Bio-Dyes are Breaking the Rules

Leena Manro (: 00:00

Welcome to Up To So Good, the podcast that unlocks the secrets of creating a purpose-driven business, so we can all make this world a better place. Come join the conversation.

(: 00:13

Hello, and welcome to Up To So Good, the podcast that explores the purpose of business. We don't often think about the impact of the colors we wear. That's right, the environmental impact of the pigments that dye the fabrics we wear. But the truth is, in the processing of these chemicals, there's quite a bit of negative impact made. And in fact, as you wear certain colors against your skin, they might be harmful to your health.

(: 00:37

So, basically that red sweater that you love, that favorite red sweater, might be giving you cancer. Yeah, I have no idea if that's true. However, in this episode, we talk to Roya Aghighi, who's the founder and CEO of Lite-1. It's a company that is devoted to creating sustainable and less harmful dyes using microorganisms. We explore all the different ways that the earth is actually rich and abundant in natural ways, and healthy ways to dye one's fabric. So, stay tuned and enjoy.

(: 01:07

Hello and welcome to Up To So Good, the podcast that explores the purpose of business. And today I'd like to introduce our guest Roya Aghighi. Did I say that right?

Roya Aghighi (: 01:17

That's correct.

Leena Manro (: 01:17

Not really. How would you say your name?

Roya Aghighi (: 01:20

It's Aghighi. You actually nailed it.

Leena Manro (: 01:22

But you have the beautiful... You have the way to say it.

Roya Aghighi (: 01:24

Yes. So I'm originally from Iran, so the correct pronunciation is Aghighi, but-

Leena Manro (: 01:30

Beautiful.

Roya Aghighi (: 01:32

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 01:32

Well, I'm excited to have you on our show. Thank you for joining us, Roya. And Roya is the CEO of a company called Lite-1.

Roya Aghighi (: 01:39

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 01:40

And Lite-1 is a very interesting company. Basically you're specializing in... And I might not be saying this right, but my understanding, just based on some research, it's biodegradable, but also sort of alive colors that... Using microbes, that people can then use in paint, and fashion. Is that correct?

Roya Aghighi (: 01:40

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 02:04

So biodegradable paints. Right?

Roya Aghighi (: 02:07

It is correct. So, I guess in order for it to make sense why we are doing what we do, I have to give you a little bit of a brief overview of why colors in general. So, the color is all around us, regardless in your clothes, in the food that we consume, in the drinks, anywhere.

Leena Manro (: 02:26

We're talking about all the colors, like food dye.

Roya Aghighi (: 02:28

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 02:29

And clothing dye. Yes.

Roya Aghighi (: 02:31

All of it, paints, ink, cosmetics. Even in our beauty products, you'd be surprised to know that the colorants are everywhere. Even when you think like, "Oh, this doesn't have a color." There is some sort of a colorant in it. So, those are-

Leena Manro (: 02:46

Like a color has been added to it?

Roya Aghighi (: 02:47

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 02:48

Oh, okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 02:48

In the formulation. And again, we can talk a little bit about whys, and the psychology of why we actually need colors in everything, but other than that, the conventional way of using these colorants in the world is extremely toxic. So, first, foremost, most of these colorants are created or made from petroleum based resources, which is in other words, just oil.

Leena Manro (: 03:12

Oh, really?

Roya Aghighi (: 03:13

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 03:13

Like even clothing, like the color of my outfit. Oh, really?

Roya Aghighi (: 03:16

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 03:17

The gray too?

Roya Aghighi (: 03:18

The gray, too. And you want to even make me even... Make you a little bit more scared?

Leena Manro (: 03:23

Sure. Let's do it.

Roya Aghighi (: 03:24

Even the colors that we put in our food and eat are also made from petroleum as well.

Leena Manro (: 03:29

The food dyes.

Roya Aghighi (: 03:29

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 03:31

They're made from... Wow. Unless it's natural coloring, right? Because I think in Canada, we have quite a few regulations. And I say this because this is so funny. Just the other day I came across this, I think it was a social media post on... I hope I'm allowed to say this, but I came across a cereal, I won't say the name of the cereal, very popular cereal that is bright and colorful.

Roya Aghighi (: 03:31

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 03:53

And this guy took one box that's the Canadian version, and the American version. And the Canadian version was not that bright, but the food coloring that they used were from blueberries, and raspberries and such. Whereas the American version, they had chemical names like Red 47, or Yellow 10. Those colors are made from petroleum products?

Roya Aghighi (: 04:15

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 04:15

Oh wow.

Roya Aghighi (: 04:17

And I always find it a little bit based on the trends of information. So, that post actually I shared on my LinkedIn as well.

Leena Manro (: 04:24

Oh, you know which one I'm talking about, right?

Roya Aghighi (: 04:25

Yes. If you want to go... For the listeners, if they want to find it out, they can actually check it on my LinkedIn as well. And that is correct. In Canada... But I don't like to even say that, because it really depends on which part of the country we are from. And especially in the States, California has a lot stricter regulations, and mandates.

Leena Manro (: 04:47

Oh they do. Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 04:48

Yeah, and they're doing a really good job, but a lot of other states don't. And the same colorants that we are talking about, like the Red 50, for example-

Leena Manro (: 04:59

Yes.

Roya Aghighi (: 04:59

That's extremely-

Leena Manro (: 05:00

I made that up before. Was I right?

Roya Aghighi (: 05:00

That is correct.

Leena Manro (: 05:00

There's a Red 50?

Roya Aghighi (: 05:00

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 05:01

Okay. What is Red 50?

Roya Aghighi (: 05:02

That's a group of colorants that are extremely toxic. They cause a lot of health issues and whatnot.

Leena Manro (: 05:07

Oh, really?

Roya Aghighi (: 05:07

It's interesting that they've been banned in Europe, especially UK for over 20 plus years.

Leena Manro (: 05:13

Are we allowed to have them in Canada?

Roya Aghighi (: 05:14

We used to, and now recently they're getting eliminated.

Leena Manro (: 05:18

So is that just food dye?

Roya Aghighi (: 05:19

It's definitely not 20 years that they've been banned.

Leena Manro (: 05:21

Is this Red 50 food dye, or is that also clothing dye?

Roya Aghighi (: 05:23

Yes. I mean, it's more in food present.

Leena Manro (: 05:26

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 05:26

But also when we talk about the clothing colorants and dyes, they're also very horrible as well. And that's why... I mean, that's not just the only reason why I started what I'm doing, but that's one of the reasons, of seeing firsthand what they're doing to environment, and the health of humans and workers, even people that live around those facilities, because the residues of these dyes, because of our desires, ends up in rivers, and a lot of people living in those neighborhoods and areas rely on those waters as drinking water. And as a result of that, there has been multiple... Over the past 10, 15 years, there's been multiple reports of rare diseases, and health issues that are just popping up. So, the impacts of our aesthetic desire-

Leena Manro (: 06:22

Our desire for color.

Roya Aghighi (: 06:23

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 06:24

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 06:25

They're very, very deep.

Leena Manro (: 06:26

Okay. They're deeply negative towards us as people, our drinking water, our planet. So, I mean the list goes on and on about everything has color to it.

Roya Aghighi (: 06:26

Everything.

Leena Manro (: 06:36

So you're saying that a lot of this is additive.

Roya Aghighi (: 06:38

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 06:39

Additive colors, and most of it comes from petroleum products?

Roya Aghighi (: 06:41

For sure.

Leena Manro (: 06:42

Interesting.

Roya Aghighi (: 06:43

Yeah, so as you were kind of alluding to it, yeah, food industry obviously has to be a little bit more careful, but even the things, the ingredients, that there's so many that they're very scary to know that they're still in our food, and they're approved by FDA.

Leena Manro (: 07:03

What about makeup?

Roya Aghighi (: 07:04

Oh yeah, same thing.

Leena Manro (: 07:06

Is that approved? I mean, are these colors that are makeup, are they approved or not approved?

Roya Aghighi (: 07:10

They are approved. Essentially, it's not necessarily that every single color is going to... Like in beauty and food, obviously there are a lot more regulation. It becomes about the amount and volume of these colorants that are used in each product, and there's a lot of more vigorous testings that need to be done to get them approved. But at the end of the day, they are synthetic.

Leena Manro (: 07:32

It's interesting, because we don't think about it that much, and we often are wearing, of course, clothing against our body that is colorful. And I mean, I don't know about you, I just put some more lipstick on, and I like my lipstick products. And you were saying Red 50 is toxic.

Roya Aghighi (: 07:49

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 07:49

And I wonder how many people are putting on literally Red 50 on their lips every single day. The makeup that we use has color.

Roya Aghighi (: 07:57

Yeah. And it's not just about the reds. There is a very interesting group of yellows, and the caramel colors that they have very scary ingredients that are making those colors.

Leena Manro (: 08:09

Hair dye.

Roya Aghighi (: 08:10

Hair dye, and you name it.

Leena Manro (: 08:11

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 08:11

So, you put it really beautifully, as a matter of fact, because one of the things that was... Extreme, like tipped me over the edge, essentially, to take the leap of starting my own business, and startup, was the fact that, it goes back to human psychology as well, but we only care about the things that are in front of our eyes. So, if there is any specific thing that we don't necessarily see it or deal with it on day-to-day basis, well that's not our problems.

(: 08:48

So, that's the whole... An example of it is when the textile waste issue blew out of proportion, and now everybody knows about it, because all those pictures, and news went around, circulated, and people will start to realize that, oh, there is a tangible waste, there is a tangible, literal island of our clothing consumptions and...

Leena Manro (: 09:10

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 09:10

All around the earth. And that then, everybody started to focus on it, awareness, petitions and you name it. A lot of active actions start to come into place. A similar thing goes back to the whole supply chain. So, it's really ironic. We cannot live without colors. They're everywhere.

Leena Manro (: 09:33

We can't live without them. That's true. That makes sense.

Roya Aghighi (: 09:34

No. Imagine that tomorrow you wake up and everything is just black and white.

Leena Manro (: 09:37

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 09:38

It might be kind of artsy for a couple hours, but [inaudible 00:09:42].

Leena Manro (: 09:42

I saw your TED Talk, Roya, and that's another beautiful thing. Roya actually has a beautiful TED talk, TEDxYouth, I believe.

Roya Aghighi (: 09:49

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 09:49

And if you just look up TED Talks, and punch in your name, or follow you on Instagram, we can find it. It's an excellent talk.

Roya Aghighi (: 09:54

Thank you.

Leena Manro (: 09:55

You started off beautifully, because you started off with, "I want you to close your eyes and just imagine a world where there is no color."

Roya Aghighi (: 10:01

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 10:01

And you're on stage wearing all white. I wondered, was that intentional?

Roya Aghighi (: 10:08

Yes. Good eye. Yes. And like I said, it's going to be really fun and artsy for-

Leena Manro (: 10:12

Well, it'd be a very bleak world.

Roya Aghighi (: 10:14

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 10:15

It'd be very sad.

Roya Aghighi (: 10:15

It's going to be really sad.

Leena Manro (: 10:17

I mean, nature is filled with colors, and so I mean, I can't imagine that it's healthy to have a world... Like an internal world without color. But then what's the answer? What did you create? You created something pretty powerful, right?

Roya Aghighi (: 10:31

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 10:31

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 10:31

So, the answer goes back to nature. It's always been like that for me, even when I was... I don't want it to sound like those cliched sentences that, "Oh my God, I've been always like this ever since I know myself." But that's true.

Leena Manro (: 10:44

You've always been like this?

Roya Aghighi (: 10:45

I can't tell lies. I've been always like this. So, ever since I remember, a few of the first memories that I had, I've been always making with living systems in nature, but obviously as a child, I didn't know what I was doing. I had this extreme curiosity about what would it look like if I put these specific active ingredients that I grab from my backyard, and this and that, or these growing, living systems, and plants together, to push boundaries of what our definition of different things around us. As an example, I am fascinated with scent. Scent is something that I've always been super interested in, still am. When I was five, I think I was making scents from plants, and putting them on my family, and friends to see how they would react to it, to kind of push it-

Leena Manro (: 10:45

Different perfumes?

Roya Aghighi (: 10:45

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 10:45

You were just making them at home?

Roya Aghighi (: 11:36

To push perfumes. But like from... Obviously at the time, I didn't even know what fermentation is or any of that, but putting those very specific active ingredients, and in a certain way that I was doing it, it was kind of very basic level of fermentation.

Leena Manro (: 11:53

Right. So you were pulling essential oils [inaudible 00:11:56]?

Roya Aghighi (: 11:55

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 11:56

You were creating them out of nature?

Roya Aghighi (: 11:57

Yeah. And it was more, for me, the curiosity part of it was pushing the understanding, or reaction of people, and see if this does remind them of certain things, or if so, what is it? And I was, again, five. I'm putting it in a better language right now. I'm sure I was not thinking this way at the moment, at that time, but that's essentially what it was doing. So, now, when it goes back to color, and you mentioned something really interesting, we can't live without them, but it's something that we don't even think about the impacts of what are colorful desires really doing to the health of human and the environment?

Leena Manro (: 12:38

I agree. You don't think about it.

Roya Aghighi (: 12:39

No.

Leena Manro (: 12:39

To be honest, until we started researching you, and came across the work you're doing, I admit, I've never really... I don't know anybody here has thought about it. We don't... We don't think about it. You just take colors-

Roya Aghighi (: 12:39

You're not alone.

Leena Manro (: 12:49

... and dyes, truly for granted. But it is very eye-opening, just digging into it, how obvious, actually, it is that these dyes, especially the synthetics and petroleum based dyes have, of course, they're not going to have positive impact on our bodies and on the earth.

Roya Aghighi (: 13:07

No. And again, it's linear. This approach of just constantly mining the earth for making our product, all of that is just not sustainable. Not sustainable as in a cleanliness aspect of it, but it is not really like we can continue this way.

Leena Manro (: 13:08

No, we can't.

Roya Aghighi (: 13:24

How long more can we really continue doing this?

Leena Manro (: 13:26

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 13:26

And it's unnecessary. So, the answer, as we took a long derail to say, the answer has been always for me in nature, but then not just about mimicking, or just doing what nature is doing. I think the true answer is in a real collaboration with nature. And think about it, as you were saying, these organisms, or these ecosystems, or this nature's system have been doing it, have been operating in this world, really harmoniously, and beautifully long before we even existed. So, they clearly have a better way of making a balance between beauty, and function, and not being harmful, and everything that we are really after these days, to really combat these issues that we're facing.

Leena Manro (: 14:31

Yes.

Roya Aghighi (: 14:31

So, I always was really interested in this multidisciplinary aspect of everything. I can't necessarily say that I'm one of those people that would be really happy about just doing one thing. My journey starts in design, because I believe that design can push that performative aspect of all the objects that we interact with on a day-to-day basis. I wanted to use design as a tool to change behavior, or push our understanding of why we interact in a certain way with different things. I go through that, and I start working inside corporations, and I had in mind that this is the way to be inside a corporation. With that mindset, you can bring that change that you're really after. And very soon after I realized that, well, as I'm sure everybody would know, it's not really possible. That was a very young version of me, thinking that way, that I had that power, and then I was like, "All right."

Leena Manro (: 15:39

That you were going to a corporation, just change everything.

Roya Aghighi (: 15:40

Yeah, just change it. Bring that change with that mindset, and it's going to be slow, but it's going to happen. And I was going to be that rebellious kind of person. It doesn't work that way. Sadly, the incorporations, or the setups of the systems are not necessarily built for that.

Leena Manro (: 15:59

No, they're not. They're really built for... Companies are built to just increase shareholder value, for the most part.

Roya Aghighi (: 15:59

Absolutely.

Leena Manro (: 16:06

I mean, that's actually why we want to have these conversations, because it doesn't have to be that way.

Roya Aghighi (: 16:09

No.

Leena Manro (: 16:10

You can actually have profit, and you can have purpose. You can do those things, as long as you're not focusing just on shareholder value.

Roya Aghighi (: 16:16

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 16:18

But what is Lite-1? What did you do?

Roya Aghighi (: 16:19

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm going a very long way to tell you what's happening right now.

Leena Manro (: 16:24

What did you do? You did something with color, you created-

Roya Aghighi (: 16:24

I'm pushing your patience.

Leena Manro (: 16:25

You created... No, no, no. I mean, I know you're going to say it. It's...

Roya Aghighi (: 16:30

Yes. So...

Leena Manro (: 16:32

I'll give the listeners a hint. It has to do with algae, and it's just not at all what I thought when I was thinking... I was learning about what it is you did.

Roya Aghighi (: 16:41

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 16:41

The truth is, I was kind of shocked, and that's why I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions, because honestly, it doesn't make sense to me. It kind of blew my mind a little. And then I have certain questions about like... Yeah, let's talk about what exactly is this algae-based microorganism?

Roya Aghighi (: 16:41

"Tell me."

Leena Manro (: 16:57

Yes. Tell me what is your...

Roya Aghighi (: 16:58

For sure. Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 16:59

Your product.

Roya Aghighi (: 17:03

Going back to that nature part, nature has these amazing building blocks of biology that you can essentially build these manufacturing systems with. So, in true collaboration with the microorganisms, the question that popped up long before Lite-1, in my head, that instigated what I'm doing right now is that what if the future of living is bio-manufactured, instead of just being manufactured.

Leena Manro (: 17:38

Bio-manufactured, okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 17:39

What if the future of everything around us is living, instead of just being produced? And that goes back to the thinking of, everything that's produced by nature is non-toxic. Again, it's very balanced, it's clean, and all there is to it. So, I started my journey working with algae. My first love, I cannot tell you how much I love algae.

Leena Manro (: 18:07

Okay. Oh, that's a first. I've never heard anyone say that.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:13

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 18:13

To each his own.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:13

There's nothing that these tiny little microorganisms cannot do.

Leena Manro (: 18:13

Algae.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:18

It's so powerful.

Leena Manro (: 18:20

I mean, isn't algae the same thing as mold and fungus? No.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:23

You know...

Leena Manro (: 18:27

Different? Okay. Algae.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:27

It depends on different settings, but I personally don't think that way about it.

Leena Manro (: 18:31

You're thinking like algae, in the ocean algae?

Roya Aghighi (: 18:33

Yeah, micro-microalgae.

Leena Manro (: 18:34

Algae. Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:35

So the ones that probably we don't even... We see it in accumulation, once they're in accumulation, on the ponds and things like that, we see that green tone of the color of the water.

Leena Manro (: 18:44

Yes. Yeah. Isn't that like mildew? The same thing? No.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:47

That's algae. I mean it could be.

Leena Manro (: 18:47

That's a kind of algae.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:49

I can't really speak to what you saw.

Leena Manro (: 18:50

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 18:50

But yeah. So, basically that was the first epiphany moment for me, to realize that, "Oh my God, a teeny, teeny, teeny microorganism is operating in this world a hell lot better than what any of us that we consider ourselves being so much smarter than any creature is doing."

Leena Manro (: 18:50

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 19:13

So that was that moment that I was like, "There it is. This is... This living systems of the nature, we can use it." Not just use it, sorry. I am highly against it. We can collaborate with it in a way that we are not just taking advantage of, again, nature resources, for it to become an issue down the line. We are really learning from it, and implementing those living systems into our approaches of making our products. So, that started from there. My first project was a living photosynthetic textile.

Leena Manro (: 19:47

A living photosynthetic textile.

Roya Aghighi (: 19:49

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 19:50

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 19:51

So that project-

Leena Manro (: 19:53

Like a jacket that was alive?

Roya Aghighi (: 19:54

It was a garment.

Leena Manro (: 19:54

Okay, but what was it?

Roya Aghighi (: 19:56

It was a textile that could form in any specific clothing.

Leena Manro (: 19:58

Did you make a dress out of it, or was it just-

Roya Aghighi (: 20:00

I made a few different iterations out of it.

Leena Manro (: 20:01

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 20:03

It was like a little bit of a cardigan, it was like a T-shirt, and it was so many different things that I made.

Leena Manro (: 20:08

Oh, so you were able to actually make textiles out of this?

Roya Aghighi (: 20:10

We made the first proof of concept. Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 20:13

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 20:14

But my intention from that project-

Leena Manro (: 20:14

Was it alive?

Roya Aghighi (: 20:14

It was alive.

Leena Manro (: 20:17

It was alive?

Roya Aghighi (: 20:18

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 20:19

How do you have an alive cardigan? What do you mean?

Roya Aghighi (: 20:21

That's a great question. So, my aim was to, again, push the understanding, and our behavior, and basically that project was... I never intended for it to become a mass-manufactured type of project. It was more of a, what I call critical design.

Leena Manro (: 20:39

Proof of concept. Oh, okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 20:39

That I wanted to use it to push the... Hopefully trigger some thoughts in everybody's mind that, hey, why do we consume the way that we consume? Because if I tell you that starting tomorrow, the garments that you're wearing, you actually have to take care of them like how you take care of your pets, or children, then immediately you are going to have a different routine, different habits, different-

Leena Manro (: 20:39

Yeah. Definitely.

Roya Aghighi (: 21:06

You are not going to just toss them around, and not care for them. And maybe even when you're sitting in a very specific spot, you're going to make sure that hey, it's not sharp, it doesn't have a sharp edge, or is it going to harm it?

Leena Manro (: 21:18

You don't want to kill the living clothing.

Roya Aghighi (: 21:20

Exact... Oh my God, you nailed it. So the whole idea was-

Leena Manro (: 21:23

Yeah. You don't want to kill it. Although it is a little bit creepy, I'm not going to lie, if there's something alive that's like, if my jumper right now was alive, I don't know, how do you wash an alive garment? Carefully?

Roya Aghighi (: 21:31

So there was different care instruction that came with it, so you wouldn't necessarily just wash in a wash machine, you had to submerge it in a specific type of solution for it to remain alive. But-

Leena Manro (: 21:43

Did it feel like this? Did it feel like a normal outfit?

Roya Aghighi (: 21:44

It felt very normal. It felt like a silk material, like a very thin cotton silk.

Leena Manro (: 21:49

It felt like a silk material?

Roya Aghighi (: 21:50

Yeah. It was very real.

Leena Manro (: 21:50

Wow.

Roya Aghighi (: 21:51

But, guess what? It's going to come down to that aspect of, what if I kill it? That question was supposed to really drive people to really think about what they buy, why they buy it, why are they buying so many? It was supposed to completely, fundamentally reverse the aspect of, "Hey, so-and-so brand has sales for such low prices, now I'm going to buy this five other dresses or shirts or whatever that I didn't even need necessarily, just because they're cheap." It was supposed to do that. Because if you think about it, if you have 100 children, it's going to be impossible to take care of them all at the same time, and provide them with anything that they need to really flourish, and survive, and grow, and-

Leena Manro (: 22:45

Because the mindset is that if these garments are alive, it's like taking care of your children, or taking care of plants.

Roya Aghighi (: 22:51

Yes. Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 22:52

Taking care... Okay, I see.

Roya Aghighi (: 22:53

So, I was playing around with... There is a really amazing philosophy around this. I forgot the name of a gentleman who tossed it first, but the concept of caring with, versus just caring for.

Leena Manro (: 22:53

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 23:08

Because when we care for something, it becomes that band-aid solution that we bring to the world. Hey, suddenly we need a coffee machine that makes our coffee five seconds faster than the last one, and God knows what we're going to need that five seconds for, or how important it is in our lives, but that's problem-solving, band-aid solution, fast, immediate solutions to a very on the surface problem.

(: 23:38

Versus the concept of caring with touches base on, hey, whatever you bring to the world, you have to constantly care for it to make sure that 10 years from now, 20 years from now, it doesn't turn to be an issue. So, you are responsible for everything that you bring to the world, and introduce to everybody around you. So, that was playing around with that concept, because if you have to take care of, and for this very specific clothing, then you probably are not going to have a lot of time to accumulate, accumulate, accumulate more.

Leena Manro (: 24:14

I wish we'd had some samples that we could maybe show. Did you bring anything? No?

Roya Aghighi (: 24:18

No, but that project is kind of like an old project.

Leena Manro (: 24:20

Oh, that was older.

Roya Aghighi (: 24:21

That was like a beginning of my-

Leena Manro (: 24:24

Okay. The proof of concept.

Roya Aghighi (: 24:24

Yeah. No, beginning of my career in bio design.

Leena Manro (: 24:28

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 24:29

So, the field of bio design, for people that it's their first time hearing it, it essentially allows the designers, or artists from various different fields of discipline to come to science from practice, not necessarily from a degree. So, you come with an angle, and mindset of a designer that, hey, I understand the gap between consumer needs, and the behavior of the consumer. I know what I can bring to the world to create certain demands, but at the same time, how can we balance it out with scientific facts, and nature again? So, that was my first understanding of it. And this field is so fascinating.

Leena Manro (: 25:08

Did it go anywhere ?the bio design clothing, the textiles?

Roya Aghighi (: 25:11

So that project was called Biogarmentry, and like I said, I never intended for it to become a mass-produced thing. So, it was actually, it's purchased by Museum of Modern Art in Vienna. So yeah, it's exhibited there right now.

Leena Manro (: 25:23

It's living peacefully. The silk blouse is-

Roya Aghighi (: 25:25

Yeah. It's living its life.

Leena Manro (: 25:26

... living its life in a museum.

Roya Aghighi (: 25:28

As a growing part of it, it was essentially the color aspect, and now we are getting closer to Lite-1, because the color aspect of that project was living. And as you would take a better care for it, it would get greener, and it would show you that lush, beautiful green, so you know that you're doing a good job.

Leena Manro (: 25:48

Your shirt is healthy.

Roya Aghighi (: 25:50

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 25:50

Yeah, okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 25:51

And then you would create that emotional bond with your garment that you wouldn't want to kill it, and if you do, then you're going to start questioning your consumption behavior.

Leena Manro (: 26:00

Well, you're [inaudible 00:26:00].

Roya Aghighi (: 26:00

And that was my moment to realize that the performative aspect of growing everything around us is so powerful.

Leena Manro (: 26:09

Like the perform... Do you mean the experiential aspect of it?

Roya Aghighi (: 26:11

No, I mean what they make us do.

Leena Manro (: 26:15

Sorry. I'm not following.

Roya Aghighi (: 26:15

So if you know that your clothes are living, and alive, and you have to take care of them, then like I said, you might question where you're sitting. You are going to question how you're going to take care of them. What if you see people starting spraying themselves on the subway?

Leena Manro (: 26:31

Unless you're a sociopath, right? Unless you want to harm the clothes. Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 26:31

Sure.

Leena Manro (: 26:33

But assuming you're not, assuming that you do care, and you don't want to hurt living beings, I can see what you mean.

Roya Aghighi (: 26:38

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 26:38

Yeah, you'd want to be a lot more careful.

Roya Aghighi (: 26:40

In psychology, guilt is one of the top five drivers of-

Leena Manro (: 26:43

Oh, is it?

Roya Aghighi (: 26:44

Every act... Yeah. One of the top five.

Leena Manro (: 26:44

Didn't know that.

Roya Aghighi (: 26:44

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 26:47

Guilt is.

Roya Aghighi (: 26:48

Guilt is.

Leena Manro (: 26:49

That would explain a lot. No...

Roya Aghighi (: 26:50

So, that was that. Then I realized that, "Oh my God," this is epiphany moment that these living systems, and the future of everything is really grown instead of being manufactured. So, that was that really interesting project that brought me to Lite-1, and then with that understanding of seeing the industry, and really firsthand what they're doing to the environment and people, I could not participate in it anymore, I did not want to. It was like a very heavy guilt on my own shoulders as a designer that I was contributing to those aspects, and I did not want to be a part of it. So, I started to think about what if colors were alive, and how would that look like, instead of being manufactured from synthetic, non-renewable resources?

Leena Manro (: 27:40

And if we can just go back a sec, when we were talking about that bioengineered textile that you created, and I keep saying the blouse, but I understand there's a few different pieces of clothing.

Roya Aghighi (: 27:48

That's fine.

Leena Manro (: 27:49

Was it just the color portion that was alive? Or was the entire fabric made from-

Roya Aghighi (: 27:54

The entire fabric.

Leena Manro (: 27:55

Was made from algae?

Roya Aghighi (: 27:56

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 27:57

Oh.

Roya Aghighi (: 27:57

So it was bioengineered in a way that the algae on your skin would remain alive, and-

Leena Manro (: 28:02

It didn't die from the processing?

Roya Aghighi (: 28:04

Not if you take a good care of it. No. Yeah, that project was-

Leena Manro (: 28:04

Really interesting.

Roya Aghighi (: 28:09

... like the instigation of the future of everything is grown.

Leena Manro (: 28:13

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 28:13

So, why are we not treating one of the biggest polluter part of the supply chain, being colorants, which is an invisible... It's very invisible. It's very bold and visible, but at the same time, very invisible part of the supply chain, that-

Leena Manro (: 28:30

The colorants. Dye.

Roya Aghighi (: 28:32

Exactly, like we said, that nobody thinks about. We just think about what we see in front of our faces, and if we don't see it in front of us, it's not our problem.

Leena Manro (: 28:39

Gotcha.

Roya Aghighi (: 28:39

But, it's a huge problem. Then I met my amazing co-founder. She also had a very similar path to bio design, and we just really clicked, and we started researching into living colors. And right now, we are not working with algae. We're working with different microorganisms that can produce these beautiful, vibrant colors in their own natural being. And we found a way to really scale that, and make it perform in a way that the industry wants it to perform based on our experiences.

Leena Manro (: 29:18

Without killing these microorganisms? They're not dying, right?

Roya Aghighi (: 29:20

Well...

Leena Manro (: 29:21

Some do?

Roya Aghighi (: 29:22

They are. So, let's just go back. You know about... I guess a good example of it would be yeast during COVID. Everybody somehow got into making bread, and yeah.

Leena Manro (: 29:34

Growing their own yeast, and making bread.

Roya Aghighi (: 29:35

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 29:36

Yes, I heard about this.

Roya Aghighi (: 29:36

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 29:37

Yeah. I didn't personally, but I heard it was a thing.

Roya Aghighi (: 29:40

So essentially these living organisms, we are using the microorganisms, in this sense, like let's say bacteria, as factories of producing colors. So, these tiny organisms-

Leena Manro (: 30:01

Sorry, say it again. You're using the bacteria as factories?

Roya Aghighi (: 30:04

As factories.

Leena Manro (: 30:05

Oh, so the bacteria is producing all the color?

Roya Aghighi (: 30:07

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 30:08

Oh, I see, I see, I see, I see.

Roya Aghighi (: 30:09

So, we found a way to really scale that, make sure that it fits those industry standards. And that's why I told you my long version of a background, because now it makes sense.

Leena Manro (: 30:24

It does, yes.

Roya Aghighi (: 30:24

Being in the industry, and seeing it, and realizing that there won't be any innovation that you just introduce out there, and it's going to go in there, and completely, fundamentally change the whole system. It has to fit their systems, otherwise it's not going to get adapted. So all that long journey of me, to going around, and around, and around to get to where I'm today, was really helpful to understand what the industry needs are, what their qualifications, requirements, the adaptability process, all of those are, to be able to make our solution really fitting their very specific needs. So, right now, we work with... For people that don't know necessarily anything about fermentation, or bioreactors, if you have ever been to breweries, or-

Leena Manro (: 31:16

Oh, yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 31:17

Yeah, okay. Great.

Leena Manro (: 31:18

Fermentation is a part of your process.

Roya Aghighi (: 31:20

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 31:20

Oh, I see.

Roya Aghighi (: 31:21

So, the fermentation is that ideal environment that these tiny little friends of ours love to produce more of these vibrant colorants for us.

Leena Manro (: 31:31

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 31:32

So, we put them in their ideal living environment.

Leena Manro (: 31:35

And they just produce dyes?

Roya Aghighi (: 31:36

They just produce dyes for us.

Leena Manro (: 31:37

Ah, so the dyes themselves are not living.

Roya Aghighi (: 31:38

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 31:39

The dyes are just produced by the microorganisms. That makes more sense.

Roya Aghighi (: 31:43

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 31:43

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 31:43

So essentially saying that, yeah, when I said, what if colors were living? So that all these questions were at the beginning of figuring out how to do it best, and how to do it in a way that it can actually make an impact. It's not just like a niche, small project. It's capable of bringing this change.

Leena Manro (: 32:03

I get it now. I was wondering. I'm like, "But are the colors living? Are the colors the microorganisms?

Roya Aghighi (: 32:08

[inaudible 00:32:08] always the questions.

Leena Manro (: 32:09

Are we wearing bacteria? Is that that? But the microorganisms, are they bacteria, or no?

Roya Aghighi (: 32:15

They are bacteria.

Leena Manro (: 32:17

The bacteria are the factories creating the colors?

Roya Aghighi (: 32:22

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 32:23

Wow. That's cool.

Roya Aghighi (: 32:24

We treat them like our true teammates. We want to think that we are not just using nature, we are not constantly exhausting nature for different resources. One of the issues that I personally... Not issue, like a critique that I always had to plant-based dyes is that it's still exhausting the environment in a sense that you are, let's say, extracting it from plants. You have to grow these plants, take care of them. They take a big portion of the land, they take some time, and pesticides.

Leena Manro (: 33:00

They take water, they take resources.

Roya Aghighi (: 33:02

Water, resources.

Leena Manro (: 33:03

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 33:04

And in different cases, those lands and those places become not suitable for other crops, and other... They interrupt the food supply chain as well. So, it's not necessarily, although that the final product is sustainable or clean, but the process of making them is not necessarily the most sustainable one. And it's not scalable, in a sense to replace all the colorants in the world that we see.

Leena Manro (: 33:32

But this is scalable, I suppose. Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 33:33

Exactly. So instead of doing that, we just create colors at the lab in just a couple of days, instead of few months.

Leena Manro (: 33:38

Are you able to create a whole wide array of colors? Yeah?

Roya Aghighi (: 33:42

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 33:42

Wow.

Roya Aghighi (: 33:43

There are so many organisms out there that are creating these sci-fi beautiful colors that you may not even ever imagine that this is made from bacteria.

Leena Manro (: 33:52

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 33:52

So right now we are focusing on our first group of colorants, black being number one, because black is one of the most toxic, and pollutive.

Leena Manro (: 34:00

Is it?

Roya Aghighi (: 34:00

Oh my God, yes. It's just like, I'm personally absolutely guilty of consuming a lot of black. I love this color.

Leena Manro (: 34:09

I do too.

Roya Aghighi (: 34:09

All my wardrobe is [inaudible 00:34:11].

Leena Manro (: 34:10

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 34:11

Today when you guys asked me not to wear something dark, I had the hardest time to hunt something in my closet.

Leena Manro (: 34:24

Oh, I'm with you. I like my black as well. I didn't know it was such a... Toxic [inaudible 00:34:24].

Roya Aghighi (: 34:23

Oh, the residue from black is impossible to clean from the environment. It's one of the heaviest chemicals.

Leena Manro (: 34:33

Oh, no.

Roya Aghighi (: 34:33

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 34:33

Well, what is one of the... If you are just going out there shopping, until your product becomes more easily to obtain, what is a color that people can... Or some colors that are fairly decent, that don't harm the environment as much?

Roya Aghighi (: 34:45

Until Lite-1 becomes a very known tag, so you can really identify, and use it as a measure to know which one of you're clothing, or the products in a sense, are colored, or dyed with a true sustainable solution, until then, I think plant-based dyes are another option.

Leena Manro (: 35:06

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 35:07

But the sad part of it right now is that they don't perform as great as the synthetic ones. And most often, you see them in very light, pastel-y colors. A lot of the brands start to do these limited edition collaborations with plant-based dyes, you still can see them, or made from minerals, plants, insects.

Leena Manro (: 35:32

Are you safer with things that are just natural undyed fabric? And so you see, sometimes they're kind of off-white, gray. Is that a safe option?

Roya Aghighi (: 35:41

Off-white is a better option obviously, because that means that it's less of chemicals, but that's not necessarily always true neither, because it really depends on the process that became even white. Because for example, the shirt that I'm wearing, I'm pretty sure that it has some sort of a white tone into it.

Leena Manro (: 35:58

Yes. Your shirt, which for our listeners, is a black and white shirt.

Roya Aghighi (: 36:01

Oh, let's talk about the white part of it, because the black part is sustainable. That's our own dye.

Leena Manro (: 36:07

Oh, you did? This is your dye?

Roya Aghighi (: 36:07

Yeah. This is Lite-1 dye.

Leena Manro (: 36:09

Okay. You know what? If you're listening, this is the time where you should check us out on YouTube, Up To So Good: The Purpose of Business. Look us up on YouTube or you can look up our website, uptodogoodpodcast.com, and you'll see all the links to all the players, because Roya's outfit is absolutely lovely. And the black and white, I noticed your shirt, it feels like a piece of art. And you've got some black splashed on there with the white, and it's incredible that this is actually the byproduct of the microorganisms.

Roya Aghighi (: 36:09

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 36:39

So the black is sustainable.

Roya Aghighi (: 36:40

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 36:41

That's beautiful.

Roya Aghighi (: 36:41

Thank you.

Leena Manro (: 36:42

Wow. And the white isn't, though?

Roya Aghighi (: 36:44

The white isn't. So, we are working on next group, which white could be included in that.

Leena Manro (: 36:49

Did you just buy a plain white shirt, then you dyed it yourself?

Roya Aghighi (: 36:52

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 36:52

Very nice. Are you an artist?

Roya Aghighi (: 36:54

You know what? I'm more than capable of making it, but for lack of time...

Leena Manro (: 36:58

Is the skirt your color? The skirt is black. Is that also your dye?

Roya Aghighi (: 37:01

Not that one.

Leena Manro (: 37:02

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 37:02

Just the black on my shirt.

Leena Manro (: 37:03

It's interesting, because I'm looking at both, and I mean, the black is the black is the black.

Roya Aghighi (: 37:08

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 37:08

It's indistinguishable. It's incredible.

Roya Aghighi (: 37:10

Exactly. That's the whole point.

Leena Manro (: 37:11

Wow.

Roya Aghighi (: 37:12

Because if you bring on something that is not going to perform to the standards of the industry, from so many different aspects, performance, the color, shade, cost, all of it, then it becomes a niche product. And for us at Lite-1, at the core of everything that we do is to be able to make that big impact. Our direction, or basically the goal, is not to become just a very small niche type of luxury scale product out there in the world. We want to make sure that we can replace a lot of the colorants.

Leena Manro (: 37:50

Yes. That's makes a lot more sense.

Roya Aghighi (: 37:51

To be able to make an impact. We are not living in a time anymore that we have luxury of time. It's just not an option anymore. There is not much time left to be able to just play around with things and see what sticks, what doesn't anymore. We have to seriously think about how all these amazing innovations that a lot of people are working on can get adapted, and get adapted really fast, and scale real quick to be able to make that change and the impact.

Leena Manro (: 38:28

Beautiful. Well now, are you at a stage where people who are listening, if they want to say, make their own clothes and dye them, can they reach out to Lite-1?

Roya Aghighi (: 38:37

Not yet.

Leena Manro (: 38:37

Not yet? Soon?

Roya Aghighi (: 38:38

But soon.

Leena Manro (: 38:39

I want to do this. I want to make my own clothes, and just reach out to you guys, and just dye them all myself now.

Roya Aghighi (: 38:44

My co-founder and I started, wanted to so deeply do certain workshops, so people can come, and really experience it, but life of a startup is quite demanding, and prevents a lot of the big dreams like that.

Leena Manro (: 39:00

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 39:03

But, now that our team is growing, and we have a little bit more resources, we might as well do that. So, once we do it, I'll definitely keep you in mind.

Leena Manro (: 39:11

Definitely, message me, text me.

Roya Aghighi (: 39:12

100%.

Leena Manro (: 39:13

I want to know... I want to be part of this beautiful movement.

Roya Aghighi (: 39:16

Sounds good.

Leena Manro (: 39:17

In researching you, you talked a little bit about your story, and I thought that was quite moving, being in Tehran, and seeing the pollution. Can we go back, and let's talk about that, because it sounds like that was a real moment for you to want to embrace a sustainable path. So what happened there?

Roya Aghighi (: 39:34

This is even not now, now is a lot worse, and I haven't been back for some time, but even 13 years ago, or growing up in general, being born and raised in Tehran, there were days that they would announce complete closures because of air pollution.

Leena Manro (: 39:51

You were completely-

Roya Aghighi (: 39:52

Yeah, closures. We couldn't go to school. You couldn't go to work because the air quality is so bad.

Leena Manro (: 39:57

So they would close the schools?

Roya Aghighi (: 39:59

Mm-hmm.

Leena Manro (: 39:59

Oh wow.

Roya Aghighi (: 40:00

Yeah. And even in my TED Talk, when I mentioned that you can actually taste the air, I'm not joking.

Leena Manro (: 40:07

In Tehran?

Roya Aghighi (: 40:07

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 40:08

There were times you could taste the air?

Roya Aghighi (: 40:12

It had a bit of a sulfur-ish kind of smell and taste into it. I mean, there are really good days as well, especially in winter time. But since in summer it's really dry, and hot, it gets to really extreme levels of pollution. And it was always... Again, I was one of those kids that I always wanted to do something about all of this. I love nature, I love environment, but I didn't know what to do. So, again, living organisms, and plants has been always my inspiration. So, I wanted to connect them all together, and that goes about the reasoning behind the living photosynthetic textile, because beside it being living and all the other things that we just talked about, it clears, it cleans the air. So it photosynthesize-

Leena Manro (: 40:55

So this is... Sorry, going back to the textile.

Roya Aghighi (: 40:57

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 40:58

The living Photosynthetic... Basically the living blouse-

Roya Aghighi (: 41:02

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 41:02

... was cleaning the air.

Roya Aghighi (: 41:03

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 41:04

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 41:04

It photosynthesizes, just like plants do. So, it absorbs CO2, and produces oxygen instead, and sugar as byproduct. So, basically, that was one of the reasons that I fell in love with algae, because algae can actually clean a lot, clean the air a lot faster than a very old, mature tree can do.

Leena Manro (: 41:04

Amazing.

Roya Aghighi (: 41:25

I forgot the number, but I think it was around... So much faster than a tree can do, in a very short period of time. So yeah, that was essentially the reason behind me always believing that one single discipline is not really capable of solving these deep, complex issues that we're all facing on its own alone. In order for solutions to become meaningful, and really, fundamentally introducing any shift or change, we need multidisciplinary perspective. We need multidisciplinary collaborations. We need everybody to come together from perspectives, experiences, and all of that. So, yeah, that inspiration. Also, my mom, the other part of the whole thing is my mom was a fashion designer. So, growing up I've been always exposed to these beautiful, colorful fashion, and listening to her interactions with her clients, and all of that. So, I loved fashion. So, I always wanted to be a designer, because I saw this big power and impact that design, and designers have if they use it in a right way.

Leena Manro (: 42:43

Fashion design, specifically.

Roya Aghighi (: 42:44

In general design, because designers in general have this really big power to use it as a tool to change something. Why I'm saying this, because they create the demand before consumers know they even need something. So, all these things that we see in the world, regardless of it being a garment, or a product, or any kind of designed thing, they are thought about 2, 3, 4 years in advance, minimum. So, they are creating the new trend, they're creating the new behavior around consumption every time that they're introducing a new item to the world. So, I think with that comes a lot of power, to be used in the right way.

Leena Manro (: 43:36

So, I mean, our company, On Purpose, we're a UX UI design house as well. We're a creative agency, and I would say that that is definitely one way that things are designed. However, there's even greater power when you're designing with the user in mind.

Roya Aghighi (: 43:36

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 43:50

And when you're tapping what the actual needs are of the consumer, or the person, and designing with that in the forefront. So, it seems to me that you're designing with sustainability in mind, and that's beautiful, but still considering the fact that we do need color.

Roya Aghighi (: 43:50

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 44:07

And it's such a powerful, powerful industry. I saw somebody wrote a quote, a comment on your YouTube feed, or something, and it said, "Not game changer, universe changer." I was like, "Yeah, I like that."

Roya Aghighi (: 44:22

That was great. Yes. I forgot about that. Yes.

Leena Manro (: 44:25

But it's definitely... Has anyone else come across this? Or is this purely patented technology by Lite-1?

Roya Aghighi (: 44:31

There are a handful amount of startups that are working on a concept of dyes, and colorants, and finding different ways to make it sustainable, and clean. And frankly, this industry is so big that just like... Even if one becomes the giant-

Leena Manro (: 44:46

Yeah. There's so much room for everyone.

Roya Aghighi (: 44:48

Exactly. And that mindset in its own is wrong.

Leena Manro (: 44:51

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 44:52

I don't think... Yeah, obviously we have a strong differentiator. Our technology is patented on so many different levels, and aspect of it, but we have to stop thinking about one solution hitting it all.

Leena Manro (: 44:52

Oh, yeah. Agreed.

Roya Aghighi (: 44:52

Like I said-

Leena Manro (: 44:52

I totally agree.

Roya Aghighi (: 45:05

We don't have time on our side anymore to think that way.

Leena Manro (: 45:10

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 45:12

In an ideal, dreamy world, I would love to see how at some point all of us could come together, and collectively really address the solution, because it's a lot bigger than every single one of us.

Leena Manro (: 45:24

Absolutely. And maybe we can all contribute.

Roya Aghighi (: 45:27

Yeah, I love that.

Leena Manro (: 45:28

And put our minds together. And so now, let's fast-forward to this moment, and you've got this shirt with the dyes that Lite-1 has created, and given that your mom was a fashion designer, is that where you want to focus some of this? Is that one of the focuses, is fashion?

Roya Aghighi (: 45:46

We are starting with textiles, but we already have tested our colorants and dyes in multiple different industries, and they apply to anything that you see. So, there is no limits.

Leena Manro (: 45:59

Furniture, food?

Roya Aghighi (: 46:00

Furniture, food, ink, paint.

Leena Manro (: 46:00

Are they consumable?

Roya Aghighi (: 46:00

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 46:00

Paint?

Roya Aghighi (: 46:04

Cosmetics.

Leena Manro (: 46:05

Fantastic.

Roya Aghighi (: 46:05

And you name it. Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 46:06

And so, when do we get to, as consumers, pull the trigger and tap Lite-1 to help us select colorants and dyes?

Roya Aghighi (: 46:17

Yeah. So, to that level, we are a couple years to get to that exact level that any consumer can actually really go and experience it, and purchase it.

Leena Manro (: 46:26

But will you be B2C, really? Or are you just B2B [inaudible 00:46:28]?

Roya Aghighi (: 46:27

No.

Leena Manro (: 46:27

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 46:28

We're going to be completely B2B. However, we have some exciting news for some of the recent collabs, and partnerships that we are doing that I can't quite announce at this very moment. Our marketing strategist would kill me.

Leena Manro (: 46:41

Okay.

Roya Aghighi (: 46:43

But basically, there is a different face of it that people can purchase them, and experience them very shortly.

Leena Manro (: 46:51

Oh my goodness. How soon?

Roya Aghighi (: 46:54

Can't comment.

Leena Manro (: 46:55

You have to text me when this happens.

Roya Aghighi (: 46:55

I will definitely text you.

Leena Manro (: 46:59

Because I want to buy the biodegradable dyes.

Roya Aghighi (: 47:01

I would love for you to-

Leena Manro (: 47:01

I'm biodegradable, too.

Roya Aghighi (: 47:03

I want to see your future podcast, like you all are also wearing something that's dyed with Lite-1.

Leena Manro (: 47:08

Oh, I would love that.

Roya Aghighi (: 47:09

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 47:10

It would be great. It would be great to have like-

Roya Aghighi (: 47:11

Let's hook you up.

Leena Manro (: 47:12

... all these clothes that are dyed by Lite-1. Every time we have a new guest on here that has an innovative product or experience, I would say that you can't help but be impacted. You can't help, but we had Rana.

Roya Aghighi (: 47:27

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 47:27

I suppose you know her, right?

Roya Aghighi (: 47:28

Oh, Rana's amazing.

Leena Manro (: 47:29

She's amazing. And her podcast episode, we talked about plastics. So, to the listeners, if you're listening and you want to listen, it's in the first couple of podcasts that we released, and she created a thin type of a plastic using seaweed. But, I cannot get that episode out of my mind. And now everywhere I look and see plastics, I'm very wary of, and mindful of them.

Roya Aghighi (: 47:51

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 47:51

And so now, thanks to you, thanks a lot, Roya.

Roya Aghighi (: 47:51

You're welcome.

Leena Manro (: 47:51

And now thanks to you-

Roya Aghighi (: 47:51

Happy to.

Leena Manro (: 47:57

Every time we see colors, I can't help but think we'll be mindful of, oh goodness. Okay. Well, those dyes, I mean they're affecting us. And especially your skin, when you're wearing things.

Roya Aghighi (: 48:07

Yes. Garments are our second skin.

Leena Manro (: 48:07

Yeah.

Roya Aghighi (: 48:09

They're the closest thing on our day-to-day interactions that we have with anything, because they're on us the whole day. But you also mentioned something that I want to touch base.

Leena Manro (: 48:18

Sure.

Roya Aghighi (: 48:18

You talked about user experience, and what the needs are, the consumers, really. And I think... And also you said, "Oh, now I can't look at any colorful thing without thinking about the damages, or most of these things that we talked about." But that's the power of consumer. So, if anybody listening to this starts, for five seconds before purchasing anything, questioning where it's really coming from, how is it going to impact? How is that very tiny, small purchase is going to impact in a whole context of consumer demand, then I think that is going to help all of us as innovators, because the demand comes from the consumers, puts the pressure on the industry, and regulations, and the government to really change something.

Leena Manro (: 49:09

Absolutely. Absolutely. And we can all join forces, and put that pressure up together.

Roya Aghighi (: 49:14

Let's do it.

Leena Manro (: 49:15

And if people want more information, of course they can go to your website.

Roya Aghighi (: 49:19

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 49:20

Which is...

Roya Aghighi (: 49:21

It's Lite-1, L-I-T-E dash 1, dot bio.

Leena Manro (: 49:27

Well, I want to thank you so much, Roya. This has been such an enlightening episode. Scary. I know I'm going to be thinking about this for a while. And before we end, I was just going to say, part of the reason that I stopped dying my hair about five, six years ago, just because it was this eye-opening moment of... For a lot of reasons, but the chemicals that we were putting on our hair every two, three weeks?

Roya Aghighi (: 49:54

Yep.

Leena Manro (: 49:54

I mean, can you imagine? And yet, so many in society, we're afraid of getting older, and we use color to hide our natural hair color. And my mom always said that a higher power is a great artist.

Roya Aghighi (: 50:08

I love that.

Leena Manro (: 50:08

That the coloring that you were born with is actually perfect for you.

Roya Aghighi (: 50:10

Yes. I love your hair.

Leena Manro (: 50:13

Oh, thanks. There's no hair dye.

Roya Aghighi (: 50:14

That's what I said at the beginning.

Leena Manro (: 50:14

Natural.

Roya Aghighi (: 50:16

I think I've seen you around, and the thing that I remember is that, "Oh my God, she's-"

Leena Manro (: 50:22

The non-toxic hair.

Roya Aghighi (: 50:23

The hair is so beautiful.

Leena Manro (: 50:26

That's very kind.

Roya Aghighi (: 50:26

So you're absolutely right. The natural beauty that you're born with is the most beautiful form of it.

Leena Manro (: 50:29

And in these little things that we can all do, they accumulate, and they do make a difference. So, thank you for enlightening us about colors, colorants, dyes in the clothes we wear, in the food we eat, just everywhere. It's so important for us to be thinking about it. So, really appreciate you. Really excited to hear, and connect, and continue to be updated about the progress of Lite-1, and the innovations that you all make.

Roya Aghighi (: 50:52

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. And it's been really fun, and I wish everybody a clean, colorful journey.

Leena Manro (: 50:59

Oh, that's nice. A clean, colorful journey. Thanks so much for joining us, and that's all the time we have today. And for more information, check out our website uptosogoodpodcast.com, or you can also look at us on YouTube, if you want to take a look at Roya's lovely shirt. Again, you want to look up Up To So Good: The Purpose of Business on YouTube, and you'll find us there. Otherwise, I hope you all have a great afternoon. A colorful, but healthy, colorful day.

Roya Aghighi (: 51:26

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 51:27

Right?

Roya Aghighi (: 51:27

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 51:29

Well, that's all the time we have for today's show. Thank you so much for joining us. And if you've enjoyed the show, please subscribe, hit the like button, or share an episode. And if you have any feedback, questions, or comments, or show ideas, you can email us directly at hello@allpurpose.io. Thank you once again for joining us. We'll see you next time.