alright welcome everyone again to
another hangout I’m really excited today
I’ve got a special guest with me named
Christopher gavigan and Christopher runs
a company that sells diapers and and
bath products and beauty products and
why I want him on the show wasn’t for
what he sells but how he does it he’s
got a company named the honest company
and his website is honest calm and
Twitter accounts are all honest and all
that and i’ve been i’ve been a big
advocate of finding your one word in the
planet to your business and here’s a guy
who’s actually out living it so i
thought i have him on the program and
asking some questions see how he’s doing
Christopher welcome aboard thank you for
having me Evan I’m excited about it so
how did you come up with a name this is
yawns curious to me you know obviously
you’re selling diapers as you’re
starting how do you come up with a
diaper company and call it honest com so
when my business partner Jessica Alba
and I when we are develop on this whole
concept we were imagining the world and
dreaming big and imagining what we
wanted it and I had done a lot of work
when I was a executive director and CEO
of a nonprofit that really went behind
the Iron Curtain the glass walls of
smokin beers whatever you want to say a
big business specifically consumer
packaged goods and what I found was was
the levels of transparency and
authenticity and clarity and and
willingness to tell the consumer what
was healthy and safe wasn’t there and
I’m thinking wow these are consumable
these are products that were using on
our bodies in in our homes on our
children were ingesting them how is that
possible that you don’t have a level of
connection with the brand and I’m really
knowing what’s inside and so when we
were thinking about what’s the world we
wanted you know the company which are
those two words that surround the honest
company i love i love the the beauty of
the word honest the simplicity the the
that’s a to be honest is really
something that every
wants to be an aspiration as well as
well as a real-life fulfillment so I
loved it’s it’s a variability and what
it could do and I loved surrounding it
by that and company which are standard
words in a traditional marketplace and
when you insert it is almost as if
honest could be a parenthetical or
bracketed and it does so much to a name
and a title and a a company name I love
it I love it did you get haters or
doubters at the start when you told them
I want to call this company the honest
company yeah yeah they were like wow
that’s a lot to live up to you can you
handle that that level of criticism and
so what I know about myself is up
crazily I’m a detail fanatic I am
ridiculously overwrought with the
details because every detail matters and
so I knew that there was a level of
standard and protocols that we would
bring to the space and I wanted to I
wanted to challenge ourselves it’s you
know to be honest what does it mean it’s
also a challenge and so I wanted to see
if we could do it and what i said is
often you know we’re not the perfect
company or the honest company and when
you relief really when you release the
your idea of perfection and really
embrace the word honesty honesty has a
lot of variability and when but when you
hold it up to a standard when you’re
talking about health and children and
family and home you have a lot to live
up to and so we’re constantly as a brand
and a company we’re constantly pushing
yourself to become better every single
day to really achieve to be more more
honest every single day when you were
younger and kind of getting started in
your career what was honestly something
that was still a core value to you did
you get upset when people weren’t honest
I mean you talked about your background
in the consumer packaged goods company
does it go back giving younger for you
like seeing people who are dishonest
bothered you and you were always be
honest kid growing up and it’s a good
question um so I grew up in a very
a very traditional Irish Catholic family
and those values were very much
connected to family and being true to
yourself and yes being honest and um
unaccessible relatable so yeah it
certainly was there in the more
traditional family value sense and i had
a a mom and a dad there are four boys in
my family and so we were we were held to
standards of a level of honesty but I
think in my career early in my career
what I did see especially when my work
on advocacy and going to Washington and
I was frustrated I was frustrated with
the glad-handing I was frustrated with
the lack of an authentic relationship in
business I think business is all about
relationships and do people want to work
with you do they get excited about you
do they believe in your vision and your
your ideas but can you execute do you
show up and for me showing up as being
your most honest self are you consistent
can people depend on you and that’s what
I love about brand building that’s what
I love about building a culture on a
team and when I was really frustrated
with when I saw the work when i was
doing advocacy and legislation work at
the nonprofit levels everyone would
promise you the world and then at the
end of the day there was no consistent
follow up and that’s that’s being
totally dishonest right you can feel
your passion coming through the screen I
love it now so obviously have a business
partner I think you have two business
partners are just know there’s three of
us actually three founders okay Jessica
Alba she and I worked on the brand from
his early iterations starting way back
when we met in 2008 and then Bryan Lee
who is a internet entrepreneur who comes
from legalzoom and shoedazzle as well as
some other endeavors and then Sean Cain
who is also a great general manager and
a tremendous acumen in internet and
accounting we all came together to
really formulate the bread and so when
you’re talking about the brain and
bringing on people especially somebody’s
in
an owner do you lead with honest you
like this is what we stand for is what
we believe in or is it you know we have
this great diaper baby bath products
walking and by the way we called the
honest company that’s a good question
when we when we were all coming together
I think we came together in a very
synergistic fashion we were all young
parents you know as it stands today we
have amongst the four of us we have ten
children between us all and they’re all
under or just six and under so there was
a level of passion and around what does
it mean to be a modern family brand or a
lifestyle brand and the connection
around being honest and the connection
around really creating something that
was that was new and modern and fresh
and and again the spin on and the I
using the levels of irony in the word
the honest company we all love that the
plan words and really I think you know
we all are very type-a we all want to
win and we all believe that we have the
right to win and a belief in the right
to win means my vision in the world I
want to create and make true and
wholesome and for us seeing a new
reality in the end of family and baby
space that you know there’s so many
toxic offenders and so many people not
doing honest things in food and cleaning
& diapering and personal care and beauty
it’s it’s astounding at the corporate
level and so that was offensive to me
that to the point where I knew when we
all came together that level of passion
really merged together dovetailed well
so this is awesome a lot of people come
up with this clear core value t’adore
one word and they struggle how do you
apply this so tell me my say okay my
core values honesty but how do I build a
business around honesty that’s such a
huge word so can you talk about the
different areas in your business that
you apply to so you’re talking a little
about the the product itself and making
sure that it’s not being harmful to kids
and being
sick what kind of product selection can
you talk about other ways that honest
you know is your mantra or your
operating philosophy and how you apply
to running your business so we just
walked we had all hands deck meaning
three minutes ago and that’s when we
bring the company together as one large
group and we all you know we sit around
we used to be sitting around a table now
it’s gathering around in one large group
and we we are what I love about us is
that it’s constantly an open circle it
early formed in an optimist a semicircle
full circle fashion so that everyone has
a voice everyone can be participatory in
those those all hands on deck and it’s
and it’s having a level of connection
with instead of here’s the corporate
executives and here’s the here’s the
customer service groups and all the
divisions and and and steps in between
we have a great level of connectivity at
every single level and so I’m doing
trainings with customer service work
we’re going to the warehouse and packing
boxes were rolling calls with with with
that client services team we’re engaging
so I think honesty for the company on a
day-to-day level is really it is
everyone’s in it to win it and
everyone’s here to really see this
mission and purpose driven company
really fulfill its its core goal and a
lot of it is we’re not here to build
product we’re here to educate a new
generation of consumers and parents and
we and not we know and we see and all my
career’s been it’s in pivotal times of
change particularly life and death new
baby and someone dying that people
understand wow on behalf of my health on
behalf of my lifestyle I’m going to
change and we love that that we get to
engage with families every day and
either talk to them on a very authentic
level and and human relational level and
as a company we really live in and
breathe it on a day-to-day basis
and as you’re growing your team now
writes its total with the founders and
you’re building a team and you know you
race your cattle and you’re trying to
grow how do you how do you hire for
honest yeah you uh it’s funny because a
lot of times in interviews and we’ve
trained some of the particular in the
client services team when someone walks
in and they’re so prepared and so
Freddie and they have their like their
one-liners ready we really talk about
family we talk about what motivates them
we talk about some stories from their
childhood and you can really see you can
see a person really come to life and
really if there look I think honest a
lot of honesty that comes out of a
person is when they’re their most
relaxed self and we really we depend on
that from people we depend on them to
come to work every day and really be if
they’re engaged in smart self and have
the highest level of effort because
smarts and efforts will win over over
you know an attitude any single day in
business but I want people to really
bring themselves to the company and
embrace their what wackiness if they
have it or whatever range that of a
person they are and so when we you hire
I like to hire people that have a sense
of self and truth in that self and and
are Oh get settled and okay with
themselves you know it’s funny we just
had that we had we had a great new hire
that she was on tour with the Michael
Jackson tour in Las Vegas right before
Michael had died to really be part of
that whole group and and she was telling
that story there was level of passion
and and and and there was gonna be her
life’s work until Michael had died and
she was so excited about it that she had
a massive shift in career went back to
school and and really dedicated caters
of two years of work that this was a
first break for her and that I thought
that was just awesome and so we gave her
a break and we gave her the job and she
you know do
a top-performing job but I loved seeing
I I know you can translate passion to
different places in your life and if
you’ve got a depth in a pool of passion
you can tap into it whenever you want to
I love it it’s really cool do you train
I’m thinking as you talk with honestly
this kind of subsets and there’s there’s
other sister words that go with it so
obviously honesty is telling the truth
but it’s also good quality and it’s also
respect are there other core elements
that kind of what does honest mean to
you besides just what everybody thinks
of it as as being an honest person is
there yeah I mean it’s it’s it’s it’s um
it’s telling people the truth even
though it might be uncomfortable mmm
from a business perspective is sometimes
it’s saying it’s you know the question
that comes up often is hey why don’t you
use more organic ingredients that’s what
you guys stand for absolutely and we are
constantly improving organic content and
always having plant-based ingredients
and and sometimes you have to make a
compromise either from a sourcing
perspective or supply chain perspective
or a quality of our integrity and
ingredie perspective certainly price and
comes into that equation and it it’s
being honest with you consumer and
letting them know hey we had to make
this decision for the best of the
business for the both the integrity of
the product for the quality of the
product and and that might be and
telling them that and having them being
okay with that I’m not afraid to tell
them that because I know that Oh are
short medium and long term intention is
done become even better and it’s if you
are allowing people to see your
trajectory of growth they’re okay if
you’re right here right now and they’re
excited that you might move along that
path right and um so yes it’s quality
it’s being it’s saying things that
matter it’s telling people what you
won’t do and and and what’s not inside
as opposed to what is inside and for me
it’s it’s it’s a
really being I think honest today is is
really embracing the range of
personality that you are and as a
company we have a ton of range you know
where everything from an 80 diaper to
Harran shampoo to fruit and veggie
washes to the range of lifestyle things
and i love that range of expansiveness
because at the end of the day a parent
just wants to trust you and I guard that
trust I safeguard that every single day
I and our and that’s the only thing we
have is our credibility and Trust and i
will i am i am such a strong passionate
advocate of keeping that trust and that
level of connectivity with that consumer
and letting them know we are doing
everything possible every single day to
build and improve on that level of trust
and connection and relationship what
where can you take on us i mean can you
sell honest computers can you sell on
his cars honest hotels like what is it
how does the brand stretch it seems like
it can apply to anything yeah so i will
look I wrote in 2008 I wrote a book
called healthy child healthy world and
its really a lifestyle map a few years
later Jessica are my business partner
wrote a book called the honest life
where she essentially talks about a
similar range of lifestyle choices one
would have everything to what’s the
water in your home to how are you caring
for your pets to what are you putting on
your body and what’s your makeup and how
do you engage with the community so
there’s a lot of range and a lot of
product opportunities in that range do I
have a perspective on what the paint is
on the wall from health and toxicity
perspective and a level of ingredients
and integrity yes does that mean we’re
going to go there who knows but i love i
love to your point and I appreciate that
you see it I love the opportunity a
range of we’re honest could go over time
that it’s really exciting as a business
professional as a as a product developer
and formulator and but what made it make
the most excited is that on the other
side of this wall is our customer
service group they are rolling anywhere
between three to six thousand calls a
day that’s moms and dads calling in
every day and saying hey let’s manage my
account let’s talk about new products
let me learn about your ingredients or
how to use products and they really
their job and their their their main
goal is to really talk and help parents
understand about products and the
integrity of our work but it’s also to
help those to engage those consumers and
those parents to say hey where do you
want us to go what gets you excited what
what do you believe would make your
world better and so our mantra of
together we can make it better is really
lived and breathed through our
relationships and our conversations and
listening to those consumers and not
only listening but really acting upon
their their words we’re not doing it for
market research we’re really doing it to
influence our pipeline you mentioned at
the start when we came up with the name
on us that that it was a high standard
to hold yourself to and it’s
aspirational II can’t be perfect but
you’re working towards it and that’s a
great you know benchmark for you and
your team to go for but it’s part of
what you’re doing to to try to encourage
the general public your customers to be
more honest um part of it is it’s the
other ranges of what we’d love to
achieve certainly it’s it’s to encourage
our members our customers understand
what up what is an honest lifestyle what
does that mean that means living in a
more pure wholesome natural sense it’s
understanding how to embrace more the
plant based technologies in a range of
products how to how to live more simply
and connected to the earth and your
children and to really prioritize human
health at the top of that pyramid it
certainly is to drive awareness to our
supply chain and ethnic groups of people
who week how who and how we build our
products I want that I want complete
transparency we have it
amongst every raw material where it’s
coming from how it’s being made what its
source and and and knowing that I think
a lot of brands don’t know that and
that’s concerning to me and that’s also
i want other brands to to challenge
themselves I want them to look at that
their core products the core ingredients
are using every single thing because at
a parts per billion it matters at a
parts per trillion it matters and as a
company we’re doing everything we
possibly can to safeguard the end-user
that one day old and I would really
encourage other brands to do the same
it’s it’s not easy it takes time we’ve
had to start from scratches of a bit
easier but I would challenge the
consumer marketplace and other grants or
really do your best to think about your
consumer you know it’s that whole triple
bottom line you know people is number
one planet is number two profit is
number three and and if you could
balance that and really prioritizing
people I think we’d have a better world
and reality for us all yeah I mean one
of the things I love about what you’re
doing is look at your Twitter feed kind
of you know cyber stalking you before we
got on the call and you had some great
quotes one was like serve others with
honesty and integrity and the rest
ideally fall into place and kind of
sharing quotes it again have nothing to
do with what you’re selling but just
trying to spread the word of honesty and
and being a model company for people to
look up to and say hey here’s a company
whose was doing it right you know
they’re your maybe you maybe be
pioneering a whole lot of thing if
you’re making a lot of mistakes along
the way but this could be the model for
a lot of businesses to follow and you
guys are that role model for a lot of
people
he joined again I came in sorry bout
sorry I’ll you bounce kit did you hear
what I said yeah you were saying
something of serving the world of
honesty and having some quote I would
love for you to repeat it if you come
back I mean so as a quote that you put
on your Twitter feed about about being
honest and what I loved about it was
that you you’re not just selling diapers
you’re not just pumping out product and
your Twitter feed you’re trying to
spread the message of honesty and and I
could see that being a model for people
to want to follow and say hey here’s a
company who’s doing it right who’s
leading the way who we can look up to
and you may not have it perfect yet I
mean there’s no guidebook for you to
follow your make it up as you go but
you’re setting a lot of rules and trends
that other companies can follow and
model to create a more on this world
well I really appreciate that come the
compliment and and and comment I’m
humbled by that I my greatest core
passion is to educate and empower and
inspire change right now we’re choosing
to build product and and build high
quality safer product it could be in our
core mission we don’t talk about product
we talk about what’s the change in the
world we want to see and how do we
accomplish that and i haven’t of the
happily worked with patagonian way back
when and that’s what they did and i was
i was so impressed with that like
they’re not there to talk about hey
we’re making great outdoor gear they
talk about what’s the impact in the
world we want to have and how do we get
there and i love that that that Creed in
that mantra and that’s what we try to
live here every day we’re here to
educate and we’re here to transforms
people’s how they engage with their
legislators how they communicate and
raise their children how they connect
with family how they tend to the earth I
so they’re all these different ranges of
a lifestyle that you go through and and
i think you know we all do our part to
share and that knowledge and excite
people to do the same have you had any
difficult choices you know opportunities
that come up that either work with
people or bring on this investor or
launch this product but then it
conflicted with honest and you like you
know what we can’t do this as a brand
even though it looks like a great
opportunity on paper we have to pass
because it’s not who we are yeah there
have been some of those for sure and at
the end of the day you have to you’ve
got to align yourself with what you
believe is right and I what I love about
us and certainly our port team and then
our larger team in general is with
really we act from our heart and if it
doesn’t feel right we’re not going to go
there or we’re not going to do that and
or one particular instance which I
thought was a big learning experience
for me and and I’m and I’m trying to
educate around it is the first the
company first started with a wife a baby
wipe product or what we call them honest
wipes because I feel like there are tons
of wipes the market that car dashboard
wipes and finger wipes like you just
need one wipe and these honest wipes
just happen to come out too thin and so
we went to the drawing board and I went
around the domestic landscape of
manufacturers and then up to Canada I
could no one would build to my spec I
really set the bar incredibly high no
one would build the my spec and so I had
to go internationally and i found a
manufacturing group and partner that was
really able to hit our demands that hit
our wallet water quality demands our
sourcing demands I mean I want a medical
grade cloth not garmin grade i wanted a
filtration system on the water because
that’s the the majority of the lotion
load in a wife i wanted that is so high
and I had all these demands and no one
can beat except this one group and they
happened to be in China just outside of
Shanghai and I I from a second from my
core inner inner in herself was like I
don’t know enough about China and seems
really far away and shipping lanes and
carbon footprints and qualities uh
stories about bad quality I just don’t
want to go there and I hide what I
physically went there and learned and
educated myself because I I needed that
and the business needed that and I
learned a lot and you’ve got first
second and third class
tears of manufacturing around the globe
and that happens to be here in the
backyard of California and or around the
world in Asia and I learned a lot and
what I what I was most impressed by was
if you tell get and we have a great blog
post about it and on our blog if you
google that and I think you you you
learn that what your preconceived
notions aren’t always what what you
believe they couldn’t should be so as an
adult you can learn and it again as our
job as a company is to educate people
around the globe and around the world
about different ranges of business
choices and that was one that we made
and I’m proud of it because we’ve got a
great manufacturing partner that hits
standards above and beyond everyone that
I’ve ever seen domestically and and
that’s been it’s been exciting to go
through that that life cycle yeah I mean
that question came up to and part of
from what you tweeted about CBS and CBS
recently changed name CVS health and now
they’re all about how amazing and
they’re getting rid of all of their
cigarettes because that’s not help and
that that’s a two billion dollar hit
right I mean you should talk abut we
should give that a noun called the CVS
effect because that that’s a two billion
dollar decision that is so impressive
and business should really look at them
say what is best for again prioritize
human health people first and at the end
of the environment where you prioritize
people yeah I love it we’re just getting
a somebody writing in from Brazil Raziel
says I haven’t had any luck shrine the
honest products yet but I’m a huge fan
of the company but learning so much for
them for your blog and so thank you so
just uh Brasel coming in being a fan
when you going to brazil on a single
ticket for 0 l-r coming soon no an
international expansion is always a
great opportunity i mean everything is
prioritized
prioritization and sequencing so we’re
looking at a lot of great opportunities
we’re excited about many of them and the
business continues to do well we’re
really humbled by that is their
simplicity and having one word I mean
you look at you look at any company and
they have noble intentions we look at
their values they all have values but
nobody can remember what they are
because they have you know 15 core
values and probably the CEO could name
them off and here you are like one main
thing that just make it easier to try to
live your mission yeah I think I think
people the word honest is is really
comforting and it’s in it it’s really
satisfying to hear and and people get it
immediately and so when you have that
level of a when you can connect deep on
that psychological level I think people
really are satisfied and feel comforted
by that and that’s a it’s a it’s an
honor to hold that word and it’s a it’s
a it’s a privilege and it’s a duty right
it it holds you to a standard and and it
drives us forward every single day have
you collaborated with any any other
entrepreneurs or artists or musicians or
other people who just want to spread the
message of honesty and and since you
guys both believe in the same thing
there’s opportunities to work together I
mean we’re just starting to look at some
depths of collaborations out we’ve done
some brand collaborations on the product
side which were really satisfying but
nothing that you’re mentioning I would
love to do what we’re really doing now
is we’re really building out our social
goodness arm we’re to our core and built
into the DNA of this company outside of
you know what’s the change we want to
see it’s it’s our responsibility to
really provide an offer and and support
communities and families in need and
that’s what we’ve identified and so I
you will see us really flexing our
muscle and our and our belief system
there
because we’d use a lot right now some of
it those broadcasts and much of it
doesn’t and I really want to build
programs and messy messaging campaigns
and stuff that Jose that social
philanthropy built into business much am
Thompson does it well we know Blake very
well and some other brands have done it
very well yeah I think honest is not as
known for that but it is like it is
everything we do over here every day
yeah I mean if there’s an artist who’s
trying to promote honesty maybe yeah
design part of a package for you or
limited your reason just a social media
post um anyone who wants a design
diapers you know we’ve got this great
great platform of designer diapers yeah
I think it’s a great idea regret it love
it again in a question feeling and
voting in oh just saying I was at the
AMA honest office a few weeks ago I love
honest you got some good fans here yeah
what is the honest mantra coming out
when’s the next book by Christopher the
honest mantra hitting the bookshelves ah
it’s a great question I am uh I’m
entertaining right now we build a team
and you know we’re only 32 months old
we’re you know we’re infant and as a
lesson company so we’re really just
getting a feet under US and um it this
has been a true labor of love I’ve three
babies and this has definitely been a
fourth and a fifth so I it’s been a lot
of work one day soon I hope yeah I think
it’s a great idea i mean honestly i may
be gushing but i love what you stand for
i wish more businesses what adopted and
you know you getting your message out
there and leading by example but also
being out there i know you’re doing a
lot of speaking and they’re going on
traveling and just promoting that
concept there’s a lot of people it
hasn’t even hit their radar but you you
noticed that you got frustrated and you
took action a lot of people are they may
be frustrate but they don’t know what to
do and you’re giving them a model for
hey here’s the type of business that you
can that you can start and make it be a
positive force for good in the world so
i love it man i’m gushing but i love i
love you’re all about awesome I
appreciate that oh um you know I want to
be respected
I know I said we’d be done in half now
we’re kind of little over so I’m gonna
be honest in my precinct well I am in ya
got I’m always willing to do more than
these and and and if you guys have
questions throughout the on Google
Hangouts we can ask questions in that I
think there’s the chat feed there as
well but it’s always a pleasure to talk
about the business talk about what we
stand a believe because when you’re dead
down and day-to-day execution and
building a team it’s nice to come up and
really you know at the treetop level
really see the forest and and see how
it’s grown and maturing and i gotta say
if this is it’s really a source of pride
and and and i think i feel very humbled
and honored to really be be part of the
group and the team and and I feel like
truly this is a life’s work moment and
that I hope continued eight can continue
84 continue for generations and
generations so yeah yeah i mean honestly
I think you should be really proud of
what you’re doing you’re having a huge
impact and they were just getting
started but but it’s a you’re gonna have
a big impact and and I’m happy to have
some you know small little role and
getting your messages so oh it makes it
it’s uh you know there’s more question
that will be coming in maybe I’ll
collect them and if there’s enough
coming in we can set up another time
answer people’s questions and wait all
up that’d be fantastic that’d be great
alright well I appreciate the time we’ll
let you get back to your busy schedule
thank you people want to learn more
about you what’s the best thing just go
to an asst comm good honest com maybe if
upper navigation you click over to the
blog you’ll see a lot of great posts and
educational pieces as well as just great
lifestyle pieces everything from food to
lifestyle DIY the product portfolio is
growing quite rapidly I think we’re up
to almost 90 products and and growing
every month so you know keep in tune
there you can follow me on twitter
christopher underscore gab and and
thanks everyone for supporting us it’s a
true honor and I I really appreciate it
awesome to end on one last comment that
came in so I want to know when Chris was
writing his book had the chance to read
healthy child healthy world would love
to read one more book from him so you
put an odd see people want to hear your
message are more more here comes thanks
Christopher Frank and I appreciate it
cheers Oliver
another hangout I’m really excited today
I’ve got a special guest with me named
Christopher gavigan and Christopher runs
a company that sells diapers and and
bath products and beauty products and
why I want him on the show wasn’t for
what he sells but how he does it he’s
got a company named the honest company
and his website is honest calm and
Twitter accounts are all honest and all
that and i’ve been i’ve been a big
advocate of finding your one word in the
planet to your business and here’s a guy
who’s actually out living it so i
thought i have him on the program and
asking some questions see how he’s doing
Christopher welcome aboard thank you for
having me Evan I’m excited about it so
how did you come up with a name this is
yawns curious to me you know obviously
you’re selling diapers as you’re
starting how do you come up with a
diaper company and call it honest com so
when my business partner Jessica Alba
and I when we are develop on this whole
concept we were imagining the world and
dreaming big and imagining what we
wanted it and I had done a lot of work
when I was a executive director and CEO
of a nonprofit that really went behind
the Iron Curtain the glass walls of
smokin beers whatever you want to say a
big business specifically consumer
packaged goods and what I found was was
the levels of transparency and
authenticity and clarity and and
willingness to tell the consumer what
was healthy and safe wasn’t there and
I’m thinking wow these are consumable
these are products that were using on
our bodies in in our homes on our
children were ingesting them how is that
possible that you don’t have a level of
connection with the brand and I’m really
knowing what’s inside and so when we
were thinking about what’s the world we
wanted you know the company which are
those two words that surround the honest
company i love i love the the beauty of
the word honest the simplicity the the
that’s a to be honest is really
something that every
wants to be an aspiration as well as
well as a real-life fulfillment so I
loved it’s it’s a variability and what
it could do and I loved surrounding it
by that and company which are standard
words in a traditional marketplace and
when you insert it is almost as if
honest could be a parenthetical or
bracketed and it does so much to a name
and a title and a a company name I love
it I love it did you get haters or
doubters at the start when you told them
I want to call this company the honest
company yeah yeah they were like wow
that’s a lot to live up to you can you
handle that that level of criticism and
so what I know about myself is up
crazily I’m a detail fanatic I am
ridiculously overwrought with the
details because every detail matters and
so I knew that there was a level of
standard and protocols that we would
bring to the space and I wanted to I
wanted to challenge ourselves it’s you
know to be honest what does it mean it’s
also a challenge and so I wanted to see
if we could do it and what i said is
often you know we’re not the perfect
company or the honest company and when
you relief really when you release the
your idea of perfection and really
embrace the word honesty honesty has a
lot of variability and when but when you
hold it up to a standard when you’re
talking about health and children and
family and home you have a lot to live
up to and so we’re constantly as a brand
and a company we’re constantly pushing
yourself to become better every single
day to really achieve to be more more
honest every single day when you were
younger and kind of getting started in
your career what was honestly something
that was still a core value to you did
you get upset when people weren’t honest
I mean you talked about your background
in the consumer packaged goods company
does it go back giving younger for you
like seeing people who are dishonest
bothered you and you were always be
honest kid growing up and it’s a good
question um so I grew up in a very
a very traditional Irish Catholic family
and those values were very much
connected to family and being true to
yourself and yes being honest and um
unaccessible relatable so yeah it
certainly was there in the more
traditional family value sense and i had
a a mom and a dad there are four boys in
my family and so we were we were held to
standards of a level of honesty but I
think in my career early in my career
what I did see especially when my work
on advocacy and going to Washington and
I was frustrated I was frustrated with
the glad-handing I was frustrated with
the lack of an authentic relationship in
business I think business is all about
relationships and do people want to work
with you do they get excited about you
do they believe in your vision and your
your ideas but can you execute do you
show up and for me showing up as being
your most honest self are you consistent
can people depend on you and that’s what
I love about brand building that’s what
I love about building a culture on a
team and when I was really frustrated
with when I saw the work when i was
doing advocacy and legislation work at
the nonprofit levels everyone would
promise you the world and then at the
end of the day there was no consistent
follow up and that’s that’s being
totally dishonest right you can feel
your passion coming through the screen I
love it now so obviously have a business
partner I think you have two business
partners are just know there’s three of
us actually three founders okay Jessica
Alba she and I worked on the brand from
his early iterations starting way back
when we met in 2008 and then Bryan Lee
who is a internet entrepreneur who comes
from legalzoom and shoedazzle as well as
some other endeavors and then Sean Cain
who is also a great general manager and
a tremendous acumen in internet and
accounting we all came together to
really formulate the bread and so when
you’re talking about the brain and
bringing on people especially somebody’s
in
an owner do you lead with honest you
like this is what we stand for is what
we believe in or is it you know we have
this great diaper baby bath products
walking and by the way we called the
honest company that’s a good question
when we when we were all coming together
I think we came together in a very
synergistic fashion we were all young
parents you know as it stands today we
have amongst the four of us we have ten
children between us all and they’re all
under or just six and under so there was
a level of passion and around what does
it mean to be a modern family brand or a
lifestyle brand and the connection
around being honest and the connection
around really creating something that
was that was new and modern and fresh
and and again the spin on and the I
using the levels of irony in the word
the honest company we all love that the
plan words and really I think you know
we all are very type-a we all want to
win and we all believe that we have the
right to win and a belief in the right
to win means my vision in the world I
want to create and make true and
wholesome and for us seeing a new
reality in the end of family and baby
space that you know there’s so many
toxic offenders and so many people not
doing honest things in food and cleaning
& diapering and personal care and beauty
it’s it’s astounding at the corporate
level and so that was offensive to me
that to the point where I knew when we
all came together that level of passion
really merged together dovetailed well
so this is awesome a lot of people come
up with this clear core value t’adore
one word and they struggle how do you
apply this so tell me my say okay my
core values honesty but how do I build a
business around honesty that’s such a
huge word so can you talk about the
different areas in your business that
you apply to so you’re talking a little
about the the product itself and making
sure that it’s not being harmful to kids
and being
sick what kind of product selection can
you talk about other ways that honest
you know is your mantra or your
operating philosophy and how you apply
to running your business so we just
walked we had all hands deck meaning
three minutes ago and that’s when we
bring the company together as one large
group and we all you know we sit around
we used to be sitting around a table now
it’s gathering around in one large group
and we we are what I love about us is
that it’s constantly an open circle it
early formed in an optimist a semicircle
full circle fashion so that everyone has
a voice everyone can be participatory in
those those all hands on deck and it’s
and it’s having a level of connection
with instead of here’s the corporate
executives and here’s the here’s the
customer service groups and all the
divisions and and and steps in between
we have a great level of connectivity at
every single level and so I’m doing
trainings with customer service work
we’re going to the warehouse and packing
boxes were rolling calls with with with
that client services team we’re engaging
so I think honesty for the company on a
day-to-day level is really it is
everyone’s in it to win it and
everyone’s here to really see this
mission and purpose driven company
really fulfill its its core goal and a
lot of it is we’re not here to build
product we’re here to educate a new
generation of consumers and parents and
we and not we know and we see and all my
career’s been it’s in pivotal times of
change particularly life and death new
baby and someone dying that people
understand wow on behalf of my health on
behalf of my lifestyle I’m going to
change and we love that that we get to
engage with families every day and
either talk to them on a very authentic
level and and human relational level and
as a company we really live in and
breathe it on a day-to-day basis
and as you’re growing your team now
writes its total with the founders and
you’re building a team and you know you
race your cattle and you’re trying to
grow how do you how do you hire for
honest yeah you uh it’s funny because a
lot of times in interviews and we’ve
trained some of the particular in the
client services team when someone walks
in and they’re so prepared and so
Freddie and they have their like their
one-liners ready we really talk about
family we talk about what motivates them
we talk about some stories from their
childhood and you can really see you can
see a person really come to life and
really if there look I think honest a
lot of honesty that comes out of a
person is when they’re their most
relaxed self and we really we depend on
that from people we depend on them to
come to work every day and really be if
they’re engaged in smart self and have
the highest level of effort because
smarts and efforts will win over over
you know an attitude any single day in
business but I want people to really
bring themselves to the company and
embrace their what wackiness if they
have it or whatever range that of a
person they are and so when we you hire
I like to hire people that have a sense
of self and truth in that self and and
are Oh get settled and okay with
themselves you know it’s funny we just
had that we had we had a great new hire
that she was on tour with the Michael
Jackson tour in Las Vegas right before
Michael had died to really be part of
that whole group and and she was telling
that story there was level of passion
and and and and there was gonna be her
life’s work until Michael had died and
she was so excited about it that she had
a massive shift in career went back to
school and and really dedicated caters
of two years of work that this was a
first break for her and that I thought
that was just awesome and so we gave her
a break and we gave her the job and she
you know do
a top-performing job but I loved seeing
I I know you can translate passion to
different places in your life and if
you’ve got a depth in a pool of passion
you can tap into it whenever you want to
I love it it’s really cool do you train
I’m thinking as you talk with honestly
this kind of subsets and there’s there’s
other sister words that go with it so
obviously honesty is telling the truth
but it’s also good quality and it’s also
respect are there other core elements
that kind of what does honest mean to
you besides just what everybody thinks
of it as as being an honest person is
there yeah I mean it’s it’s it’s it’s um
it’s telling people the truth even
though it might be uncomfortable mmm
from a business perspective is sometimes
it’s saying it’s you know the question
that comes up often is hey why don’t you
use more organic ingredients that’s what
you guys stand for absolutely and we are
constantly improving organic content and
always having plant-based ingredients
and and sometimes you have to make a
compromise either from a sourcing
perspective or supply chain perspective
or a quality of our integrity and
ingredie perspective certainly price and
comes into that equation and it it’s
being honest with you consumer and
letting them know hey we had to make
this decision for the best of the
business for the both the integrity of
the product for the quality of the
product and and that might be and
telling them that and having them being
okay with that I’m not afraid to tell
them that because I know that Oh are
short medium and long term intention is
done become even better and it’s if you
are allowing people to see your
trajectory of growth they’re okay if
you’re right here right now and they’re
excited that you might move along that
path right and um so yes it’s quality
it’s being it’s saying things that
matter it’s telling people what you
won’t do and and and what’s not inside
as opposed to what is inside and for me
it’s it’s it’s a
really being I think honest today is is
really embracing the range of
personality that you are and as a
company we have a ton of range you know
where everything from an 80 diaper to
Harran shampoo to fruit and veggie
washes to the range of lifestyle things
and i love that range of expansiveness
because at the end of the day a parent
just wants to trust you and I guard that
trust I safeguard that every single day
I and our and that’s the only thing we
have is our credibility and Trust and i
will i am i am such a strong passionate
advocate of keeping that trust and that
level of connectivity with that consumer
and letting them know we are doing
everything possible every single day to
build and improve on that level of trust
and connection and relationship what
where can you take on us i mean can you
sell honest computers can you sell on
his cars honest hotels like what is it
how does the brand stretch it seems like
it can apply to anything yeah so i will
look I wrote in 2008 I wrote a book
called healthy child healthy world and
its really a lifestyle map a few years
later Jessica are my business partner
wrote a book called the honest life
where she essentially talks about a
similar range of lifestyle choices one
would have everything to what’s the
water in your home to how are you caring
for your pets to what are you putting on
your body and what’s your makeup and how
do you engage with the community so
there’s a lot of range and a lot of
product opportunities in that range do I
have a perspective on what the paint is
on the wall from health and toxicity
perspective and a level of ingredients
and integrity yes does that mean we’re
going to go there who knows but i love i
love to your point and I appreciate that
you see it I love the opportunity a
range of we’re honest could go over time
that it’s really exciting as a business
professional as a as a product developer
and formulator and but what made it make
the most excited is that on the other
side of this wall is our customer
service group they are rolling anywhere
between three to six thousand calls a
day that’s moms and dads calling in
every day and saying hey let’s manage my
account let’s talk about new products
let me learn about your ingredients or
how to use products and they really
their job and their their their main
goal is to really talk and help parents
understand about products and the
integrity of our work but it’s also to
help those to engage those consumers and
those parents to say hey where do you
want us to go what gets you excited what
what do you believe would make your
world better and so our mantra of
together we can make it better is really
lived and breathed through our
relationships and our conversations and
listening to those consumers and not
only listening but really acting upon
their their words we’re not doing it for
market research we’re really doing it to
influence our pipeline you mentioned at
the start when we came up with the name
on us that that it was a high standard
to hold yourself to and it’s
aspirational II can’t be perfect but
you’re working towards it and that’s a
great you know benchmark for you and
your team to go for but it’s part of
what you’re doing to to try to encourage
the general public your customers to be
more honest um part of it is it’s the
other ranges of what we’d love to
achieve certainly it’s it’s to encourage
our members our customers understand
what up what is an honest lifestyle what
does that mean that means living in a
more pure wholesome natural sense it’s
understanding how to embrace more the
plant based technologies in a range of
products how to how to live more simply
and connected to the earth and your
children and to really prioritize human
health at the top of that pyramid it
certainly is to drive awareness to our
supply chain and ethnic groups of people
who week how who and how we build our
products I want that I want complete
transparency we have it
amongst every raw material where it’s
coming from how it’s being made what its
source and and and knowing that I think
a lot of brands don’t know that and
that’s concerning to me and that’s also
i want other brands to to challenge
themselves I want them to look at that
their core products the core ingredients
are using every single thing because at
a parts per billion it matters at a
parts per trillion it matters and as a
company we’re doing everything we
possibly can to safeguard the end-user
that one day old and I would really
encourage other brands to do the same
it’s it’s not easy it takes time we’ve
had to start from scratches of a bit
easier but I would challenge the
consumer marketplace and other grants or
really do your best to think about your
consumer you know it’s that whole triple
bottom line you know people is number
one planet is number two profit is
number three and and if you could
balance that and really prioritizing
people I think we’d have a better world
and reality for us all yeah I mean one
of the things I love about what you’re
doing is look at your Twitter feed kind
of you know cyber stalking you before we
got on the call and you had some great
quotes one was like serve others with
honesty and integrity and the rest
ideally fall into place and kind of
sharing quotes it again have nothing to
do with what you’re selling but just
trying to spread the word of honesty and
and being a model company for people to
look up to and say hey here’s a company
whose was doing it right you know
they’re your maybe you maybe be
pioneering a whole lot of thing if
you’re making a lot of mistakes along
the way but this could be the model for
a lot of businesses to follow and you
guys are that role model for a lot of
people
he joined again I came in sorry bout
sorry I’ll you bounce kit did you hear
what I said yeah you were saying
something of serving the world of
honesty and having some quote I would
love for you to repeat it if you come
back I mean so as a quote that you put
on your Twitter feed about about being
honest and what I loved about it was
that you you’re not just selling diapers
you’re not just pumping out product and
your Twitter feed you’re trying to
spread the message of honesty and and I
could see that being a model for people
to want to follow and say hey here’s a
company who’s doing it right who’s
leading the way who we can look up to
and you may not have it perfect yet I
mean there’s no guidebook for you to
follow your make it up as you go but
you’re setting a lot of rules and trends
that other companies can follow and
model to create a more on this world
well I really appreciate that come the
compliment and and and comment I’m
humbled by that I my greatest core
passion is to educate and empower and
inspire change right now we’re choosing
to build product and and build high
quality safer product it could be in our
core mission we don’t talk about product
we talk about what’s the change in the
world we want to see and how do we
accomplish that and i haven’t of the
happily worked with patagonian way back
when and that’s what they did and i was
i was so impressed with that like
they’re not there to talk about hey
we’re making great outdoor gear they
talk about what’s the impact in the
world we want to have and how do we get
there and i love that that that Creed in
that mantra and that’s what we try to
live here every day we’re here to
educate and we’re here to transforms
people’s how they engage with their
legislators how they communicate and
raise their children how they connect
with family how they tend to the earth I
so they’re all these different ranges of
a lifestyle that you go through and and
i think you know we all do our part to
share and that knowledge and excite
people to do the same have you had any
difficult choices you know opportunities
that come up that either work with
people or bring on this investor or
launch this product but then it
conflicted with honest and you like you
know what we can’t do this as a brand
even though it looks like a great
opportunity on paper we have to pass
because it’s not who we are yeah there
have been some of those for sure and at
the end of the day you have to you’ve
got to align yourself with what you
believe is right and I what I love about
us and certainly our port team and then
our larger team in general is with
really we act from our heart and if it
doesn’t feel right we’re not going to go
there or we’re not going to do that and
or one particular instance which I
thought was a big learning experience
for me and and I’m and I’m trying to
educate around it is the first the
company first started with a wife a baby
wipe product or what we call them honest
wipes because I feel like there are tons
of wipes the market that car dashboard
wipes and finger wipes like you just
need one wipe and these honest wipes
just happen to come out too thin and so
we went to the drawing board and I went
around the domestic landscape of
manufacturers and then up to Canada I
could no one would build to my spec I
really set the bar incredibly high no
one would build the my spec and so I had
to go internationally and i found a
manufacturing group and partner that was
really able to hit our demands that hit
our wallet water quality demands our
sourcing demands I mean I want a medical
grade cloth not garmin grade i wanted a
filtration system on the water because
that’s the the majority of the lotion
load in a wife i wanted that is so high
and I had all these demands and no one
can beat except this one group and they
happened to be in China just outside of
Shanghai and I I from a second from my
core inner inner in herself was like I
don’t know enough about China and seems
really far away and shipping lanes and
carbon footprints and qualities uh
stories about bad quality I just don’t
want to go there and I hide what I
physically went there and learned and
educated myself because I I needed that
and the business needed that and I
learned a lot and you’ve got first
second and third class
tears of manufacturing around the globe
and that happens to be here in the
backyard of California and or around the
world in Asia and I learned a lot and
what I what I was most impressed by was
if you tell get and we have a great blog
post about it and on our blog if you
google that and I think you you you
learn that what your preconceived
notions aren’t always what what you
believe they couldn’t should be so as an
adult you can learn and it again as our
job as a company is to educate people
around the globe and around the world
about different ranges of business
choices and that was one that we made
and I’m proud of it because we’ve got a
great manufacturing partner that hits
standards above and beyond everyone that
I’ve ever seen domestically and and
that’s been it’s been exciting to go
through that that life cycle yeah I mean
that question came up to and part of
from what you tweeted about CBS and CBS
recently changed name CVS health and now
they’re all about how amazing and
they’re getting rid of all of their
cigarettes because that’s not help and
that that’s a two billion dollar hit
right I mean you should talk abut we
should give that a noun called the CVS
effect because that that’s a two billion
dollar decision that is so impressive
and business should really look at them
say what is best for again prioritize
human health people first and at the end
of the environment where you prioritize
people yeah I love it we’re just getting
a somebody writing in from Brazil Raziel
says I haven’t had any luck shrine the
honest products yet but I’m a huge fan
of the company but learning so much for
them for your blog and so thank you so
just uh Brasel coming in being a fan
when you going to brazil on a single
ticket for 0 l-r coming soon no an
international expansion is always a
great opportunity i mean everything is
prioritized
prioritization and sequencing so we’re
looking at a lot of great opportunities
we’re excited about many of them and the
business continues to do well we’re
really humbled by that is their
simplicity and having one word I mean
you look at you look at any company and
they have noble intentions we look at
their values they all have values but
nobody can remember what they are
because they have you know 15 core
values and probably the CEO could name
them off and here you are like one main
thing that just make it easier to try to
live your mission yeah I think I think
people the word honest is is really
comforting and it’s in it it’s really
satisfying to hear and and people get it
immediately and so when you have that
level of a when you can connect deep on
that psychological level I think people
really are satisfied and feel comforted
by that and that’s a it’s a it’s an
honor to hold that word and it’s a it’s
a it’s a privilege and it’s a duty right
it it holds you to a standard and and it
drives us forward every single day have
you collaborated with any any other
entrepreneurs or artists or musicians or
other people who just want to spread the
message of honesty and and since you
guys both believe in the same thing
there’s opportunities to work together I
mean we’re just starting to look at some
depths of collaborations out we’ve done
some brand collaborations on the product
side which were really satisfying but
nothing that you’re mentioning I would
love to do what we’re really doing now
is we’re really building out our social
goodness arm we’re to our core and built
into the DNA of this company outside of
you know what’s the change we want to
see it’s it’s our responsibility to
really provide an offer and and support
communities and families in need and
that’s what we’ve identified and so I
you will see us really flexing our
muscle and our and our belief system
there
because we’d use a lot right now some of
it those broadcasts and much of it
doesn’t and I really want to build
programs and messy messaging campaigns
and stuff that Jose that social
philanthropy built into business much am
Thompson does it well we know Blake very
well and some other brands have done it
very well yeah I think honest is not as
known for that but it is like it is
everything we do over here every day
yeah I mean if there’s an artist who’s
trying to promote honesty maybe yeah
design part of a package for you or
limited your reason just a social media
post um anyone who wants a design
diapers you know we’ve got this great
great platform of designer diapers yeah
I think it’s a great idea regret it love
it again in a question feeling and
voting in oh just saying I was at the
AMA honest office a few weeks ago I love
honest you got some good fans here yeah
what is the honest mantra coming out
when’s the next book by Christopher the
honest mantra hitting the bookshelves ah
it’s a great question I am uh I’m
entertaining right now we build a team
and you know we’re only 32 months old
we’re you know we’re infant and as a
lesson company so we’re really just
getting a feet under US and um it this
has been a true labor of love I’ve three
babies and this has definitely been a
fourth and a fifth so I it’s been a lot
of work one day soon I hope yeah I think
it’s a great idea i mean honestly i may
be gushing but i love what you stand for
i wish more businesses what adopted and
you know you getting your message out
there and leading by example but also
being out there i know you’re doing a
lot of speaking and they’re going on
traveling and just promoting that
concept there’s a lot of people it
hasn’t even hit their radar but you you
noticed that you got frustrated and you
took action a lot of people are they may
be frustrate but they don’t know what to
do and you’re giving them a model for
hey here’s the type of business that you
can that you can start and make it be a
positive force for good in the world so
i love it man i’m gushing but i love i
love you’re all about awesome I
appreciate that oh um you know I want to
be respected
I know I said we’d be done in half now
we’re kind of little over so I’m gonna
be honest in my precinct well I am in ya
got I’m always willing to do more than
these and and and if you guys have
questions throughout the on Google
Hangouts we can ask questions in that I
think there’s the chat feed there as
well but it’s always a pleasure to talk
about the business talk about what we
stand a believe because when you’re dead
down and day-to-day execution and
building a team it’s nice to come up and
really you know at the treetop level
really see the forest and and see how
it’s grown and maturing and i gotta say
if this is it’s really a source of pride
and and and i think i feel very humbled
and honored to really be be part of the
group and the team and and I feel like
truly this is a life’s work moment and
that I hope continued eight can continue
84 continue for generations and
generations so yeah yeah i mean honestly
I think you should be really proud of
what you’re doing you’re having a huge
impact and they were just getting
started but but it’s a you’re gonna have
a big impact and and I’m happy to have
some you know small little role and
getting your messages so oh it makes it
it’s uh you know there’s more question
that will be coming in maybe I’ll
collect them and if there’s enough
coming in we can set up another time
answer people’s questions and wait all
up that’d be fantastic that’d be great
alright well I appreciate the time we’ll
let you get back to your busy schedule
thank you people want to learn more
about you what’s the best thing just go
to an asst comm good honest com maybe if
upper navigation you click over to the
blog you’ll see a lot of great posts and
educational pieces as well as just great
lifestyle pieces everything from food to
lifestyle DIY the product portfolio is
growing quite rapidly I think we’re up
to almost 90 products and and growing
every month so you know keep in tune
there you can follow me on twitter
christopher underscore gab and and
thanks everyone for supporting us it’s a
true honor and I I really appreciate it
awesome to end on one last comment that
came in so I want to know when Chris was
writing his book had the chance to read
healthy child healthy world would love
to read one more book from him so you
put an odd see people want to hear your
message are more more here comes thanks
Christopher Frank and I appreciate it
cheers Oliver
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