Davis Smith

Yesterday, I sat on Cotopaxi’s glacier in Ecuador, overcome with emotions. Big transitions are ahead for me as I leave the Cotopaxi CEO role and move to Brazil with my family to be missionaries for our church for three years. I’m so grateful I had one more adventure with these dear friends in this special place where I grew up. We climbed big mountains all week, but more importantly, we shared with each other: triumphs and defeats, joys and sorrows, dreams fulfilled and others yet unrealized. These friends bring out the best in me. I love them and will miss them dearly while we are gone.

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” Rene Daumal

With all the chaos in today's world, one way to combat anxiety and helplessness is to join organizations and people doing good and lifting others.

I'm proud of our daughter (pictured in the Philippines) for her commitment to serving others, and I'm overjoyed to be part of this world-changing work down here in Brazil. Our church just published its 2024 report. It donated $1.45 billion in welfare, self-reliance initiatives, and global humanitarian efforts. 6.6 million hours of volunteer service were given, and 3,836 humanitarian projects were executed in 192 countries and territories.

I recognize many people reading this are not religious, and few share my faith, but the point is that all of us can contribute to good in the world in some way that we're passionate about. That is what unites us despite our small differences.

For more details about our ongoing work with Women and Children, Emergency Relief, Clean Water and Sanitation, Education, Employment, Healthcare and Mobility, and Feeding the Hungry, here is the 2024 annual summary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: https://lnkd.in/d4a33XSq

We've been in Brazil for nearly a month now, and what a ride it has been! I admit that I miss my daily work at Cotopaxi - I truly loved what I did. That said, this experience in Recife has been life-changing for our family. I'd love to give a quick update!

One of my favorite changes is that my wife, Asialene, and I work together all day, every day, and that has been an absolute gift. Our work days are long, starting early in the morning and ending around midnight every night. While leading this mission has been hard, this is the kind of work that fills the soul. Every minute, the work is about someone else, never about us, and that’s a pretty amazing feeling.

We have been encouraging our young missionaries serving here in Brazil to look for opportunities to serve others and to pray that people in need would be sent their way. Asialene and I have been doing the same. A few days ago, while in the grocery store, a woman approached us asking if we could help buy her groceries. She was struggling to push her grocery cart with an injured arm and an emaciated body. Her cart only had four items: a small bag of rice, a bag of beans, chicken, and oil. She was buying the very necessities to feed her family. We spent the next 30 minutes with Fabiana as we filled her grocery cart and learned that her husband had died in January. She was now responsible for feeding her four children and her 15-month old grandchild.

We were looking for an opportunity to help someone in need, and I believe Fabiana was put in our path. We now have a new friend here in Recife. Isn't this what life is all about ... using whatever we have to lift, serve, and love others?

Skyler Norton, a local student, reached out to me with some pics of a pair of Air Jordan 1’s that he stripped down to the sole and then rebuilt using pieces of a Cotopaxi Del Dia pack (our one-of-kind bags made of remnant fabrics).

“The entire shoe was created with one of your Cotopaxi bags. The stitching was inspired by the contrasting color to the panel and of course the DO GOOD had to be on the shoe.”

I have a feeling Skyler is going to be doing some amazing things in his career!

Pre-pandemic, I had never once worked at home with Cotopaxi. I was a believer in being together in-person if we wanted to build an exceptional culture, but since the pandemic, we’ve shifted Cotopaxi to a “remote-first” work environment. To continue to build on the culture that matters so much to us, we’ve had to be very intentional about creating new rituals and traditions that bring us together physically from time to time.

We just wrapped up our first annual Cotopaxi Summer Camp where our whole team (135 people invited) came to Utah to camp, hike, rock climb, play, and compete (continuing our tradition of team-based Llama-lympics).

More than anything, we just enjoyed being with each other. I’m now a big believer in the benefits of having a remote workforce and have completely changed my feelings about working from home. That said, we have to make additional efforts to compensate for the lost interpersonal relationship building that happens in an office. We have many more of these types of activities coming soon. I think we’re slowly figuring this out, and I wanted to share what we’re learning!

Please share anything you or your teams are doing that we can learn from!

#culture #leadership #team #wfh #workingfromhome

I’m grateful for good people who have made sacrifices to invest in me and others. Tim and Sherry Parker left their lives behind for three years from 1996-1999 to teach, train, love, and lift several hundred young missionaries in Bolivia. They were in their late 40’s, and I’m sure it was a huge financial sacrifice for them.

The picture below was taken my first day in Bolivia. 26 years later, the Parkers came to support me as I spoke in our church congregation to say goodbye for three years before moving to Brazil … to follow in their same steps.

P.S. Isn’t it amazing how little they’ve changed? I’m banking on my look being pretty similar in 30 years because the last 26 did a number on me! ;)

This Pew Research Center survey makes me both proud and sad. Proud to be part of an organization/faith that sincerely teaches us to love our neighbor and to look for the good in others. Sad to see how others feel about me and the faith that has shaped me so deeply. The survey results are a window into the culture of my faith (and others). The first time someone targeted me for my religion was on the school bus when I was eleven years old - another child had already been taught to hate. Until then, I had no idea someone might dislike me simply because of my religion.

I’m a big fan of Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s national “Disagree Better” campaign. We need a world where it is okay to have and share our unique beliefs (political, religious, etc.) without being vilified or hated. Let’s work together with fewer extremes. We are all part of the same incredible human family - brothers and sisters. I believe in a kinder and more loving world.

Proud brother moment ... Ryan Smith, my younger brother (12 years my junior), started a business while in undergrad and has spent the last seven years plugging away. He paid himself essentially nothing for years, managing a small apartment complex in the evenings and weekends so that he didn’t have to pay rent. After years of hard work and adjustments to his business model, he has a real business that is growing and working!

They just announced a $3 million seed round co-led by The Clorox Company and Lerer Hippeau with Kickstart and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Fund participating. We’re the first set of brothers that several of these funds have ever backed, which makes it even more fun!

His business, Recyclops is focused on helping the 38% of US households that don’t have access to recycling through their municipality. Last year alone, Recyclops diverted 3 million tons of recyclables from landfills.

Congrats Ryan! I love you and am proud of the good your business is doing.

I’m so very excited to welcome Wendy Yang to the Cotopaxi board. Wendy is the President of Teva, Hoka, and Sanuk, and previously helped lead New Balance, Reebok, and Timberland. Wendy is a world-class brand builder and a distinguished leader, and we couldn’t be more excited to have her join our team for this next phase of growth!