Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson
Vincent Stanley - Lessons Learned from Patagonia’s First Fifty Years
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."
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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Thanks to Vincent for taking the time to chat, thanks to you for listening, and I hope you enjoy.
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- "The Future of the Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 50 Years"
- Vincent Stanely
- Patagonia Books
- Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/vincent-stanley/
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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
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