The Heartbeat of Culture

My new lip balms! Check out the biodegradable tube.

Brian Chesky of AirBnB said that culture is simply a shared way of doing something with passion.

A lot of companies say that they have a great culture. 

The good ones talk about it, write about it, and put it on slides during company retreats and meetings.

The better ones infuse culture into all of the decisions they make, the new projects they take on, and the teams that they form.

In the very best companies, the culture oozes from every nook and cranny...from every team member's mouth...from the meeting notes... from the production line. 

In the very best companies, culture is the heartbeat.

I had the privilege of feeling that heartbeat today.

EcoLips in Cedar Rapids is part love story, part business success story, and mostly a story about doing things with passion and purpose in an incredibly conscious way. 

The greatness of EcoLips is appreciated by lots of people - and recognized with a number of prestigious designations including B Corp Certification.

What struck me most about EcoLips, though, was not the awards. 

It was a lot of things - the commitment to quality, to being environmentally friendly, to consciousness.

And, it was the culture.

...the way it radiated from every single part of what they do and who they are. From the quirky lobby filled with old-school bikes, to the adorable video from their CEO to the way that everyone stopped to say Hello...the EcoLips culture is alive in every tube of lip balm and every step of the production process.

I truly believe that companies like EcoLips are changing the way the world does business - and that by changing the way the world does business, they are changing the world.

Not only that, but they make some pretty kick ass lip balm too.