Creating A Successful Business with Kindness In Mind

“There’s no place for kindness in business.” I was told this throughout a decade of working in corporate finance. As soon as I stepped into the workplace, I was unable to wear emotions on my sleeve.

I am here to make the case for kindness in business. While I can’t save the world alone, I can certainly show you a few ways to use kindness to create your dream company.

My name is Lisa Hu and I started a company called “Lux & Nyx,” pronounced ‘Lucks and Nix.’ It’s Greek for “Light and Night” and it represents time changes and life changes.

Under 1 year ago, I left a finance executive position to start this company.  I wanted to design products around how the modern woman lives.  So I learned how to sew, scoured 40 manufacturers and created 26 products in just 6 months.  I became a fashion designer and “Lux & Nyx” was born.  We design luxury handbags made with eco-friendly, premium, and durable materials.  We support education related projects too!  In fact, our first school collaboration is with non-for-profit Love to Langa. To top it off, our first line of products are all animal cruelty free!

Being kind means having integrity in how you build your business.
I started this company with a fundamental belief of building a company around doing good. At “Lux and Nyx,” we want to create products to help females “Do More. Be More. And Achieve More. By Simplifying Their Lives.”  Creating products that are innovative, beautiful and useful. Our designer products are functional for everyday life and help serve as a social function through the impact the company makes. I took a leap of faith to be kind and create a company that will bring good into society.

BE SELFISH WITH YOUR KINDNESS

Sounds like an oxymoron? Let me explain, being kind doesn’t mean you have to care about everywhere others care about. Care about what matters most to YOU. When you dedicate your effort towards your passion, that’s when you will be able to provide maximum value to society. Everyone is brilliant when they follow their passion. In essence, FOCUS your kindness for optimal return on investment.

DON’T BE SHY.  SHARE YOUR KINDNESS BECAUSE IT’S CONTAGIOUS

Doing what feels right is not always an easy choice and it’s especially difficult in business. When I first started my business, I was afraid of being eco-conscious and cruelty-free. I was also afraid of telling people I was trying to build a school in Africa. Why? I was told financial investors don’t care about cause-driven businesses, since they take more time and effort. It is a fact; it took me more time and money to find the most optimal eco-conscious material. Also, building schools means that part of the company profits will not get reinvested back into the company. I remember having a lot of anxiety about these decisions but decided to ingrain these values into the DNA of the company anyways.

In hindsight, I’m glad I did. There are more believers and supporters of the company. It humanizes our brand and it’s what makes us different. Our brand has inspired goodwill efforts from others to build companies around sustainability. A Cambridge University study found that seeing someone help another person subsequently caused them to reach out and do something altruistic themselves.

So be bold, share kind acts with your community and welcome others to get involved.