The First Vivavi Blog - II

Continuing from last week, I'm adding more of the blog entries I wrote in 2004 as Vivavi was getting off the ground. The intention has always been to be as open and transparent as a company as possible. Part of what demonstrates our company's commitment to sustainability is that we own up to our actions and invite others to come in, snoop around and verify that our social and environmental claims are indeed real. We also own up to the areas where we can be doing better. Perfection is an ideal. We prefer to focus squarely on reality and continually improve.

[Friday, June 11, 2004]
I’ve been away for a while, not physically but emotionally and mentally. This business has been fascinating in the insight it affords me into the challenges of selling environmentally conscious products and in the insights it affords me into myself. We’ve had some great things happen since our website went live. We were invited out to the Lohas Conference in Los Angeles. We were reviewed in the Washington Post. We’ve had our billboard bags snatched up by magazine editors and journalists who love the way they look and love the story behind them. We’re getting smarter as a company about how better to communicate with customers. In short, we’re making progress.

It’s challenging though. When I first started this blog I wrote that I wanted to provide an account of what it’s like to grow a business in the eco-design economy. I haven’t been posting the last few weeks because, in truth, I’ve been dejected. We hit a wall where the momentum we were generating came to a halt. That’s not particularly fun news to report. But I think it’s important to own up to it.

And that’s where the personal learning about myself comes into play. I spent the last year and a half living and breathing Vivavi. I didn’t let up and I didn’t relax because I was hell bent on getting this website off the ground. Our mission coursed through my veins and I felt it was vitally important that Vivavi or something like it come into existence. Those of you who have been following this blog probably know what I mean. I think it absolutely essential for green products to be stylish and design-focused if they’re to be adopted by a wider audience. And I think that business plays an absolutely vital role in solving environmental challenges. Until business takes responsibility for its own actions, which really means that until business sees that it’s profitable to take responsibility for its own actions, positive environmental change will be incremental.

But after focusing so intently and intensely to move Vivavi forward, I started to burn out. That’s what the last few weeks has been about I now realize – my pulling back and questioning my work habits, my commitment to Vivavi, and my commitment to my values. After long reflection, reading and writing, I can affirm to myself that my commitment is very much intact since it directly
corresponds with my values about the environment and about society. But I also value fun and I hadn’t been having all that much fun. And I wasn’t too much fun to be around either, so focused and intent was I on moving this venture forward at all costs.

So here we go again. Onto the next phase. And for it, I’m bringing in outside help to determine what steps to take in order to brand our company, generate buzz and operate more efficiently. And while we’re at it, we’ll be cranking the music, cultivating laughter, and taking this thing a little more lightly. When you’re committed to a cause, any cause, that commitment can lead to over-seriousness and brooding. I know it. I’ve been there. The time has come however to release our kung-fu grip, let it ride and see where Vivavi leads. That is, until I start freaking out again.

And if you’ve read this entire entry, thanks.

[Saturday, June 12, 2004]
I want to talk about the ripple effect. I want to discuss what happens when we begin to consistently purchase environmentally and socially conscious products. First, for ourselves we begin to align our lifestyles with our values. We become more authentic, more real. By putting our words about what we believe in into actions we also become more alive.

Second, we begin to foster growth in fledgling industries. Companies making environmentally and socially conscious products begin to grow and prosper. They introduce new product lines and create still more conscious product options for consumers. As these ventures grow, more entrepreneurs and already established companies identify further opportunities and market niches to enter, thereby fostering greater innovation and a flourishing of products that enable us to more easily, comfortably and stylishly live lives of great authenticity.

Third, while all this innovation and creation is underway another phenomenon is occurring; these companies are hiring greater numbers of people in order to manage all the new business they’re receiving and generating. This creates real opportunities for aspiring professionals in finance, marketing, sales, operations, human resources – you name it - to earn substantial private sector incomes while working for causes they believe in. At this stage, the non-profit world is no longer the sole realm for doing work that supports causes we believe in. Instead, through our own consistent purchases of products that are aligned with our values, we create well paying jobs for ourselves producing the things that make the world the place we’d like it to be.

Fourth, we begin to transform our society and our surroundings. We keep all the great stuff that we’ve learned over the last 200 years about industry, fostering innovation through market mechanisms and manufacturing products in abundance in order to raise standards of living to unlimited heights and we eliminate all the harmful stuff that causes damage to ourselves, others and our surroundings. By consistently purchasing environmentally and socially conscious products we allocate our financial resources toward the world that we want to create and away from the world that pisses many of us off. Because we’re now wiser and more experienced than generations before us, we create the world we want to see, one product at a time.

That’s the ripple effect. Is it possible? Yes. Is it plausible? Of course. Will we have it? Guess who decides.

[Tuesday, July 27, 2004]
I just finished a book well worth mentioning. The Shift by John English is a book of hope, optimism and profound understanding of the social, environmental and spiritual crises facing our time. This book came along at the right time for me. One of its principle messages is that consumers have the power to create the world they want to see through their purchases. Conscious consumerism is becoming a bit of a buzz word. I'm often hesitant to use buzz words but in this case conscious consumerism points to something more hopeful, optimistic and transformative than anything else that we as individuals have at our command to affect real social and environmental change.

As I move further into this venture I am experiencing a personal shift. It will have implications for Vivavi, for our message and for our brand positioning. For a long time, I felt that Vivavi would lead with style in our messaging and throw in the social and environmental benefits of our products as a bonus. My sense was that this is how people shop. They first look to see if they like the product's aesthetic and then they weigh other factors when making a purchasing decision. I still think this is true. The only difficulty I have with this is that while it's true it's not good enough. It's not good enough for me and I think our customers deserve better.

The facts are that environmental degradation is underway. It will soon reach a point that will be difficult to recover from. This at least is the near consensus of the world's scientific community. Vivavi provides the options to take the mandatory steps required to reverse the degradation - in style. We are citizens of the freest country in the world. For better or worse, like it or not, the world looks to America to lead. We know that environmental challenges are real. It's time to act. It's time to harness our resolve and our ingenuity and to lead. It's time to move from knowledge into action. That's exactly why Vivavi was created - to facilitate action. We have at our disposal the individual freedom and the economic system to set the world on a sustainable trajectory. Right now. There's no need to wait.

I hesitate to write this for fear of being written off as "just another kooky treehugger." I went to business school. I have an MBA. I understand how quickly businessmen and businesswomen and other professionals stop listening when the environmental movement's message becomes shrill. I've seen it happen. But if being a treehugger means speaking the truth and valuing that which has lasting value and sustains life, then I see little other choice.

There's so much opportunity, so much wealth to be created, so much common sense in shifting our purchases toward environmentally and socially conscious products. This is not an anti-business message. This is an opportunity for businesses that commit to environmental sustainability to thrive. Look at WholeFoods' sale of organic foods. Look at HomeDepot's use of sustainably harvested wood. Look at Patagonia's use of organic cotton. Look at the rising sales figures of hybrid vehicles and the introduction of even more models into the economy. Look at every purchasing opportunity we have to make a difference, to allocate our dollars toward the companies who provide the future we want and the change we want to see. When we do it, when we take the small steps everyday, we create something much bigger than ourselves. We all want that. I believe we have the courage to do it. At Vivavi, we simply want you to be able to do it in style.

-- Josh