32. Kay Pancheri on the Ripple Effect of Optimism in the Workplace

Purpose and Profit with Kathy Varol

Life is Good® is an apparel brand dedicated to spreading the power of optimism. Launched in 1989 from the back of a van, the Boston-based business has grown through word of mouth and customer engagement to become a $150 million company. 10% of their annual net profits go to their partner organization Life is Good Kids Foundation, which provides underserved communities with the tools to help children persevere through adversity and trauma.

Kay Pancheri is the Vice President of Brand Marketing. Before joining Life is Good, Kay spent 15 years leading advertising efforts at two internationally awarded agencies. She collaborated with global and national brands to establish their brand vision, communicate purpose, and deploy game-changing creative to drive business growth.

In this episode we discuss:

• The tension between accelerated growth and employee satisfaction (and what to do about it)
• The superpower of letting life infiltrate work
• The power of thought patterns, and the importance of being intentional about the thought patterns you practice

Key Takeaways:

• As the saying goes: your employees are your first customer, and your most important product is your company culture. Employee surveys can be a treasure trove of insight on how to create a better company. Listen to what your employees are telling you, and act on their input with gratitude and humility. Remember, you hired capable and talented people, so trust them. After all, your employees have the greatest incentive for your company to succeed.
• Doing what you love, sharing what you love, and talking about what you love causes a ripple effect. As Kay shared, these simple acts are one way to spread optimism.
• Companies that truly care about their customers—their well-being, making their life easier, making them smile—also tend to be companies that truly care about their employees. This is the interesting thing about patterns of thinking: they don’t stay isolated in one area. On the flip side, businesses that view consumers as a group to extract as much value as possible from will tend to treat employees the same way—as a company resource to extract from. This thought pattern of extraction, from an employee standpoint, drives the toxic culture of burnout. From a consumer standpoint, it drives mistrust in companies since consumers can tell if you only care about how much money they give you. What does this mean? Be careful about the thought patterns you practice. Also, as an employee, pay attention to the language used internally around consumers, since that mentality is going to transfer over to how the company thinks about you too.

References:

• Life is Good

• Life is Good Kids Foundation and Playmakers
• Good Vibes Tribe

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