Heartstrings

Heartstrings's Journal

February 21, 2020

Email from Bill Penzey aimed at other CEO's

Dear CEO/Decision Maker,

No point in sugarcoating this, so I’m just gonna say it. For some time now we’ve all known the Republican Party has been overtaken by a corruption and cruelty incredibly damaging to the future of our country. In these last few weeks in the wake of Republicans refusing to hold the president responsible for his crimes, any sense that this will all get better on its own has gone out the window. To fix this is going to take the voices of those who can make a difference. As a business leader you have the ability to make that difference. Now is the time to do what is right.

America has been blessed with quite possibly the world’s best and most well-thought-out system of government carefully interwoven with checks and balances. And holding our government responsible is our robust, free press guaranteed by the very first amendment to our Constitution. But as we’ve seen in the past few weeks, even the combination of dedicated government workers and committed journalists is no longer enough to withstand the demagoguery and propaganda fueling this administration.

In this last week it was uplifting to see thousands of former Justice Department officials openly call out for the resignation of our corrupted Attorney General, but with how far we’ve now fallen, Justice alone won’t turn the tide. It’s been said that the business of America is business. And as such, as business leaders we really are in a position unlike anyone else to say it’s time for America to get back to the business of being America.

Our founders knew just how fragile democracy is. As Franklin said: “We are giving you a republic if you can keep it.” As much as many of us take America’s way of doing business for granted, the honesty and fairness it depends upon is equally at risk right now. If, like us, you do business throughout the world, you know how quickly corruption eats into the very bedrock countries are built upon. America has many advantages in the world, but maybe our greatest advantage is our democratic beliefs have always lived within our way of doing business.

That in the American way of doing business quality and price matter far more than political connections has meant everything to our nation’s economic success. Once it’s no longer about what you can do, but instead about who you know, everything that is America is at risk. Once capital no longer flows to where it is most likely to flourish, but instead flows to those most likely to be loyal to the administration, everything is lost. In your heart you know this is exactly where they are trying to take all this. Now is the time for everyone whose job gives them a magnified voice to use their voice to call the American people to action. Your country needs you.

So, what should you do and when should you do it? Let’s hold off on the what for a minute and start with the when. Everybody needs deadlines, and looking at my calendar I’m liking April 18 a lot. It turns out April 18 is the anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride alerting all those along his path who stood in opposition to the monarchy of the impending threat they now faced. Right now it’s very much worth remembering that the Revolution that set America in motion wasn’t one of just college students and anarchists. Right from our start it was people of business putting their livelihoods at risk to set a better country in motion.

So, April 18 is a good day to aim for in a big part for its importance in our nation’s history. But equally valuable is that it’s two months off. I can tell you from personal experience speaking out isn’t entirely risk-free so there’s a lot to be said for doing some looking before you begin with the leaping. And as much as we were taught that Mr. Revere cried out “The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!” all along the length of his ride, the reality was there were a lot of Fox viewers along his route. The truth is he rode under the cover of darkness to discretely let those who needed to know the British are coming, the British are coming. That difference is one not to be missed.

So what can you and your company do? At a minimum, every business can, in its own way, communicate to its employees the importance of voting and most can safely communicate that importance to its customers as well. For all the scariness of these times, the good news is that most Americans aren’t under this administration’s spell when it comes to worshipping this president. But even for those not falling for the Fox News propaganda, the administration has had great success in creating a sense of hopelessness that is taking its toll. Just you reminding of the importance of voting can do surprisingly much to restore hope.

And maybe you and your company are not in a safe place to speak out about how incredibly dangerous Fox News is to democracy or promote posts on social media like this one, but if you have an advertising budget you could do things with that. It’s popular to dismiss or even blame journalists these days, but the fact is so many are doing heroic work right now with ever-falling advertising revenue. Right now the journalists doing the best work are the ones most in need of help. You can search them out and help them with your ad dollars and win the admiration of their viewers. And this is important: as a business leader you should know that admiration is quite valuable.

So as a spice business it’s kind of our job to go first on things. If you are doing spices and you are doing it without intensity, you are not doing spices right. As a refresher: We invented World Trade, we are the reason a whole lot of borders are where they are, we invented capitalism, we invented the stock market, we bear the responsibility for Europeans “discovering” the Americas, and on our best day we hid Anne Frank and her family in our attic.

For reasons that I think have everything to do with the humanity found at the heart of cooking, a spice business can open doors few others can. So standing up for that humanity which makes our business possible, we opened the door to protesting this administration’s racism, its cruelty, and its corruption. And as much as I believed this would cost us business and we would pay a price for our activism, what we’ve found on the other side was something unexpected.

Here is an email from last week. Since starting down this path I’ve received many like it. I find this one especially nice because it is just 39 words. I wish I could say something in just 39 words:

“Penzeys will FOREVER have my business.

In an ocean of neutral business owners, you have decided to take a stand and history will always remember you stood on the side of justice.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Always,

C. S.”

Thanks! C. S.

As someone running a business isn’t this letter what success should look like?

So, yes, Get Out The Vote. Yes, support those doing the journalism we need right now with your advertising dollars and you will be much admired. But where I would like to really get your gears turning between now and April 18 is on the possibilities of taking some piece of what your business is and somehow making it into part of the antidote to what has taken over the Republican Party and to what this administration has become. Make that happen and you and your business will have all the love. All the love FOREVER.

They say advertising as we know it is coming to an end, that the younger generations can no longer be reached. From our experience I’m convinced something better is coming. For a while now it’s been hypothesized that the future to reaching people is through their values. I think what Penzeys has experienced in these past three years is the opening of that door and what it’s like to take a big step through it. This is a good place to be. Come join us.

Last point and I really think it is worth the extra words. I know you are thinking this will be a lot of work and maybe risky, too, but I can tell you if your experience is anything like mine there’s a good chance this will be exactly the disruption both you and your business need. Plus, it’s been kind of fun.

I recently read a report showing the decline in the value of CEOs comes years earlier than previously thought. I don’t know that this is all about age as much as growing ever farther from the spark that made you into you. To reshape your business to be what this new time needs it to be will require some meetings for sure. But mostly, like Paul Revere’s ride, this is a journey you must take on your own. This is all about starting over and reconnecting with that spark that got you to where you are today and remaking that spark into something that will take you to where you need to be tomorrow.

Your mileage may vary, but from experience I can say you might find value in staying up too late. There’s lots to be said for staring off into the night. Reconnect to the music with the values that inspired you, but also search out those new storytellers who make those values fresh yet again. Movies, too, or at least clips of them anyways. It seems like what we are up against now is something new, but it goes all the way back. Hopefully soon we will get a new film that brings this all home like Casablanca did, but for now the original still does the trick. Good stuff indeed.

From a distance I can see where standing up to injustice might look exhausting, but it’s the not standing up that drags you down. Don’t be surprised if pretty quickly you find this all pleasantly invigorating. And where you wouldn’t be doing your job if you weren’t concerned about this being a distraction from your core business, this really is about rediscovering where your core needs to be. Our pipeline is now filled with so many good and exciting new things we never could have imagined before heading out on this ride.

Please give this consideration. Everything we are as a country and as a force for good in the world is at risk. Now you have the opportunity to do what is right and be remembered for it. Please don’t miss this chance.

Thanks for your consideration,

Bill

February 20, 2020

AOC response tweet about Warren

February 18, 2020

The day Democracy died....

Apologies if posted previously, it’s been a busy last few weeks.

February 18, 2020

A few facts for repug anti-universal healthcare people....

February 17, 2020

Out of the mouths of babes.....

February 17, 2020

Tokyo marathon "restricted" to elites due to Coronavirus.....

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/17/sport/tokyo-marathon-coronavirus-spt-intl/index.html

My daughter is a marathon runner...luckily she doesn’t have money invested in this race.

The Olympics are being held in Tokyo.....could they be “cancelled” or “restricted” as well?

February 17, 2020