Doing Good by Doing Great:
Deckers Brands’ Sustainability Journey
A Conversation between Michelle Apodaca, Brooke Beshai and
Zeba Manki of Deckers Brands and Monica Lenches and Claudia Rucker
I am excited to introduce you to a group of mission-driven women who are leading the charge at Deckers Brands to not just transform commerce as we know it but to model and inspire Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to other companies passionate about using their businesses as a force for good. Deckers‘ commitment to sustainable business practices is evidenced by the dedicated CSR teams they have built to define, demonstrate and measure their impact. They don’t just have one person leading the charge but three!
This month’s interviewees are Michelle Apodaca, Director of Giving, Brooke Beshai, VP of Sustainability and Compliance, and Zeba Manki, Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). Even though I had just met them, interviewing them was like being with friends I had known for years. Their warmth, kindness and passion were infectious.
Deckers is a global company with heart and soul that embraces CSR at its core. Their initiatives can be found across the board positively impacting a comprehensive list of stakeholders from their employees, investors, customers and consumers to local and worldwide communities and the environment.
ML/CR: What are Deckers‘ values, and what are some ways in which your company lives those values on a daily basis?
BB/MA/ZM: At Deckers we strive to positively impact the world by uniting purposeful brands with diverse people driven to succeed and create change. Our five key values (commit to create, come as you are, own it, better together, and do good and do great) help ensure we hold ourselves accountable to deliver on our goals. These values define who we are and serve as the driving force behind how we work together and with our customers, our consumers, our partners, our suppliers, and our communities.
- Come As You Are: We believe the company you build is defined by the company you keep, meaning authentic employees create an authentic company.
- Better Together: We believe in the power of independent spirit, united for a common goal.
- Commit to Create: Curiosity fuels creativity, which in turn, fuels innovation.
- Own It: We set high targets and hit them. And when we don’t, we take accountability and learn from our mistakes and move on.
- Do Good and Do Great: We act with integrity and humility, believing that respect for each other and our communities drives a sustainable business.
A perfect example of how we live our key values of “do good and do great” and “better together” is through our Art of Kindness (AOK) initiative. AOK is a biannual weeklong event where employees come together, to make a difference in the communities in which we work and live. This is our way of showing we are better together as a company and in our communities.
ML/CR: Tell us about your journey to bring your ethics and values to life?
BB/MA/ZM: As a global leader in designing, marketing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel, and accessories, our worldwide reach and impact is significant. We believe consumers are increasingly buying brands that advance sustainable business practices and deliver quality products while striving for minimal environmental impact by employing socially conscious operations.
We looked at our business holistically and identified areas (e.g. materials, waste, water, gender equality, quality education and reduced inequalities, chemistry, climate & clean energy, and human rights) where we can make the biggest impact. Then, looking at the areas we identified, we defined our goals under each to better track our progress – these are our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and they are the guardrails of our program. Finally, in order to prioritize our efforts we identified specific areas for improvement, including relevant targets under each SDG to better track our progress. We recognize that as our business continues to evolve, we must remain agile. As such, we are continually modifying our strategies, adding to our targets, reallocating our resources, and challenging ourselves to make an even greater impact in keeping with our key value of ‘Do Good and Do Great.’
ML/CR: How do you work with your brands to ensure that they are upholding your values?
BB/MA/ZM: On the sustainability side, with our products being the biggest contributor to emissions, we have to focus on our materials, and the only way we can make progress is by working closely with each of our brands. Our brands have targets in place to increase the amount of preferred materials used in their footwear and apparel (as applicable) and we are seeing terrific movement to date. Our brands are aligned with our corporate level strategy and goals, and we work closely with them every day to ensure alignment on not only our sustainability targets but our charitable and DEI efforts as well. For example, our brands are connecting with our Employee Resource Groups who are helping provide perspective and feedback to ensure our product offerings are inclusive. And our brands follow our charitable guidelines of supporting organizations that support the environment, education, social/racial justice, uplifting youth and those underserved in our communities.
ML/CR: What excites you about coming to work every day?
BB/MA/ZM: Our culture and the amazing employees who work around the globe truly make us great and thus make for an exceptional workplace. We are all inspired by our work daily as we work alongside incredibly passionate and talented people in our organization. We offer an environment where our employees can come to work and feel respected and heard. We also continue to accelerate our environmental efforts, harnessing our influence to promote more sustainable business practices not only in our own operations, but among our manufacturing and supply chain partners. Culture and purpose are, to sum it up, what keep us coming back!
ML/CR: As a leader in Corporate Social responsibility, what are you doing to inspire other companies to transform their businesses into vehicles for good?
BB/MA/ZM: We hope that our actions, as outlined on our website’s annual Creating Change Report, continue to inspire others to do great and do good. We recognize that sustainability is a journey, and one that will likely never conclude. Our hope is that our Creating Change Report will show the world how we can continue to serve our communities, maintain an ethical supply chain, and reduce our environmental footprint.
ML/CR: What does the future hold for Deckers, and what’s your vision for its impact in our community and throughout the world?
BB/MA/ZM: We recognize that our program will continue to evolve, and we want to continue challenging ourselves to do more and do better. We strive to continue on our journey by being mindful of our actions, respectful of our planet, and by ensuring our employees and factory workers feel appreciated and empowered to be their true authentic selves. We will continue to drive progress toward our Sustainable Development Goals, align efforts with our science-based targets, pursue preferred materials, and use our platforms to advocate for a more equitable and just society. Our hope is that our continued environmental, social, and governance principles are clear in the actions we are taking. We look forward to continuing our sustainability journey and taking our stakeholders, including our investors, consumers, and customers along on this journey with us.
To learn more about Deckers Brands and their commitment to corporate social responsibility, visit: www.deckers.com. And to learn more about their Art of Kindness Week, AOK, visit: www.deckers.com/culture/community-involvement.