How do You Thank a Kinder Brand?
Claudia and I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on how our Kinder of World of Commerce campaign has evolved over the last two years and to thank our kinder brands for their participation and contribution to our community.
It all started in December of 2020 when Claudia and I were commiserating about all the progressive and environmental programs and policies that had been rolled back during the previous administration. Determined to not fall into despair and apathy, we started dreaming about the kind of world we wanted to live in.
This dreaming led to a vision of businesses choosing to do business radically differently…business wanting to be socially responsible not because the government was telling them they had to, but because they couldn’t imagine doing it any other way. This vision lead us to the creation of our campaign, A Kinder World of Commerce, which is dedicated to educating our community about the importance of not just buying locally but socially responsibly.
Fast forward seventeen months and our Kinder World of Commerce campaign has interviewed 11 local businesses and 2 local non-profits that are committed to doing commerce in a kinder, more socially responsible way.
During this process, we came to refer to these socially responsible businesses as Kinder Brands. Kinder Brands go out of their way to make our community a better place, and they do this in ways that are notably different from traditional businesses.
First, Kinder Brands have a clearly articulated purpose, vision, mission, and values along with highly intentional principles that put those values into action every day. At the core of who they are, they can’t imagine doing anything that would harm their stakeholders or the planet. It’s just not in their DNA. Integrity, kindness and respect are pervasive in their work cultures and everyday lives. They don’t see a separation between how they show up at work and how they behave at home. They aim for congruency in their words and actions both at home and in the workplace.
Second, Kinder Brands believe that they should be accountable for their actions and operations not just to their clients and customers but to their employees, community and the environment. Transparent communication around this accountability is baked into their business models and company culture.
Third, Kinder Brands are focused on the triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profit. Turning a profit with the greatest amount of effort and the least amount of cost is not what motivates them. They believe strongly that treating their employees, community and the environment with dignity, respect and kindness is as important as the profit bottom line.
These Kinder Brands are our heroes, and we are grateful to them for being a part of creating a Kinder World of Commerce in our community. They are genuinely kind and caring people on a mission to do good. Consider getting to know them and allowing yourself to have a kinder experience in all areas of your life. These interviews can be viewed at Community Matters.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said; people will forget what you did; but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
May your holidays be filled with opportunities to express and receive gratitude, love and kindness.
