Veritree & tentree

Buy a hoodie, plant trees, build tech, restore ecosystems.

Sounds simple, right? 

That’s the vision behind Tentree and Veritree, two sister companies co-founded by Derrick Emsley. Tentree is the lifestyle brand planting 10 trees for every item purchased, while Veritree is the tech platform that ensures every tree planted is real, verified, and impactful.

In this episode, Jena talks with Derrick Emsley, CEO and co-founder, about what it takes to scale a mission-driven company, the power of transparency, and why restoration is about more than the environment. It’s about people, too.

What you’ll learn:

• How Tentree grew from an idea to a brand planting millions of trees
• How Veritree uses technology to ensure transparency in reforestation projects
• How culture shifts between a consumer lifestyle brand and a tech startup
• Why employees are drawn to mission-driven work that creates real-world impact
• Simple ways individuals and businesses can get involved in sustainability

Some Veritree & Tentree highlights:

Founded: Tentree in 2012; Veritree launched as a standalone company in 2021
Team Size: 100+ employees across both organizations (and growing)
HQ: Vancouver, Canada (global impact projects in Africa, Asia, and beyond)
Work Model: Hybrid/remote, mission-driven teams across geographies
Culture: Purpose-led, innovative, sustainability-focused

Unique Perks & Impact:

• Every Tentree purchase plants 10 trees 
• Veritree platform powers verified reforestation for global brands
• Projects restore critical ecosystems (mangroves, forests, coastlines)
• Community impact: jobs, food security, and climate resilience

To learn more about Veritree & Tentree:

• Shop Tentree (I love their leggings!)
• Tentree Careers Page (They are hiring!)
• Veritree Careers Page (They are hiring!)
• Tentree on LinkedIn
• Veritree on LinkedIn
• Derrick Emsley on LinkedIn

Transcript

Jena Dunay: Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of Culture Uncovered. This week we are talking with Derrick Emsley, is the co-founder and CEO of two organizations. So, we're going to talk to him a little bit about Veritree and Tentree, which are his two organizations. And we're going talk a little bit about culture, what it's like to work for one of those organizations, and what it's like to build a mission-driven one. So, Derrick, thank you so much for joining the podcast today.

Derrick Emsley: Thanks so much for having me, excited to be here!

Jena Dunay: So, tell us a little bit about Veritree and Tentree. Tell me what these organizations do, what you guys are up to?

Derrick Emsley: Yeah, absolutely. We really are two companies. They're separate, but we think of ourselves as sister businesses. Tentree was a company that we founded about 12 years ago, with the idea of building a consumer brand that allowed us to fund reforestation, we want to connect customers or individuals with their ability to have an impact through tree planting. Apparel just turned out to be the vehicle by which we did it. We make outdoor lifestyle apparel that plants 10 trees for every product we sell. We've planted over 150 million trees globally funded millions and millions of dollars’ worth of restoration work. We try to make the most sustainable, comfortable product that we can. Veritree is actually a technology that we built at Tentree. We incubated it as a tool that would allow us to actually audit and verify the reforestation efforts that we were funding.  

In 2022, we spun it out as a standalone company to help other businesses that are looking to invest in high quality restoration and nature-based solutions. At the same time, building the technology to really power investment in nature. Today that business is helping thousands of other companies to do something similar to what Tentree is, which is funding reforestation and embedding nature into business. Both companies operate in sort of the same world of trying to have an impact on our planet through trees and through nature. Tentree does it through sustainable outdoor product, and Veritree does it through technology and connecting businesses.

Jena Dunay: That’s amazing! I have so many questions. Like how did you get started in this? What was the impetus for founding at least Tentree back in the day and then Veritree? Obviously, we got the story around Veritree but tell me about Tentree. 

Derrick Emsley: Yeah, I grew up in the prairies here in Canada and not really a place where there's a lot of trees or apparel companies for that matter. It was a bit of an odd mixture that we came up with. When I was in high school, I remember we were getting approached at the time as around Kyoto Protocol and an inconvenient truth and some of these early-stage conversations around climate.

As kids in high school, my brother and I, sort of said, “What's something we could potentially do to help solve this problem?” Not really knowing a lot, we asked, “What takes carbon out of the air?” Trees! What we have a lot of in the prairies was land. So, we came up with the idea of planting trees on farmland to sequester carbon and help companies that were facing that as an issue.

When I was 16, we started the company to do that. It was called Greenfield Carbon Offsetters. We raised a couple million bucks. We bought a bunch of land, and we planted 150,000 trees. And it was an amazing sort of experience. We ran it through university, and it was a viable model in some ways, but it ultimately wasn't going to scale given the way the market was going. We fell in love with trees. We love the impact it can have and saw how excited people got about it. So how can we fund reforestation in a more sustainable way? That's what led us to create a consumer brand. We fell into apparel. There’s a lot easier ways to plant trees than building an apparel company, but it's been an amazing vehicle for connecting people to their ability to have an impact. 

Jena Dunay: It's so fascinating in a couple of different ways. From the very beginning of the inception of what you're doing and that you built another mission driven company out of the experience of building Tentree. Veritree was kind of the byproduct of that. Tell us a little bit about Veritree. How big are your organizations? Let's start there.

Derrick Emsley: Yeah, so between the two companies, we have about 130 people and a variety of different types of roles. Veritree itself is largely the tree planting and technology arm. It is made up of a lot of software and hardware engineers, lot of foresters and people that are focused on the restoration space. Then there’s the Tentree side, more of the supply chain, the product design, development, and then the sales and marketing teams. Between the two companies though, there's about 130 or so people and growing.

Jena Dunay: Okay. Tell us where you're headquartered and a little bit about the makeup of where people work.

Derrick Emsley: We're based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It’s an amazing place for the type of business that we're building, near the ocean, the mountains, the forest, and also University of British Columbia which has an amazing forestry school. We're what we would call a hybrid. With Tentree, it's a bit more often in office; three to four days usually for most team members. With Veritree, we have projects all around the world, everyone's traveling to those projects oftentimes. It's also hybrid, but it's more two to three days.

Jena Dunay: Okay. Tell me your ethos or your thought process about, building a mission driven organization and bringing people along for the ride. Like how do you build culture?

Derrick Emsley: When it comes to how we've built our businesses, the mission has always been really the core to what we're doing. We want to plant trees and basically create the businesses that help drive a restorative economy. 

Jena Dunay: Yeah, sounds like it!

Derrick Emsley: It was critical that it wasn't fluff. It had to really be fuel for the business. This is so important to any business that claims to have a clear mission or do good and that it is built into the fabric or the DNA of the business. That's really what we've tried to do. The way I think about it with Tentree is it doesn't just donate some of the profits to plant trees. Trees are a part of the cost of every single product we make. It's just like the fabric, the material, the manufacturing, the tree planting costs are baked in. It's not just nice to have, it's a must have. We exist to do this. The mission has ingrained itself in everything we do. We don't set sales targets; we set planting targets. We have our annual sales meeting; we call it our planting summit. We have anniversary goals that are about planting and things like that. All our core values as a team are oriented around this idea of what's it like to be in a tree planting camp and what do the tree plant.

Jena Dunay: Please tell me what that means.

Derrick Emsley: One of our values is embrace ambiguity. We explain it with a planting camp example. Planters head out each day to work on a block of land that needs restoration. Sure, the block might have been mapped with geospatial tools or even checked on the ground, but the reality is you don’t know what you’re facing until the shovel hits the dirt.

Some days, the soil is great, and the work is smooth. Other days, you’re dealing with debris, burnt husks, or tough ground. Planters go in knowing it could be either or they build resilience around that.

That’s the mindset we try to instill in our team. Whether you’re building an apparel company or a technology platform in today’s unpredictable ESG environment, it’s not easy. Resilience matters and embracing ambiguity just like a planter.

Jena Dunay: Yeah! The very core of what you do is that mission. It has a ripple effect on the people within your company as well. Who’s the ideal person to work at your organization? I don’t just mean from a skillset perspective, but also from a character and values standpoint

Derrick Emsley: I’d say the ideal person is someone who wants the freedom to flex, not just in depth, but in breadth. When you’re building something, having the chance to take on a broader umbrella of responsibility and opportunity is one of the most exciting ways to learn. That’s also one of the big reasons people should want to work at smaller, growing companies. For us, that often translates into people who have a real hunger and drive to learn. The ones who thrive here believe that by experiencing multiple areas of the business and seeing how different departments connect, they’ll grow not just in our company, but in their careers overall.

We’ve always said employment is a two-way contract. You’re giving something to us, and we want to give something back to you. That means making sure our team knows that every day they come to work, they’re having a massive impact on people’s lives around the world through tree planting.

At the same time, we want them to leave with knowledge, growth, and momentum for the next step in their careers. Ideally, that next step is with us. In a fast-growing company, those opportunities often come quicker than you might expect, sometimes even before you feel ready for them.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, right! I love what you said there that it's almost like from a global perspective, there's the impact that we have on a macro level, but on the micro level, you also want to impact your employees to help them in their own career development, either be from your organization or to continue to be a part of your organization in general.

Derrick Emsley: It’s funny, because in Canada there’s this strong culture of planters. It’s almost like an alumni network. Planting is tough. It’s physically demanding. You’re out in the heat, with bugs everywhere, and honestly, very few people want to do it for more than one season. But when you meet someone who’s been a planter, you know they share traits like resilience and the ability to just get up and go. That experience creates a unique alumni bond.

I think startups and building companies are a lot like that. There’s turnover, people come and go, just like in a planting camp. There are seasons. What we want to build is an experience where, no matter how long someone is with us, hopefully for a long time, they can grow, evolve, and look back fondly, feeling like part of our alumni network. And ideally, we keep them connected and continue to pull them back in as advocates for the work we’re doing.

Jena Dunay: I love that. I’ve talked with a lot of chief people officers about the idea that you should be building alumni of your organization, not just ex-employees. When you see it that way, it really changes how you approach work, how you interact with employees, and how you support them during their time with you.

Beyond the mission, which is obviously so powerful, what are some other reasons someone would want to come work for you? Perks are always fun to talk about, but what do you feel makes Veritree and Tentree unique to their DNA?

Derrick Emsley: To me, the most exciting thing about working here goes beyond perks and benefits. Of course, we do a great job of making sure those are at or above market. But the real reason people come here is twofold. First, because they align deeply with the mission. And second, because they know the speed at which they’ll learn new skills and grow here is lightyears faster than at a larger organization, where you’re often kept in a small box.

At a company our size, you’re given a sphere of ownership and influence that’s far bigger than you’d get anywhere else. 

That’s what makes it so rewarding. And the exciting part is that your sphere of influence can keep expanding if you’re the kind of person who’s eager to take on more, learn, and raise your hand to say, ‘I’ll do it.’ If that’s the energy you want to bring to your career, then this is the right place for you. The ideal fit is someone who aligns with our mission and embraces the opportunity to grow their skills and their impact. 

Jena Dunay: Yeah, I can relate to that personally in my career. I worked for a couple of big organizations, and I couldn’t do what you’re talking about. I didn’t feel like I was growing, I didn’t feel like I was learning, and I didn’t have that broader sphere of influence. For me and my personality type, I really needed that.

So, I think when people are going through the job application process, it’s important to ask: what type of person am I? Am I someone who wants that ownership, who wants to be growing? Or am I someone who just wants to come in, do my work, peace out, and focus on things outside of the office? Or maybe I’m someone who wants to deep dive into a specific area, build my skillset, and see that as my career path. It’s a different type of person, and it sounds like that’s who you attract.

Derrick Emsley: Well, and it's the type of person that frankly often tends to be attracted to this stage of business. I'll give you an example. My COO at Tentree right now joined as 12th or 13th team member. He came to us from Lululemon and was on an incredible career trajectory there. He'd kind of like gone from entry level up to manager and was continuing to progress. We had an opportunity for him to, what probably many would have looked at as sort of a lateral move. Say, you're a manager here, you're now a manager at Tentree but your sphere of influence at Tentree is quite a bit larger.

What we often see is that if somebody’s first reaction is, “That title’s not right for me,” that’s usually a quick indication that the focus area they care about might not be the right fit for our business. What happened in this case was he came in and took over a small area within our business. Honestly, he was our first manager, which, as an employer and company owner, was already a stretch for me. But he kept taking on more and more, taking things off my plate, moving from manager of this area to director of this area, and eventually, he now effectively leads the operations of the entire business.

Jena Dunay: I love that! And you can do that at organizations, smaller organizations that you just can't have that same scope at a larger organization. You've been talking a little bit and alluding to this, that you guys are in a growth season, especially I think with Veritree right now. Tell me, how do you look at growing your organization and keeping culture intact? Like that's a hard thing I think for organizations to balance as you bring more people on. How do you look at growth at your organization and keeping culture?

Derrick Emsley: It’s not a “set it and forget it” type thing. We’ve experienced this at different times. To give you an example, I often talk about how, as founders, we go through three phases of business building: inception, growth, and scale. Each stage requires a very different type of founder, or energy from a founder to understand how to evolve and change what you’re doing. I’m the CEO and co-founder of both these companies, and I like to think I’ve probably had, like, ten different careers over the last 15 years in that role.

The culture needed at each stage is different, too. I can compare and contrast Tentree and Veritree here. Tentree, for example, has been around for 12 or 13 years, give or take, and it went through the inception phase, where it was purely a “run through walls” type of environment. Every day you show up and think, “What’s gonna happen?”

Derrick Emsley: But it’s just the North Star, and you continue taking steps toward it. Then you get into growth, which is: okay, I think we have something here. How do we take it from a million to ten, or ten to fifty, and continue bringing in the right pieces? It’s still the energy of a small company: the growth mentality, the ability to operate without a lot of structure and process.

Then you get into scaling, which is: okay, now we’re going from 50 to 100 million, how do we get to a billion? That’s really where process, systems, and building a culture with a clear approach come in. It’s about scaling not just from one person, but ten, fifteen, twenty more.

At Tentree, we probably moved into the growth or scale phase a little too early. We were trying to implement processes too quickly when we still needed to be living in the growth phase. Veritree is very much still in that “run through walls” growth phase, building amid ambiguity while the market evolves.

For me, culture evolves and changes. One of the most important things is having a North Star that everyone can align on and believe in, along with foundational values that everyone understands. Those values collectively act as scaffolding to help us reach our goals but within that, there needs to be flexibility, and the team and culture must be built around that.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, for sure! So, if someone is listening to this and thinking, “This is really cool, I like what they’re doing, super fascinating.” Tell me, what does growth look like for your organization over the next 12 months? What types of roles will you be hiring for? Walk me through that.

Derrick Emsley: So, at Veritree, we probably have five to ten different roles posted right now. The team has likely doubled in size over the last 12 to 18 months. I wouldn’t say we’re trying to double again. Growing too fast is something I try to avoid. But we are hiring quite a bit. For Veritree, that includes a lot of engineers and forestry experts. We’re also continuing to build a high-performance sales and marketing revenue engine within the business, so we’re hiring across the board in a variety of roles.

For Tentree, the focus is a bit different. The business continues to grow, but it’s not necessarily about expanding our product assortment. We already have a strong lineup. The focus is on expanding distribution and increasing brand awareness. We’ll likely be adding roles that support that, including channel-specific roles like digital performance, e-commerce, marketing, and brand with some additional areas in the supply chain side of things likely to come into.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, I love that! The question I often get from applicants is how do I make sure my resume gets seen? I feel like I send a resume in and then it's just like the abyss. Like ask somebody who is a business owner, who is a founder, who has hired lots of people before, “What do you feel like helps people stand out versus not stand out?”

Derrick Emsley: At the end of the day, when we post a developer or software engineer role, we’ll probably get hundreds of applicants within just a few days. And we don’t even allow applicants from certain geographies, otherwise, imagine, we’d be getting thousands.

The tools being developed today are about helping sift through applicants faster, making it easier and quicker to identify: is this person a good fit, or aren’t they? From a systems perspective, if someone’s using an applicant tracking system or HRIS, it’s crucial that resumes and cover letters are very specific to the role. These systems are only getting better at filtering out candidates that aren’t a match.

But that only gets you so far. The applicants who really stand out are the ones who do something different, show they care, and make an effort to be noticed. I recently did a talk at a university, and an applicant who wasn’t even part of the university found out I was speaking, came to the talk, and creatively approached me afterwards. She introduced herself, said she wouldn’t take much of my time, and expressed her excitement about the role. The way she approached me reflected an understanding of the situation. I was surrounded by people, and she navigated it well. Immediately, she was flagged in our system, and we were aware of her.

So yes, make sure your application is correct and tailored for the system. It matters more and more with AI tools but don’t forget the human component: how do you stand out to the person on the other end? Those are the applicants that really catch my attention.

Jena Dunay: Totally. I couldn’t agree more. I kind of make this joke that we’re going to get to a point with these systems and I appreciate them; some of those systems’ chief people officers have actually been on this podcast but at the end of the day, it’s going to be a lot of bots talking to bots. Candidates are using AI tools to make sure their resumes look a certain way.

It really is that human component that gets somebody flagged. I loved what this individual did, went to the talk, was respectful, which I think is key, and immediately said, “This is why I’m here. I’m excited about this role. I think I could bring value.” And you flagged her. I’d really encourage people that, for any role, it’s about how you zig while everybody else is zagging. If everyone is submitting the same resume, how do you stand out? It’s about getting noticed not hacking the system but being human. I love that you reconfirmed that for us.

Derrick Emsley: Yeah, and I think it’s easy to lose that human perspective, and to not recognize the situation in the moment. In a lot of cases, that exact same day, she stood out to me, while others approached me in ways that I would never consider hiring because of how they did it. You have to recognize the position the person is in that you hope to meet with.

I had someone come up and say, “Hey Derrick, I’m really excited about this role. Where’s your favorite place for dinner? I want to take you out.” And I was like, first off, I don’t know you, and secondly, you have to recognize that when someone’s in a position like mine, the last thing I’m going to do is… get caught off guard or have someone try to shoehorn themselves in.

Jena Dunay: Your time is so limited. Yeah, totally, couldn’t agree more. This has been awesome. It’s been really helpful to hear about your organizations, what you’re doing. So, if this sounds interesting to anyone, not just as an employer standpoint, but also what the brand is up to Tentree, Veritree, we’ll put the websites in the show notes. Derrick, I’d love to hear from you: what are the best ways for people to get connected with you respectfully? And how can they find out more about careers and opportunities at your organizations?

Derrick Emsley: Yeah, both businesses have career pages: Tentree.com and Veritree.com. Those are the best places to keep an eye on because new opportunities come up every month. The other piece I’d say is LinkedIn. It’s probably the easiest and clearest way to connect. To stand out, make your outreach unique and specific, like, “I heard you on X,” rather than just, “I’d love to chat,” which gets lost among 100 others in the LinkedIn inbox.

Jena Dunay: Exactly! Awesome, Derrick. Thank you so much for joining us on Culture Uncovered and letting us learn more about Veritree, Tentree, and the mission you guys have. Wishing you all the best of luck, and we hope to see you next week on another episode of Culture Uncovered.