Conscious business and social responsibility: meaning, examples and importance

Why social responsibility and conscious businesses are important: meaning, impact and examples

Punk rock roots

 My love affair with punk rock began in middle school – think purple hair, asymmetrical haircut, listening to the Misfits and the Descendents. The ethos of rebelling against capitalism and conformity was a perfect fit for my young self.

The bathroom at my parent’s house became a hair salon of sorts and I was always doing someone’s hair. At 16, I got my first job and decided to put my love of hair to use. I began apprenticing in a hair salon and eventually got my cosmetology license.

The standing joke at our salon staff meetings was that my retail sales were always the lowest – like next to nothing.

I hated selling. It felt so slimy to me. I always felt like I was trying to push products on people that they didn’t want or need.

What I didn’t realize until much later was that my customers were looking to me for advice on how to care for their hair and my anti-sales attitude wasn’t helping them to the best of my ability.

Instead of telling them how a gentle shampoo formulated for color-treated hair could maintain their new color, I was leaving them to go it alone with a drugstore shampoo that was probably as harsh and color-stripping as rug shampoo. Whoops!

My views have become a bit more enlightened over the years, but I’m still quite the minimalist – my Honda Pilot is a 2005 model and I tend to wear clothes until they are frayed and have holes – and then wear them some more.

When I started THE WILDNESS (formerly BEAUTY IN THE Raw) I had absolutely no background in business, but I knew that I wasn’t interested in the typical model.

With THE WILDNESS I wanted to create something more, something that could positively impact others – a business that cares about its customers, helps people, has integrity and gives back.

What the heck is a Conscious Business? What does Social Responsibility mean?

I did a lot of research online and learned that what I wanted to accomplish was actually a thing. There were others out there using a values-based approach to business who sought to better both people and the environment and not just their bottom lines.

I could align my mission and my values…I could help others and (hopefully) provide an income for my family in a way that felt right.

This idea goes by many different names:

• Conscious business
• Social responsibility
• Conscious capitalism
• Triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit (3 P’s)
• Purpose-driven business
• Values-driven business
• Ethical brand
• Charitable business
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• Benefit Corporation (B Corp)

Though the definitions differ slightly, these all have a few things in common:

• clearly defined mission
• set of core values
• positive impact on people and/or the environment

This positive impact is usually visible through a brand’s charitable donations, but is often also seen in the way they source raw materials, craft their products, treat employees and/or customers and the causes they support.

Examples of conscious businesses and brands that give back

Here are a few examples of brands that are making a positive impact on the world.

Bombas donates one pair of socks to someone experiencing homelessness with each pair purchased https://bombas.com/

Sand Cloud donates 10% of profits on eco-friendly towels to marine conservation efforts https://www.sandcloud.com/

tentree plants 10 trees with every clothing purchase https://www.tentree.com/

THE WILDNESS Mission

So, what does THE WILDNESS stand for?

Struggling with skin issues can have a huge impact on wellbeing. If you’re not familiar with my lifelong struggle with sensitive and reactive skin you can read more here.

My mission is to craft safe and effective skin care products that calm, nourish and empower you to feel comfortable in your skin.

I embrace a wildly different approach to skin care…clean…plant-based…backed by science…formulated to be safe and effective…for our sensitive and reactive skin.

THE WILDNESS Core Values

As a solopreneur, THE WILDNESS' core values align with my own personal values:

• Freedom
• Safety & Efficacy
• People & Planet
• Quality
• Customer Service

You can learn more about how these values are translated into action here.

How THE WILDNESS is giving back

I believe leaving the world a better place is important and THE WILDNESS has donated $1 for every product sold since day one.

This means that approximately 2.5% to nearly 100% of the total profit from your purchases (the percentage varies by product) goes directly to charity.

THE WILDNESS is currently partnering with The Chattooga Foundation. The Chattooga Foundation provides athletic, artistic and educational opportunities for people with disabilities and groups that include people with disabilities. You can learn more about our efforts here.

We’ve also distributed hundreds of mini Skin Relief Kits to our frontline heroes during the Covid pandemic to provide relief from the irritation caused by frequent washing, sanitizing and mask wearing. 

And your buy-one-give-one hand sanitizer purchases have been instrumental in getting hand sanitizer to those in need – THANK YOU!!!

*We rebranded from BEAUTY IN THE Raw to THE WILDNESS on 2/22/22 and these photos show the name and packaging in place at the time of COVID donations.

Little things add up quickly to a big impact and together we are making a difference!

I love supporting brands that are making the world a better place. Leave a comment below with your favorite brands so we can all show our support.

Here’s to making the world a little better!

Much love,

Rachel

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