I'm the company philosopher and the burr in the saddle. I'm the one who says we need to try harder, improve the quality of our products, become a part of the political process, help elect people who are good for the environment.
Yvon ChouinardAt Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen 'when you do everything else right'.
Yvon ChouinardWhile our managers debated what steps to take to address the sales and cash-flow crisis, I began to lead week-long employee seminars in what we called Philosophies. We'd take a busload at a time to places like Yosemite or the Marin Headlands above San Francisco, camp out, and gather under the trees to talk. The goal was to teach every employee in the company our business and environmental ethics and values.
Yvon ChouinardWhen I die and go to hell, the devil is going to make me the marketing director for a cola company. Iโll be in charge of trying to sell a product that no one needs, is identical to its competition, and canโt be sold on its merits. Iโd be competing head-on in the cola wars, on price, distribution, advertising, and promotion, which would indeed be hell for me. Remember, Iโm the kid who couldnโt play competitive games. Iโd much rather design and sell products so good and unique that they have no competition.
Yvon Chouinard