The Rhetorical Question I Answered

A few years ago, I was sitting in my business capstone class when my professor introduced a conversation about the company Nestlé. We began discussing the destructiveness of their business. I was completely dialed in, thrilled that we were finally talking about the toxic practices of large corporations…

To my surprise, my professor chose to wrap up our discussion by stating that despite their unethical behavior, none of us college students would care as long as our share value continued increasing… He then asked the class if we would stop investing in Nestlé if they continued to do well in the stock market…

I raised my hand, trying be noticed in the giant lecture hall, and replied “YES.”

He stopped, puzzled by a response to his rhetorical question, and asked “Really…Why?”

I said simply, “I don’t support companies who are treating communities and the environment unethically.” I continued forward with a series of questions fueled by frustration, “As a senior level business class, why are we not thinking more critically about better ways to do business?”

I couldn’t believe this was the message my professor wanted to send his business students out into the world with. "Keep doing business as usual, focus on profit, nothing else matters." Seriously?! We are capable of more than this, I know we are.

After working for three B Corporations, I’ve seen the difficult juggle between purpose and profit. The last thing I believe is that it is easy, but I do know it is possible, hello Patagonia.

Answering this rhetorical question was a catalyst behind my work in social impact, and continues to fuel my passion for business for good.

Which brings us to today, to the uncharted water of the Social Good Project. A project to:

• empower businesses to do good

• educate people about better options

• chip away at monumental impact one day at a time

Thank you for being here. I hope we can learn & create change together.

-Ashton