“Make Perfume, Not War”
Today, we can look around the world and see an abundance of BIG problems. Between the climate changing, national and personal debts rising, wage disparity growing, wars and refugees, and oh so, so much more, we have corporate greed and political corruption at the centre of it all!! Who do we thank first?!
Businesses for a very long time have been entirely self-serving. I call this kind of business a “profit-at-all-costs” style of business, and they have much to answer for (sadly… the only way most of them ever do is by eventually dying, but not before executives loot the coffers!)
Of course, you are likely quite familiar with Tom’s Shoes, as just one example of many businesses today that are striving to be socially, environmentally and ethically responsible in their business decisions. Even Starbucks, a corporate giant that continues to innovate in socially responsible ways, is proof that this model is succeeding.
The story I would like to share with you is about a perfume company, founded by Canadian, Barbara Stegemann. This story is for people who want businesses to solve problems. It is especially for businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build something special. I hope this story inspires you as it did me, and I hope it opens your eyes to the ways in which creative solutions in this economy can overcome extreme horror. This story begins with Captain Trevor Greene, a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces.
This is an image of Captain Trevor Greene re-learning how to walk again. Learning how to walk isn’t the only hardship he has faced over the last ten years, he has also battled crushing PTSD — I mean nightmares, hallucinations, and the darkest thoughts of suicide. These are the effects you experience when a young boy, coached by the good old Taliban, runs up behind you and sinks an axe into your skull, damaging your brain. You become forever changed…
That, thankfully, is the worst part of this story and it gets brighter from here. To start, that woman in the picture on the left there? That is Trevor’s wife. She stuck with him, and believed in him, through all of his darkest moments, many of which were real struggles for her, too. When a marriage survives a catastrophe like that, it proves that love really can conquer all. Cue Beatles music!
Captain Greene’s best friend was also deeply affected by this event in ways that would change her life forever. Barbara Stegemann is now a very successful business owner, who has faced the dragons of Dragon’s Den — Canada’s televised investor pitching competition. It is fair to say that none of this would have happened if not for Captain Greene being attacked. Because of that, she began a business that is literally preventing wars.
If you hadn’t already heard about The 7 Virtues perfume company, now is your chance. Barbara’s career was already well on its way as a voice for the Stoic philosophy among women. She was a published author and professional speaker travelling and delivering her message. When she learned what happened to Captain Greene, she knew she had to do something, but what?
To find out, Barbara took a leap that most people would have never considered. She traveled to Afghanistan herself to investigate what was really going on there.
You hear about all kinds of things on the news when it comes to war. You hear about death and bombs and soldiers and terrorists and brutal attacks… but I’ve never seen a segment on the local economy before. Isn’t that strange? After you hear this, you may also wish you knew more about the local economy in war torn areas… it is one of the ways that terror thrives.
Just how does the Taliban make its money? After all, without money how would they get weapons, and people, to their “cause”? They must be getting money from somewhere, but where? I couldn’t tell you all of the ways, but Barbara Steggemann learned at least a few, and she decided on one that she could put a dent in: flowers.
That’s right, flowers. Specifically, poppies. Poppies, which are grown by local Afghan farmers, sold to the Taliban, then the Taliban harvests opium which is sold to fund their operations.
The thing about farming poppies is it is illegal to do in Afghanistan, which means it is dangerous for those farmers to do. Not only that, but the farmers generally didn’t sympathize with the Taliban themselves. So why would they farm the poppies, which ultimately help fund Taliban operations?
The answer is simple: the economy is tough there. People don’t have a lot. The land has been a war zone for so many years, which itself means desperate people take extreme measures, like becoming Taliban in the first place. Farming there is not as easy as it once was. Farming poppies is an option where there are few, a necessary evil so they can make a living and feed their families. I sure am glad I’ve never had to be put in THAT situation before. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Barbara Stegemann felt the same way. That’s when she decided to found The 7 Virtues perfume company. These farmers were already farming flowers, why not have them farm for fragrance instead of drugs?
The rest is history. She pounded the pavement, she told her story, she got her product in The Bay, she pitched on Dragon’s Den, and now The 7 Virtues is creating global trade opportunities in economies in Afghanistan and beyond. Her company was able to make quite a dent in the Taliban’s funding by reducing the number of farmers who farm poppies for them. Though Taliban funding numbers aren’t publicized, what we do know is that Afghan farmers making an honest living thanks to The 7 Virtues rose by more than 40% within the first few years alone.
And Captain Trevor Greene? He’s a bonafide bad-ass who did learn to walk again, has authored three books, been the subject of a documentary, and is now considered a Canadian icon, or really, a Canadian hero. His wife and family are happy to have him back 110%.
When I first heard this story it was in a series of interviews published as a book by KPMG called “That’ll Never Work” and I was dumbfounded. Of all the interviews, Barbara’s had the biggest impact on me. She used a business, which is sustainable in its nature to fight terror, and rebuild broken economies. It got me thinking: what else could a business do?
When you consider how deep a hole big “profit-at-all-costs” businesses have dug for all of us, it is easy to see how plainly obvious the solutions to our problems are.
What if oil execs used their money, their brain power, their positions, and their people to fund and create a cleaner, greener future?
What if classic sweat shop businesses like Nike turned their factories into safe havens, and invested in the local community?
I’d love to see Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates, and every great success living today apply more than their money to non-profits, I’d love to see them apply those beautiful minds that made them so successful in the first place. What if they imagined a world at peace? How would they begin to create it?
To operate a business where only the people on top win, while everyone and everything else around them become impoverished, is a model that will go extinct like the dinosaurs. If those dinosaur businesses don’t adapt, they’ll find themselves replaced by the mammalian startups that take their place. That analogy is surprisingly apt — mammals care for their young and live in social groups in ways that large reptiles would not. It is a mark of evolution to become more self-giving, social and ultimately creative, like beavers and monkeys living in families and building and using tools. Likewise, social and environmental responsibility, mixed with business savvy and creative solutions can ultimately solve the problems that businesses and corporate corruption made in the first place.
Now it’s your turn: how can you support or build businesses that benefit, and make an positive impact on the world? … not tomorrow… today!
