Craftiness and a Better World

One thing that I really enjoyed about chapter 5 was the insight about the purchasing power of consumers.  We understand through the example of the shift in Big Tobacco companies and through projects like Slow Movements when groups of people with similar ideas join together, they can really change the way that big business, and even industries internationally function.

This primarily hit home for me because as a business owner developing a company that is attempting to change the way that people think about shopping and wearing clothing,  I do think of the retail industry as needing change.  I believe that in terms of fashion apparel, it’s time to make retailing more about personal style and less about fashion being dictated by magazines and big advertisers.  Ideas like the Slow Cities and truly inspirational people like Jamie Oliver that work together to change something as big as the food industry, prove that truly anything is possible.

It is quite the revolutionary yet sensible idea to wrap your head around: If you believe something can be better in the world, you can in fact change it through business (and a crafty one at that!).  This is at the core of Base of the Pyramid / social enterprise thinking and a nice correlation to the entire book.  Whether you are combating children’s foot diseases through some crafty shoes or knitting for Cambodia, your work can do good in a big or small way.

A key takeaway from this reading thus far for me is that “corporate” doesn’t have to be a dirty word for creative folks and positivity in business stems from the leadership.  So if you’re reading this and you want to do a little (or a lot) of good, it’s all possible with some creative thinking and doing.

Guest Blogger for CraftMBA Book Club – Rachel Brooks

Hi Everyone! I’d like to introduce myself as well as a guest contributor to the CraftMBA Book Club for the current book Business and the Buddha (also still anxiously waiting on Amazon so I can catch up with the rest of you!).

I’m a new entrepreneur with a special interest in mass customization in apparel. Currently, I am working to develop and launch a line of clothing and accessories that allows customers to customize goods virtually called The Style Cooperative. Also, there’s a community/culture aspect that is important to me as well, which will be my area of focus while reading the book. You can read more about the business and some of my style inspiration musings on my blog, http://thestylesocial.blogspot.com

As I approach the time for the company to officially launch, I’m really looking to develop ways to ensure that the core values and beliefs that drove me to work with apparel stay true in the work that we do. I want to create something unbelievably positive, so it is my hope that this book will help open me to new and positive ways of thinking about business, style, culture, and the people that bring it all together.

Finally, as a newbie to owning a business, I’m most excited to learn from the more seasoned craftsters in business here.

Looking forward to sharing ideas with you!