Foreword by Shawn D. Nelson
CEO of Lovesac (Nasdaq: LOVE)
Shawn D. Nelson founded Lovesac in 1998 and is currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of the
Company and as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Nelson is the lead designer of the Company’s
patented products and leads sourcing, creative, design, public relations, investor relations and culture. In
2005, Mr. Nelson won Richard Branson’s “The Rebel Billionaire” on Fox and continues to participate in
ongoing TV appearances. Mr. Nelson has a Master’s Degree in Strategic Design and Management and is a
graduate-level instructor at Parsons, The New School for Design in New York City. Mr. Nelson is also fluent
in Mandarin.
Introduction
By: Shawn D. Nelson, Founder & CEO of Lovesac
When I launched Lovesac, I wasn’t trying to save the planet. I was just trying to make the most comfortable thing you could sit on. Period.
But growth has a way of forcing you to pay attention.
The more we scaled, the more obvious it became: we were part of an industry built on waste. Fast furniture. Cheap materials. Planned obsolescence baked right in. And that realization? It changed everything.
We made a hard left. We designed furniture that could evolve instead of expire. Modular. Washable. Built to last decades, not months. We began using fabric made from recycled plastic bottles (over 100 million so far). But that’s just scratching the surface.
That’s why this book matters.
The Real Environmentalist isn’t a tribute to idealists shouting from the sidelines. It’s about those of us in the game, builders, entrepreneurs, operators, trying to solve giant, gnarly problems from within the machine.
It’s about people like Wayne Elliott, cleaning up global shipping, one steel hull at a time. People who aren’t waiting for permission. People who believe, like I do, that capitalism isn’t the enemy, it’s one of the most powerful tools we’ve got.
You’ll read stories in this book that will challenge what you think an environmentalist looks like. You won’t find sainthood here. You’ll find grit. Vision. Guts. Execution.
To me, that’s the new face of sustainability. Not some side initiative or corporate veneer, but a strategic advantage. A reason to build better things and do it with purpose.
If you’re picking up this book, it’s probably because you care. About the planet. About people. About building something that actually matters.
Welcome. You’re in the right place.
— Shawn D. Nelson