Business is an opportunity for positive relationship. There are large businesses that have strong intentionally positive relationships with everyone they touch, Patagonia is my current favorite example.

Patagonia wants their employees to enjoy their lives and they spend a lot of time and effort figuring out how everything they do affects the world we all live in. Check out Patagonia’s Responsible Economy.

Locally, and without the intimidatingly cool pics of badass types surfing in the arctic, I admire and appreciate the owner of my favorite boutique, Kate Kruger. Kate owns Cupcake Clothing in Santa Fe, NM. Cupcake has a great selection, really amazing salespeople who always remember my name, call me when something that’s just right for me comes in, and ask about my girls when I shop. I buy a lot of clothes at Cupcake. I look better as a result, we have a great relationship. Additionally, Kate embraces Cupcake’s relationship with the larger community. Every month Cupcake hosts events to support local organizations where they raise awareness and donate a percentage of sales to that organization.  Sometimes I’ve never heard of the organization they’re supporting, sometimes it’s the program my daughter attends after school.

Last night Cupcake hosted an educational evening focused on wellness and cancer prevention. Kate flew in an expert from Seattle, fed us amazing immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory foods, and raised money for Breast Wishes. Caring about your customer’s health and wellness, when you don’t sell health or wellness is impressive. Paying to have your customers know more about health and wellness is amazing. Enticing your customers to spend an entire evening learning about, talking about, and eating like health and wellness shows that Kate is really committed to her relationship with her customers, friends, and larger community.

Things I am grateful for today; Local shops that teach me to accessorize, Hatch Chili roasting outside, my office assistant, telling the truth, people who put their money where their mouth is.