Value & Values

I completely understand that, for many people, looking for the cheapest possible option in any category of spending often comes from an excellent desire to save money and spend wisely. And of course, for most of us, it can also come out of necessity due to the limits of our own budgets.

Unfortunately, what many people don’t realize, or stop to think about, is that the continual quest for the lowest cost is often undermining so many other important values. Values such as:

– Quality.
– Built to last.
– Fair pay for workers.
– Excellent customer service and personalized attention.
– Less waste ending up in landfills.
– Avoiding the potential health risks associated with certain products or ingredients.
– Owning fewer things of better quality, instead of mountains of junk we don’t really need.
– Farming or manufacturing practices that protect and preserve the planet given to sustain us all.
– Honoring the beauty, wisdom, and provision in nature rather than thinking “cheaper, bigger, faster.”
– Genuinely caring to make a difference in the world vs only seeking max profits at whatever cost.
– Endeavoring to help people of all means, not just sell to those with the deep pockets.
– And more…

Of course, the best example I can give you is the one with which I’m the most familiar, since I now work in this space – personal care and nutritional supplements.

And this is where I really hope you can “hear” my heart through my writing…

To be honest with you, in so many ways, I could honestly care less about personal care products – I’m a pretty low maintenance person myself (no offense to my higher maintenance friends at all – I love you!). But they are a part of our daily hygiene routines that we all need to varying levels, and it is my passion for the “bigger picture” values that leads me to care down to these tiniest spending details of my life and vote with my dollars for more sustainable systems.

So this month I share the following with you not as a sales pitch for Miessence, but rather as a tangible example. As I often tell people, I’m married to principles not a brand. But it just so happens, that in all my research to date, I have yet to find a company or brand that offers a better overall value than Miessence – both in terms of the value to their customers and in terms of the overall value in the difference they seek to make in the world. This is why I have chosen to use their products in my home, and also to align with them and do Rep work on their behalf.

Here is a list of the value and values offered by Miessence…

1- Certified organic to the highest possible standards (international food grade standards ). This supports both human health (no toxic ingredients) and the environment (via organic farming).

2- Highest quality ingredients of their kind – Narelle is a stickler for the purest and most potent (check out just “Ingredients #4 and #5” here to hear her talk about the ingredients – and especially the rose essential oil, as one example).

3- Price per ounce a better value than other products of similar ingredient standards.

4- Products made fresh every month – unheard of in the industry

5- Free, personalized consultations whenever needed from knowledgeable working Reps.

6- Customer discount programs – I have yet to find another company offering products of similar standards (food-grade organic) that also offers 20% off customer memberships (free with an initial qualifying purchase and no monthly ordering commitment).

7- Referral benefits for customers (you don’t have to do Rep work for this) – find out how to learn more about these here. I also have yet to find this perk among other brands of similar purity. These benefits can potentially pay for your products and eliminate a budget line – and are a great option for those who want to choose organics as often as possible but wonder how to do so on a tight budget.

8- Fully recyclable packaging (with R&D working on compostable packaging).

9- Carbon negative manufacturing – their facilities are run on wind power, and…

10- Carbon negative global shipping – mixed native species of trees are planted to *more than* offset your products’ journey to your doorstep. (Yes, it can actually make more environmental sense for me, in the northeastern US, to order manufacturer-direct from Australia than it would for me to get into my car and drive to a store to purchase products that had been shipped all over the country with no regard for the transportation burdens of doing business).

11- No waste shipment packing – have you seen how small the boxes are, even for big orders? They pack the boxes efficiently, use a minimal amount of compostable packing peanuts, and encourage customers to reuse the biodegradable plastic bags used to prevent possible accidental leakage from liquid items.

12- Fair trade ensures that everyone along the supply chain is paid fairly.

13- A “Glocal” Focus – a beautiful blending of global and local, supporting local economies all over the world via an ethical, mission-orientated global enterprise… sourcing ingredients from local farmers around the world, and using a distribution model that supports customers with discounts, referring customers with a bit of thank you money, and also provides…

14- Opportunities – while it takes hard work and dedication (no hype here), Miessence offers anyone who wants it, the opportunity to create a home based consulting business in the growing organics marketplace, with professional training and ongoing support.

All in all, when I looked at the “total package” as a customer myself, I was blown away by the value provided by these values – economically through the value, price per ounce, for the quality, and their commitment to provide a way for people on tight budgets to earn free products through referral benefits; environmentally through their business practices and all that implies for the preservation and restoration of the earth; and socially through their connecting us back to a slower, simpler, more natural, more conscious, more ‘organic’ way of living.

Whenever and wherever you spend your “treasure” – your hard earned income – I encourage you to consider these sorts of values. No matter what the category of spending is, from the big stuff to the small stuff, challenge yourself to look beyond just a cheap price tag and look for values that help reclaim a better world – the sustainable world we were meant to enjoy but many have forgotten. The more people who wake up, remember, and reconnect, the better our own lives will be, as well as the lives of future generations. At the same time, please be gracious toward yourself and others on the journey. These big mindset shifts can take time, and we can only make the best choices among those before us at any given moment with what limited info we have. Please don’t allow guilt, or stress, or worry to creep into this journey for you – enjoy the ride.