The excitement and camaraderie of our start-up was beginning to be replaced by a more hierarchical culture. The leadership team was bogged down in personality conflicts and bickering, with key members insisting that we implement processes and systems similar to those used at their previous companies.
I noticed that longtime employees were starting to leave for more-entrepreneurial organizations, and I realized that, secretly, I wanted to follow them. It was more than a company to me: It was my life. So this period of uncertainty felt like having problems in a marriage.
What do you do? For me, the sabbatical was like going into couples counseling. If it had been a pure business problem, I would have organized a strategic offsite. But this was both corporate and personal. I needed to figure out the future course of the company and my role in it. And I tend to do my best thinking alone. When I left for Austin, I was careful not to make a big deal of it—I told people the break was an extended honeymoon with Heather.
But once there, I dedicated a lot of time to private contemplation. I also started talking to anyone I thought might offer good advice and inspire me. I spoke regularly with my executive coach, entrepreneur friends, and business and nonprofit leaders I admire. I traveled to conferences around the country to learn from experts in social enterprise and international development. Martin Luther King Jr. Our marketing increasingly felt product-focused rather than purpose-focused.
That was a tough pill to swallow. Another breakthrough came during a Dallas Cowboys game. I was introduced to a man named Joe Ford, who told me that his son, Scott, was also using business to improve lives, but through the coffee trade in Rwanda.
Joe explained the importance of water in the coffee supply chain. When beans are processed with clean as opposed to dirty water, they are transformed from a commodity to a specialty and can be sold at dramatically higher prices.
It was also buying direct from growers, helping to break up unfair industry price controls, and offering low-interest loans as an alternative to those from predatory lenders. Best of all, Westrock was a profitable business that sold fantastic coffee.
Like most entrepreneurs, I get a high from starting things and doing the unexpected. No one doubted our shoe business anymore, but few people would imagine that we could also sell coffee. And the expansion could pave the way for a new TOMS retail experience, something I had long wanted to try.
The vision—and the challenge—pumped new life into me. I told our senior executives about my idea. I was still living in Austin, but the more I discussed my plans with Heather an early TOMS employee who knew the business—and me—better than most people , the more she realized it was time for my sabbatical to end.
The Supplier Code can be viewed here. Our supplier contracts provide that contracted factories must conduct business in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations and comply with the terms of the Supplier Code. In addition, these contracts specifically forbid the use of forced labor and prohibit discrimination or harassment in the workplace.
Each factory is required to certify compliance with these terms and conditions prior to becoming an approved contracted factory. In addition, to mitigate the risks of slavery and human trafficking at indirect suppliers, TOMS prohibits contracted factories from engaging subcontractors without the written permission of TOMS and a subsequent audit of the facility. TOMS also monitors its raw-material suppliers Tier 2 of the supply chain and employs an audit and remediation process at these facilities similar to those in Tier 1 factories.
Before conducting business with TOMS, each factory must undergo an unannounced factory audit. Our on-site process includes audits by our trained factory compliance auditors and third-party audit companies.
Issues such as health and safety, wage and compliance, forced labor, child labor issues, harassment-free workplace policies, and environmental issues are reviewed. The entire factory, including dormitories, if applicable, is audited.
The auditors will interview groups of employees, as well as individuals, without management presence, to allow them to freely comment on their work conditions. Commencing in , anonymous factory employee surveys have been included as part of our audit process to increase transparency within our supply chain.
Audits also are performed annually and scored on a graded scale. Factories with a lower rating are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. A factory with persistent safety, health, or labor issues that fails to remediate these issues in an acceptable manner will be rejected as our supplier and will not be authorized to supply products for TOMS.
Auditing our suppliers helps to bring accountability and deliver credibility to the supply chain by providing a verification point and by helping us to understand the overall direction of improvement. However, audits are not an end in themselves, providing only a snapshot in time, and we believe work best as part of a broader approach to engagement, collaboration and continuous improvement. TOMS has a zero-tolerance policy for violations involving any form of modern slavery.
Vendors or factories found to be in violation of this policy will be immediately terminated. TOMS conducts annual global compliance training with its employees and the management teams of its key factories, focusing on monitoring the risk for modern slavery and adherence to the Supplier Code. Our CSR Team and supply chain employees meet regularly with factories and key suppliers to reiterate TOMS' zero tolerance policy for suppliers who engage in modern slavery. That's a trademark habit of the rich.
Ferriss, who's also incorporated journaling into his morning routine , suggests starting the habit by committing to doing just five minutes each day. As crazy as it might seem, I believe the answer is yes," he says. Skip Navigation. Jennifer Liu.
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