Conscious Conversations

Malcolm Fontier Founder of Pakt

The pandemic has forced us all to reevaluate so many things on so many levels. So when the opportunity arose for me to take an international trip semi post Covid-19, I wanted to explore how I could do it in the most minimalist way, especially bearing in mind that I would be travelling for several months. So being a huge fan of the Pakt One, I decided to put it to the test, while sitting down with the brands Founder Malcolm Fontier to learn more about this man on a mission.

So, as of the spring of 2018, Pakt the brand was officially reborn. Their mission is to create unique and reﬁned, responsibly-sourced travel accessories for environmentally-conscious travellers.

As environmentally-conscious travellers themselves, they value experiences over possessions, so they are committed to producing goods that enhance and improve those experiences. As makers, they are pretty excited about creating exceptional products that add value to our lives, but they are even more excited about something else: their purpose.

Tell us about you, you brand and the place that you call home?
I’m somewhat nomadic, which shapes my company Pakt, and the places my wife and I loosely call home. I’ve always been a traveller that favoured longer adventurous trips that allow you to really experience the places you visit. In this era in which technology enables most of us to work from anywhere, we’ve fully embraced it. Our brand makes travel accessories with a focus on responsible production and durable, refined products that enable better experiences. Home is currently split between Cape Cod, Brooklyn, and South Florida, but this year I’ll be spending a nice chunk of time in Montana as well.
2. You have a pretty interesting childhood, could you share more about that and how that self-sustaining, conscious way of living planted a seed in who you are today?
My parents were, and in some ways still are, back-to-the-land hippies. They left the city to homestead on a run down 100 acre farm where they raised my sister and I. They learned everything they needed as they went along, from building their own house, to planting crops, hunting, and butchering chickens. Growing up with that strong DIY approach and connectedness to nature definitely shaped me. It probably set me on the entrepreneurship path and my views on avoiding farm raised meat in favour of harvesting my own.
3. You have aligned with many conscious projects over the years, one of them being Seahive. Why do you feel called to these types of projects?
I’d like to think that anyone can get comfortable in nature and reconnect with it no matter how they grew up, but my early start probably does play a part. I have spent A LOT of time in the woods, mountains and on the water over the course of my life and when you do that, you can’t help but care deeply for our natural environment. A few years ago I started feeling burnt out on product design because I felt like I was just contributing more crap to the world. But, product design is all about creative problem solving, so I set my sights on using my experience and creativity as a positive force at the intersection of modern life and environmentalism.
4. It has been said to never work with your family or friends. With three friends as partners, how do you find balance in both the personal and professional?
[Laughs] It’s true! I mostly agree with that advice, but I’ll also admit that at times I’m bad at following it. It’s also true that I describe those partners as friends, but there’s an important backstory that makes a difference. What you’ll mostly see in my professional network these days is people that I’ve become friends with after working with them – not friends that I started working with. I’d describe our awesome in-house team at Pakt the same way, I now consider all of them to be friends. So, I would argue that what you’re seeing is actually a different piece of advice that I would tell anyone: Work with people that you would want to be friends with, and avoid those that you know you wouldn’t want to be friends with. I think the results are likely to be better, and your work definitely becomes more enjoyable.
5. This is a new era for Pakt, let’s call it Pakt 2.0. Why did you press pause the first time and what within you inspired you to revisit the project so many years later?
It was more serendipity than inspiration. My wife and I had a line of travel accessories that were sold under my name from 2007-2011. It was a very different business and technology era, so we followed the common wholesale and trade show model. We only experienced moderate success before burning out on it. I never thought I’d do bags again and even told people when they asked if I would, “No, I’ve already done it and there are too many other things I want to do.” In 2016 I was laying the groundwork for what would become SeaHive to focus on tackling the ocean plastics problem when the documentary, ‘Minimalism’ came out; in which one of the bags we had designed years before was featured prominently. Suddenly there was a ton of new interest in the bag and requests to relaunch it were flowing in. I resisted for a while until I realised that by collaborating with The Minimalists I could use the project to jump start SeaHive while also raising the bar around bag production practices.

6. You’ve chosen to do things from a far more ethical, sustainable and conscious space, why?

Why not? It sounds like an overly simplified answer, but in all seriousness, every company can and should, but most don’t choose to take the relatively small additional effort it takes. Since I was already looking for ways to focus my energy on environmental efforts before making an unexpected return to product development, it feels like the only acceptable way to do business. Luckily, doing business this way resonates with more and more customers, so any additional cost or effort is easily offset by the positive gains. A win-win.

7. Travel has a powerful way of inspiring, innovating and shifting something within all of us, was there a journey or destination that you visited/experienced that helped inspire you to cultivate your business in this way?

One that comes to mind was a two month long motorcycle trip that I did with my father through Central America. The many amazing experiences we had on that trip, and others, have taught me that travel and experiencing other cultures and perspectives can make us better, more well rounded people. For that reason, at Pakt, we take the, somewhat unusual for a product company, stance that we value experiences over products. Since we make products, we try to make them in ways that minimise impact and maximise experiences which in a roundabout way, comes back to those travel experiences.

8. We have a way of seeing the end product and thinking that the story and journey has been an easy one, what hurdles and obstacles have you faced along the way and what have they taught you not only about the business but about yourself?

In my experience, there’s nothing easy about business and entrepreneurship. I think the fact that Pakt is, as you mentioned, a version 2.0 of a much less successful business attempt is a perfect example. That experience taught me two things: First, that you need to have ALL of the pieces in place. Since our relaunched bag was essentially the same as the original but sold much better the second time, it’s a clear case of good design that lacked proper marketing. Second, even if you do something good, it may take some time to find the right audience- patience and persistence can both help here.

9. What are some of your daily rituals that help you connect to self, mind, body and soul?

I’m a big fan of maximising productivity to enable a healthy balanced life. By that I mean striving to get everything I need to get done as quickly as possible, so that I don’t have to work long hours. I have a lot of hobbies and exercise routines that keep me centred and balanced, and I try to make sure I always have time for those. Some ways that I do that, are keeping things like emails very contained, so that they don’t take too much of my day. I open emails, crank through any responses I need to do and then I close it and don’t look at it again until the next morning. I apply this same type of discipline to other tasks too.

10. Outside of your tribe experiencing beautiful conscious products, what else are you hoping that they take away from the brand?

I hope people see us as an example of a brand they can be friends with – a company that’s more than just a product and money making venture. Instead, they’ll start to expect more from the other companies they support.

11. What can we expect from you in the coming months?

We were short staffed on the design side of things but just added a new designer to our team. So, we are looking forward to picking up the pace on some exciting new products we have in the queue. We are also working on some fun collaborations with a few like-minded peer brands, and taking a deeper dive into our responsible journey and efforts as a company in the near future.

12. A quote/mantra that you live by? ....and why?

Derek Sivers’ “Hell Yeah” mantra. Doing less overall but focusing on the quality of the things I do has been a major improvement to my own life.

13. Music is universal, so what are you listening to right now?

I recently put together this playlist called The Roadhouse. I mentioned I’m heading to Montana soon, and this playlist will definitely match the vibe of the long, hopefully epic, road trip.

Conscious Conversations | Malcolm Fontier Founder of Pakt

Conscious Conversations

Malcolm Fontier Founder of Pakt

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