Mindful Entrepreneurship is Profitable: Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia

Watching this frank, humorous, and educational talk by Yvon Chouinard. Chouinard, legendary climber, businessman and environmentalist, is the founder and owner of one of the world’s most inspiring companies, Patagonia, Inc. He shares the history of Patagonia, the values shared by the people who work there, practices, and processes that provide a mindful framework for business that balances people, planet, and profits. This lecture is more insightful than most business courses you will take in any business school. He speaks to a new philosophy that allows people to live authentic, passionate lives that are mindful of environment and be profitable. His lecture describes the practical problems of being mindful. For example, when he decided to change from factory farmed cotton to organic cotton (because of the high content of petrochemicals in regular cotton, which is bad for the cotton farmers, the customers, and the environment), he describes all the practical problems in switching from one system to another.

Being mindful and profitable requires innovation. Certainly, mindfulness is not for the lazy or the weak at heart.