Green Giants

How Smart Companies Turn Sustainability into Billion-Dollar Businesses

By: E. Freya Williams

Narrated by: Kelly Bourquin

What do Brazil's top beauty brand, America's second-fastest-growing restaurant chain, and the world's third best-selling car have in common? They are shattering the myth that acting sustainably and building a billion-dollar business are mutually exclusive. Green Giants examines nine companies that are merging social responsibility with wild profitability - and reveals the six factors responsible for their success, including: iconoclastic leadership fueled by deep conviction and a rebellious streak; disruptive innovation that uses sustain ability to spur the development of radically better products and services; and a higher purpose that ignites the company - when the mission leads, profits follow.

Mainstream appeal with positioning and packaging stripped of the crunchy cliches that alienate the average customer: This new breed of billion-dollar business proves it's possible to achieve enormous success while implementing sustainable principles that help consumers live better lives. Ranging from start-ups to business lines incubated within major multi nationals, these companies collectively represent over $60 billion in revenue. What's more, many command wider profit margins and are growing faster than their conventional counterparts. Packed with eye-opening research, exclusive interviews, and enlightening examples from Chipotle, Toyota, Unilever, Tesla, General Electric, and more, Green Giants serves as a blueprint for sustainable success that anyone can follow.

©2015 E. Freya Williams. (P)2015 Gildan Media LLC

Great Info, terrible narration

The facts and story telling are well paced and placed. However, the narrator sounds like a robot. It's difficult to follow at times.

Reader of the book sounds like a robot

The story of the book was interesting. However the reader of the book sounds like a robot and very boring to listen to.

Maybe helpful to some, not profound today

It’s true that the narration is awful and robotic. Aside from that, the book often reads like propaganda for the corporations it’s reviewing. In the context of 2024, I have rolled my eyes more than once, but it is important to remember that it was written in 2015. We knew less about Elon Musk then and corporate sustainability was indeed less of a common practice. If you’ve never worked in sustainability and come from a strict business background, you may find this book to contain some helpful foundational information. I’ve you’ve been in this arena for a while, it will be largely obvious or redundant. I listened to it on 1.3 speed to get through it, just in case there was a fascinating tidbit hiding within. I didn’t find one.

The business book on Sustainability

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, great examples of real businesses both established and start-ups on how they approach sustainability - not a rambling on about climate change.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Green Giants?

The leadership aspect demonstrated by the case studies - key iconoclastic CEO's that take this on as how they do business, not a financial tail wagging the dog - but a holistic picture of the business.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kelly Bourquin’s performances?

NO! Narrator was not good in this book - no proper stopping between sentences, monotonous most of the time - and especially towards the end of the book - sentences where not completed properly or punctuation was not adhered to. Unfortunately this does the book no justice at all!

I really thought it was robot narrating the story

It is somehow challenging to find a book that would talk about usual businesses doing things in a sustainable way. Thus, I really appreciated the book and the content. The narration though - omg, so terrible. I really thought that it is a robot. It was difficult to concentrate as I hated the narration so much.

delightful and insightful

coming soon, I'll be a student in the school of sustainability. I find the topic absolutely amazing and this book did not disappoint. I learned so much and feel like it will prove a valuable learning tool for my future endeavors!

Good content, hard to listen to.

The content is good and relevant for me as I am on the sustainability team at work. I am having a hard time listening though due to the voice of the lady reading. She sounds like a robot.

Informative and inspirational

This book gives an in depth analysis on how and how not to be sustainable. Very interesting and helpful for anyone in business.

Awful, Awful narration

I could barely pay attention or follow along. Some of the content was relevant and of substance, but it is very difficult to become engaged due to the speaker’s voice.

Content is great but presentation needs work

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I could not listen to this book. The performance was so awful. I was having a difficult time determining whether it was read by computer or by a person. Words were mispronounced, it was recorded in pieces that were poorly stitched together, and it was read in an almost monotone voice.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kelly Bourquin’s performances?

I would not at all be willing to try another of Kelly Bourquin's performances.

Who do you think would benefit most from listening to Green Giants?

The content is the only redeeming value of this book. If you can stand to listen to it for a couple hours then you will find that it might pique your interest enough to buy the physical book, as I did.