Over the next 10 years, this team developed relationships with over non-governmental and humanitarian organizations in 80 countries worldwide. Working hand-in-hand with these organizations, TOMS could better understand the needs of the communities being served. We could also help meet these needs by integrating TOMS resources into existing programs, like those supporting health, education, and community development. In , we launched TOMS Eyewear, partnering with the Seva Foundation to help provide medical treatment, sight-saving surgery, and prescription glasses to those in need.
In partnership with Water For People, TOMS coffee sales helped to bring sustainable water systems to communities that lacked access to safe water. Our compliance efforts are therefore focused on our supply chain. TOMS has established the compliance and other procedures discussed in this Statement to mitigate the risks of slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains for our products.
We focus primarily on our direct factory suppliers, since this is the level of the supply chain where we believe that we have the most influence and can therefore be the most effective. We expect our suppliers will uphold the same values that are associated with TOMS, i.
Please see our finished goods supplier list here. In addition to indicating that employees must respect and obey the laws, the Employee Code indicates that we are committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect; that we prohibit discriminatory practices; and that we are committed to providing a safe, healthy and comfortable workplace for all employees.
New employees are provided with a copy of the Employee Code upon hire, which each employee must sign and acknowledge. Failure to comply with the Code may result in corrective action up to and including termination of employment with the Company. For a copy of the Employee Code, please click here. The Supplier Code is a statement of values and expectations meant to guide decisions in factories where TOMS shoes are manufactured and addresses topics such as child labor, forced labor, excessive overtime, legal wages, discrimination, harassment-free workplace policies and freedom of association.
We evaluate potential contracted factories against our Supplier Code standards and require them to agree in writing to these standards prior to entering our supply chain. We have progressively raised the expectations of our factory partners through the evolving standards of our Supplier Code of Conduct.
The Supplier Code can be viewed here. Our supplier contracts provide that contracted factories must conduct business in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations and comply with the terms of the Supplier Code.
In addition, these contracts specifically forbid the use of forced labor and prohibit discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Each factory is required to certify compliance with these terms and conditions prior to becoming an approved contracted factory. In addition, to mitigate the risks of slavery and human trafficking at indirect suppliers, TOMS prohibits contracted factories from engaging subcontractors without the written permission of TOMS and a subsequent audit of the facility.
TOMS also monitors its raw-material suppliers Tier 2 of the supply chain and employs an audit and remediation process at these facilities similar to those in Tier 1 factories. Before conducting business with TOMS, each factory must undergo an unannounced factory audit.
Our on-site process includes audits by our trained factory compliance auditors and third-party audit companies. Issues such as health and safety, wage and compliance, forced labor, child labor issues, harassment-free workplace policies, and environmental issues are reviewed. Nordstrom insisted on carrying our shoes. By the end of the summer we had sold 10, pairs. We had set ourselves apart in other ways, too: A third of our revenue was coming from direct-to-consumer sales via our website, and we spent virtually nothing on traditional advertising, relying instead on our 5 million social media followers to create word-of-mouth buzz.
In September Heather and I got married. I was relieved, but also deeply unsettled. The excitement and camaraderie of our start-up was beginning to be replaced by a more hierarchical culture. The leadership team was bogged down in personality conflicts and bickering, with key members insisting that we implement processes and systems similar to those used at their previous companies. I noticed that longtime employees were starting to leave for more-entrepreneurial organizations, and I realized that, secretly, I wanted to follow them.
It was more than a company to me: It was my life. So this period of uncertainty felt like having problems in a marriage. What do you do? For me, the sabbatical was like going into couples counseling. If it had been a pure business problem, I would have organized a strategic offsite.
But this was both corporate and personal. I needed to figure out the future course of the company and my role in it. And I tend to do my best thinking alone. When I left for Austin, I was careful not to make a big deal of it—I told people the break was an extended honeymoon with Heather. But once there, I dedicated a lot of time to private contemplation.
I also started talking to anyone I thought might offer good advice and inspire me. I spoke regularly with my executive coach, entrepreneur friends, and business and nonprofit leaders I admire. I traveled to conferences around the country to learn from experts in social enterprise and international development. Martin Luther King Jr. Our marketing increasingly felt product-focused rather than purpose-focused.
That was a tough pill to swallow. Another breakthrough came during a Dallas Cowboys game. I was introduced to a man named Joe Ford, who told me that his son, Scott, was also using business to improve lives, but through the coffee trade in Rwanda. Joe explained the importance of water in the coffee supply chain. When beans are processed with clean as opposed to dirty water, they are transformed from a commodity to a specialty and can be sold at dramatically higher prices.
It was also buying direct from growers, helping to break up unfair industry price controls, and offering low-interest loans as an alternative to those from predatory lenders. Best of all, Westrock was a profitable business that sold fantastic coffee. Like most entrepreneurs, I get a high from starting things and doing the unexpected.
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