Meet Stan Stalnaker of Hub Culture

Hub Culture founder Stan Stalnaker is running circles around traditional business. While many companies are frantically trying to work out how to fit the digital communications revolution into their traditional business structure, Stan is moving fluidly from the digital space to the physical space and back again.

Hub Culture has evolved from an online network to real physical shared workspaces in cities around the world, where you can work, have meetings, host events and generally tap into an amazing network of innovators and entrepreneurs. Through Hub Culture pavilions, Stalnaker aims to create a conscientious collaborative work environment that attracts a wide range of traditional, ethical and green business.

Mixing up these industry players, he hopes, will bring ethical and environmental awareness to big businesses and powerful business contacts to the small starts up. The premise of Hub Culture is to bypass the linear business model of monetary transactions and go for a circular model of sharing and building worth value. So how did Stan Stalnaker become a Change Maker?

How did you get into this line of work?

Hub Culture came from a book of the same title that was published in 2002, a study on the social impact of globalization. During that time, I was with Time Warner running the international marketing for the FORTUNE Group, which provided me a global perspective on a number of issues and interaction with many leaders in the business world. As a social network, Hub evolved very organically and slowly over time, creating a solid foundation for our recent moves into the workplace and sustainability sectors.

When did the green bug strike?

I'm not so sure the"green bug struck" as much as it slowly "wormed its way in." Much of my perspective is informed by extensive global travel, so I have had the opportunity to see first hand the closed-loop system that is our planet. From Brazil to Indonesia, the Gobi desert to Antarctica, human impact on the environment is obvious to anyone with two eyes. What is not as obvious is how interconnected our planet is, and it still takes some wide eyes to see that we are running out of resources and habitats concurrently, everywhere.

Who is your green hero?

I am very impressed by Jared Diamond, who wrote the 2005 book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail. Jared's writing creates an economic value case for sustainability that is hard to ignore, and clearly outlines not just the consequences, but psychology behind, failure to act now.

What is your ultimate green goal?

Our green goal would be to help reduce carbon emissions from commuting and dispersed working, by creating a network of Pavilions that encourage lower carbon footprints as they boost local development and interaction. If we can do all that while enhancing our design and aesthetic appeal, even better.

What is your motivation?

The motivation is very simple: to illuminate, integrate and elevate. Our mission is to elevate collective consciousness among our network, and everything we do has that motivation in mind at its core. Sustainability and ecological awareness are part of this enhanced, expanded consciousness. In fact, they are so critical we would have to be wearing blinders not to have this awareness as a core intention of the company.

What is most important to you, ecologically speaking? Design without compromise. We know our network is extremely demanding and fickle—the most connected and luxurious people on the planet. We also know they are seeking a better world and have an eye toward social justice, environmental values and conservation. Finding a way to marry all these values with the practicalities of style and financial efficiency is very important to us.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

It is relatively simple to choose pathways that lead toward sustainability, but much more difficult to be radically sustainable.

What is the most rewarding?

The sense of community and possibility developing in the Pavilions is very encouraging. The culture is moving and shaping itself as it grows, and values of respect, engagement and innovation are sprouting like flowers in a summer field. Knowing that we have helped make some rain to encourage this is great.

Of the people you have worked with, who impresses you most?

There are so many! I think Marvin Odum at Shell is doing some good work moving large corporations toward institutional ecology. Carl Hodges at the Seawater Foundation is amazing. People like Alan Saltzman, Bill Gross and Vinod Khosla out in Silicon Valley are all funding massive green infrastructure projects that will alter society—and create green jobs in the process.

What green thing do you do everyday?

Little refusals. I have a real thing about accepting any extra packaging or bagging when shopping. Whenever possible, I refuse. The other day I was in a shop in France and had to literally push the guy off me, for a simple shirt. Often, there's no need for any bag. Think of the fish that ends up eating bits of plastic, or the tree that falls to make more paper. Just carry it!

What do you wish you could do?

I hope we can change the rules of the office by fractionalizing the very idea of office work. In our vision, someday people will simply walk to work at their Hub—some days they'll go to the office, others they will work at home. But I?d love to have a Hub in every neighborhood!

What is your biggest eco-sin?

Air travel. Let's not dwell. Offsets help, but I travel a lot.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

The haters. Some people still don't see the urgency

What is your best green advice?

Jim Collins, a famous business strategist says, "Greatness is cumulative." What he means is that the little things add up over time, and one is never instantly great. It takes time, and that kind of recognition only comes from a lot of small, seemingly invisible actions. "Greenness is cumulative."