Insights from Cotopaxi Founder at Changemaker Club Event
At 3:41 p.m. on the afternoon of 18 September 2019, an email went out to all students who had RSVP’d for the Changemaker Club opening social. “COTOPAXI EVENT LOCATION CHANGE: JSB AUDITORIUM,” the subject line announced.
The Changemaker Club is run by the Melvin J. Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance, BYU’s on-campus social impact center. The club was designed for students who want to learn about and work on social issues. Initially, club leaders had expected the opening event to draw in a couple hundred attendees, thanks to the promise of catering from Café Zupas. However, more than six hundred students showed up on opening night, making it the biggest event in the club’s history—and necessitating a change of venue from the Tanner Building to BYU’s Joseph Smith Building.
Emmett Fear, a junior from North Carolina, and president of the Changemaker Club, kicked off the event with an introductory speech. “Originally I joined the Changemaker Club for free food,” he admitted to audience members. Fear then briefly outlined his journey from a hungry student to the club’s 2019 president—and a true believer in the value of social impact.
After Fear’s introduction, Davis Smith addressed the audience. Smith, the founder of successful outdoor gear brand Cotopaxi, began his speech by referencing his unique childhood experiences. Smith spent many of his childhood years in South America, learning to live off the land. Even as a child, he noticed the disparity between his favorable circumstances and those of the naked children who lined the streets in his town.
Eventually, Smith ended up at BYU, where he met his wife, Asialene. After getting married the young couple did an internship in Peru, where their lives changed forever. In Cusco, Peru, they met a young man named Edgar who hung around them as they ate lunch one day. They offered the remains of that lunch to Edgar, who ate it ravenously. Surprised at the child’s intense hunger, Smith and Asialene decided they would give food to the boy every day. This continued until they left Cusco, now burdened with concern and questions about Edgar’s future.
Once back in the United States, Smith started a successful business, pooltables.com, which he eventually sold. Smith’s next venture, baby.com.br, a Brazilian-based baby clothes website, took him back to South America. This business also proved to be a successful venture. Several people remarked to Smith that he had achieved his dreams—he was finally back in South America. However, Smith felt dissatisfied. He couldn’t stop thinking about Edgar, and he knew he needed to do more.
Smith left his business in Brazil, moving on Cotopaxi. After brilliant marketing efforts that included renting two llamas and bringing them to college campuses to generate interest in the brand, the business launched successfully. Today, Cotopaxi donates 1 percent of its profits to alleviating poverty. The business also grants money to humanitarian projects all over the world, sources many of its materials from poverty-stricken areas, and is committed to treating its employees fairly. In fact, Cotopaxi allows those who sew its products creative liberty: they can choose the design of the bags. There is one caveat, however: no two bags can be the same.
And what about Edgar? Many years after later, Smith travelled back to Cusco and located Edgar, who was selling art in the streets. After a joyous reunion and some discussion about Edgar’s dreams for the future, Smith agreed to finance Edgar’s education. Edgar will graduate from tour-guide school this year.
“Who is your Edgar?” Smith asked the audience of students. “Who is the person who can inspire you every day to look beyond yourselves?
“Find something you love,” he concluded. “Find something that gives you joy. Find something that allows you to give back.”
At the end of the meeting, Smith opened up the forum for questions. His audience was prepared, and questions came in a constant stream. One student wanted to know how he, as a brand-new father, could pursue his passion for social impact while also taking care of his young family. Another was curious about the best way to fuse entrepreneurism with humanitarian endeavors. Clearly, Smith’s message had resonated with his student audience, and many expressed interest in joining the Changemaker Club. Even more importantly, though, the audience left with a desire to change the world--starting with BYU campus. That’s more than worth the price of Zupas catering.
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Writer: Zelle Harris