The more you seek, the more you find….Ive found something beautiful again, hiding away in Devon in the UK. This time its a shoemaker demonstrating the skills and craft needed to be a beautiful business. Elves need not apply, this is Brodequin Shoes. Continue reading
Don’t Dont Walk by Emily Oberman
The European Union tries to take on EcoInnovation a’ la American Pie…very strange
Apple doesn’t want you to fix your phone, they want you to buy a new one next year. I can’t relate to a company like that.
Beautiful business summed up….beautifully
Cool infographic on Oil and its Impact
Image:LuLin Tea
According to the Tea Council, people in the UK consume 165 million cups of tea a day. Staggering you might think, but unfortunately we are long way short of some of the other tea consuming nations such as Paraguay or Uruguay, who consume a whopping 11kg of tea per capita a year compared to our measly 1.9kg. Tea facts are amazing and should remind us how a common occurrence, an integral part of British culture, is something we take for granted. Continue reading
Carolyn Wagner
How true is the name of a company? Does a company live up to its name? And is it serving the right audience?
This is a guest piece by Carolyn Wagner, Principal and Creative Director of Carolyn Wagner Inc. from Colorado in the USA. Carolyn’s business focuses on Branding, revitalising and refreshing companies from the inside out. This is her timely reminder and thoughtful insight on beautiful business branding… Continue reading
Creating beautiful clothes for children whilst thinking about the way they’re made and the impact they have is becoming increasingly important for both businesses and parents. Being innovative, responsible and able to care is the sign of a beautiful business…this is Bamboo BaBy. Continue reading
Great video, watch, learn and spread the word
Image:Just Trade
Beautiful Businesses have something special to offer and this one is no different. This is Just Trade and they specialise in beautiful Fair trade jewellery created by some of the most amazingly skilled crafts people around the world (www.justtrade.co.uk) Continue reading
Organisation for Responsible Businesses (ORB) is a membership organisation for beautiful UK-based businesses – businesses that pledge to consider people and the environment when making business decisions; businesses that try to increase their positive impact and reduce any negative impacts. Continue reading
Image:Tom Clark
When it first started one of the original intentions behind Beautiful Business was to explore the beauty associated with skill and craft. This beautiful business embodies these intentions. A timeless skill in danger of being forgotten but brought to life in beautiful arts and incredible skill and craft…welcome to the world of the Stone carver…Tom Clark. Continue reading
Image:Paul Firbank
When I was a child the rag and bone man came round on a horse drawn cart shouting ‘rag a bone!’ as he went. His cart was often full of bed frames, bicycle parts and old washing machines. Though they often lived their lives close penury, these collectors of junk were the original heroes of recycling. Continue reading
Image:Johari
The Beautiful Business project has showcased a wide range of businesses, social enterprises and charitable organisations. What links them is their enthusiasm for supporting people and communities. This organisation is no different and is as equally as beautiful. This is Johari. Continue reading
Beautiful Business is always trying to bring you something new, something different and something special. This showcase profiles the children’s clothing business Cashmirino….mixing style with values, bringing love to life. Continue reading
Image:Klarabothen.blogspot.com
Beautiful businesses come in all shapes and sizes, some engaged in simple and some in complex tasks. But to coin and phrase, it ain’t what you do it the way that you do it! This business is beautiful because if its sheer, crystal clear simplicity and its incredibly minimal impact. Based around the traditions of family and rooted in memories and place, this beautiful business is a STB…a super-tiny-business. Continue reading
Image:Rosendal’s
I always feel excited by my new discoveries and I want to share this one with you. Read this profile and take away the beauty, the inspiration and share the ideas from this beautiful business called Rosendal’s garden. Continue reading
Thanks to the Brundtland Report of 1987, we should pretty much know what the common definition of sustainability is by now. Continue reading
A few weeks ago week showcased eco-fabrics and design. One of the businesses mentioned in the follow-up was Sympatico. We just had to find out more. This is the wonderful story of Sympatico and fashion designer Rose Gerstner, written and told by Maury Paul. Continue reading
Image:Tulsi Crafts
Beautiful Businesses do things with passion. It’s not about the profit, the fast buck and squeezing the margins. Its about more than that. Beautiful Businesses are people-orientated….they put people before profit. This beautiful business is one built upon passion and a desire to change lives; this is Tulsi Crafts. Continue reading
Edison Mfg.Co. the spirit of handmade America
Dave McKinney likes to keep things real…and he has the credentials to prove it. Disenchanted with the 9-5, Dave decided to strike out on his own. This is the story of DIY… behind doing things yourself and the creation of the Edison Mfg. Co. a leatherwares and accessory business. Continue reading
Jesse unloads the oven
In my attempt to share the best beautiful businesses with you, I spend lots of time scouring the web, casting the net far and wide. Wherever we might find them, a beautiful business is still ……a beautiful business. Occasionally I come across a business which is ‘busy minding its own business‘ but at the same time being totally amazing….these are the unsung heroes and the reason beautiful business started. Polestar Hearth Bread based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada is one such business. Continue reading
A series of short films by Sony-Futurescape each setting out a possible vision or scenario for the future. Thought provoking and intelligent, this is a great way of looking at the possible outcomes of our actions and inactions… Continue reading
Beautiful business welcomes submissions from a range of contributors. Last week we had two students from Ca’Foscari University of Venice. This week we have a contribution from one of their fellow students Mumu Ayesha Sugandhi writing about eco friendly and sustainable Smartphones – devices that incorporate the best environmental and social practices and enable people to improve their lives.
Casier
Beautiful business welcomes submissions from a range of contributors. Last week we had two students from Ca’Foscari University of Venice. This week we have a contribution from one of their fellow students Elisa Rizzo. The views, research and cited materials are her own and should you wish to contact her, find her email at the end of their submission. Elisa’s contribution is one close to her heart…her home town. a beautiful town with beautiful businesses, keeping it sustainable and beautiful. Continue reading
Easy to forget the weather when it’s calm
This is a metaphor warning issued by the Metaphor office…the overuse of metaphors is about to occur. Do not take cover, bear with me and it will soon pass….but metaphors are good. They get across serious messages in simple ways…
In the eye of the storm the wind doesn’t blow…all is relatively still. Did you know that in the eye of a hurricane storm the barometric pressure is significantly lower? it feels calmer…it’s easy to think that the worst is over, the crisis has passed. There are many times when we think like this and business is no different. One might think that the bad weather has passed and we can put down the umbrella. A few nice days and many think global warming has passed; economic growth in the developing world and poverty it seems has ended. How easy it is to be lulled into a wrong sense and even change the things we believed. Continue reading
Do you know you’re beautiful?
Twitter @beautifulbizz
Hoadd.wordpress.com
Beautiful business welcomes submissions from anyone with a beautiful business to showcase or a sustainability, ethics or responsibility issue to share. The two submissions below are from guest writers Viacheslav and Mariia from Ca’Foscari University of Venice. The views, research and cited materials are their own and should you wish to contact them, find their emails attached. Continue reading
Image: Made & Told
One of the features of a beautiful business is that it gives back to the local community. Made & Told, showcased earlier in the year, do just that, helping sustain communities, supporting crafts, artisanal skills and helping keep traditions alive
Image:Made & Told
Made & Told, founded in September 2012, has a new range of vintage suzani throws in stock from the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan. Profit made from the sale of these throws goes to re-establishing this unique design of embroidery in the region, which died out in the 1940s and 1950s. They are launching their Spring/Summer collection in May this year featuring a new range of cushion covers sewn by women in Kyrgyzstan, and are exhibiting at the Asia House Fair from 12-14th April in London. Made & Told also now offer a range of bespoke shyrdak felt cushion covers and rugs.
Image:Made & Told
It goes without saying that Beautiful Businesses want to do things better. It might be that they bring something special to the marketplace…. Continue reading
Launched in August 2011, Yours Sustainably are Lynn & Jessica, a mother and daughter team, based in Kent. They are women on a mission…
Skin issues…
Life can be complicated…solutions can be simple. Heres three problems in one; What people put on their skin can be a tricky problem…being organic and producing organic cosmetics can be challenging; and being in the cosmetics business, a dynamic industry in perpetual flux…. Continue reading
For many Beautiful Businesses, breaking into a corporate dominated industry like cosmetics can be a daunting task. But when you are driven by values and a personal ethic it can make the task both simpler…and harder. Decision-Making may be easy-come easy-go for some businesses but for Sue Shaw-Pollard of I Choose What I Use, the decision-making process can pose some very real dilemmas. The cosmetics industry has been riven by a range of moral ‘conflicts’ for many years and doing it right can become a personal mission. Continue reading
An increasing number of industries are taking steps to change the way they work and embrace the environmental and sustainability agenda. For some the change is dynamic and fast moving, and for others the change is more tentative. Po-Zu shoes are leading the way. Continue reading
Image:Alter Eco
Alter Eco: Activists in Business. I want to tell you a story about Quinoa. You know Quinoa… like whole grain but actually a seed. Grown and cultivated in South America since the Incas, it has now found increasing popularity with consumers in the developed world.
In one of her most famous lines Lauren Bacall said …You know how to whistle don’t ya? You just put your lips together…..and blow. Surprisingly, not everyone can whistle. Whistling, just like connecting, is easy for some and not so for others Continue reading
Tencel silk Rainingblossoms.com
Such was the popularity of the Ariel Azoffs post on strange, weird and wonderful new sustainable fabrics, I thought it might be useful to pass on some more information. Continue reading
Image: Ariel Azoff
by Ariel Azoff from www. heartsleevesblog.com/
Traditional makers of espadrilles
Its a little bizarre really…who would have thought it? This beautiful business is engaged with something which, more often than not, slips under the radar… essential but unassuming, worn by everyone but considered statistically inconsequential. However, this quiet icon is designed, produced and worn in their millions every year. I wouldn’t say I notice these things naturally but I’m told ‘shes’ wearing some and so is ‘he’. Celebrity ‘it’ people have been spotted wearing them and big brands are, as always, keen to get in on the act. What am I talking about? Espadrilles of course!. You know those peasant shoes, the ones you wear in summer and many people just throw away. Continue reading
Do you know you’re beautiful?
Twitter @beautifulbizz
Hoadd.wordpress.com
