Soap, Sweat, and the Sky: How Cleancult’s CEO Lives Sustainably—On and Off the Clock
Cleancult offers eco-friendly cleaning products designed to reduce plastic waste through a refillable system.
When Ryan Lupberger isn’t running Cleancult—a $53 million eco cleaning brand backed by Zac Efron, Kevin Hart, and Whitney Cummings—he’s probably riding a motorcycle through Baja or training for his pilot’s license. As part of Fortune’s “The Good Life” series, the 30-year-old CEO shares how he balances scaling a sustainable brand with staying grounded.
Before Cleancult, Lupberger taught English in Nepal and farmed in Chile. It was at the Unreasonable Institute where, he says, it “lit a fire” and showed him business could be a force of positive change. After Babson College, he co-founded Cleancult in 2016. The brand now sells in 8,000+ stores, including Target, Costco, and Amazon.
Sustainability That Goes Beyond Product
Lupberger lives his values. He wears “quality clothes made from natural fibres,” avoids gadgets, and still uses a wallet from a leather shop in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Cleancult got its first investment. He drives an “‘81 Fiat Spider that is just so much fun to drive when it doesn’t break down.”
Work Hard, Ride Far
“Every year, I take a big adventure motorcycle trip to disconnect and reflect,” he says. He’s ridden through Mongolia, Argentina, Chile, Alaska, India—and most recently Baja. He’s also working toward his single-engine pilot license and subscribes to Flying magazine: “It forces you to be present.”
Keep It Simple, Stay Intentional
Lupberger sticks to routines:
Lunch: “Every day, I get the exact same lunch from Naya on 28th.”
Coffee: Black coffee and a pastry from Safta’s.
Card: “I personally use and like the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card.”
Investing: “A small % of my monthly salary set to invest in an S&P 500 index.”
Big win? “Delta Air Lines [stock] during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Big loss? “Two months later, the engine exploded.”
A Watch, A Motto, A Mindset
His daily watch—a vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre—bears the engraving: “For the Unreasonable Man.” The quote, he says, “helps me remember what we’re doing here and why and how our reality can be chosen and created.”
As for celebrating promotions? “I haven’t ever gotten one, so I couldn’t tell you!”
From a scrappy refillable concept born in Puerto Rico to a national brand on the shelves of Target and Costco, Cleancult is redefining what “clean” means–for products, business, and leadership. Lupberger’s lifestyle mirrors the brand he built: low-waste, high-intent, and anything but conventional.
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