Gratitude for Our Legacy Brands
By Monica Lenches and Claudia Rucker
We started interviewing socially responsible businesses for our Kinder World of Commerce article back in April of 2021. Ever since we have endearingly referred to these special businesses as “kinder brands”. But as we’ve come to know the people and the visions behind these brands, we realized that while “kinder brands” sound sweet and catchy, it doesn’t come close to telling the whole story.
The visionaries of these companies/organizations have built or grown their businesses/non-profits with a purpose and intent that extends well beyond personal gain. Each of them is focused on creating a benefit that outlives them. To many this would be considered “leaving a legacy”. With this deeper understanding and in honor of their profound commitment to using their businesses as a vehicle for good, we are now referring to these impact businesses more appropriately as Legacy Brands.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we want to extend our gratitude to these Legacy Brands for stretching beyond the norm of ordinary business to use their businesses as platforms for bringing about social and environmental change both here and/or around the world. This year we interviewed six new businesses that we feel embody the spirit of A Kinder World of Commerce:
Fielding University: A higher educational institution that values the power of a graduate education as a vehicle for positive social change.
Values: Academic Excellence / Community / Diversity / Learner-centered Education / Social Justice / Transformational Learning
Be the Market: A digital marketing company that helps thought leaders and organizations doing good work make a greater impact by reaching a wider audience.
Values: We are curious / We are always learning / We are data-obsessed / We commit to a corporate digital responsibility
Santa Barbara Pelvic Health: An integrative physical therapy practice specializing in pelvic health, post-partum healing and education.
Values: Trust / Psychological Safety / Excellence in Care / Patient-First
Santa Barbara Foundation: A high impact non-profit that demonstrates empathy and inclusivity in prioritizing the basic human needs of our most vulnerable.
Values: We are accountable in all that we do / We engage the community, and each other, to strive to learn continuously / We are innovative in how we seek solutions and support our communities to thrive / We cultivate an environment of inclusion, belonging, knowledge, understanding and well-being / We are a respectful community
Deckers: A global impact company with heart and soul that embraces Corporate Social Responsibility at its core.
Values: Come As You Are / Better Together / Commit to Create / Own It / Do Good and Do Great
Jaya House, Cambodia: A socially responsible hotel dedicated to using their resources to heal, uplift and empower their local community and model “plastic-free” commerce.
Values: Respect / Social responsibility / Environmental Protection / Our People, Our Family
A Kinder World of Commerce continues to be an inspiring journey for Claudia and me, and we are very excited about the companies we will be introducing you to next year. We hope you’ve had a chance to interact with some of this year’s legacy brands throughout the year. If not, there’s always 2024!
In the meantime, we hope this Thanksgiving season brings you reasons to be grateful, and we wish you and your families a harvest of blessings, the gift of good health, and opportunities to connect with those you love.
In loving kindness and gratitude,