Hijacked by TOMS

I was going to feature a different company, but then this little temptation showed up in my email:

TOMS Shoes, Inc. (2014). Untitled [Photo]. Retrieved March 26, 2014 from promotional email.

Ohh, TOMS... I’m a sucker for shoes, so it was all over.

For those unfamiliar with them, TOMS sells stylish shoes and sunglasses. But what is extraordinary about this company is what happens after you buy a pair.

TOMS Shoes, Inc. (Image owner). [Untitled photo of Blake Mycoskie with unnamed children].
Retrieved March 26, 2014 from http://www.toms.com/blakes-bio/l

TOMS operates from the One for One business model dreamed up by Founder and Chief Shoe Giver, Blake Mycoskie.

This means that TOMS gives a pair of shoes to a child in an impoverished area for every pair sold to their customers. 

TOMS (Owner). [Untitled photo collage of shoes].
Retrieved March 26, 2014 from http://www.toms.com/corporate-info/l

And for every single pair of sunglasses sold, TOMS provides prescription glasses or eye surgery.

TOMS Shoes, Inc. (Owner). [Untitled photo collage with unnamed people].
Retrieved March 26, 2014 from http://www.toms.com/corporate-info/l

With their customers, TOMS has given over 10 million shoes to children in over 60 countries and restored the eyesight of over 150,000 people in 10 different countries.

Recently, TOMS began selling premium, fair trade coffee. The added perk? Every bag of coffee sold provides a week’s worth of clean water to a person in need.

TOMS Shoes, Inc. (Owner). [Untitled photo of coffee bags]. 
Retrieved March 26, 2014 from http://www.toms.com/corporate-info/l

TOMS customers are providing sustainable water systems to vulnerable communities while stumbling bleary-eyed towards their morning cup of coffee. Drink coffee, save the world. I like it.

Now back those summer sandals I need: I get to help a kid around the world just by buying shoes. It almost feels like a superpower.

What is Business Evolving?

While I grew up, both of my parents worked with bootstrapped nonprofits. I was proud of the work they did, but also keenly aware of the sacrifices they made to do that work. My dad had a successful corporate career, but he had to leave behind the company he cofounded to pursue his life's call.

At that time it was a choice:

• Profit or non-profit?
• Pursue the practical or passion?
• Make a living or make the world better?

If you wanted to change the world, you worked for a charity:

If you wanted to make a living, you worked for the business sector:

Everything was in its own separate sphere operating with its own set of rules.

Charities existed on donations, dependent on whatever people had left over after paying their own bills. With limited money coming in, they had to leverage as much volunteer work as possible to maximize money going to their cause.

And business took up an adversarial stance towards society. A myth circulated that corporations were legally required to maximize profits above all else. No one was supposed to care how business effected things outside of itself.

But a new generation of business is emerging.

• Businesses that become the solution to problems.
• Businesses that are a self-sustaining way to fund charity work.
• Businesses that function as a part of their communities.
• Businesses that let you make a living while making the world a better place.

This blog exists to showcase companies that are changing the way we do business. It’s for people who don’t want to choose between their career and their conscience. It’s to inspire business owners – current or future – who want to become rich by enriching their communities.

Here’s to dreaming bigger.

To expecting more.

To creating the world we want.