Who’s Our “Socially Responsible Business” of the Month?
An interview with Eric Cardenas, co-founder/COO of LOACOM
My first encounter with LOACOM was on the radio while driving home last year. I immediately thought of Claudia who was in the process of rebranding her company as a socially responsible business. As I expected, she jumped at the opportunity and reached out directly to the owner/founder, Eric Cardenas, without even an introduction. As they got to know each other it became abundantly clear that his worldview was aligned with ours. So when we started making a list of socially responsible businesses to interview for our Kinder World of Commerce column, LOACOM was at the top of our list!
Then to bring this full circle, Claudia recently introduced me to Eric, and from the moment I saw him, I knew I would be having another one of those kinder coffee encounters…and I did! The founders of LOACOM are true visionaries on a mission to create a better world by implementing kinder business practices that honor people and the planet.
ML/CR: What inspired you to start a socially responsible business?
EC: LOACOM is a mission-oriented marketing agency that helps forward-thinking brands tell their stories, reach their audiences, and build their movements. Corporate social responsibility is in our DNA, so starting a company with this ethos in mind was the default — we didn’t consider other models. As the saying goes, “there is no business on a dead planet,” so we’re very intentional about our work and its impact on people and planet. Thankfully, it feels like more and more businesses are moving in this same direction.
ML/CR: What are your values, and how do you operationalize them?
EC: We have 10 core values that guide our everyday operations, including to give back, honor the feminine, be grateful, and work towards regeneration. Fundamentally, our values guide everything we do as a business, including who and how we hire. Employees are at the root of everything we do, so making sure that our team aligns with and represents our values is the first way we operationalize them.
But to more of the nuts and bolts: we’re a certified B Corporation, meaning we meet a set of rigorous standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
We’re a 1% for the Planet business member, meaning we give at least 1% of annual revenue to conservation nonprofits. We’ve established employee giving programs for conservation and racial justice. We’re about to launch into an internal 6-month training process on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’re heavily involved in community-building, sponsoring, and supporting causes that we believe in.
Operationalizing our values manifests internally and externally in the way we treat our co-workers and colleagues, our clients/partners, and our community.
ML/CR: What is the difference between the traditional “for profit only” business model that has driven American business for over 200 years and the type of company you are running?
EC: Since the industrial revolution, the role of business has traditionally been to make as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time.
It’s a very extractive model which has resulted in habitat destruction, a global loss of biodiversity, water pollution and scarcity, food insecurity, and fragmented communities — to name just a few long term impacts. These negative impacts were never the intention, but they have been the result of our economic model. Under this model, untold trillions of dollars have been made by a relative few, while the greater majority — and the planet — are suffering the consequences.
We know now what our predecessors didn’t — that there is a better way. We know that we can be profitable, even in a community like Santa Barbara where the cost of living is so high, while ensuring that our daily interactions take care of our people, maintain the smallest environmental footprint possible, and regenerate ecosystems and communities at every turn. That’s the key difference — using business as a force for good instead of one that causes additional harm. We have too much knowledge and too many tools to run a business any other way.
ML/CR: What type of businesses would best resonate with and benefit from your services?
EC: Our clients run the gamut, from skincare companies to blockchain techies to habitat restoration organizations and beyond. As storytellers and movement-builders, we work with these partners to shine a light on their products, services, and missions.
So whether we’re dealing with a startup, a philanthropic foundation, or a government agency, we look to get to the source of the good they want to bring to the world, and then develop a communication plan that broadcasts that story for all to hear. We do all the stuff that other marketing agencies might do — brand development, websites, social media, etc. — but always ask ourselves how a given product or service is creating a better world.
ML/CR: I know that obtaining B-Corp status is a daunting task and requires a tremendous commitment of time. Can you share with us what motivated you to invest in this certification process and the ways in which it will create “a better world”?
EC: The process of becoming a certified B Corp was pretty intense. To get certified, a company needs to take what is known as the ‘B-Impact Assessment,’ an in depth analysis covering five areas of a business’s operations including Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. If you hit a certain threshold on the assessment, you may then take the next steps towards certification. They really look under the hood of the car to see what’s going on. Even as a small company, the process took us over six months and we were finally certified in 2019.
Companies must be recertified every three years (certification by nonprofit, B Lab), which means that we’re about to go through the process again. The cool thing about the process is that not only can it highlight areas where we’re doing well, but also areas that we could improve upon. We’ve learned a lot and are always adjusting to ensure that we’re doing the best we can.
At the end of the day, we knew that by becoming a B Corp, we would be joining a group of over 4,000 companies across the globe equally committed to a vision of a healthy, equitable, and vibrant future for all. And that’s exciting — that makes it worth it, knowing that there are like-minded CEOs and business leaders willing to use their brand as a driver of positive change in a critical time on planet earth.
Monica & Claudia
Eric Cardenas is co-founder and COO of LOACOM. To learn more about their mission and better world business strategies, visit their beautiful and inspiring website at www.loacom.com. Eric can also be reached at 805.886.0355 or by email at [email protected]