Something whole and healthy is that which has integrity in relationship to itself. Which means that if your actions are in conflict with any part of who you are, you are violating the well being of all the parts of you.
You can’t be passionate in one area without being passionate in others.
You can’t decide not to feel pain and expect to feel anything else.
If you write a book, sing a song, or plant a garden according to what’s trending you can’t expect to change anyone’s life.
I got this letter yesterday from the CEO of Branders.com. It impressed me tremendously. Check it out:
Hi,
As the president and CEO of Branders.com, I take pride in our ability to carry nearly every item our customers could want to promote their business or organization.
So today, my message is a little unusual: We’re no longer going to carry prescription bottle products.
Here’s why. I recently had a conversation with one of our loyal customers, Celeste Clark. Celeste is the executive director of the Raymond Coalition for Youth, an organization that works to prevent drug and alcohol abuse among young adults in Raymond, NH.
Celeste had visited Branders.com earlier this year to purchase giveaways for an upcoming festival. It was while Celeste was on our site that she noticed the prescription-bottled mints. Usually, businesses purchase these mints to advertise their company as a “headache killer.” They print things on the label like, “Got a problem you can’t solve? Take two mints and call us in the morning.”
I wouldn’t be a marketer if I didn’t admit to finding this a clever approach. But I also wouldn’t be a responsible marketer if I wasn’t open to understanding the unintended messages of this approach.
Prescription drug abuse, Celeste explained to me, is a major issue in America. More people die of prescription painkiller overdoses today than die of heroin and cocaine overdoses-combined. And the problem is affecting young Americans, too: the Office of National Drug Control Policy reports that even as overall youth drug use has declined, the abuse of prescription drugs is increasing.
I began to see how people using the mints in prescription bottles we were selling on Branders.com could be modeling unwanted behaviors, especially for small children.
And as a businessman and a father, I wanted to make sure I was doing what I could to support the message that prescription drug abuse is a serious issue. Removing the prescription-bottled mints from our offerings was an easy call to make.
At Branders.com, we’re proud to be a one-stop shop for all your corporate giveaway needs. We may be selling one fewer product, but we’ve added 10,000 new items just in the last year. We’ll help you find whatever you need. And we always love to hear from you.
To learn more about prescription drug abuse and what you can do to help, please visit www.drugfree.org or the Raymond Coalition for Youth at rcfy.org.
All the best,
Jerry McLaughlin
So many companies (and people) cave to financial pressure, but what Mr. McLaughlin did here was earn my loyalty and respect. He distinguished himself from his competition by acting according to heart.
Integrity. How much is it worth?
