Page 214 - The Apple Experience

Stay True to Your Values

“We pride ourselves on ethics,” according to Lush North America
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president Mark Wolverton, whom I interviewed for a Forbes.com column.

“As we grow, we refuse to change the very things that make us unique.”

Wolverton told me that Lush has always strived to make a positive

environmental impact. It does so by sourcing from vendors who use no child

labor or animal-tested products. The products are 100 percent vegetarian and
80 percent vegan. According to Wolverton, this is the “ethical choice” that

Lush has made since its inception.

Regardless of the choices and values you choose to make in your business,

it’s important to maintain a unique identity. Ask yourself, what does my

company stand for? Apple is in the business of enriching lives. What business

are you in?

Communicate Your Values

Once you know what your company stands for, you must communicate

your unique values through multiple channels. Individual Lush stores

maintain their own Facebook pages, and Lush tells its story through its

website and a free in-store newspaper called the Lush Times. Lush also does

something unique—it gets involved in environmental causes by holding

events and protests at its stores. In North America, Lush has run

controversial campaigns tackling issues like overpackaging in the cosmetics

industry, the Canadian commercial seal hunt, and the Canadian oil sands
(the extraction of oil from Alberta’s tar sands has sparked fierce

environmental opposition). To raise awareness of such issues, Lush staff at

some stores have stripped down to nothing but an apron to protest

overpackaging, storefronts have been converted into giant blood-spattered