But we didnt make shirts or hats. While attending Brigham Young University, Smith had a chance meeting with Steve Gibson, a successful entrepreneur whose philanthropic work had inspired him for years, and it nudged him onto his own entrepreneurial path. How do we create a movement around business as a force for good where were using profits not to just enrich shareholders, but to focus on stakeholders stakeholders being everyone that lives on this planet? Davis Smith, Founder & CEO, Cotopaxi - Topio Networks Named after the volcano near his childhood home in Quito, Ecuador, this new idea, Gear for Good, had Smith energized, inspired and mapping out every detail from the sustainable business model to the marketing-friendly llama mascot and eventual Questival events. He is a member of the United Nations Foundation's Global Leadership Council and a Presidential Leadership Scholar. Do good: Cotopaxi founder and CEO seeks to change the world, starting For example, when you order something on the Cotopaxi website you will receive a handwritten note written by a refugee teenager in Utah. He was raised the largest amount of capital ever raised from institutional investors by a benefit corporation, a corporation with a legal duty to fund a humanitarian mission from its profits. Posts Reels Tagged It was immediately following their wedding in 2001 when Davis Smith and his wife, Asialene decided they needed an adventure. Smith soon realized that if he left work by 6 p.m., he would get home in time to have dinner with his family, to help his kids with homework, read books to them and to have scripture study and prayer together. Thats when I realized there was something special about this brand we had created.. Report incorrect company information. Courtesy of Cotopaxi, Cotopaxis super-insulating llama wool at its, source in Bolivia where the company is employing dozens of people in local communities. The workers are entrusted to choose the colors for the backpacks. But using your supply chain and the products you make to affect change rather than just your profits creates a culture that transformshow we look fundamentally at how we do business.. Davis Smith, CEO, Cotopaxi, speaks at the 2022 Concordia Annual Summit in New York in September. Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content, 2022 LDS Living A Division of Deseret Book Company, New leaders for 129 missions have been announcedfind out who and where theyre serving, Gear for Good: How Cotopaxis founder got the idea for his one-of-a-kind business, Countdown to Conference: Daily quotes from last conference to prepare you for April 2023, There is room for my brown paper-doll family: 2 gospel truths I learned as a young girl that carry my faith, Questions Worth Exploring: A new speaker series from Deseret Book. Cotopaxi is called the next Patagonia by many, but theres quite a unique story behind its foundation.Now, our main business is to sell outdoors products, but thats not how we got started, says Davis. Davis is currently the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear and active lifestyle brand - with a social mission at its core. Smith plans to be a player in creating change in the world through the private sector, trusting in his belief that people want to support businesses that share their values and companies that are looking beyond their bottom line to make the world a better place. The way they do business simply costs a little more. If you dont have core values, your outcomes wont be what you want them to be.. Smith, Jacob, and Whittaker launched Cotopaxi in April 2014 with $3 million in seed funding, five backpacks for sale, and a website. Cotopaxi's key executives include Davis Smith and 1 others. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. It was one of the first places where we started building our brand. The companys mission is written on the wall where every employee cansee. Jack Stauss, brand guide, right, and Casey Yardley, operations assistant, move donated books to a van at Cotopaxi in Salt Lake City on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. This was poverty at the most desperate level. Where children still die because they dont have clean water.. To each of you, thank you for being supportive as I follow this path that means so much to me.. The books will be donated to low income families in Utah in collaboration with the Start Foundation. Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. I grew up loving the outdoors but also had a deep passion and empathy for people, Smith said. That's why he founded Cotopaxi in 2014. I believe we can eradicate extreme poverty in our lifetimes but cant depend on the government alone to do that or nonprofits by themselves. Cotopaxi is the first company to incorporate from inception as a Benefit Corporation and raise venture capital. Cotopaxi founders return to Brazil, but for a different purpose I knew I was not smarter or harder working or more ambitious than anyone around me. While Smith had hoped of someday working for Gibson, he says Gibson encouraged him to become an entrepreneur himself and find his own way to make an impact in the world. I think humans, by nature, are good. Now, the socially minded company is turning its attention toward COVID-19 relief. Steve really inspired me to find a way to do good, Smith said. For Davis Smith, this began early. Cotopaxi CEO to Hand Reins to President as He Takes On a Missionary Project Davis Smith will spend three years in Brazil and has anointed Damien Huang to take over the top role at the. The products Cotopaxi sells have a warranty of 61 years. How do we create a movement around business as a force for good where were using profits not to just enrich shareholders, but to focus on stakeholders stakeholders being everyone that lives on this planet?. The company also hosts Questivals in the US so consumers can come and experience nature. Confidence in what he wanted to create made it easy for Smith to pitch his idea to investors. According to Smith, a chance encounter with Gibson on the BYU campus during a social impact conference led to his decision to become an entrepreneur as a means of making an impact on the world. Cotopaxi is also about to announce another significant investment next month. All rights reserved. I cover luxury real estate, travel, hospitality, and entrepreneurs, Cotopaxi co-founders Stephan Jacob (left, Davis, Smith (center), and CJ Whittaker (right). And Smith followed that adage, choosing to organize Cotopaxi as a benefit corporation which includes legal obligations to accountability, transparency and purpose. How to implement that role was a percolating concept, but one that stayed with Smith throughout undergraduate work at BYU and later while earning an MBA at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Is soft power the key to U.S. global leadership? Most people in America dont even know what this looks like. Annie once worked with NPOs at IDEO, a world-renowned design consulting firm. Smith and his wife, Asialene, will be serving as mission president and companion in the Brazil Recife North mission. Cotopaxi Begins Search for First Company President Smith also grew up learning early on that the world can be cruel. Davis Smith is the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear brand with the heart of a humanitarian. I wanted to impress social contribution to the people who could relate with my vision through experience, instead of just by selling products. Cotopaxi employs an open work space with no assigned seating at its headquarters because Smith likes to sit with his employees and have the opportunity to get to know a different person each day. Cotopaxi has experienced remarkable growth over the last nine years and is proof that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive, Smith said in a press release. Courtesy of Cotopaxi. These people typically make $100 per year but Smith hopes to provide them with improved livelihood. So, Ive always felt a deep sense of duty and responsibility to find a way to use my life to help others. Eradicating poverty whether its in America or globally cant happen just through government and non profits, says Smith. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., - Cotopaxi, a popular active wear brand is shutting down its only San Francisco store because of repeated break-ins. There are a lot of really beautiful, promising things about whats happening in the world right now, and we can be a part of that.. Free Returns and Exchanges. He also holds a BA in International Studies from Brigham Young University. All Rights Reserved, Cotopaxi founder/CEO Davis Smith stepping down to serve Brazil mission, Utahs Cotopaxi doing good business by doing good, Utahs Cotopaxi finding ways to survive, help its community thrive amid COVID-19, Utahs Gear for Good company Cotopaxi launches charitable foundation, Hold on to your brookies, Utahs new Trader Joes is now open. Davis Smith (Cotopaxi) at Startup Grind Salt Lake City I believed that business could amplify my voice and message and believed I could get people to work alongside me to do good if I could build a brand that inspired people, Smith said. Among the newly called mission presidents for 2023 is President Davis M. Smith and his wife Asialene, who have been called to preside over the Brazil Recife North Mission. I certainly learned what we all know already, which is that there are great people all over the world, regardless of what faith they believe in or if they have a faith at all, Smith said. Are they taking on challenges as they have fun? If you start thinking about people throughout your entire product process as a core value these are the little things that emerge that can change your companys entire approach to design and development.. Smith hopes Cotopaxis success serves as inspiration for other entrepreneurs. Withdrawals were written down, as well; $5, $15 and $25 amounts were recorded in the Bank of Smiths Savings to have gone to help various individuals.