From

Flip

Phones

to

Financial

Power:

What

Brands

Can

Learn

from

Sharesies’

Purpose-Driven

Ascent

From Flip Phones to Financial Power: What Brands Can Learn from Sharesies’ Purpose-Driven Ascent

If you’d told a young Brooke Roberts—wannabe singer, fashion show organiser, and teenage hustler with a flip phone—that she’d one day be co-CEO of one of New Zealand’s most game-changing financial platforms, she probably would’ve danced it out, then asked for your business plan.

Today, Brooke leads Sharesies, a B Corp financial services company on a mission to make investing accessible to everyone—whether you've got $5 or $5 million. In our latest Mucky Middle podcast episode, we dug into what it takes to build a high-growth brand that doesn’t compromise on purpose, people, or playful pink hues. Below are our top learnings for brands (and founders) chasing both impact and scale.

1. Purpose-Driven Brands Win Hearts and Markets

Brooke and her co-founders didn’t start Sharesies to make a quick buck. They started it because they were genuinely pissed off at the financial inequality holding so many people back. Their ethnographic research (yes, actual in-person chats, not Google surveys) revealed three key blockers to investing: people felt priced out, jargoned out, and branded out. So they built a business to tear those barriers down.

“The risk of not doing Sharesies felt greater than doing it,” Brooke says.

Lesson? When your brand starts with a genuine human problem, the mission becomes more than a marketing line—it becomes the engine.

2. Your Brand Is the Product

Sharesies’ distinct identity—bright, approachable, and joyfully unfinancey—wasn’t a later-stage brand refresh. It was integral from day one.

Because if people feel like your product “isn’t for them,” they won’t care how good your UX is.

From tone of voice to visual identity, everything at Sharesies was designed to feel welcoming and safe. But—and here’s the rub—it also had to scream credibility. Because fun alone doesn’t build trust when people’s money is involved.

“We toggled between friendly and fun and credible and trustworthy,” Brooke explained.

If you’re launching a brand today, remember: the line between product design and brand is blurrier than ever. Get both singing in harmony, or expect to get drowned out.

3. Think Like an Educator, Not Just a Marketer

One of Sharesies’ superpowers? Turning complexity into confidence.

Most people didn’t even realise they were “investors” (even those with superannuation), and many thought they needed tens of thousands of dollars or a degree in finance to get started. By focusing on education as part of the brand experience, Sharesies turned financial literacy into a growth engine.

And here’s the kicker: investing became the gateway drug to better money habits in general—budgeting, goal setting, long-term thinking. They weren’t just selling an app. They were unlocking a new mindset.

For brands trying to build trust in complex or misunderstood categories: don’t dumb it down, break it open.

4. B Corp Isn’t Just a Badge—It’s a Framework for Hard Calls

Sharesies became a certified B Corp within a year of launch, embedding stakeholder thinking into their constitution. It’s not window dressing—it’s how they approach every decision, from which investment products to include to whether to work with a “problematic” partner brand.

But being purpose-led doesn’t mean being puritanical.

“Nobody is perfect,” says Brooke. “But if you're improving bit by bit each day, that adds up.”

From Paper Moose to Sharesies, we’ve both felt the tension in “the mucky middle”—where a potential partner is almost aligned, but not quite. That’s where B Corp frameworks, peer conversations and staff-wide input can help. Ethics aren’t black and white. They’re team sports.

5. Leadership Doesn’t Have to Look Like One Guy at the Top

Sharesies’ leadership structure is as unconventional as its brand—a co-CEO model shared by three founders.

Three. CEOs. One company.

In a world obsessed with hero founders and singular visionaries, it sounds like chaos. But Brooke insists it’s a source of speed and clarity, not confusion.

“We have a shared consciousness now. It’s instinctual,” she says.

It works because of three things: shared values, ego-free culture, and brutally honest communication. They argue. They align. And then they move.

For agencies, startups and legacy businesses alike—maybe it’s time to rethink the ‘visionary leader’ trope. Sometimes the best leadership is distributed.

6. Being a Parent Makes You a Better Boss (Eventually)

Running a high-growth startup while raising small kids? It’s not pretty—but Brooke argues it’s made her a more empathetic, pragmatic and present leader. Her secret weapon?

Lowering her expectations.

“It didn’t impact my quality of work—but it massively improved my quality of life.”

She also credits exercise, honest spousal communication (“you’ve gone into a Moose hole again”) and giving herself grace when things feel impossible.

In a founder world that celebrates 5am routines and hustle culture, Brooke’s story is a breath of fresh air.

7. Naïveté Is a Feature, Not a Flaw

Brooke’s final advice? Just start.

“The worst that can happen is they don’t write back.”

Most people overestimate the risk of reaching out—and underestimate the generosity of those who’ve been through it before. The Sharesies team cold-emailed experts, asked dumb questions, and built a network of supporters simply by being brave enough to ask.

It’s not naivety. It’s courage disguised as curiosity.

What Can We Learn?

If you’re building a brand in 2025, this conversation is your cheat sheet:

• Make your brand radically accessible.
• Don’t bolt on purpose—bake it in.
• Educate, don’t oversimplify.
• Rethink what leadership can look like.
• Your values will be tested. Plan for it.
• Ignore the rules about who you can build with.

Whether you’re raising a business, a baby or a brand—sometimes the only way forward is to care deeply, ask boldly, and back yourself.

Want to build a purpose-led brand that scales?
At Paper Moose, we help companies like Sharesies bring bold ideas to life through strategy, storytelling, and behaviour-changing creativity. Let’s talk.