It trended nationally on Twitter. Church News podcast, episode 122: Cotopaxi founders Davis and Asialene Smith on stepping away from their company to serve as mission leaders in Brazil. While working on a project in Brazil, he decided to bring his full focus on an effort to find the nexus. To accomplish this, I needed to get my message across to as many people as I could.When asked how he did it, he smiled smugly and said,First, I bought two llamas on the internet., To get people to listen to his message, first, he had to gather attention. I am excited for this next phase in my career as the lifelong steward of Cotopaxis brand, purpose, and mission, while also creating the right conditions for me to pursue something of great importance in my personal life.. About 3,000 people took part in our very first Questival. Smith is the founder and former CEO of Cotopaxi, an international outdoor apparel company based in Utah. With its motto Gear for Good, its good corporate citizenship has helped roughly 3.5 million individuals living in extreme poverty, according to Deseret News. From that time, I knew I wanted to play a role in changing things for the better.. I was drawn to the companys mission to alleviate poverty along with the gentle and warm way Davis listens to his employees, says Annie. Often when hes traveling and donning Cotopaxi gear, fellow members of the Cotopaxi club come up to him and mention how much they appreciate the brand and its mission, not knowing that hes the man behind the llama. The company also hosts Questivals in the US so consumers can come and experience nature. The event was dubbed Questival, a portmanteau of quest and festival. A team of six people works together to discover the great outdoors. The award focuses on YPO members making impact outside the organization that is both sustainable and scalable, affecting people, prosperity, peace or our planet. This episode, we talk with Davis Smith about capitalism, kayaking, and why giving back is just good businessand Andrew leans on his shovel while talking trail-maintenance. The notes are part of a program, funded by Cotopaxi products, that teaches refugee teenagers valuable skills like how to open a bank account to practice budgeting or how to create a resume. This past year, Davis entrusted an expanded leadership team with taking the Cotopaxi brand to its next level, and I am honored to take an elevated role as part of that team., Other new Cotopaxi executives recruited over the past year include Grace Zuncic, the former chief people officer of Chobani, and Brad Hiranaga, the former chief brand officer of General Mills, to drive continued growth and accelerate the companys poverty-fighting mission.. John Currie Board Member Nov 2017. Smith grew up a natural entrepreneur. Davis created Cotopaxi-a brand committed to making capitalism better-a decade ago. Ethically Made. Cotopaxi actually started with festivals. In 2014, he launched Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear company with two fluffy llamas as mascots and an expressed mission to do good in the world. If you start thinking about people throughout your entire product process as a core value these are the little things that emerge that can change your companys entire approach to design and development.. Exterior of Cotopaxi, an outdoor clothing and equipment shop, at 549 Hayes Street in San Francisco, Calif. . And as we continue to grow and scale, that impact will only grow.. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Excited about the new service that awaits them, Davis Smith also expressed remorse for leaving something he felt was his calling to build. How do we create a movement around business as a force for good where were using profits not to just enrich shareholders, but to focus on stakeholders stakeholders being everyone that lives on this planet?. We're a Benefit Corporation (B Corp), so we're building a brand that is much more than just a company dedicated to making money. We hadand havea lot of great supporters of our brand, people. These people typically make $100 per year but Smith hopes to provide them with improved livelihood. Davis Smith is an outdoor adventurer and mission-driven entrepreneur. Davis Smith, CEO, Cotopaxi, speaks at the 2022 Concordia Annual Summit in New York in September. Our customers love the creative uniqueness of each of our backpacks, says Smith, And the people we work with love feeling that theyre involved in creating something that becomes a personal piece of art. Davis created Cotopaxi-a brand committed to making capitalism better-a decade ago. With Cotopaxi specifically Smith set out to re-imagine with what he characterizes now as product, design, supply chain philanthropy as well as structural corporate socialimpact. Davis Smith is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Cotopaxi based in Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm Davis Smith, the founder, and CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor and adventure gear brand with a humanitarian mission at its core. I wanted to impress social contribution to the people who could relate with my vision through experience, instead of just by selling products. You can do both; find ways to touch people and pay people fairly while you create great returns for your investors., His advice to fellow business leaders: weave impact into everything you do. He also holds a BA in International Studies from Brigham Young University. Cotopaxi goes to great lengths to make sure the people who work with them work happily. Smith found great success in Brazil. MSU basketball updates, Spartans in the 2023 NFL Draft and TRIVIA TUESDAY!. Davis Smith also recounted more recent influential experiences. One of my favorite quotes is by Dieter Uchtdorf and it says, The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul, Smith said. He parlayed social media strategy and a cross-country college campus tour of the U.S. with two full-grown llamas in tow to promote The Questival, a one-of-a-kind experience that introduced would-be customers to his new brand. The company is very serious about its desire to make a difference in the world. He eventually moved his family to Brazil where he started two businesses, Baby.com.br, which was named Brazils Startup of the Year in 2012, and Dinda.com. Cotopaxi is the first company to incorporate from inception as a Benefit Corporation and raise venture capital. Smith also grew up learning early on that the world can be cruel. The books will be donated to low income families in Utah in collaboration with the Start Foundation. Most people in America dont even know what this looks like. That Smith chose the outdoor gear and adventure apparel space to seed his pay-it-forward, Millennial-styled corporate philosophy makes perfect sense. You have to go deeper, and make a human connection thats meaningful.. GearJunkie Copyright 2013 2023. He still vividly remembers local children his age standing naked on the side of the road malnourished, begging for food. With its roots planted in Salt Lake City, Smith began once again to build Cotopaxi, his new business. Today the company is a Certified B Corp, meaning it must achieve and maintain verified levels of employee benefits, charitable giving, equitable supply chain practices, and ethical resource uses. Huang joined the company in May 2022 from Eddie Bauer, where he had served as CEO. Working only with fair trade factories is more expensive, and in addition to that higher cost, Cotopaxi adds allotments for the workers to use toward something they need, from community gardens to computers and computer classes for them and their families. Employees work at Cotopaxi in Salt Lake City on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. A couple of months later, Smith started his first business. If you dont have core values, your outcomes wont be what you want them to be.. Despite not wanting to go initially, she remembers it as one of their best experiences to date. The couples new calling does not only affect relationships at Cotopaxi. Guaranteed for Good. Theyre also devoted to creating a fan community based on millennials. Smiths vision attracted investors predominantly female investors hes quick to point out but despite the capital raised, growth didnt happen as quickly as he would have liked. Davis Smith as a young missionary serving in Bolivia from 1997-1999. Huang said he is committed to continuing pursuing the vision for Cotopaxi established by Davis over his years of leadership. But that mission and success didnt happen right away. How great are their pictures? Jack Stauss, brand guide, right, and Casey Yardley, operations assistant, move donated books to a van at Cotopaxi in Salt Lake City on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. In a heartfelt post on LinkedIn, Smith shared the news along with his personal testimony of the life-changing impact of missionary work and photos of his own missionary service as a young man in Bolivia. In this episode, Davis reveals what goes into making Cotopaxi's hip AND sustainable bags, discusses the company's core values and talks about how a kid named Edgar shaped his desire to help the world. Provided by David and Asialene Smith The Cotopaxi company stands by its slogan "gear for good" on a large scale, dedicating a percentage of its profits to communities experiencing poverty. The text gives an account of ancient prophets who lived in the Americas. Bean, Eddie Bauer, and Patagonia. Founder & CEO. The round also included an investment from TOMS Social Entrepreneur Fund. Traveling and spending time outdoors, I think, connects people with something thats bigger than themselves.. Davis explains where Cotopaxi got its name and what went into selecting the llama as its mascot. Courtesy of Davis Smith, Cotopaxi CEO and co-founder Davis Smith current, Cotopaxis brand ambassadors travel the world to, spread the companys message of doing good while doing great things. Courtesy of Cotopaxi, Cotopaxis llama insulated Kusa shirt is one of, the companys bestsellers. Weve shown that you can build a sustainable, profitable, at-scale business that still does things the right way and you dont have to compromise., Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company. Cotopaxi has experienced remarkable growth over the last nine years and is proof that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive, Smith said in a press release. Its been held in many locations around the US. Courtesy of Cotopaxi, Cotopaxis super-insulating llama wool at its, source in Bolivia where the company is employing dozens of people in local communities. Transcript. But they didnt start selling outdoor gear right away. Smith dove into these stories and other harrowing tales and revealed the surprising history behind Cotopaxi (hint: pool tables and eBay). Its true that were in the same category, but the scale of our companies is so different, and so are our missions. How do we minimize our impact on the planet? Cotopaxi, a certified B Corp, is an outdoor retailer that seeks to use its profits to "fund sustainable poverty alleviation, move people to do good and inspire adventure," according to its website. His time abroad instilled in Smith a desire to help people, and after returning from an LDS mission in Bolivia, Smith read an article about a man named Steve Gibson. You can listen to more Davis and his wife Asialene Smiths experiences on the All In podcast in the player below. After starting up a few web companies in Brazil, he founded Cotopaxi in 2013.When I was little, Id cross the Amazon with my father on a handmade raft, go fishing for piranhas, and even lived a self-sufficient life on a small island.