Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was here and gone… as the Holiday approached I began trying to explain to my two year old son, Jake, how to say the name of the Holiday and in terms a two year old can understand, what it means.

The process of explaining what it means also provided me time to reflect on what I’m thankful for…
There are many things I’m thankful for in my life – my wife, my daughter, my son and our families are at the top of the list. Beyond that I’m thankful for who and where I am in my life personally and professionally.

Rewind – One of the reasons for starting Footprint Media and canvas, opting not to go back to a successful and lucrative corporate career was what I believed to be philosophical hypocrisy in much of corporate America. I say it all the time, for the most part the people in large companies are good people, some are bad, the system itself however is riddled with problems therefore it takes strong leaders with strong values and convictions to make a difference.

Over the past few years as I learned the terms Triple Bottom Line and Conscious Capitalism. I learned there are real practices behind these terms which were aligned with my inherent belief – do the right thing and rest will follow. But example after example of companies doing the wrong thing abound today. That said, I’m thankful for the chance to start a company and try to build a prosperous organization around these principles.

I think this year more than ever, even as we struggle with economic challenges, I’m thankful for the choice I made. In a decade where it seems many in corporate American are playing a game of perpetual survivor, where nothing you did yesterday, today or even tomorrow may count, you may get thrown overboard just so someone can save them self. We have chosen to continue to try to do the right things with our company and have had very rewarding experiences because of this.

Over the course of our existence many businesses have been drawn to us. Maybe not as many who should be advertising with us to share their message, but others who want to do business with us either for custom publishing or in some other fashion because of who they perceive we are based on the way we act. These businesses have validated our belief that as conscious capitalists, following philosophy of doing the right things and the rest will follow really works.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving from and as that this holiday seasons will be marked by conscious capitalists who strive to do the right thing for you and your families.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher