 Hey everyone, I'm Colin De Nils, a digital editor here at AdWeek and I'm joined today by Brandy Halls of Lush and today we're talking about how Lush is spreading LGBTQ plus inclusion and activism not just in June but year round. Thank you Brandy so much for being with us here today. Thanks for having me. I'm really looking forward to this. So before we jump into the discussion, can you explain a little bit on your role and what you do at Lush? I am the Chief Ethics Officer for Lush North America. I provide stewardship on all matters related to Lush's core values and ethics. I act as a brand guardian and really ensure that our ethics are driving our business decisions, policies, and practices. And what I really like about Lush is how you get all are always at the center of just moving like for the people. I feel you guys are just really a people's brand. I would definitely say that people are at the heart of our brand and our products. Thinking from the hands that make our products to the sales associates who sell them to the customers that purchase them and to all the communities that we seek to protect and lift up. People are absolutely central to what we do here at Lush. Whenever you guys start coming up with like creative ads and creative campaigns, you really bring in the employees who work there. One of the ads that I always remember is the same-sex couple in the bathtub. And I felt like it was just like one of the first times I actually saw a brand who truly entered well inclusion and LGBT inclusion into their brand and it came across as very authentic. And interestingly it wasn't a pride campaign. It was a Valentine's Day campaign. And the image was chosen based on a couple that actually demonstrated that love through the visual. And it just so happened that it was a same-sex couple. It actually is the perfect example of how important inclusiveness is just in the way that we run the business. And for us it wasn't even, you know, that we intentionally set out to do that. But we certainly got a lot of attention when we did, which also was a bit of a surprise to us, you know, for us putting a same-sex couple in 250 windows across North America was not controversial, but to the rest of the world it was, which was eye-opening in itself. Were there any other campaigns that you all have done where you took a stand for human rights or racial inequality that people were like, nope, that has to go down, that can't be here? Part of the controversy is the conversation and inviting the conversation and educating our staff so that they can speak about the issues as part of the people aspect of our brand where we're actually bringing our staff and our customers along with us in this journey of inclusiveness, of creating a better and safer planet for us all. And doing some of those campaigns, do you have any that really stick out? You guys have done other ones like for trans rights and other inclusion type ones. In 2015 we took on a global campaign calling attention to the fact that in 76 countries it's a crime to be gay, which meant that for LGBTQ plus couples their love was actually illegal. And so we as an organization wanted to step into that conversation and tell the world that gay is okay. And we actually did this through the sale of a beautiful bar of gold soap that had gay is okay written across the top of it. It was a really interesting way to really educate our staff and our customers on the fact that this actually exists still, that it is illegal to be gay in 76 countries. Our human rights campaign was 2018 and it was a 14-day national campaign across North America where we wanted to bring visibility to the discrimination and dangers that transgender people face every day. And a really important part of this campaign was also offering resources on how to become better allies to the movement. We again launched a product this time it was called the Inner Shrew Bath Melt. Through the sales of this product we actually raised $450,000 to our partner organizations who are going to continue to do the great work around advocacy and securing rights for transgender people. Through these campaigns we're actually funding organizations that continue this work while we have to go back to selling soap. Do you guys have any like town halls or any other things where you offer that network of communication like for upcoming campaigns? Our campaigns are often created at the request of our staff so they're you know letting us know what issues they want us to take on and often helping us to sort of build out those campaigns as well. Speaking of products and employee involvement, are there any that you are looking forward to? Pride for us usually is a time where we can switch a little bit of the focus to more of that celebrating our allies, our friends, our employees. But this year is definitely different. It's clear that you know the rights of LGBTQ plus people are under serious attack in the United States in response to the Texas work that's happening there. We have actually began featuring trans kids belong in all of our window campaigns across the United States. In Florida we actually in response to the don't say gay bill are bringing back gay is okay. So in our Florida shop specifically to raise funds for Equality Florida's efforts pushing back on this hateful legislation. And do you have any advice for any businesses or companies who are wanting to shed light and kind of be more inclusive and want to highlight LGBTQ plus inclusion? Don't underestimate the knowledge that exists within your organization itself. Not being afraid to ask for that help from your employees and seeking how you can be better for and buy them. We tackle so many different issues and we cannot be the expert in all of them. Just ensuring that you are finding partners that can actually support you in your organization's learning and in creating the right action. All of our activism begins with finding a partner who wants to work with us and who actually wants to help tell us how we can be most impactful to them and to the issue. The detrimental bills and legislations that are being passed across America means that we all do have to stand up now and support and lend our businesses and our voices to protecting everyone really. And I feel like what you touched on it's important that whenever you do bring those people in to help you that you have to be willing to kind of listen. I can't tell you the number of times that our own employees have lifted up important things. Not only just our campaigning but yeah the way that we're behaving and speaking. An organization is made up of human beings full stop. A business isn't something separate. We are humans. We truly at Lush try to lean in and leverage unique perspectives to build a business that our employees can be proud to be part of. Well Brandy thank you so much for talking with this today. It's been wonderful. I really appreciate you. I'm thinking of Lush.