An unprecedented announcement was made yesterday that Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his family have arranged for all Patagonia profits to go towards protecting the planet, effective immediately.
While this act alone will not solve the climate crises, it is a big deal — at least for me.
As someone who stepped away from the corporate business world last year, burnt out and ready for a new direction, I welcomed the warmth and healing this bit of news brought to my soul. It gave me hope that pursuit of the good and the ethical are possible for large, for-profit companies.
Based on my corporate experience, I offer three reflections today:
- Contributing 10+ years of marketing expertise for standard for-profit companies made it clear that there was no real winning path for me. No matter how much growth our teams delivered, it was never enough. Here’s the thing: In a finite world, there is no such thing as infinite growth. When we lean into this truth, there are new and beautiful ways to look at things.
- My formal business school education hammered in the point that the priority of a business is to maximize shareholder value — but is this really a rule? Based on some research done earlier this year, I found that maximizing shareholder value is not a business requirement, yet it’s the path most pursued. Kudos to Mr. Chouinard, his family, and team for imagining a new path forward.
- I reflect upon the importance of circularity. Circular patterns are everywhere in the natural world, like ripples in water, the moon, orbits, and cycles of the seasons. Patagonia recognizes the extraction on Earth to produce their products. While there is so more work to do, by making Earth their only shareholder, the company finds a way to return resources back to the source — our Earth — in order to keep the cycle going.
Deep in our souls and in our bones, we find a sense of imbalance within the land, water, and air that nourish us. It will take all of us to find conviction to offer our unique gifts — however large or small, when and however we’re called upon to — to bring back balance.
