
Abbey Pantano on Increasing Impact Through Partnerships
07/17/23 • 43 min
Abbey Pantano is a community architect and the founder of Impact Collab, a digital community for impact businesses based in Sydney / Gadigal Country.
Abbey started her journey into impact business because she wanted to be part of the solution for plastic waste. This led her to start The Raw Straw, a business that sold wheat stem drinking straws. The Raw Straw has been wound up, but Abbey talks candidly about the failures and learnings that led her to discover that social impact entrepreneurs were her people. And that she could help them by creating a community that would allow them to make more impact. So, Impact Collab was born.
In this episode we talk about:
- The importance of community in business building;
- Getting comfortable with failure and how to build up tolerance to failure;
- How partnerships can help you grow faster, more cheaply. Partnerships are 25% less expensive than digital marketing;
- The business case for partnerships;
- Successful partnership case studies.
Interested in joining Impact Collab? Book a call with Abbey
Learn more about the women and businesses Abbey talks about in this episode:
- Anna Sheppard, founder of Bambuddha
- Teresa Romanovsky, founder of Careers for Purpose
- Tiff Ng, founder of The Social Story
- Demi Kotsoris, founder of The Millennial Crisis
- Patricia Kaziro, founder of Impact Business School
Want delicious, beautifully packaged tea that makes an impact? Check out our season partner Tea Bird Tea. You can get 20% off your purchase with the code HUGINAMUG20.
Follow The Purpose Effect on Instagram, or send us an email at [email protected] we'd love hearing from you!
Abbey Pantano is a community architect and the founder of Impact Collab, a digital community for impact businesses based in Sydney / Gadigal Country.
Abbey started her journey into impact business because she wanted to be part of the solution for plastic waste. This led her to start The Raw Straw, a business that sold wheat stem drinking straws. The Raw Straw has been wound up, but Abbey talks candidly about the failures and learnings that led her to discover that social impact entrepreneurs were her people. And that she could help them by creating a community that would allow them to make more impact. So, Impact Collab was born.
In this episode we talk about:
- The importance of community in business building;
- Getting comfortable with failure and how to build up tolerance to failure;
- How partnerships can help you grow faster, more cheaply. Partnerships are 25% less expensive than digital marketing;
- The business case for partnerships;
- Successful partnership case studies.
Interested in joining Impact Collab? Book a call with Abbey
Learn more about the women and businesses Abbey talks about in this episode:
- Anna Sheppard, founder of Bambuddha
- Teresa Romanovsky, founder of Careers for Purpose
- Tiff Ng, founder of The Social Story
- Demi Kotsoris, founder of The Millennial Crisis
- Patricia Kaziro, founder of Impact Business School
Want delicious, beautifully packaged tea that makes an impact? Check out our season partner Tea Bird Tea. You can get 20% off your purchase with the code HUGINAMUG20.
Follow The Purpose Effect on Instagram, or send us an email at [email protected] we'd love hearing from you!
Previous Episode

Belinda Ng on Gen Z and Sustainability
It's no surprise that Gen Z is the generation most engaged with climate issues. However, you might be surprised by the extent to which the climate is shaping the way Gen Z works. 59% of Gen Zs between the ages of 18 and 22 will stay longer with employers who are socially and environmentally responsible. And in Australia, young workers are leaving businesses which are not doing enough to respond to climate change.
In this episode, I'm speaking to recent university graduate, founder of the SustainaPod podcast and sustainable food advocate Belinda Ng about the ways in which climate change has shaped her career goals. In this episode, we talk about:
- Eco Anxiety and what made her want sustainability to be part of her career trajectory;
- Her sustainable food advocacy;
- The goals behind the SustainaPod podcast;
- What Gen Z expect from brands;
- Dealing with burnout and long Covid;
- How partnerships are key to shaping conversations.
Follow and listen to Sustainapod
Support Act4Food Act4 Change
Connect with Belinda
Want delicious, beautifully packaged tea that makes an impact? Check out our season partner Tea Bird Tea. You can get 20% off your purchase with the code HUGINAMUG20.
Follow The Purpose Effect on Instagram, or send us an email at [email protected] we'd love hearing from you!
Next Episode

Helen Neal on Nailing Sustainability Communications
How we communicate on sustainability has never been more important than right now. But crafting the right message so that you can bring your consumers, your team and your industry along for the ride is crucial to making real change.
In this episode, we're talking to Helen Neal, the founder of HN Communications; an award winning sustainability communications agency. Helen is also the founder of Leaders Live, an events business that helps deliver global events on sustainability and decarbonisation.
In this episode, we talk about:
- What great speakers have in common (6:05)
- The challenges of coming back into the corporate workplace after having children (11:54)
- Why businesses need to be willing to share the good and the bad in their sustainability journeys (18:26)
- The DNA of businesses that create impact and why NGOs are fantastic at nailing a purpose-led campaign (23:54)
- How senior leadership teams should be communicating on sustainability (36:14)
- What good communications look like (41:24)
Want delicious, beautifully packaged tea that makes an impact? Check out our season partner Tea Bird Tea. You can get 20% off your purchase with the code HUGINAMUG20.
Follow The Purpose Effect on Instagram, or send us an email at [email protected] we'd love hearing from you!
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