Sing it in your Anna voice.

If you’re on our mailing list, you may have found your way here from my very first note of 2020. If you haven’t had a chance to read that note, you can take a few minutes to read it, here.

How do we start? We start with what we believe.

We’re kicking off the year and decade with an intention to do the next right thing (DTNRT) for our brands and businesses. What does that mean?

Doing the next right thing is about action, above all. It’s combining courage and humility. Believing that ambitious positive change is possible, doable, while also admitting that we don’t have all the answers, and we can’t do it alone. It’s deciding we can take a step forward with what we know now, not waiting until we have perfect information to act. It’s committing to learning, unlearning and relearning to figure it out as we go. It’s refusing to duck responsibility because we don’t have a foolproof plan. DTNRT is a challenge to change the status quo. To make it our business to fix things in the world that are unfair, unjust, untrue, to right wrongs that effect us, and galvanize you.

Maybe you’re unconvinced. I understand. You might be thinking that the world’s most pressing problems are intractable - Australia is burning, the headlines are horrific, poverty plagues so many people, nothing we do will matter - but it isn’t true. We can’t be bowled over by believing that we have no power to make progress. We possess the power to contribute to positive change. Say it again. Out loud. I’m serious. Wherever you are. At the office? On the subway? Cooking in the kitchen? In the bathroom? (I don’t judge…). Say it with me, now. Pretend I can hear you. We possess the power to contribute to positive change.

How did that feel? Maybe that helped. Maybe you’re holding out on me. I get it. We often feel defeated. You might think, we’re not famous or powerful or rich. What can we do? Let’s divest ourselves of the lie that we must be ‘important’ to have an impact. When we do that, we give ourselves the chance to make our lives matter, to find meaning. This is about living for change in our spheres of influence, in our companies, in the communities where we work and live, in our homes, our houses of worship, with our 100 social media followers (shout out to microinfluencers), heck, even in our book clubs (or wine clubs, or the hybrid versions so many of us attend as vino adoring bibliophiles). We start where we are, with what we have. But we bloody well start.

Here’s how I will do the next right thing.

With that pep talk out of the way, I’d like to share how I will do my next right thing(s), along with two stories about brand partners who took action to do the next right thing, too. After less than a year in business, it’s been lots of effort just getting off the ground here. With amazing brand partners lined up, conscious capitalism training well underway, and a couple of projects in the works behind the scenes, there’s no shortage of work to be done. This is what I’m doing next. As in, this month.

• Research and select a tree planting partner to measure and mitigate my company and personal carbon footprint. I’ll share more on my commitment, including plans to reduce my emissions at source, pursue slow travel options for this decade, and offset it +2x in 2020.

• Commit publicly to supporting specific Global Goals with the corresponding targets laid out, and take steps to support these activities in my operations and impact. Expressions for this include, future brand partners, volunteering with organizations on the ground and more.

• Publish my podcast series Launch Conscious to the world (SCARY!). Apart from the fact I dislike my recorded voice (why so squeaky? why?!) this is a chance to amplify ideas and impact with all kinds of folks doing the next right thing all over the place, with storytelling.

Brave brands DTNRT, consistently.

I hope you notice these statements begin with verbs - DTNRT is about taking action, no matter how modest. Here are two examples of my brilliant brand partners bringing DTNRT into their businesses:

Bogobrush has partnered with Hard Rock Hotel Maldives since 2018, bringing biodegradable and recycled oral care to hotel guests. Co-founder and CEO Heather McDougall is moving beyond a product partnership, to connect nature to a community through tourism that is both sustainable and profitable for Maldivians, while preserving the local ecosystem that is under threat. As Heather wrote recently, “Many of these shifts are effects from the islands sitting squarely in the path of climate change and living in the aftershock of recent developments such as 24-hour electricity and the industrialized plastic epidemic”. Heather will be strengthening their partnership in the Maldives this year. I look forward to continuing to build the growth and impact of this brand in the North American market across diverse sales channels, including our newest partner Urban Outfitters Online, as Heather and the team focus on a higher global purpose to create even more positive impact in 2020.

Urban Spa was just certified as one of Canada’s newest Bcorporations - about 300 businesses in our country have met the requirements to make this legal commitment by measuring and reporting environmental and social impact, improving their operations and practices using business as a force for good. Female founder, Jennifer Lewis made it her mission to bring clean beauty products to conscious consumers with planet protecting packaging, and high performing ingredients. Her hair care line uses infinitely recyclable aluminum cans, with 92% less plastic than other hair care lines, and 10% of profits are donated to support women and children in need, locally and globally.

It’s your turn, now. How will you DTNRT?

We have a chance, this is our choice as next generation business leaders to lead. Don’t wait until you have the grand sweeping plan, the mega idea to transform everything, the giant unicorn pitch, or the exact right role, at the exact right business, at the exact right time, because heaven help us, none of these really exist. There’s a chance you could wait your whole life to do the next right thing.

Or you can do it, today.

As Anna sings in Frozen II,

The next right thing
It's too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath, this next step
This next choice is one that I can make - Frozen II

Now, I’d love to hear from you. How are you inspired to DTNRT? Remember, we can start with what we have, what we know and do it, today. It’s about taking action. Please be specific and share directly in the comments, writing in detail how you will do the next right thing. Let’s encourage each other, because community makes courage feel less lonely, and we all need that in our lives, everyday.

Here’s to being brave,

Ange x