
My approach
Four steps that make the difference between documented and transformed sustainability.
What is already being communicated? What's landing? Who are the real addressees — not the formal ones, but the human ones?
Figures become stories. Goals become images. Obligation becomes meaning. This step is the hardest — and the most impactful.
The right message needs the right channel. That's not always the annual report. Sometimes it's a conversation, a video, a question in a meeting.
Sustainability as a conviction comes through repetition, role modelling, and consistency. I accompany you to ensure it doesn't remain a one-off project.
You know that sustainability matters.
Now let's find out how you get heard.