Inside Vivobarefoot: Embracing Regeneration in Products and Organization

Joost Minnaar
Written by Joost Minnaar July 01, 2024

What if your workplace was as natural and free-flowing as the movement your shoes support? At Vivobarefoot, the answer lies in radical self-management, autonomy, and regenerative leadership. Best known for its minimalist, sustainable footwear, Vivobarefoot is also breaking ground in organizational design, moving beyond traditional hierarchies to embrace a decentralized, team-driven structure.

This blog post is part of 50+ case studies of self-managing organizations we created for the 2024 inaugural ZeroDX awards. These organizations embody the principles of RenDanHeYi in their work structures:

  • Zero Distance to customer: Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace

  • Autonomy: Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution

  • Shared Rewards: Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success.

Introducing Vivobarefoot

Vivobarefoot is a company dedicated to producing minimalist footwear that promotes natural health, movement, and regenerative principles. In the world of sustainable footwear, Vivobarefoot stands out not only for its innovative products but also for its pioneering approach to organizational structure and culture. Inspired by the principles of living systems, regenerative organizations, autonomy, ownership, and radical transparency, Vivobarefoot has created a dynamic and engaging workplace that allows employees to thrive.

Founded in 2012 by seventh-generation cobblers Galahad and Asher Clark, Vivobarefoot operates on a simple but powerful insight: barefoot footwear supports both human and planetary health. Today, the company has over 150 employees, generates nearly £90 million in revenue, and is structured around self-managed teams, transparency, and regenerative principles—closely aligned with RenDanHeYi philosophy.

Organizational Structure

Vivobarefoot isn’t just about rethinking footwear—it’s about rethinking work itself. The company has built an ecosystem of interconnected teams and partnerships that replace outdated corporate hierarchies with autonomy, flexibility, and continuous evolution.

The Circle-Based Model

Instead of a rigid, top-down management system, Vivobarefoot follows a circle-based model, inspired by sociocracy. These semi-autonomous teams, called circles, focus on different aspects of the business while collaborating to drive innovation. For example, Home Circles are core teams handling product development, marketing, regeneration/sustainability, and customer service. Project Circles are cross-functional teams working on specific initiatives like fair pay (Evolution Council), hybrid working policies, or circular footwear.

Decentralized Leadership & Rotating Roles

Each circle operates independently but aligns with Vivobarefoot’s mission through clear, rotating leadership roles:

  1. Sponsor & Purpose Guardian – Oversees alignment with the mission and manages the budget.
  2. Lead – Guides meetings, communication, and decision-making.
  3. Project Team – Drives execution with specialized skills.
  4. Challengers & Collaborators – Provide critical feedback and ensure cross-functional alignment.

This structure removes unnecessary bureaucracy, encourages employee ownership, and accelerates decision-making—giving those closest to the work the power to lead.

Serving Customers

Vivobarefoot’s relationship with customers extends far beyond selling shoes. The company prioritizes education, sustainability, and direct engagement to build authentic connections.

  • Customer education: Vivobarefoot invests heavily in teaching the benefits of barefoot movement, sustainability, and regenerative health. Customers can access a library of online courses, social media content, and in-store programs.
  • Continuous feedback loops: Customer insights shape product development. The company hosts quarterly ambassador retreats in the Sussex woods to proactively gather input and feedback on their product lines and overall brand direction. They even camp overnight together once a year!
  • Sustainable practices: Vivobarefoot is committed to full transparency in sourcing, manufacturing, and impact measurement. Their VMatrix framework tracks progress toward regenerative goals—with plans to open-source the tool for industry-wide use.

A Culture of Autonomy & Regenerative Leadership

Vivobarefoot’s internal culture ("living barefoot") is characterized by a high degree of adult-adult autonomy and ownership, where everyone is a leader. Employees are encouraged to take initiative and are given the freedom to experiment and innovate within as well as beyond their roles. This culture of taking off their masks, building trust, and fostering empowerment is facilitated by:

  • Decentralized decision-making: Teams make key decisions, reducing bottlenecks and boosting agility.
  • Transparent communication: Regular meetings and open communication channels ensure that everyone is informed and aligned with the company’s goals, and understands why. Weekly all-hands meetings provide updates on key performance indicators and strategic objectives, monthly Barefoot Bulletins give news and updates from across the organizations, and quarterly Field Circles allow anyone to meet with the CEO ("Chief Ecosystem Officer") to discuss anything and give feedback.
  • Continuous learning: The company promotes a culture of continuous improvement through regular training sessions, workshops, and opportunities for professional development. Many of these are done at their Nature Home, in an ancient woodland in Sussex, helping the team understand regenerative wisdom, and how it applies to Vivobarefoot and the way it operates. Employees are encouraged to learn new skills and apply them in their work with a £1,000 annual allowance to use freely to develop their careers, plus another £1,000 for personal growth, reinforcing work-life balance.
  • Coaching program: Vivobarefoot strives to develop a coaching culture, a way of showing up in a mature, supportive, and adult-to-adult manner, modeling in their own way the concept of regenerative leadership. Trained in-house regenerative coaches support employee development beyond work—helping individuals become their best selves.
  • Fair pay and transparent compensation: At Vivobarefoot, salary decisions aren’t dictated by managers. Instead, employees work with their teams to submit pay proposals to the Evolution Council—a cross-functional team with full salary transparency that votes on compensation changes. The council’s decisions are openly communicated to the entire company, reinforcing fairness and accountability.
  • Hybrid work and community connection: In today’s hybrid work world, Vivobarefoot ensures deep connection beyond digital collaboration. The company hosts quarterly nature retreats, bringing together employees, ambassadors, and global partners for strategic alignment (teviewing progress and setting future goals), well-being workshops (sharing natural health insights to help employees live the company’s values), Vivo Connect Festival (a conscious leadership event to align purpose, inspire change, and foster deep relationships).

Inspiring the Future of Work

In a hybrid working world, Vivobarefoot makes sure they bring the whole company together, including staff, ambassadors, and international distributors and partners in nature four times a year to connect as a human-centered community and align on the strategic direction. They also share natural health principles and run workshops to help Vivobarefoot’s employees and wider partners live their mission and values. A conscious Vivo festival they call ‘Vivo Connect’.

Vivobarefoot’s influence extends beyond its own team. Through immersive workshops and retreats for external CEOs and business leaders, the company educates business leaders worldwide on applying regenerative principles in their own organizations. Their innovative practices have been featured in Regenerators, Center for Regenerative Leaders (Denmark), Axa Climate’s Butterfly School (France), and B For God Leaders (Amsterdam), amongst others.

Conclusion

Vivobarefoot is redefining both footwear and the future of work. By embedding self-management, autonomy, and regenerative principles into its organizational design, the company is courageously rejecting outdated corporate norms. Their commitment to decentralized leadership, transparent pay, radical employee empowerment, and sustainable business practices closely mirrors RenDanHeYi’s vision of agile, customer-driven teams.

As Vivobarefoot continues to push boundaries, inspire leaders, and challenge the status quo, it proves that a regenerative business model isn’t just possible—it’s essential for a better, brighter future.

Written by Joost Minnaar
Joost Minnaar
Co-founder Corporate Rebels. My daily focus is on research, writing, and anything else related to making work more fun.
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