The question I am most frequently asked is: “Why did you quit your super job to start a brewery?” ..and my response… “To make the world a better place!” For those who need to ask that question, my response may seem idealistic.. or arrogant.. or naive.. or idiotic….. Why is that? Why doesn’t anyone think I have the capability to change the world? Well this is why I quit my job to become a Swiss craft brewer.
To start, I am not a fan of the stock market. Ok, maybe it is somehow necessary, but the behaviors it enables are dangerous and unsustainable. In my 15 years of experience in large multinationals, I saw that decisions were being made with the sole purpose of maximizing shareholder wealth. What about the customers? You know, the people who bought those products. And what about the employees? Ah, they are paid so they will do what they are told? Environment?? Uh… next question… What about the companies’ impact on the community in which it operates? Sometimes a bit of volunteer work, or donations. But that “value” that is created in that factory in that part of that town… where do the profits go??? Most likely to the growth of that big company, which is probably happening in some emerging market far from that town where the value is created. If it isn’t growth, it is probably dividends for those important shareholders.
How many of us go to the grocery store to buy something and choose the product based on the producers’ positive impact on the world?
Today, the purpose of most public companies is to 1) make more money for the shareholders, and 2) make something to sell. Yes, I may be exaggerating a bit, but here is a question worth asking: How many of us go to the grocery store to buy something and choose the product based on the producers’ positive impact on the world? Or do we choose based on price? Or is it packaging? Or maybe name recognition? If we choose that product based on the producers’ positive impact on the world, what about the store in which we bought the product? Same criteria? How about the distributor who delivers to the store? And to go further, how about the manufacturer of the truck that was bought by the distributor who delivered to the store? We can go on and on. Making choices based on a positive impact on the world takes time. In my opinion, this is time well spent!
In my previous job, I quite often found myself questioning the ethics of things that were happening around me. Not because people’s lives were in direct danger, but because I did not believe that the things happening were for the greater good of the world. Decisions were made solely to preserve or gain power, and to make shareholders more money. Employees were becoming more and more disengaged because the value they added was no longer seen as important. I started to become destructive as this went against my idea of how to work in the world. I decided to make a change. Quit my job and go all in on the idea that if we do things for the greater good, we can make the world a better place.
Today, I work harder than ever on this idea. The idea that if I support my community, pay attention to my impact on the environment, put my customer at the center of all activity, and make sure that my colleagues are happy at work and at home, I can sell beer AND make the world a better place. Idealistic? Yes! The world needs more idealists… and more beer too!