Life Lessons

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Heed Marley's ghost--mankind is your business. Life Is Good's approach to philanthropy is among the most ambitious and focused I have encountered in a small company. It was born in the aftermath of September 11. "People were asking internally, 'Is the gig up? Can we still sell this message? Is life still good?" recalls John. The brothers responded by taking close to $30,000 they had set aside to do their first-ever advertising and using it to establish a charitable program for September 11 families. The following year they selected a pair of long-term causes, also family focused: Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses, and Project Joy, which provides play therapy for traumatized children. And they created a vehicle that similarly resonates with the Life Is Good brand: seasonal outdoor festivals.

The first four Life Is Good festivals--pumpkin-centric extravaganzas the past three autumns and a watermelon festival last summer--have taken place on the Boston Common. They feature the sorts of things you would expect (games, picnic foods, face painting) and are free to the public. Money comes from contests, donations, and T-shirt sales. (The watermelon festival raised more than $200,000.) Next year, Life Is Good expects to throw 23 pumpkin festivals on a single fall day, with the goal of raising more than $1 million. Eventually, every Genuine Neighborhood Shoppe will be expected to hold the events in their communities, pitching them under the Life Is Good umbrella.

The festivals are effective for many reasons: They are perfectly in sync with the company's marketing message, can be rolled out in a systematic fashion, offer a refreshing change from endless walkathons and galas, give employees, customers, and suppliers a worthy cause to rally round, and raise Life Is Good's public profile to boot. "Every day we make this more and more a central piece of what the company is," says Bert. "If you ask employees what's the most important thing we do, they'd say the festivals."

Be the brand. As noted before, Life Is Good doesn't advertise, and I picture Madison Avenue gnashing its collective teeth over the lost opportunity. In attitude and affect John and Bert are Jake made flesh. They are ardent in their leisure pursuits, which include basketball, hiking, kayaking, and ultimate Frisbee. The two appear so youthful and vigorous that meeting them is a Dorian Gray experience. I was tempted to search out the portrait of their aging, moldering selves that I assumed must be secreted somewhere at headquarters.

Consumers may not be aware of the affinity between the brand and its creators, but Life Is Good's retail customers mention it again and again. "What you see in the brand is how they live their everyday life," says Teague Hatfield, owner of FootZone of Bend, an Oregon running gear store that has sold Life Is Good products for a decade. "They do a wonderful job practicing what they preach," says REI's Jewell. "They are a real inspiration to our team."

The Jacobses, of course, are well aware that they embody the thing that makes them money. It's an enviable situation. Laboring under the onus of happiness, they must keep their hours sane, their workloads manageable, and their vacations uncanceled--for the good of the business. "Like Charlie Parker said," remarks John: "If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn."

Supply infinite demand. Just because the Jacobses wear rose-colored glasses doesn't mean the landscape they see isn't rose-colored. The brothers dream of creating a billion-dollar global company (they give themselves 15 years) that improves the culture by promulgating inspirational messages and--this is the important part, they say--by raising money and awareness for sick and disadvantaged children. Certainly they have chosen their market wisely. Like energy and umbrellas, optimism is something mankind will always need.

Be all in. The Jacobses say they are committed to never selling, never going public.

"And when you say never," I ask, "would you qualify that by saying you never say never?"

"We say never," says Bert. "Loud and clear."

As for my own bias, I can't say it's evaporated entirely. In a recent conversation Bert talked enthusiastically about the possibility of a Life Is Good film festival that screens celebratory movies to raise money for charity. Listening to him, I couldn't help recalling how I stormed out in the middle of Shine. But it's a neat idea that a lot of people would love and--as always with these guys--a pitch-perfect synthesis of the company's marketing and philanthropic messages.

So, is Life Is Good good?

Yes, I think it is.

Is life good?

I'm reserving judgment.

Leigh Buchanan is an Inc. editor-at-large.

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Leigh Buchanan

Leigh Buchanan is an editor at large for Inc. Magazine. A former editor at Harvard Business Review and founding editor of WebMaster magazine, she writes regular columns on leadership and workplace culture, and she contributes Inc.'s capsule book reviews, "A Skimmer's Guide to the Latest Business Books."

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