A little background before I get to the point.
In the mid-2000’s I started working for Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. A good buddy of mine that I raced Mt. Bikes in South Florida with (I know what you’re thinking… what mountains? Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot.) told me about one of his buddies that also did a lot of Mt. Biking. He also told me that buddy was Alex Bogusky, part owner of CP+B Ad Agency. To me, it was divine timing considering that I was looking for something better than just a J.O.B.. I wanted something that I could sink my teeth into and feel proud of.
I went down to Coconut Grove (Miami) where the company was at the time and was immediately hired. I felt right at home.
The reason I loved this place so much was, for the most part, Alex’s vision. I remember the company dumping Body Bags on the steps of Phillip Morris during their ‘Truth’ campaign. That was the campaign that had the biggest effect on me. The fact that an Ad Agency had the balls to take on big tobacco. HUGE! And me having worked for Greenpeace, Amnesty International, building cycling trails in my community… it was a natural fit.
When I was told that part of the company was going to move to Boulder, Colorado I jumped on it. Boulder… it’s like Mecca for cyclists. To this day, even though I don’t live there anymore, I claim it as my home. My buddy who had introduced me to Alex also ended moving his whole family out there where he becomes the worlds first (if I’m correct) Extreme Concierge. What is an Extreme Concierge? It’s a dude, well… my buddy, who we would call Macgyver. He could fix anything, create anything… he has that kind of mind that when you tell him he’s building it in his head. He would fix people’s bikes, he would wax snowboards and skis. There wasn’t anything that he can’t tackle… and Alex saw this in him. That’s what kind of a visionary Alex is.
When I asked Alex what gave him such inspiration he turned me on to a few people he respected, and one of those men was Yvon Chouinard.
I’m getting to my point…
Yvon wrote a book called, “Let my People Go Surfing.” It was a business book. It was a book on how to keep people happy and productive in a company, and it was a lot of how CP+B conducted business as well. I could see the similarities between CP+B and Patagonia. If you let people do what they do best, give them the environment to do it, they will take ownership. And that is the key to anything, I think. When it becomes personal, you own it. It’s no longer a job.
My Point…
Below is an article in GQ written by Rosecrans Baldwin. He interviewed Yvon. Yvon is suing the White House right now and I think you deserve to know why. This isn’t left-wing propaganda. This isn’t some company saying that the Trump administration is screwing them out of profits. This is a war against an administration that is taking public lands and what one company is willing to do to stop them.
Please read this and feel free to comment after you’ve read it. All of it.
Peace,
David
https://www.gq.com/story/patagonia-versus-donald-trump
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