Last night I watched something on Netflix that made my heart ache and I had started writing this post in my head before it hit the pillow last night.

Before you launch anything this season, go watch 'BUY NOW' on Netflix.

It's not one of those feel-good Hallmark movies of the season, but it's an important one. It shows the power of marketing, our buying habits, and how numb we've become to consuming fast fashion.

The Numbers That Make You Stop and Think

Did you know this?

• The Gap creates 12,000 NEW products per month

• H&M creates 25,000

• Zara creates 36,000

• Shein creates 1,300,000 NEW styles EVERY month

And in order to sell more, you must produce more. But where does all of this stuff go?

Here are some more numbers:

• 2.5 million shoes are made per hour

• 68,000 phones are produced every hour and 13 million phones are thrown out every day

• 190,000 garments are produced each minute

• 12 tons of plastic are produced each second (that's over 25,000 pounds)

Production has surpassed need. The world can’t metabolize the excess at this rate.

What is Planned Obsolescence?

On January 15th, 1925, the worlds light bulb producers agreed to intentionally reduce every bulb lifespan from 2,500 to 500 hours of light.

Why? Planned obsolescence. Intentional breakage. Planned waste. Profit over longevity.

Think about it today:

• Clothes that don’t last a few washes

• Printers that fail while full of ink

• Phones designed for replacement, not repair

• Trends engineered to spike and expire

Companies aren't rewarded for lasting value. They're focused on the launch.

And as someone who loves helping businesses launch, I refuse to align with launches that create waste by design.

A Story That Still Hurts My Heart Years Later

When I was a teenager, I worked for a retail store. It was just after the holiday season and we were bagging sweaters that didn't sell. My naive heart and mind thought we were bagging them to donate to a shelter.

But after a conversation with my manager, she said we were bagging them for the dumpster!

I was genuinely shocked. These were perfectly good sweaters...absolutely nothing wrong with them. And to make it worse, we were asked to destroy them before bagging them, so they were unusable.

I could feel the tears well up in my throat. I took the scissors handed to me from my manager and agreed to bagging the clothes in the back room, but there was no way I was going to cut anything.

Sitting in the back, feeling like a criminal by not doing what my manager said, I refused to cut the clothes. I started making a plan: I would hide the bags by the dumpster, come back with my car, and bring them to a local shelter.

That night in the dark, at 16 years old, I walked to the dumpster with 3 large clear garbage bags of perfectly good sweaters. I was already sweating, thinking about what I was about to do, knowing I wasn't allowed (type-A rule follower that I was).

When I got to the dumpster by the parking lot, I found the perfect spot. I could tuck the bags underneath the lip of the lid and come back for them after my shift was done in an hour, then drive them to the local shelter the next day.

But just as I was tucking the second bag up, I was approached by another employee from another store who said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. They have cameras on the bins so that employees don't do what you're doing. They'll charge you with stealing and you'll lose your job and have a record."

Once again, I could feel the tears well up in my throat.

How did this happen? And what do we do now?

That night I threw the perfectly good sweaters in the bin, heartbroken and disappointed in myself that I was too afraid to stand up for what was right. Later that week, I quit. I couldn't work for a company creating such waste without thinking about the impact of it.

And that's ONE store, in one small town.

In 'Buy Now' it shares that 5 billion pounds of waste is destroyed before it's even used in the US alone.

How did this happen? And what do we do now?

We need to redefine success. If we continue to define success as "more,", just like the film says, we are in trouble.

What This Means as A Consumer 

You don’t need to stop buying. You need to stop buying numb and start buying like someone who cares where things end up, because someone always cleans up after consumption, and it shouldn’t be the planet.

6 grounded ways to do that starting today:

1. Use the 24-hour rule - Add to cart. Walk away. Revisit tomorrow. If it’s still a yes, buy with intention.

2. Borrow, swap, or re-home looks  - Rent outfits for one-wear moments (like our author Carly Ottaway did for her book launch party), join clothing swaps, or re-home unused fashion.

3. Repair before replacing - One zipper, seam, or tailor fix beats a replacement and a landfill receipt.

4. Gift memories - Choose experiences; ski days, lessons, getaways, classes, museums...moments that create memories not more stuff.

5. Back businesses doing it differently - Support circular solutions, reuse rituals, and slow-batch values.

6. Make re-home part of your rhythm - Monthly reset one area, repair one thing, donate or re-home the rest.

What This Means for Business Owners

As business owners, we don’t just sell products or services; we sell identity, habits, cultural permission, and direction.

So the real question is:

How do you keep selling products without contributing to systematic waste? 

Here are practical solutions you can adopt starting now:

1. Design with a lifecycle plan: Refill programs, trade-ins, repair options, donation partnerships, and initiatives.

2. Remove disposable materials at the source: Avoid plastics and mixed materials that can’t be recycled where alternatives exist.

3. Give your customers a re-home path: Encourage resale, swaps, or returns when something has reached the end of its life.

4. Use “early decision bonuses,” not over-consumption urgency: Reward impact-based behaviour: donate and get credit, return and get perks, attend an experience and unlock value.

5. Market with transparency: Tell the truth about sourcing, lifecycle, and community impact through stories and behind-the-scenes content.

6. Scale engagement, not inventory: Workshops, masterminds, retreats, strategy intensives, and digital learning scale without “more production.”

7. Print only what’s purchased: Use print-on-demand and local printers to avoid pre-use waste. (Like us, consider tree-planting per sale if aligned with your mission.)

8. Reward the behaviours you want to normalize: Repair, re-home, return, advocate, pay-it-forward, share your story.

9. Create partnerships that support circular responsibility: Local shelters, textile, e-waste recycling partners, repair cafés, and refill stations.

10. Lead with story: People connect to meaning. Share your story so your community knows why you do what you do and stays intentional with you.

If you’re a business owner who wants to sell, but you DON’T sell physical products

First: you’re already doing business in one of the most sustainable models there is. You’re not producing “more stuff” to drive revenue, you’re selling knowledge, support, transformation, strategy, healing, creation, community, focus, outcomes, and experiences.

So the real solution for you isn’t about changing what you sell, but strengthening how you sell and where you sell through, so you can scale with integrity and impact.

Here are practical ideas you can borrow and implement:

1. Shift from hourly invoices to outcome-based offers. Even if you deliver your service 1:1, package it into transformational containers that create long-term results.

Here's some examples from my own business:

• 90-day Deep Transformations like my Transform Container

• 1 year Accelerated Tier 

• 4 or 8-week Launch Accelerators like the ones we host inside Momentum

• One Day Intensives Strategy VIP Days like my Deep Dive & Roadmap Sessions

2. Grow your audience into a community, not a transaction list. Community-driven models create ongoing support without manufacturing more products.

• Inside Monarch Momentum we do this by hosting Weekly Accountability Lounges, Monthly CEO Masterminds, Group Coaching Accelerators, Workshops, Writing Sprints, Expert Sessions, Spotlights, and more! 

3. Educate your market through storytelling instead of urgency marketing

The goal is to sell through awareness, connection, inspiration and transformation. You can do this through content like:

• “Did you know?” posts that reveal trends and empower better decisions sharing “Why this matters now”

• Behind-the-scenes storytelling that shows your ethics and approach

• Live talks or Summits that teach your methodology (like the one I'm speaking at here on December 2nd to help you share your story and 'Market With Heart')

• Interviews, podcasts, or writing that shares your story 

4. Create launch urgency that involves contribution, not consumption

Replace discount timers with bonuses that elevate impact. This way the bonuses become the impact! 

Examples:

• Free clarity or hot seat sessions for attending live or being an action taker

• “Bring a partner or friend with you” perks

• Live Q&A access for joining an experience or container

• Spotlight features 

5. Help your audience celebrate milestones as experience-first

Be part of the shift where memories matter more than materials and experience based success is normalized. 

Experiences like:

• Founders Booking a Retreat for a Milestone Celebration

• Clients who Bring-A-Partner Planning Days

• Vision Planning Sessions 

• Mother-Daughter Business Activation Experiences

• CEO Planning Weekends by the Water

• Strategy Boardroom Days at Monarch HQ 

The Vibe, For You

You’re selling the part of business that lasts:

• impact

• outcomes

• stories

• community

• momentum

• experiences

• connection

• collaboration

• creation

• clarity

• legacy

That kind of selling doesn’t numb the buyer. It wakes them up.

And entrepreneurs who wake others up to better decisions?

They’re not just selling differently, they’re leading differently.

That’s the kind of launch worth making and that's the kind of launching I get lit up about! 

But Amanda, Isn't This Contradictory?

Yes. It is contradictory to tell people to sell more while telling them to produce less.

But the contradiction resolves itself when you zoom out...

I don’t coach people to sell more of just anything.

I coach people to sell more life, intention, community, memory, experience, impact, and transformation. 

That’s different math. Different responsibility. A very different outcome.

And a different legacy, and businesses, I can wholeheartedly stand behind.

Business owners in the Monarch Momentum Community like:

• Eco-Refillery that blends sustainability with eco-luxury
• Ashlee Livingstone who is helping you find clarity and calm through breathwork and 1:1 coaching
• Jodie Heffren who shares her sanctuary in the woods so you can move through fire and ice to get rooted and grounded
• Nadia, founder of NP Promotions and intentional swag, who sources ethically sourced products, prioritizes Canadian-made, and helps businesses brand with heart and intention
• Emily Rand, a home organizer who helps you declutter, organize, and create space for joy in your home by donating wherever she can to support local and shop with intention as a conscious consumer
• Nina, a chef helping you live a healthier life through quality food and products
• Traci Scheepstra, who created a nature based private school and provides a holistic educational journey for elementary-aged children that is curriculum-informed and rooted in experiential learning.

I could go on and on (and do) about the members inside Monarch Momentum and the positive impact and ripple effect their businesses are making.

So yes, I am a launch strategist who coaches on how to sell more and create more impact, AND I will only work with businesses whose heart behind what they are doing comes from making this world, and the people in it, a better place.

On the Publishing Front

One tree produces enough paper for only 62 books. As a publishing house, we choose Print On Demand not as a 'less-than' as Traditional Publishers will have you believe, but as the intelligent solution in an industry built on trees. We choose sustainable practices and partner with local Canadian printers, who work with smaller print runs to avoid waste and disrupt outdated publishing stigma. 

This is responsible business and as industry leaders and citizens of this planet, we are dedicated to disrupting outdated practices and driving real change for a more sustainable future.

So, How Do You Sell More?

You do it with integrity and heart.

The Bottom Line

We don’t need to stop selling.

We need to start selling: Better stories. Better responsibility. Better transformations. Better community ecosystems. Better experiences. 

With intention AND with heart.

Your audience isn’t waiting for another product drop.

They’re waiting for someone willing to become the brand they can stand behind.

That’s the kind of launching I’m here for.

So as we head out on the biggest sales season of the year, do so with heart and intention. 

Do it differently and make your mark a positive one. 

Holiday Gifting Tip for Parents & Grandparents

If you’re gifting kids this season, try gifting like someone is watching your memories instead of cameras watching garbage bins.

Give them 3 asks:

1. Something they WANT

2. Something they NEED

3. Something to DONATE

We do this with our family and our youngest who is 8, asked for this; a math membership (want), new underwear (need), a winter hat to a local shelter (donate).

Keep it simple. Keep it intentional.

That's how you do it, with integrity and heart.