Fearless Brands is a column dedicated to identifying and celebrating brands that are taking a stand, challenging the status quo, and working to build a better future. In other words, brands acting fearlessly. This is not a sponsored column, and brands do not pay to appear here. Do you know a fearless brand? Send submissions to rcangie@gmail.com

Emanuel Bronner was a traveling philosopher and master soapmaker who became a businessman somewhat by accident. A third-generation Jewish soapmaker who fled from Nazi Germany to Milwaukie, WI, in 1929, he consulted for American soap companies and traveled from state to state preaching a solution for world peace known as the Moral ABC, passing out free bottles of soap to the crowds.

Somewhere along the way, he realized that his soaps were a bigger draw than his words, so he began printing messages from the Moral ABC on the labels and selling them. Thus Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps was born.

Who They Are

Dr. Bronner's sells certified organic and fair-trade liquid soaps, lotions, and personal care products. If you haven’t tried them, you’re missing out.

Why They’re Fearless

Dr. Bronner's is deeply committed to their mission and doing things their own way, making them one of the most fearless brands around. Let’s count the ways:

1. Independently owned. In contrast to many so-called progressive brands - Burt’s Bees (owned by Clorox) and Tom’s of Maine (owned by Colgate-Palmolive) come to mind - Dr. Bronner's is still independently owned by the Bronner family, even though they’ve had multiple offers to sell out.
2. Fair labor practices. In addition to offering generous benefits, the highest paid worker at Dr. Bronner's makes no more than five times the salary of the lowest paid worker. That means the CEO makes about $200,000 per year.
3. Sustainable supply chains. It’s not enough to have good practices internally. Dr. Bronner's uses only sustainable, organic, and fair-trade ingredients, and it spreads these standards to its supply chains. They’re so commited to their mission that when they couldn’t find any certified organic and fair-trade farms for some of their ingredients, they started their.
4. Progressive activism. The company doesn’t shy away from publicly advocating for a better future. Industrial hemp, GMO labeling, organic and fair-trade standards, and helping felons successfully reenter society are among the causes that Dr. Bronner's has taken up.

The Lesson for Brands

Two words - possibility and integrity. Through a relentless commitment to upholding their mission, Dr. Bronner's demonstrates what is possible when brands refuse to compromise their integrity. And just what is possible? 

Happier employees (both theirs and those of their suppliers), a better environment, healthy human beings, and even strong profits - Dr. Bronner's raked in about $50 million in revenue last year and continues to grow.

The larger possibility presented by Dr. Bronner’s, however, is for business to reimagine its own raison d’être and exist for something more than growth, profit, expansion, and eventual exit strategies.

Dr. Bronner’s is a purpose-driven company. and the fact that it sells soap seems almost an accident. Unlike the vast majority of even the most progressive brands, Dr. Bronner’s doesn’t exist purely to sell soap. The soap, instead, becomes a vehicle for a higher purpose - to promote peace, love, and sustainability on Spaceship Earth.

-Robin Cangie

Image source: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps

Fearless Brands is a new column dedicated to identifying and celebrating brands that are taking a stand, challenging the status quo, and working to build a better future. In other words, brands acting fearlessly. This is not a sponsored column, and brands do not pay to appear here. Do you know a fearless brand? Send submissions to rcangie@gmail.com.

Jason Fried isn’t your average tech CEO. Unlike many of his peers, this best-selling author and TEDx alum (check out his talk above - it's worth watching) doesn’t worry too much about things like venture funding, IPOs, and exit strategies.

But then, 37signals, the firm he co-founded in 1999, isn’t your average tech company, either. Its CEO espouses slow business rather than rapid growth. The company has just 35 employees, though its revenue could support far more. And every summer, the entire company works only four days per week. Fried’s reasoning? “There are very few things that can’t wait till Monday.”

When was the last time you heard a CEO say that? Enter this week’s fearless brand.

Who They Are
37signals creates web-based collaboration apps to help entrepreneurs, small businesses, and large businesses share files, manage projects, and work together more effectively. Their product line includes Basecamp for project management, High Rise for contact management, and Campfire for real-time group chats.

Why They’re Fearless
37signals is one of very few brands that are bold enough to challenge the conventional wisdom that growth is always good, and the more of it the better.

In a recent interview with Fast Company, Fried goes so far as to call rapid growth a sign of "sickness":

I’m a fan of growing slowly, carefully, methodically, of not getting big just for the sake of getting big. I think that rapid growth is typically of symptom of... there’s a sickness there. There’s a great quote by a guy named Ricardo Semler, author of the book Maverick. He said that only two things grow for the sake of growth: businesses and tumors.

Needless to say, Fried is taking a highly unpopular position on the subject of growth, and it takes an enormous amount of fearlessness to uphold this ideal for slow growth in the midst of a business culture that espouses just the opposite.

The Lesson for Brands
37signals' philosophy of slow growth flies in the face of everything we think we know about running a successful business, and yet the company is highly profitable. What gives?

Their products aren’t flashy. The problems they solve aren’t sexy. But in an industry obsessed with stories of rapid growth, venture capital, and top-dollar acquisitions, 37signals remains deeply committed to more meaningful metrics of success: building a great product, making their customers happy, and helping their employees flourish.

We live in a business climate where everyone is trying to do more with less. 37signals sends a radically different message, and one we desperately need to hear: Do less with less. And do it really, really well.

-Robin Cangie

Fearless Brands is a new column dedicated to identifying and celebrating brands that are taking a stand, challenging the status quo, and working to build a better future. In other words, brands acting fearlessly. This is not a sponsored column, and brands do not pay to appear here. Do you know a fearless brand? Send submissions to rcangie@gmail.com. 

Last holiday season, Patagonia made waves with a campaign that encouraged consumers to buy less. That’s right, a company actually spent precious marketing dollars to convince you not to buy its products, including an ad in the New York Times on Black Friday 2011 instructing consumers, "Don't buy this jacket."

This year, they're following it up with the Common Threads Initiative, described by Patagonia as "a partnership between Patagonia and our customers to reduce consumption and give our planet's vital resources a rest." Reverse psychology? Perhaps. Patagonia’s financials are looking pretty good these days, but maybe it just goes to show that you can build a strong brand and a healthy company around something bigger than a profit motive.

That’s why Patagonia is this week’s Fearless Brand.

Who They Are

Patagonia is one of the world’s best-known manufacturers of high-end outdoor gear. They’ve built a devoted following around the globe through their commitment to quality, durability, and environmental sustainability. We hear they’re a pretty great place to work, too. 

Why They’re Fearless

Patagonia has long fit the mold of a fearless brand committed to environmental activism and fair labor practices, but Common Threads stands out. Consider the initiative's five pillars:

1. Reduce what you buy.
2. Repair what you can.
3. Reuse what you have.
4. Recycle everything else.
5. Reimagine a sustainable world.

Note the emphasis on reducing, repairing, and reusing what you have, with recycling as the final option. Common Threads is unique because it asks us - not to buy organic, sustainable, fair trade, insert environmentalist buzzword here - no, Common Threads asks us to buy less.

The Lesson for Brands

Building a brand around buying less is revolutionary, not to mention controversial. The notion that we can buy our way to a sustainable future is a fantasy, yet even the most progressive brands are often reluctant to acknowledge that to truly live within our planet's means, we must not merely consume better, but also consume far less.

The fact that Patagonia can ask us to buy less and still turn a healthy profit offers us a glimpse into the future, not only of our relationship with brands, but of our relationship with stuff.

At present, most of our stuff in the first world is cheap, mass-produced, and disposable. Because our stuff is not made with care, we treat it carelessly, throwing away what we could reuse and buying things we do not truly need. Our stuff is made for the wants of today and does not consider the costs of tomorrow.

On the contrary, Patagonia's vision for the future of stuff is filled with care - care for the employees who manufacture it, care for its impact on the environment, care for the customers who will use it for years to come.

Patagonia also asks that we, as consumers, reciprocate that care. It's a role to which we're unaccustomed, which is why the Common Threads Initiative is so remarkable. Through it, Patagonia is laying the groundwork for a new relationship between brands and consumers - one that is rooted in care, care not only for the things we buy now, but just as importantly, care for the sake of our common future.

-Robin Cangie

Video source: Common Threads Initiative from Patagonia on Vimeo.

Some friends sent us this poster. The whole point of it is to grab it, tweet it, post it and pass it along so it goes viral before the NRA press conference.

Designed by Carl Loeb and Gerald Lewis. 

http://www.agrandsite.com

It is time for those of us who want to live in communities rooted in peace and compassion to take powerful action to create those communities, to create that world.

It is time for us to take a stand – not AGAINST weapons and fear-mongering and environmental hazard and political and corporate abuse – but take a powerful stand FOR the world we want.

It is time for the most powerful voices not to be those of tribalism and scarcity, but the powerful voice of standing for what our humanity makes possible.

It is time to move beyond the fear and greed and reactivity that we share with the animal world. My dog can react in fear. My dog can fight or flee. The ability to hold a gun or detonate a bomb is no different than the ability to bare teeth.

It is time to take a powerful stand for what makes us human…

To take a stand for our uniquely human sense of connectedness to something bigger than ourselves – something we cannot see or touch but that we know is not only there, but is more important and more powerful than our individual lives.

To take a stand for our capacity to consciously de-program our instincts and re-program new instincts – free will.

To take a stand for our ability to imagine things that do not currently exist – to invent, to create something from nothing but our imaginations, to envision the future, to envision what is possible.

To take a stand for our combined capacity for empathy, compassion, logic and reason, imagination.

It is time to move beyond the ridiculous notion that this is our “softer side.” It is time for us to see that our humanity is our power. 

It is time to move beyond the ridiculous notion that such a world is utopian. It is time for us to know – unequivocally, without reservation and with absolute authority – that the reason we sense such a world is possible is because it is.

It is time to move beyond reacting to what we don’t want in the world – ending poverty or war.It is time to create the world we do want.

It is time to move beyond lamenting and hand-wringing and watching the news in despair. It is time to stop leaving it to others, reading inspirational blog posts and wishing there were something more we can do.

Each and every one of us is being called to move this world beyond fear.

Each and every one of us is being called to Stand Up – to take positive, proactive, powerful steps to BE the world we want. To advocate for societal systems that reflect our humanity as our day-to-day reality. To move our leaders beyond assumptions that are rooted in a scarcity that simply does not exist. To vote and speak and write letters, advocating for what our humanity makes possible. To volunteer and participate with those who are working towards what is possible – those who are moving beyond reacting to what is wrong.

Each of us is being called to powerfully move our own lives towards the compassion we want to see in others. To move beyond condemning and blaming and stereotyping and to move towards finding common ground.

Each and every one of us is being called to be the humans we have the potential to be.

Right now. It is time.

-Hildy Gottlieb

The dreaded Fiscal Cliff is staring us down at the end of this month. And once again, President Obama has urged American citizens to contact Congressional leaders and urge them to reach a resolution.

This sort of thing happened in July 2011 with the debt-ceiling debacle. President Obama held a presser to specifically ask Americans to call and email members of Congress. The day after Obama's plea, the Capitol's switchboard was overwhelmed with 40,000 calls per hour and email traffic swamped congressional servers to a near halt. So we created the first-ever U.S. Congressional Twitter Directory.

Guess what, folks?

We've updated the entire directory to reflect Congressional officials who decided to join the Twitter party. The result is the most bad-ass U.S. Congressional Twitter Directory every created.

Click to read more ...

Hey, planet huggers, we hope you'll tune in to watch 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report, a live online broadcast, from around the world. The stream goes live November 14 at 8 p.m. EST and keeps going until November 15 at 7 p.m. EST. You can watch it live here or at http://climaterealityproject.org or on http://www.ustream.tv/climatereality. If you have a blog you can imbed the stream just like we did here. You can find the embed code and other important ways to help promote the event with your own social media following right here: http://climaterealityproject.org/promote-24hours/

This has been a year filled with community disaster. Given life on planet earth, one could say that almost any year. Earthquakes and hurricanes, shootings and bombings - whether man-made or natural, from the time of the dinosaurs to today, life’s biggest occurrences are often outside our control. 

Perhaps the greatest lesson from watching communities rally after a disaster, though, is that disasters bring out the best in people. Leadership emerges from unexpected places. Civic participation dramatically increases.  Generosity and compassion blossom. Resources are mobilized that hadn’t been considered resources during more “normal” times. 

All these components of resilience are rooted in one function: people getting to know each other as people, connecting and being open to the simple humanity in each other. 

Which means that the most direct road to “Disaster Preparedness” may just be that we begin building those relationships right now - wherever we live and work.  Imagine what it makes possible if we can strengthen our communities, disaster or no, without any need for federal grants or county commissions. Imagine what it makes possible if all we need to do is reach out to each other.

Small business owners know the power of focusing on their local community.  But do we think about that community as the neighbors two streets over?  Imagine what it might feel like if a disaster strikes - imagine how you will want to know each of those families, to make sure your business can do everything possible to be sure they are ok. Imagine how your heart would be opened up to whatever pain they might be feeling, because you would likely be feeling it, too. Imagine how much they will care about your business, wanting it to succeed in the face of whatever that disaster might be.

Now remove the disaster from the picture, and imagine how great it would feel to come to work every day, knowing your neighbors that well. (And yes, imagine how great it will be for business!)

The same holds true whether you are a hospital CEO or a stay-at-home parent.

It can start with something as simple as committing to get to know the family on either side of your house, the family across the street. It could mean bringing them each a little something at holiday time, recognizing that they, too, just want life to be enjoyable.  Or it might mean growing a patch of flowers in your front yard, posting a little sign that asks people to please pick a flower to take with them as they pass. Or maybe just knocking on your neighbor’s door to say hello - and giving them your phone number, in case of emergency.

It could mean that your small business works with other small businesses in the area to host a block party for the neighborhood, where you just get to know each other as people, not prospects. It could mean your hospital opens its conference rooms for neighborhood watch meetings - and participates as just another neighbor.

We don’t have to wait until disaster strikes to come together. Each of us has the power, right now, to reach out and get to know the people who make up our communities.

When disaster strikes, you will be ready to work as one family, from a place of strength and caring and a desire for everyone to be ok.

And until then, you will have created that spirit of community as your reality, right here and now.

-Hildy Gottlieb

When it's time to pick sides it seems smart to go with people and companies who already have a reputation for doing the right thing. Seems pretty simple when you look who is on each side of this debate. I know which list is more me. Even if the other side has 40 million dollars worth of misinformation on TV.