Once you push through the hard boundaries, making an impact becomes truly possible. That’s what Jared Turner, CEO of Amare Global, is able to achieve every day. Adam Nugent and Kate Strong talk to Jared about his many endeavors, whether it is his restaurants, clothing line, or just his commitment to social impact that is making a difference. Find out how his action-oriented approach to leadership and good stewardship of the planet is helping others achieve key business objectives while elevating people and communities.
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In this podcast excerpt, Jared Turned explains how he is helping endangered species with his latest project, Voice of the Vanishing.
AN: Tell us about your clothing company, Voice of the Vanishing. As if you didn’t already have enough on your plate.
JT: I grew up in South America, and I remember as a kid seeing the Amazon being destroyed. It engendered in me this love of conservation and I’ve always had a love of animals. Right now, we’ve got pheasants and pigs, goats, and crazy animals at my ranch, but I’ve always loved animals and I’ve always wanted to do something. I read a paper from a Stanford researcher that said the nonprofit model of conserving endangered species isn’t working because it’s soliciting donations, and it’s this endless cycle. People give money, they spend money on the cause, then they are out of money. They have to ask for more donations. And the researcher said that we need companies that are profit-driven that will dedicate a big percentage of their profits to the cause. That’s how we’re gonna save endangered species.
So, I started Voice of the Vanishing, which is an eco-friendly streetwear brand. The idea is that people buy the clothing because it’s cool and resonates with people’s personal values. It’s all organic. So, in the process, they become accidental conservationists. They’re able to select in a dropdown menu which of 15 species of critically endangered animals that we’re supporting will receive the profit of their purchase. When people get their package, they open it and see that there’s information about the animal that they selected. We hope that if they selected the pigmy slot, for example—there’s only 60 left on earth—that when they see the plight of the pigmy sloth, they’ll want to do something about it.
We’re trying to mobilize the masses to become accidental conservationists because there’s really no other way to save these animals. There are 7,000 species on the critically endangered list, which is the next step before extinction. And that’s all caused by humans—all of it. The only way to fix it is for humans to mobilize and make a difference. And we’re trying in some small way to, to do that.
AN: When you say organic, when it’s relative to clothing, what does that mean?
JT: One hundred percent organic threads, and then one hundred percent recycled polyester that goes into anything with polyester. So it’s beanies and hoodies and shirts and caps and things like that. People don’t realize how hard it is to source organic apparel. Fashion is one of the biggest polluters on earth, which is something else I’ve discovered while engaging in this business. If more people understood that, they would buy are from companies that sell organic clothing,
To learn more about Jared Turner’s social impact businesses, visit voiceofthevanishing.com and zulugrille.com.
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