Cotopaxi: Davis Smith

Karissa Bodnar had a dream job at L'Oréal when a close friend died from cancer at age 24. It shook her up and made her reassess what she really wanted to do with her life. The answer? Build her own beauty business with a mission of “giving back.”The problem? Nobody seemed to want ...  Show more

Today’s callers: Juliette in France wonders how to raise awareness of her “magical” cooling device—without a costly ad campaign. Then David in North Carolina looks to grow the wholesale channel of his engraved gifts business in light of thinning retail margins. And Kaitlin in Cal ...  Show more

Cotopaxi founder Davis Smith believes business can be a force for change. He built a world-class outdoor brand around a simple but powerful motto: Do Good. In this conversation with host Jeff Berman, Smith shares the spark of inspiration that set Cotopaxi in motion, the hard-won ...  Show more

Davis Smith is the Founder and Chairman of Cotopaxi, an outdoor brand with a humanitarian mission. The company has assisted over 4 million people living in poverty. The company has been profitable for the la ...

It’s the late 1990s and The North Face is seeking to attract mainstream customers by opening hundreds of Summit Shops within the nation’s stores.But when the expected avalanche of sales fails to materialize, the company finds itself slipping over the edge.Meanwhile, Patagonia ste ...  Show more

There's not just one way to create a product that sells. Just ask Bryan Reisberg and Scott Dunn of Little Chonk. Bryan needed a safe way to transport his corgi Maxine to his office in New York City, but there just wasn't a durable, safe dog backpack on the market. Through tria ...