Katie Gamble

About Katie

Katie Gamble is the founder and CEO of Nature Bee. What started as a business school project run out of her parents’ basement has grown into a full-scale sustainability-driven company that produces reusable beeswax food wraps and sells concentrated cleaning tablets alongside other sustainable home goods. Nature Bee is driving positive environmental change with over $5 million in sales and reductions of over 500,000 single-use plastics and 250,000 single-use bottles. Her leadership in sustainability was recognized with multiple awards, and she is a key voice in the conversation about reducing plastic waste. Katie’s products have pushed for eco-conscious practices in the cleaning industry, inspiring consumers and competitors to adopt more sustainable practices. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including BC 30 Under 30, Small Business BC Impact Winner, Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce Emerging Business Person of the Year and Ecopreneur of the Year.

Shared values

“One of the biggest things [I learned at UVic] was how important it is to surround yourself with like-minded individuals and people who are working towards a collective thing. I've taken that with me throughout all that I've done with the company and the people that I surround myself with—that our values are all similar.”

Workplace advocacy

“I was getting a degree in social work before I went to UVic, and my passion is supporting and advocating for people with diverse abilities… When I started [Nature Bee] we were able to support people with disabilities through community donations, but then I was also able to hire on people who had disabilities and support them in having meaningful work that they enjoyed and a place that they felt safe in. And now I've advocated for other companies to do the same because it's brought such value to us. The mesh has been so wonderful. I hope more companies do that.”

Reading the room

“Emotional intelligence is something we don't talk about a lot. When people have that, it's clear, and they can understand connection and why it's so important. It’s the way to read a room and talk with people. It helps you get through a lot of different situations.”

Start and see where it goes

“There’s never going be a right time to do something. It's never the perfect moment… You just have to start. You don't have to know everything, and you have to learn as you go and take each failure and use that as a learning opportunity to advance into the future. Trust yourself, trust your ideas, just start and then see where it goes.”

One small change

“My mom always used containers instead of a lot of plastic wrap… But when I really started to see the impact and understand from the beeswax wraps what could happen, it became a full passion of mine. I integrated it into everything I do. Our small change has a major impact. I'm not perfect in sustainability, and I don't expect anybody else to be, but I hope that you can change those small habits to make that big impact... You don't have to change your whole world to make an impact.”