Vincent Stanley is the Director of Philosophy at Patagonia, and he holds the honor of being the company’s longest-serving employee. He is also an author, poet, and a resident fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. His most recent book, which he co-authored with Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard, is titled The Future of the Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 50 Years.
The book recounts Patagonia’s evolution from its humble beginnings as a small offshoot of Chouinard Equipment for Alpinists to becoming the world’s premiere outdoor apparel brand into its current role of serving as a blueprint for how business can be a force for good in the world. In less than 200 pages, Vincent delves into Patagonia’s greatest business challenges, victories, and missteps, and he explains Patagonia’s never-ending quest to become more responsible, more thoughtful, and more effective in achieving its mission of “saving our home planet.”
My first real exposure to Patagonia’s business model was when I was a student in graduate school, earning my MBA. I read Yvon’s book Let My People Go Surfing, and realized that many of the business lessons and philosophies from Patagonia stood in stark contrast to those of mega-corporations. Patagonia’s approach opened my mind to a different way of thinking about business, one that led me to follow a much different path than I’d planned when I initially showed up at grad school. So it was a real honor to have the conversation with Vincent and dig even deeper into the philosophies, ideals, and tactics that have made Patagonia such a legendary enigma in the world of big-time business– and a role model for me and countless other business owners.
Vincent and I connected virtually– he was in Maine, I was in Colorado– and we talked about all aspects of the book, as well as his long and storied history at Patagonia. You can check out the episode notes for a full list of everything we discussed, and I would highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Future of the Responsible Company– it’s chock full of actionable, applicable wisdom that anyone with a job would benefit from knowing.
Thanks to Vincent for taking the time to chat, thanks to you for listening, and I hope you enjoy.
Photos courtesy of Patagonia
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RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 3:00 – How Vincent became involved in Patagonia
- 7:00 – Why Vincent and Yvon decided to update The Responsible Company, and a history of changes at Patagonia
- 24:00 – When Vincent realized there was interest in and demand for the business model and values of Patagonia
- 28:00 – Differentiating between “responsible” and “sustainable”
- 31:00 – How Vincent and Patagonia approach the work of marketing
- 34:30 – The unconventional business performance indicators and evaluations that Patagonia employs
- 37:15 – Why books are important in Vincent and Patagonia’s work
- 41:15 – Who and what gives Vincent hope for the future
- 44:15 – Reconciling the guilt of “messing up”
- 50:15 – Vincent’s book recommendations
- 53:00 – Vincent’s parting words of wisdom
Information Referenced:
- Vincent Stanley
- Patagonia
- Yvon Chouinard
- The Future of the Responsible Company by Yvon Chouinard & Vincent Stanley
- All Patagonia Books
- San Joaquin Valley
- Wilkes-Barre, PA
- United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
- Laudato Si’ by Pope Francis
- Syrian Civil War
- Dr. Michael Kami
- Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard
- Milton Friedman
- Dylan Tomine
- Frances B. Ashforth
- DamNation film
- Patagonia Books
- Malinda Chouinard
- Doug Tompkins
- Kristine Tompkins
- Doug Peacock
- Rick Ridgeway
- Tom McGuane
- Jim Harrison
- Greenwich Village
- Hurricane Lee
- Daniel Goleman
- The End of Nature by Bill McKibben
- Wallace Stevens
- William Carlos Williams
- Kate Raworth
- Donut Economics
- John Fullerton
- The Capital Institute
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
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