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Bye Bye “Midtown Uniform”: Patagonia’s shift in corporate partnering and the influence it might play for other companies- Dashary Martinez

Quite honestly it comes as no surprise that Patagonia is deciding to ditch printing financial firm’s logos on their famous sweater vest for companies that do not align with their mission. Patagonia has always been known for their mission driven business. They are leaders in corporate social responsibility and stay true to their “We are in business to save our home planet” mission. With this belief as a driver for their business, it is only right that their clients also share in this vision.

In early April, Patagonia announced its changes to their corporate program. They will stop the production of printing company logos on their sweater vest. This change will however not affect already existing clients. With this as a new business approach, what does it mean for their profits? Moving forward they are only going to work with companies that also share in being socially conscious and have also vowed to incorporate a social aspect into their business model. Patagonia is known for putting mission first. In 2012, Patagonia began reporting as a Benefit Corp (B-Corp) – as soon as California permitted it, which holds companies accountable to impact metrics. In addition, they have pledged 1% of revenue for “The Planet Initiative” which donates to nonprofits that promote sustainability and conservation, and lastly the Patagonia’s facilities are energy efficient. These are all strides that Patagonia has already taken to set them apart from others and really contribute in trying to save our planet!

Personally, I am glad that they are taking an even bigger stand to push for more sustainable impacts across their business –not just internally, but also externally with who they do business with. It is similar to the saying “tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.” I believe those who want to be associated with Patagonia might re-evaluate their own business model and become inspired to be more sustainability responsible. Over the years we have seen more companies pledge to becoming more stainable and it is largely due to we as consumer demanding them to do so. For year companies would put profit over being sustainable and that selfish mentality, or hidden truth in their productions truly contributed to the problems we as a world have now. To the harmful toxics used, or the water waste- did you know it takes 100s of gallons of water to make one cotton shirt, what a waste! Things like that really hurt our planet. Business are quickly learning that their customers are more like to support them if they are mission driven, if they are social conscious. Consumers want to feel good about supporting a business. Many businesses are completely changing their business model and production to become for socially responsible. For example, I read an article outlining Google’s plan of creating an underwater data center. Data center, for the cloud, consume so much water in order to keep all the systems cool. This is why they are usually near large bodies of water. Google, took this idea further and was like what if he are just surrounded by water. Their idea is that the water that is used is recycled, used throughout the facility and then filter to stream back into the river that they are getting water from. Something as innovative as this can have a huge impact on our planet. As I have gotten older I have become more socially conscious of way to be more sustainable, often times it is hard but when you think about the larger picture it is motiving, especially as I am trying to set an example for my daughter. That is why it is important to big companies to continue to take a stance and use their platform to keep spreading change, because it ultimately takes one person to spark change but a whole group to actually get it done. With more and more companies becoming sustainable, and putting the environment first hopefully we can reserve some of the damage we have already done!

source:https://rctom.hbs.org/submission/patagonia-a-focus-on-a-sustainable-model/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/midtown-uniform-patagonia-will-no-longer-sell-vests-with-finance-firms-logos-on-them/

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QUEEN B has done it Again! How Beyoncé put Black culture at the forefront of her Coachella performance! - Dashary Martinez

Let’s face it everything Beyoncé does is just simply AMAZING! There is no comparison to Queen B! She is just a living legend. Even a year after her Coachella performance people are still raving about it and it’s probably a performance that will go down in history as a top performance! Beyoncé just does no wrong. Like what can’t she not do! I like to think that with her recently released documentary “Homecoming” it for those of us who could and did not attend Coachella. It is a way for us to feel as if we were there –even a year after it happened. I The documentary, at first one would think is to portray the journey Beyoncé and everyone involve underwent and their vision leading up to the performance, but it is much more than that. It not only brings to light all that Beyoncé gives to her fans, but her vision of portraying black culture and bringing it mainstream.

Beyoncé is just simply an amazing performer and gives it her all, but for her Coachella performance she truly out did herself and went above and beyond. In the documentary we get to see another side of Beyoncé and truly appreciate her craft, as we see all that she scarified to give us the best two hours a performance can offer. Beyoncé, who at the time just recently had twins worked harder than anyone I could ever imagine. Having an infant is already hard within itself now two, I don’t even know how she got it done. In the documentary she talks about how far she she pushed her body, to levels she didn’t know it could go and how she would and could never do again. Now as a more mature woman, she had to find the right balance of being a performer, a mother, and a wife. In preparing for her performance she basically in my opinion just didn’t eat. She couldn’t have any sugar, fat, bread, diary…. nothing. SO how did she do it? So how did Beyoncé survive? Simple answer…. She is BEYONCE! She talks about how during her breaks she would run off to nurse and would bring her family on set when she could. Although her performance is supper important, her family is even more important as she would tailor rehearsals around the needs of her children, whereas as be before she would do 15 hours straight rehearsal, but this time around she needed to get a break. In total, her and her team rehearsed for 8months! And boy did it pay off because it was quite the performance. But in true Beyoncé fashion there was probably more she did to give us the performance of her life.

But beyond the blood, sweat, and tears that went into production, the show was bigger than the show itself. It was what it did for the culture, what it did for black culture.

“As momentous as the performance was in real time, and in the days that followed, its shadow has only lengthened in the year since. As the first black woman to headline Coachella — probably America’s most-visible music festival — Beyoncé set out to make a deliberate statement about black beauty, culture and fortitude” –(https://www.npr.org/2019/04/22/715985010/homecoming-from-the-bleachers-members-of-beyonc-s-marching-band-look-back)

Beyoncé constantly uses her platform to portray black beauty and often says said she does what she does so little black girls can dream and see themselves in her. She does it for her children to also see that black is beautiful and find the beauty within themselves. As a woman of color this speaks volume to me. The norm and standard of beauty that is often portray is that of Eurocentric standards of so it is always nice to see more people of color in these mayor platforms and using their voice to shoe how vast beauty is. What Beyoncé did with her performance was larger than herself. She wanted everyone watching to see a part of themselves in all aspect of her performance. She did it for the culture! She brought black culture to light by highlight HBCUS bands, steppers, and an all-black band! All very important to the black community and telling of black excellence. Beyoncé brought to the world a positive light on black culture and the soul and joy that is at its core. In one of her interviews she stated that God gives us these visions because we are capable of executing them and she knew she had to do this show in that manner! Its just simply amazing what she gave the world in her two-hour performance. She also payed homage to other black legends. On and all it was just a breath taking moment in our culture and in the words of DJ Khalid “they need to rename it to BEYCHELLA”

COACHELLA….BEYCHELLA

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Will everyone be ready for cashier less grocery stores?  Dashary Martinez

After the presentations on the Grocery Industry and how they are moving towards a “cashier less” approach, it got me thinking how government food assistance will play into this. Someone in class brought up the fact that those on government assistances might feel isolated because of the new technology, but what has Government been doing so far to keep up with the technological advances already in place? When you think of government you think of old, outdated, and slow! Government is usually set in their ways and slow in changing how things are done. They are often times far behind society as a whole. For example, here in Massachusetts our State House did not have WIFI until January 2015, and it was only because the current administration really pushed for it. No WIFI until just four years ago!!! 2015! Let that sink in! Something so simple as WIFI, they basically just got it, compared to other public spaces where WIFI has been available for at least ten years now. Well if that’s WIFI, what other social services does government still fall behind on?

Before becoming a mom, I worked in the Governor’s office and can attest to the frustration me and my colleagues would face when it came to the limited technology we had and were able to use. Despite our office being the youngest in age, it was a general feel across the administration. A lot of the updated methods we wanted to use were not allowed by law – and would take a long time to change and or our constituents, being more of the older crowd would just not adapt to. For instant, we have a public email account where people could email our office to get services done faster and actually get a response faster. I would say most of those who actually emailed us were other professionals, young people and older people who were comfortable using a computer/email. But there were times when constituents would call our office and we insist they email us and it would be “the grandparents” who either didn’t’ have a computer or just didn’t know how to email us. This would explain the 100s of letters we would receive on a weekly basis on things, that if sent electronically would take half the time to resolve. On top of the fact that most of our constituents prefer “hand writing” our Governor, laws were also set in place that all correspondence sent to the Governor must be kept and must save both a physical and digital copy! Talk about wasting paper! This would frustrate our office because we just simply don’t have the space to house all these letters. With that in mind and an overarching theme in government, as our office is the most “modern” in basically all state government, I can only imagine the frustration other constituents actually receiving services must actually feel.

This idea of Amazon Go, a “cashier less” grocery store is projected to be a $4 billion industry by 2020 as this method will bring in 50% more revenue -(source: https://www.recode.net/2019/1/4/18166934/amazon-go-stores-revenue-estimates-cashierless) although this concept is under Amazon and probably not available to most people, I’m sure other grocery chains will follow and begin to implement this method in their businesses. So when and if that happens what would it mean for the regular consumers and those on food assistance? What technological advances have been done thus far to help support this way of food shopping? Currently SNAP – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, serves about 42 million people nationwide, and with that large of a number there is no way these food organizations, will not make this type of service available to everyone. In Massachusetts, SNAP has recently undergone a technological makeover. DTA, the department of transitional assistance, which oversees SNAP benefits, launched their first app in 2017. Being able to apply and do everything over an app has cut wait time at the local DTA offices where people would normally spend all day waiting to receive benefits. Aside from the app, an online application is now available and a pre-screen test is also available where recipients will know within a minute if they are eligible. The way this works online is, individuals apply online, will get a call to schedule an interview within 5 days, and then within two days, after submitting the proper documents online, in person, or over the mail, will receive a confirmation on whether their funds were approved. This cuts the wait time as well in when receiving benefits. Before this process would take weeks. All communication can now be done through the app. I now wonder, if this type of service is available through the app how will this keep updating and transforming to reflect the industry change of grocery shopping. Will this make funds more of an apple pay transaction opposed to a EBT card transaction? I believe that although this is not the current way of doing things, government will catch up to all these digital transformations and adapt to just about everything. In placing an app, it is already a step in the right direction and a step reflective of the times, although a bit later compared to its counterparts, it better late than never! 

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“NO MORE DO IT FOR THE GRAM?!?”- Dashary Martinez

WOW!!No more likes on Instagram!?! What does that mean for the CULTURE? In the last 4-5 years or so Instagram has revolutionized social media. Before Instagram and snapchat, social media was merely a way to communicate with friends and quite limited in what you can do, but now social media is on a whole new level. People’s lives have completely change because of social media. People thrive to become “Instagram famous” so that they can basically get rich and famous. The lives of many influencers have completely change because of their followings and this new life they take on.

Take for instance the ACE Family – a family of four who I follow on IG lol. They became Instagram famous about 3 years ago. It is a young couple Austin and Catherine. Austin was a popular college basketball star and Catherine was a IG model. This is where their following started. Just recently they released a recent documentary of their lives where they describe their journey to fame. The documentary starts off describing their earlier years and basically the “struggle years”. In their first apartment they barely had enough money to afford it. That is when the idea of v-blogs came up and they began filming regularly. Once they got some more followers and became more popular they moved into another apartment where they definitely could not afford the rent and in their words they became “content creators” to basically pay the bills. This is when their brand “ACE Family” really took off.

In the documentary they reflect on how blessed they are to live the life they do, and if it has been worth it. Although they have scarified a lot of their privacy they are now worth 13 million dollars! Is that enough money to feel like it is all worth it? They now have two young daughters and worry about their safety and how these young girls will not live a normal life. Because they worry about their daughters they have now changed how they film and are more selective of what they share. But damn 13 Million for sharing videos, many would say no money is worth one’s peace of mind, while others might feel that for that kind of money why not, film on haha!

Here you have a family who because of their Instagram popularity had their whole lives changed and became celebrities over night! With this new Instagram feature does this mean they will wipe this culture of influencer completely out. Are people no longer going to be Instagram famous? For normal Instagram users where it is merely a social thing and not like driven by likes, I believe this change will have no impact. I believe those who will be affected the most are the people who get paid off of their Instagram posts and those who are trying to become Instagram famous. Although still an internal prototype, the feature doesn’t show the number of likes to followers, but I’m guessing that those with a large following will continue to have their following because they have already become invested in the influencer’s life. This idea of no likes, according to Instagram, is to push for a more content driven app. They say they are trying to alleviate the pressure from users and stray away from focusing on likes and more on the content posted. I think this major update will change the social media culture as we know it. Although, as we learned in previous presentations, Instagram is very responsive to what consumers like, and many people have already out lashed at this feature and therefore it   might not even launch at all. But if it did, what would the new social media world look like. Where there be no new “Instagram Famous” culture? Will “do it for the gram” no longer be a thing anymore? Those are things that I wonder. How many other things will this affect? Will it be the end for Instagram? Is society even ready for such a change?

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The Kardashian Effect: How Instagram likes have shaped American Standards of Beauty                                 Dashary

Let’s face it, who doesn’t know the Kardashians! Not only do they host the longest reality TV show ever, but they have also shaped how we use social media. Some may say that they have set the new standard of American beauty while others say they have merely copied what has already existed among the black culture. When the Kardashians come to mind, we automatically think selfies, over sexualized pictures, and curvy bodies. But what does this all lead to? What many people do not realize is that this family has shaped American culture in the last 10 years, especially in the areas of fashion and beauty. They have made a fortune off of sharing their lives with the world and not holding anything back. With a family net worth of close to two billion dollars, one can’t help but to stop and think, wow they must be doing something right. But what is it they do exactly? The have revolutionized the social media game, and in my opinion essentially rule it!  Kylie the youngest of the family has been reported to make $1,000,000 per Instagram post, followed by Kim who makes $720,000 (on average) per IG, Kendall Jenner making $500,000 and Kourtney and Khloe both making $250,000 per post. These girls get paid to share. Quite frankly, love or hate them, they have profited off tremendously by understanding their influential power to the market. Again, what do they do exactly, what trend do they start? Or do they just bring these trends mainstream?

Whether you like it or not some aspect of your life has been influenced by the Kardashians. They truly have influenced beauty and fashion. From middle part ponytails, nude lips, biker shorts to active wear chic! Other trends the Kardashians are famous for “starting” are, contouring, the Kim Kardashian “Boxer Braids,” Lip fillers –that Kylie is infamous for! And most commonly known for, curvy bodies –big booties or how many call it the “Kardashian Body” All these “fashion trends” the Kardashians have become famous for are they truly responsible for their origins or for making them famous amongst mainstream. Should they be given the credit of creators or just influencers. For years, women of color have been made fun of, made to feel less then, or labeled as ghetto for having these same features. Now you have so many wanting to have these features.  

Many people, especially in the community of color believe the Kardashains are “culture vultures.” Time and time again they are getting credit for things black people get ridiculed for or they are said to take ideas from black designers and in turn trying to make it their own. Some say they suffer from culture appropriation. Others believe they simply resemble the rest of society, where black culture is appreciated more and praised when it’s not on a black person.  The Kardashians are no stranger to this. They are glorified for their black features simply because they are white women. Other women of color have not reached this star potential despite looking just like one of the Kardashians. The Kardashains, have made millions by having these features and in turn their influence has many seeking to resemble them in hopes of reaching some type of stardom. Their popularity has changed the way many think of beauty and how the perceive their body. In trying to achieve the “Kardashian Body” turn to Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBL), which has increased 134.5% since 2012. How is this possible? Instagram! Instagram has become a growing social platform where people seeking this type of recognition, this type of power turn to. Influencers want to achieve this level of financial success and believe that by having this body it will get likes which will generate revenue. The Kardashian effect has open the door to endless opportunities on social media!

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/news/a40474/this-is-how-much-the-kardashians-get-paid-for-one-instagram-post/

#https://mic.com/articles/179705/the-kardashians-are-not-hurting-black-womens-feelings-theyre-stealing-black-wealth.MBGKRtNSO

#https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-kylie-jenner-and-khloe-kardashian-leech-off-black-creativity

#https://www.thethings.com/15-ways-kardashians-influenced-us-didnt-even-know/

#https://nypost.com/2017/09/23/how-a-decade-of-the-kardashians-radically-changed-america/