What Inspires Roots?

Recently, one of our team, Madii Rey, asked: “What inspires you to do Roots?” This post provides the answer insofar as I can articulate it in a few words, which is pretty hard to do. So let’s get into it.

Carrie and I are not the founders of Roots. We first “found” it as customers before becoming the owners. So I’ll group my response into two buckets–that which inspired us to buy the business and that which inspires us to run and grow the business.

• I was inspired to buy Roots because of its founding principle — that eating whole, organic foods is a necessary, and often too difficult to find, part of living a healthy, fulfilling life.
• I was inspired to buy Roots because we absolutely love our community — downtown Valparaiso — and wanted to express that love by making a deeper investment in it.
• I was inspired to buy Roots to have place to implement and test our ideas of how a company should treat its employees, customers, and other stakeholders.
• And I was inspired to buy Roots because, after 15 years working with the same great company, I needed some time away to think about and face some new kinds of challenges.

But the things that inspire me to continue building and growing Roots, I think, are more interesting and less self-centered than those initial motivations.

• I am inspired to grow Roots because I now know first-hand how we help people feel good. This is true not only because our food nourishes bodies and tastes delicious, but also because our team, which consists of fourteen truly kind and helpful souls, doles out the  “Roots LOVE” to our lovely and loyal customers every day. I see it in the smiles of our new and returning customers. And I see it in the overwhelmingly positive feedback and reviews that we receive on social media and through our direct customer feedback system. We have a powerful positive energy loop going, where we exist to make people feel good and, in return, we feel great about doing so.
• I am inspired to grow Roots because the workplace culture we’ve created is nurturing, supportive, and infectious. And it needs to be shared. We, as the owners, provided the vision and some space for our culture to emerge. But our team has shaped and sustained it in ways that I could not have hoped for or even imagined. We see and help each other through the toughest of personal times. We celebrate each others’ greatest joys and accomplishments. We foster teamwork and we celebrate individuality. We genuinely LOVE those with whom we work. And more people should feel that way at work.
• And finally, I am inspired to grow Roots because I know that as we do better we can give back more. As we enjoy success, we share it. This year, we committed to give 10% of our net profits or 1% of our sales, whichever is greater, to community causes that align with Roots’ mission and values. And, since taking over Roots, we increased our team compensation by an average of about 30%. But I wish it was even more. Our team deserves health and savings benefits, which we’re not yet able to offer as a single-location, small business. Our team members deserve the opportunity to run and even own a Roots location someday. I am not a fan of growth for growth’s sake. But in order to provide these additional benefits and personal development opportunities, we need to have a bigger business.

The number and quality of personal relationships that I’ve formed with teammates and customers at Roots is both staggering and humbling. I encounter hundreds of beautiful people every week, living complex, challenging and authentic lives. When they stop into Roots for their daily dose of wellness, I feel their appreciation for what we do. And that is all the inspiration I need to keep going and growing.

Thanks for asking, Madii.

-Bill