Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser from Bloomberg Radio. Hi,
Speaker 1: I'm Carol Master. Welcome to a special holiday weekend edition
Speaker 1: of Bloomberg Business Week. This week, some of the highlights
Speaker 1: from twenty in a year that was like no other
Speaker 1: health pandemic, dual crises of racial and social injustice, fights
Speaker 1: for equality, and yeah, we had an election. It was
Speaker 1: a year filled with struggle, in strife, and with inspiration
Speaker 1: and innovation. Some of our memorable conversations included three leaders
Speaker 1: where sustainability is in their company's d n A Yesper Broden,
Speaker 1: president CEO of INCA Group and Ikea on making the
Speaker 1: business case for climate action, plus Jenna Johnson of Patagonia
Speaker 1: unconscious sustainability, and then managing through a crisis with Chipotle
Speaker 1: CEO Brian Nicol. We begin with someone who understands real
Speaker 1: estate politics and making a difference to create a more
Speaker 1: equal and just world. Don Peoples, Founder, chairman and CEO
Speaker 1: of the People's Corporation, a privately held national real estate
Speaker 1: and development company. He's also worked for the Obama campaign
Speaker 1: and was former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Speaker 1: Our conversation last fall began with a look at where
Speaker 1: we are in real estate. You know, interestingly enough, we're
Speaker 1: still seeing a lot of tail winds for a single
Speaker 1: family real estate. I think single family homes are very
Speaker 1: strong interest rate stories at historical lows, and so it's
Speaker 1: propelling a lot of buyers who are able to do
Speaker 1: that take advantage of it or out in the market buying.
Speaker 1: So that continued to be a bright spot. I think
Speaker 1: we're seeing um in some places. What was very interesting
Speaker 1: is in Los Angeles the condo sales market is actually
Speaker 1: doing well and uh at a surprising bright spot in
Speaker 1: the marketplace. And UH and that's again because people want
Speaker 1: to get out of their cars, they want to live
Speaker 1: closer to where they work, and uh in their economy
Speaker 1: is to getting an open back up. I think the
Speaker 1: challenge in the industry in real estate overall will be
Speaker 1: the obvious, which is retail. Brick and mortar, retail and
Speaker 1: hospitality sectors are a very challenge right now, and the
Speaker 1: office is kind of a wait and see right now. Hey,
Speaker 1: donn As, you're well aware there's this existential discussion going on,
Speaker 1: argument going on about the future of New York City.
Speaker 1: Does it have a future? Help right, is it? Uh?
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts? Of course? I think New York
Speaker 1: City definitely has a future and it will always be
Speaker 1: a bright future at the city of eight and a
Speaker 1: half million people. That being said, about a hundred thousand
Speaker 1: residents have left Manhattan, which is a significant number out
Speaker 1: of two million residents. UM. I think what we're seeing
Speaker 1: in New York though, is a a perpetuation and continuation
Speaker 1: of a trend that was beginning to happen before, and
Speaker 1: it started with the salt. Once the state and local
Speaker 1: income tax deductions were taken away, it started encouraging more
Speaker 1: high net worth individuals to relocate to more tax friendly
Speaker 1: environment and then there was a diminishment of quality of life.
Speaker 1: The city got a bit dirtier, crime was creeping up
Speaker 1: a little bit, and then with this pandemic, it has
Speaker 1: accelerated that. So I think on the high end, ultra
Speaker 1: luxury side, the residential market is going to struggle. Their
Speaker 1: sales volume for residential condos is down significantly and vacancy
Speaker 1: rates are at you know, um, all time highs um
Speaker 1: right now, vacancy rates for partners in Manhattan or New
Speaker 1: York City as a whole over five percent, which is
Speaker 1: a very big number. And uh, and then and then
Speaker 1: there is about almost twenty million square fi of sublet
Speaker 1: office space. And we're seeing a shift. And what we're
Speaker 1: also seeing now is millennials coming of age of having
Speaker 1: being married, having kids and seeking out places that are
Speaker 1: more conducive to that where the public school systems are
Speaker 1: more predictable and uh, a little better quality of life
Speaker 1: and lower costs. So I think we're going to see
Speaker 1: a shift of what New York City looks like. Well,
Speaker 1: so what does it also the mean for You've got
Speaker 1: the gateway cities and then you've got secondary tertiary cities.
Speaker 1: I mean, is that where you want to be investing
Speaker 1: at this point? Maybe not the gateway cities so much
Speaker 1: or I don't know, how do you see it done? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's very challenging right now to make any
Speaker 1: kind of strategic long term investment in New York City.
Speaker 1: I think if you look at the emerging markets, the
Speaker 1: ones that are the what would be the tertiary cities
Speaker 1: that are emerging, and they're going to become much more
Speaker 1: dominant players. I would say Charlotte, North Carolina, has significant
Speaker 1: good news recently. Uh, they just got a new corporate
Speaker 1: relocation that's going to spend about two billion dollars on
Speaker 1: the headquarters. UM. You have UH, Tennessee, especially Nashville, UH
Speaker 1: continuing to do well. South Florida is on a great run,
Speaker 1: both on a single family side and attracting more entrepreneurial
Speaker 1: financial services firms down there, and some of the bigger
Speaker 1: banks are beginning to look at back a house there
Speaker 1: there as well. So I think that those types of
Speaker 1: markets UH, and then some of the other I think
Speaker 1: the VATA is gonna begin to pick up. In Texas
Speaker 1: is often doing very well, will continue to do very well.
Speaker 1: I think it's the New York that in the Chicago's
Speaker 1: um that are in the city, the major gateway cities
Speaker 1: are going to struggle. Boston being an exception to that,
Speaker 1: because life sciences and the strong intellectual capital in that
Speaker 1: marketplace are saving it from what would be catastrophic results
Speaker 1: like what New York is beginning to see right now.
Speaker 1: So don't just quickly tax You mentioned the tax policy.
Speaker 1: What can states like New York and New Jersey and
Speaker 1: some others do. I mean, they just simply try to
Speaker 1: get more efficient a combination of things. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think that I mean were they. New York has to
Speaker 1: recognize and New Jersey has to recognize that they are
Speaker 1: losing residents by the moment. I mean, we just launched
Speaker 1: a new private club in Miami Beach called the Bath Club,
Speaker 1: which is a private beach club, and we are getting,
Speaker 1: you know, flooded by applications of people coming from New
Speaker 1: York relocating down you know, just kind of almost for
Speaker 1: the moment. So they've got to So New York, New York,
Speaker 1: New Jersey have to recognize they've got to compete for residents.
Speaker 1: So they've got to be much more efficient and take
Speaker 1: a freshman look at what role the government has, especially
Speaker 1: in New York City. What is the role of the
Speaker 1: municipal government. It can't be everything to everybody. It's got
Speaker 1: a right side and workforce quickly, um and and this
Speaker 1: administration has been reluctant to do that. And then I
Speaker 1: think it has to think about longer term tax policy.
Speaker 1: New York should be in the business of reducing taxes
Speaker 1: and spent advising a job generation and productivity. That was
Speaker 1: People's Corporation CEO Don Peebles. Don also served on the
Speaker 1: National Finance Committee of President Obama and was a former
Speaker 1: chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. You're listening to
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up from real estate to filling
Speaker 1: homes and buildings with assist annable goods. Ikea knows about that.
Speaker 1: We'll hear from INCA Group President and CEO, yes Per Broden.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol
Speaker 1: Masser from Bloomberg Radio. Another conversation that stood out for
Speaker 1: us this year is a company and a leader who
Speaker 1: every day is making the business case for climate action.
Speaker 1: INCA Group President and CEO, Yesper Broden, home to some
Speaker 1: three v i Ka furniture and retail stores in thirty
Speaker 1: countries with more than two hundred thousand workers. He joined
Speaker 1: us from the Bloomberg Green Festival this year, and like
Speaker 1: so many of our conversations, we started off by talking
Speaker 1: about how his company has changed as a result of
Speaker 1: the pandemic. For us, like for everybody on this planet,
Speaker 1: we have been through a very special journey this year,
Speaker 1: and I must admit us I share with you too.
Speaker 1: To be traveling about again, I felt a bit like
Speaker 1: the old movie Castaway when they're coming back to the office,
Speaker 1: seeing people and enjoying that also, I must say at
Speaker 1: the same time, obviously, um, we just like everybody else,
Speaker 1: have figured out new ways of leading. We have figured
Speaker 1: out that we we didn't have a map for this situation,
Speaker 1: but we had a very strong compass I think with
Speaker 1: the way we like to lead and our values that
Speaker 1: helped us. Actually, I think take many good decisions. But
Speaker 1: it's been a ride. It's been a ride, no doubt
Speaker 1: about it. It's interesting that you say that, and we're
Speaker 1: going to get into kind of your sustainability strategy that
Speaker 1: is so much the IKEA and corporate culture here, But
Speaker 1: I do wonder having so many of those measures in place,
Speaker 1: are there any specific anecdotes that you can tell us
Speaker 1: that helped you guys get through this crisis because of
Speaker 1: those green initiatives or sustainable initiatives. Well, you can say,
Speaker 1: I think the it's all enter tangled, right, people, plan
Speaker 1: at and business, and you can't take out any of
Speaker 1: these from the equation. So what happened obviously to us
Speaker 1: was that we had periods of dramatic closures in our
Speaker 1: stores and we had to find ways to to both
Speaker 1: protect ourselves, our people, our customers. Uh. And then on
Speaker 1: the other hand, we had to make sure that we
Speaker 1: could save the jobs for the future. And the way
Speaker 1: what actually happened in the end of the day was
Speaker 1: that we were speeding up everything around multi channel and
Speaker 1: online and we went from a good year to a
Speaker 1: record loss forecast to actually coming back on half of
Speaker 1: our estimate the profit in the end of the day,
Speaker 1: and that was thanks to I think the entrepreneurship of
Speaker 1: getting things right quickly. Do you think we're through it?
Speaker 1: Do you are you guys getting ready for another wave? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I think at a certain moment we were.
Speaker 1: We were quite early on forecasting different scenarios and the
Speaker 1: period that we have just entered we called the new normal.
Speaker 1: And I think it's a bit of a deceptive term
Speaker 1: in a way, because the way we see it is
Speaker 1: that for at least a year to come, we need
Speaker 1: to be very agile, very prepared for outbreaks. I think
Speaker 1: the term second wave could be misunderstood. So we like
Speaker 1: to plan for outbreaks and how to deal with that
Speaker 1: in the best possible way, both for jobs, for business,
Speaker 1: uh and for everything we do in society and contribute to.
Speaker 1: And obviously it's clear for all of us that you know,
Speaker 1: one year later again, it's still going to be learning.
Speaker 1: There will be things that we will be um you know,
Speaker 1: doing differently, and that will be a lot of I
Speaker 1: think amazing things that we carry with us from this
Speaker 1: period as well, hopefully including the way we realize the
Speaker 1: importance of investment in sustainability and the opportunity of doing
Speaker 1: that right. Well, let's get to that, because despite this
Speaker 1: being a crazy year, a tumultuous year, you guys are
Speaker 1: on track. And forgive me, I'm gonna read from my
Speaker 1: notes because I want to get it right. You're a
Speaker 1: track to achieve and exceed a goal to produce as
Speaker 1: much energy from renewable sources as you consume. By you
Speaker 1: have made massive investments about two and a half billion
Speaker 1: euros in wind and solar power. You've set a goal
Speaker 1: to be climate positive, meaning you're going to reduce more
Speaker 1: gas emissions than you admit you are in you know,
Speaker 1: when it comes to electric electric a hundred percent at
Speaker 1: the time, ahead of targets, when it comes to deliveries
Speaker 1: and Shanghai by e V s um you're doing that
Speaker 1: in Amsterdam, l A, New York, Paris. And here's something
Speaker 1: a goal for everyone who's listening by you guys have
Speaker 1: said your ambition is to inspire and enable one billion
Speaker 1: people to live a better everyday life within the limits
Speaker 1: of the planet. It's really heavy stuff and it's impactful stuff.
Speaker 1: How tough has this been to do? And what has
Speaker 1: been the business case for climate change for you all?
Speaker 1: Or you know? I think I think if you look
Speaker 1: at the I K S history, you can say we
Speaker 1: started out with a founder that was a very thrifty person,
Speaker 1: very smart around resources, and I think that's part of
Speaker 1: us storry so part of this. You know that sustainability
Speaker 1: and being smart about peel and planet is part of
Speaker 1: our legacy. My own story started back in the company
Speaker 1: when I joined in Asia Pacific. At the time when
Speaker 1: we invested in I think what is still today an
Speaker 1: amazing code of conduct when it comes to production. Those
Speaker 1: days we had some discussions about can we afford it
Speaker 1: will drive costs to do the right thing with working hours, salaries, etcetera.
Speaker 1: And in the end of the day it turned out
Speaker 1: to be brilliant for business. We have the most efficient partners,
Speaker 1: happy coworkers along etcetera. So I think we already then
Speaker 1: we saw some myths that were we needed to bust
Speaker 1: and the same goes for for the climate the ghost
Speaker 1: that we have committed to where we we do not
Speaker 1: have all the answers yet, so we still have some
Speaker 1: gaps to be filled to coming years. But we are
Speaker 1: convinced that this is good business for three reasons, or
Speaker 1: you can say for two reasons. One is that I
Speaker 1: coworkers and our customers expect us to take the lead,
Speaker 1: so it would be I would say dangerous to not
Speaker 1: take that lead from from your revenue side. But secularly,
Speaker 1: the business model we are building is the new low
Speaker 1: cost so sustainability shows in case by case to be
Speaker 1: the way we will provide low price furniture in the future.
Speaker 1: You say, you know a couple of things. You said
Speaker 1: it was brilliant for the company, So I'm wondering if
Speaker 1: you can put some numbers on that in terms of
Speaker 1: the business case for doing all of this. But I
Speaker 1: also wonder you said myths to bus because I can
Speaker 1: only imagine some of the internal you know discussions, yesper
Speaker 1: that you folks had it said no, we can't do that.
Speaker 1: I know it's good for the environment, but you know
Speaker 1: it's going to cost too much or we can't recreate
Speaker 1: our supply chain, so give me a little bit of
Speaker 1: that that feel. But absolutely, I think the best number
Speaker 1: I can give you is that last year we're very
Speaker 1: happy and proud that we were able to grow with
Speaker 1: some six percent plus, which is a good, a decent idea.
Speaker 1: And at the same time we reduced our absolute common
Speaker 1: footprint across the whole scope one, two and three with
Speaker 1: more than four percent, so it was possible to show
Speaker 1: healthy growth and at the same time decarbonized if you like. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we are very humble and respectful to the future to
Speaker 1: continue that journey with the plan, but that was I
Speaker 1: think the first year of proof for us. But then
Speaker 1: you can say to the myths. I think there are
Speaker 1: three myths that I see over and over again. One
Speaker 1: is that purpose and profit don't go hand in hand,
Speaker 1: which I think and we think is the opposite. And
Speaker 1: there is a very strong if that sustainability should come
Speaker 1: at the premium, which I think is very dangerous because
Speaker 1: then this is a mass movement that needs to involve
Speaker 1: everybody on this planet, so therefore it should be rather
Speaker 1: seen as the new low cost And and finally, there
Speaker 1: are a lot of myths around that consumption is all
Speaker 1: bad and there is bad consumption, but there is also
Speaker 1: sustainable consumption. So these are the type of topics that
Speaker 1: sometimes lie in the way for taking the right type
Speaker 1: of action. Purpose and profit don't go hand in hand. Well,
Speaker 1: dispelling some myths well, also helping to create a more
Speaker 1: sustainable planet. That was INCA group president and CEO, Yes
Speaker 1: for Broden. Coming up staying on sustainability with another company
Speaker 1: that has made it a priority from its inception, will
Speaker 1: check in with Patagonia ahead Jenna Johnson. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Garrol Massier from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: We'll bring you some of our memorable conversations from this year,
Speaker 1: some of the highlights, and we've heard from our past
Speaker 1: two guests a lot about sustainability and when you think
Speaker 1: of conscious sustainability, one company that has it in its
Speaker 1: DNA is Patagonia and at this year is Bloomberg Sustainable
Speaker 1: Business Summit. Patagonia Inchead Jenna Johnson talked about what makes
Speaker 1: her company's culture different. Patagonia is a really interesting and
Speaker 1: unique culture. I've never worked at a company before where
Speaker 1: um the internal employees, the culture is so strong because
Speaker 1: everyone has very intentionally chosen to come to Patagonia. UM.
Speaker 1: Certainly there's a lot of locals who work at the organization,
Speaker 1: but a lot of people have actually moved to one
Speaker 1: of our headquarters specifically to work for us because they
Speaker 1: believe so much in our mission. And when you get that,
Speaker 1: you get this really special energy um humming about the
Speaker 1: organization as everyone is trying to think as creatively, um
Speaker 1: and intelligently as we can about this you know, massive
Speaker 1: goal that we're trying to go after in bringing our
Speaker 1: planet back to health. Well, let's talk about I think
Speaker 1: it was about a year ago. You guys change your
Speaker 1: mission statement, and I want to read it so that
Speaker 1: I get it right. It went from build the best product,
Speaker 1: caused no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement
Speaker 1: solutions to the environmental crisis, to the new mission. We're
Speaker 1: in business to save our home planet. I mean, you're
Speaker 1: still adhering to the old mission, but there is no
Speaker 1: doubt about what's at stake. I know you and I
Speaker 1: talked to the prep call. I mean, we need to
Speaker 1: be thinking about our environment because everything we do is
Speaker 1: impacting it, either negatively or positively, and we need to
Speaker 1: be more positive in terms of impact, because there's no
Speaker 1: going back. If we don't have an environment, then none
Speaker 1: of this matters. It's so true. You know, you often
Speaker 1: here there's no business to be done on a dead planet,
Speaker 1: and that's exactly how we feel. UM. As you mentioned
Speaker 1: our old mission statement, it was really important to us,
Speaker 1: and it continues to be really important to us. UM.
Speaker 1: Those three main pillars are still very much UM rooted
Speaker 1: in the work that we do every single day. They're
Speaker 1: actually part of our B Corp UM values and our
Speaker 1: b Corp pillars, so we are still held accountable to
Speaker 1: those UM. But we really felt like although the organization
Speaker 1: and the company had galvanized around these important pillars, we
Speaker 1: really knew that we needed to sharpen our focus right
Speaker 1: now more than ever. We are running out of time. UM.
Speaker 1: We absolutely need to turn this climate crisis around, and
Speaker 1: we have to use our business and we hope others
Speaker 1: will use their business in order to focus on this.
Speaker 1: And you know we often said, like, yes, the mission
Speaker 1: statement that we're in business to save our home planet.
Speaker 1: It is bold, it is fairly audacious, it is UM.
Speaker 1: It puts a lot of urgency under each of our steps,
Speaker 1: and we won't be able to achieve that mission on
Speaker 1: our own, and our hope is that other businesses see
Speaker 1: that mission. And we imagine a world in which every
Speaker 1: business would take on the same mission statement. And then
Speaker 1: what we could do together if all of us were
Speaker 1: using our business to influence our individuals, the communities, UM
Speaker 1: and bring again, you know, our planet back to health.
Speaker 1: It won't happen just with Patagonia. We're not naive to that. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but we hope other businesses join us in our mission.
Speaker 1: So how easy is it to do? Because you guys
Speaker 1: are a profitable business. You've been around for a long time.
Speaker 1: I know your private company, so you don't necessarily have
Speaker 1: to release numbers. You donate one percent of your sales
Speaker 1: everywhere every year to environmental efforts and non off it specifically,
Speaker 1: how easy or has it gotten easier to be a
Speaker 1: sustainable company? You know, to create a supply chain that
Speaker 1: that is that way that it was when you guys
Speaker 1: and Von started the company years ago. You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1: In some ways it's easier and in some ways it's
Speaker 1: a whole lot harder. Um, it is not easy. I
Speaker 1: won't live We wake up every day and we're dealing
Speaker 1: with probably one of the most complex businesses in the
Speaker 1: world trying to be profitable work in an apparel and
Speaker 1: equipment industry and UM and do it in a way
Speaker 1: that has you know, zero impact, if not positive impact
Speaker 1: on the trajectory of this climate crisis. That is a bold,
Speaker 1: UM and big challenge every single day we come in
Speaker 1: to do our business. But it is not impossible and
Speaker 1: it actually makes life UM very interesting. Were never bored,
Speaker 1: we say a pentagon. There's always were done, always a
Speaker 1: new challenge to tackle. UM. You know, back in the
Speaker 1: day when we first started UM, including in for example,
Speaker 1: recycled polyester into our collection. UM, nobody else was using
Speaker 1: recycled polyester. Was it incredibly difficult. Yes, it took years
Speaker 1: and years and years of working and building relationships within
Speaker 1: the supply chain in order to get people to make advances.
Speaker 1: So in some ways today recycled polyester is a lot
Speaker 1: more available UM. But the hard part is the more
Speaker 1: you learn, the harder the challenge becomes. So we know
Speaker 1: that although recycling is critical and an important part of
Speaker 1: the waste pollution problem out there, we also now understand
Speaker 1: a lot more about the impact of our business than
Speaker 1: we did back in for example, and so the issues
Speaker 1: become really complex as we start looking at our carbon
Speaker 1: footprint overall and measuring the company's impact on the environment
Speaker 1: remains definitely at the forefront of Patagonia's priori of these.
Speaker 1: That was Jenna Johnson, head of Patagonia Inc. Coming up,
Speaker 1: we mentioned that we had a trio of CEOs that
Speaker 1: are focusing on sustainability. Well, that includes our next discussion
Speaker 1: with Chipotle CEO Brian Nicol. He talked about managing through
Speaker 1: the pandemic. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week
Speaker 1: with Carol Masser from Bloomberg Radio. Well, someone who I
Speaker 1: got to talk to a couple of times throughout is
Speaker 1: Chipotle Mexican Girl CEO Brian Nicol. He was featured in
Speaker 1: the magazine as a Bloomberg Business Week Talks this year.
Speaker 1: He also stopped by for our Bloomberg fifty Virtual celebration
Speaker 1: in early December, just before the emergency approval and roll
Speaker 1: out of the COVID nineteen vaccines. I began by asking
Speaker 1: if Chipotle would make vaccinations mandatory for its employees. You
Speaker 1: we would not require people to take the vaccine, Obviously,
Speaker 1: I would want to do everything I can to make
Speaker 1: sure that they have access to the vaccine, especially those
Speaker 1: that are in those high risk groups. And I think
Speaker 1: you know, your health and wellness is ultimately your personal decision, UM.
Speaker 1: Whatever your decision is. Though, if you aren't feeling healthy, UM,
Speaker 1: and you happen to have COVID, we do need you to,
Speaker 1: you know, take those precautions to not get other people infected.
Speaker 1: But I'm focused on trying to stay in touch with people.
Speaker 1: So I understand when vaccines get approved, how they will
Speaker 1: be distributed and how I best get our employees access
Speaker 1: to those vaccines. Um. But you know, at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, they need to make that decision for themselves. Well.
Speaker 1: And I do wonder too, you know, I think that's
Speaker 1: really interesting to hear. And I feel like Chipoli has
Speaker 1: been throughout its history a company that thinks a lot
Speaker 1: about its employee base. So how do you keep you know,
Speaker 1: your employees safe, motivate motivated during these trying times? And
Speaker 1: we talk about, you know, corporate culture. When you've got
Speaker 1: people at home and people all over the place, how
Speaker 1: do you keep though your workers who have to be
Speaker 1: at work in order to get the job done. How
Speaker 1: do you keep a motivated during these trying times. And
Speaker 1: I'm curious if you've made any employee policy each changes
Speaker 1: during the pandemic. Yeah, look, Carol, I think it Fortunately
Speaker 1: for us, we we've always been focused on our purpose,
Speaker 1: which is around this idea of cultivating a better world
Speaker 1: through food with integrity. And we've got some clear cultural values, um,
Speaker 1: you know around basically authenticity lives here, the movement is real, um,
Speaker 1: you know, teach and taste Chipotle, and then the line
Speaker 1: is the moment of truth. And the reason why these
Speaker 1: values are really important is we've used them to guide
Speaker 1: a lot of our decisions. We believe our purpose and
Speaker 1: our values drive our culture. It's why people love to
Speaker 1: work at Chipotle. And we've been consistent, i think in
Speaker 1: all our decision making against our purpose and our values,
Speaker 1: and I think it's given a lot of our employees
Speaker 1: a sense of pride. Um. They love the fact that,
Speaker 1: you know, regardless of how hard um the decision is,
Speaker 1: we want to do the right thing for our communities,
Speaker 1: moving our purpose forward and obviously our employees. So you know,
Speaker 1: we were fortunate we already had a lot of things
Speaker 1: in practice from a wellness standpoint, and you know, paid
Speaker 1: sick leave and UH a lot of employee programs around healthcare,
Speaker 1: mental wellness. UM you know, I'm sorry, mental health benefits
Speaker 1: that were available for not just the employee but their families.
Speaker 1: So we're trying to surround people with all the right
Speaker 1: things and those have been even more important in these
Speaker 1: challenging times. And you know, we've dialed up our communication.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you the other thing that has really been
Speaker 1: powerful is, UM, we have really worked hard to communicate
Speaker 1: with every single employee at Tripoli, all ninety plus thousand
Speaker 1: of them. UM. You know, we're doing zooms and web
Speaker 1: calls and telephone calls. I just want to keep them
Speaker 1: up to date with the most um, you know, up
Speaker 1: to date information. And the more they know, the more
Speaker 1: they can feel confident that we're making the right decisions
Speaker 1: and they're working in a safe environment. UM. I've had
Speaker 1: the pleasure of making some day trips visiting rest fronts,
Speaker 1: and I can tell you it really gets you pumped
Speaker 1: up because our employees are so grateful, um to be
Speaker 1: working and to be a part of Chipotle and making
Speaker 1: a difference in their communities and moving our company and
Speaker 1: culture forward. Well. And I'm guessing you're visiting a lot
Speaker 1: more workers because you guys have been on a significant
Speaker 1: hiring push back into Loe. You talked about hiring about
Speaker 1: ten thousand workers. So how has that push gone so far?
Speaker 1: Where are you in that process? Yeah, it's been you know,
Speaker 1: we're very fortunate. People have been really excited to join Chipotle,
Speaker 1: and the applications have been, uh, you know, frankly, really
Speaker 1: exciting to see did you get something like seven hundred
Speaker 1: Didn't you get something like seven hundred thousand applications or something?
Speaker 1: It was crazy. You know, I don't remember what the numbers,
Speaker 1: but I wouldn't be surprised if that's close to right. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, because we have had you know, I saw
Speaker 1: we just had a job for one of our digital
Speaker 1: opportunities open up, and for just this one position, we
Speaker 1: had well over you know, I think three or four
Speaker 1: hundred applications, which is really amazing. UM. And you know,
Speaker 1: now you've times that out across ten thousand opportunities, from
Speaker 1: you know, crew members all the way up to jobs
Speaker 1: that are support centers. And we've been very fortunate to
Speaker 1: attract really great people and we've been able to retain
Speaker 1: really great people. So we're we're feeling really fortunate with
Speaker 1: where we are, with the people we have and the
Speaker 1: people that are drawn to to work at you Polly
Speaker 1: and apply and one of you part of what we're doing.
Speaker 1: Are you seeing any tightness in the labor market? And
Speaker 1: I'm curious if you anticipate needing even more workers, uh,
Speaker 1: and if that's going to potentially you know, if there's
Speaker 1: tightness in the workforce also lately to kind of higher
Speaker 1: wages here. Yeah, No, you know, we're not seeing um
Speaker 1: an issue with applicant flow. You know, we're continue to
Speaker 1: see great access to great talent um and you know,
Speaker 1: I think one of the things why people are really
Speaker 1: drawn to fully is we have a tremendous growth story.
Speaker 1: So it's all is fun to be a part of
Speaker 1: a company that when you think about I'm joining today
Speaker 1: and this company, could you know, triple in revenue over
Speaker 1: the next decade, you know, double store account, you know,
Speaker 1: go from twenty seven hundred restaurants to five six thousand restaurants. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, they're really excited about all the growth right
Speaker 1: our our thing about our digital business. We we went
Speaker 1: from you know, a couple hundred million dollars to this
Speaker 1: year will be about like two point four billion dollars
Speaker 1: worth of digital business, and people love to be a
Speaker 1: part of companies that have growth. And then what really
Speaker 1: attracts them here is they feel like it's very much
Speaker 1: aligned with their personal values. So they love the growth,
Speaker 1: they love the values, and they're excited to be a
Speaker 1: part of what our future is. And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I keep telling our team, let's just make sure we're
Speaker 1: hiring the best possible people, but let's also make sure
Speaker 1: we're hiring the best possible people that really believe in
Speaker 1: our purpose and our values. And that's where I think
Speaker 1: we really strike gold. Why do you think Chipotle has
Speaker 1: been so successful boosting sales and it's digital delivery and
Speaker 1: delivery business. You guys have just done really well. As
Speaker 1: you talked about some of the numbers and some of
Speaker 1: the growth, it's pretty impressive. Why do you think it's
Speaker 1: worked so well? You know, I think we have been
Speaker 1: very focused on keeping the digital execution really simple and
Speaker 1: mirroring the same experience you get when you come into
Speaker 1: our restaurants. So you know, we've tried very hard to
Speaker 1: give you a digital experience that frankly is almost identical
Speaker 1: too as if you were in our restaurant, moving down
Speaker 1: the line, picking out you know, how you want to
Speaker 1: make your bowl or burrito, and you know, we've stayed
Speaker 1: very committed to keeping it simple. You know, over and
Speaker 1: over again what I hear people say is, wow, I
Speaker 1: love your app. It's so easy to use, and then
Speaker 1: it's so easy to actually get the food when it's
Speaker 1: time to pick it up. So um, you know, just
Speaker 1: the aspect of keeping it very simple, really convenient. And
Speaker 1: then you know this has always been at the corruptible.
Speaker 1: They were really fast and we're tremendous values. So we've
Speaker 1: just given people another access mode to get great culinary,
Speaker 1: great ingredients, done exactly how they want it, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, at a tremendous value. So it's it's working
Speaker 1: out really well because if you want to order ahead,
Speaker 1: grab it and go. If you need it delivered, we
Speaker 1: can deliver it. If you want to run in, move
Speaker 1: down the line and have that eye to eye, you know, contact,
Speaker 1: so you can get the brito exactly the way you
Speaker 1: want it. Um, we have all these avenues available for you,
Speaker 1: and but at the core of it is great ingredients,
Speaker 1: great culinary and then you end up with just delicious burritos.
Speaker 1: And bowls. So you know, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: we are still a restaurant company that is committed to
Speaker 1: changing food culture. Hey, Bron, you know back in March
Speaker 1: you did say to me that you thought digital could
Speaker 1: be about of your business and be a multibillion dollar
Speaker 1: business over the next three to five years. That still
Speaker 1: feel about real and likely or even more perhaps Well well, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, and you know, unfortunately Carol, that was before
Speaker 1: it became eight percent of our business um for a time.
Speaker 1: But you know you probably saw on our most recent
Speaker 1: earnings report we're in the at forty range and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously that will continue to fluctuate as the
Speaker 1: dining rooms reopen. But I definitely think our digital business
Speaker 1: is going to stay around as our dining room business
Speaker 1: comes back, so it'll stay among that level you think.
Speaker 1: I think there's a real possibility that's where it could stick. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so listen. One thing I got to ask you, Brian
Speaker 1: is and I know, um all the CEO as we
Speaker 1: talked to, they don't have a ton of visibility at
Speaker 1: this point. So, UM, I do wonder what metrics do
Speaker 1: you look at? Is it considered data points? Is it
Speaker 1: you know, the app the digital what are you looking
Speaker 1: at to get an idea of how healthy the consumer
Speaker 1: is UM and maybe what the rest of looks like
Speaker 1: at this point. Yeah, you're exactly right, Carol, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of uncertainty. I'm sure if you talk to a
Speaker 1: lot of my peers that we could rattle off the
Speaker 1: list of all the uncertainties in front of us. What
Speaker 1: we've decided to really stay focused on is, Okay, what
Speaker 1: can what are the things we can control? And the
Speaker 1: things we can control is making sure that we have
Speaker 1: a really safe environment for employees to work in, a
Speaker 1: safe environment that our customers believe in and trust. UM.
Speaker 1: We know if we do those two things, uh, we
Speaker 1: continue to get people's trust and then ultimately their business
Speaker 1: around their meal occasions. And so we continue to really
Speaker 1: monitor how we as a brand are doing on the
Speaker 1: things that we can control. You know, are we doing
Speaker 1: a good job of communicating the safety. Are we're doing
Speaker 1: a good job of communicating why you can feel great
Speaker 1: about these ingredients, Why you can feel great about getting
Speaker 1: that burdover bowl from Chipotle? UM? And then obviously we're
Speaker 1: paying attention to a lot of the macros to understand
Speaker 1: the health of the consumer um and you know, obviously,
Speaker 1: depending on where you are in the country, we're seeing
Speaker 1: a lot of different things. But you know, for the
Speaker 1: most part, customers and consumers are still wanting to order
Speaker 1: food out, whether um that's from you know, uh, their
Speaker 1: local restaurant or somebody like a Chipotle. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: we're definitely seeing them fatigue a little bit on going
Speaker 1: to the grocery store, moating up and cooking all the time.
Speaker 1: That was Chipotle CEO Brian Nicol. And that wraps up
Speaker 1: the first hour of our special holiday weekend edition of
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Carol Masser. More
Speaker 1: in our next hour, including the president of the Rockefeller
Speaker 1: Foundation on forging a resilient economy, plus another industry that's
Speaker 1: been hit hard by the pandemic. We're talking about cruise lines.
Speaker 1: Carnival Corporation CEO on navigating the financial waves of lockdowns.
Speaker 1: Also a deep dive into the importance of mental well being.
Speaker 1: We'll hear from the CEO of Verizon Business and actress
Speaker 1: Elissa Milano opening up that her struggles with anxiety. This
Speaker 1: is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser.
Speaker 1: From Bloomberg Radio. Hi, I'm Carol Masser. Plenty ahead in
Speaker 1: this hour of our special holiday weekend edition of Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business Week. Some of the highlights from our many conversations
Speaker 1: in including Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald on a very
Speaker 1: difficult time for his company. Also a topic we continue
Speaker 1: to talk about, and that is the importance of mental
Speaker 1: well being during the crisis. We catch up on that
Speaker 1: with the CEO of Verizon Business and actress Elissa Milano
Speaker 1: on her struggles with anxiety and ways to reverse stigma
Speaker 1: around mental health. We begin this hour with Dr Rajiv Shah,
Speaker 1: president of the Rockefeller Foundation, on forging a resilient economy.
Speaker 1: He talked with us at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit
Speaker 1: on how to work on several big problems at once.
Speaker 1: We're talking about the pandemic and climate change. It's a
Speaker 1: tall order, and less to say, he and his team
Speaker 1: were busier than ever. This year has been like no other.
Speaker 1: The Rockfeller Foundation has been around for a hundred and
Speaker 1: seven years and played a role in the pandemic of
Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen. So maybe I can't say like no other ever,
Speaker 1: but certainly in recent times. This has been an extraordinarily
Speaker 1: tragic year. And it's tragic because basically, this crisis UH
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen, which is fundamentally a public health crisis, has
Speaker 1: exposed and exacerbated the deep inequities in the society in
Speaker 1: the United States and frankly around the world. I mean,
Speaker 1: we've seen that over and over and over again. Minority
Speaker 1: communities in the US and around the world are hit
Speaker 1: so much harder by COVID in terms of morbidity, mortality,
Speaker 1: death rates, and the like. And we know that economically,
Speaker 1: the consequences for those at the very top have been
Speaker 1: you know, manageable. In fact, America's billionaires have probably gained
Speaker 1: almost a trillion dollars of wealth in the digital acceleration
Speaker 1: that has been unlocked through this period of time. But
Speaker 1: most Americans and working families are just getting crushed with
Speaker 1: twenty million unemployment claims on a regular basis, and and
Speaker 1: with the fact that you know, I don't know six
Speaker 1: of American households more than half went into this crisis before.
Speaker 1: Are they anyone ever tested positive without the ability to
Speaker 1: muster four dollars to deal with an emergency? And this
Speaker 1: has been a critical emergency that has exposed how extraordinarily
Speaker 1: unstable our society is when it becomes so inequitable. So
Speaker 1: how do we because what I'm finding is we're all
Speaker 1: talking about Okay, we know the inequities that are out there,
Speaker 1: they've been there for a long time, but they've been
Speaker 1: really pronounced uh here. So how do we make sure
Speaker 1: that when we look back five years from now, ten
Speaker 1: years from now, we make sure that we have set
Speaker 1: the course to put us, the world, and its citizens
Speaker 1: on a better course that we don't look back and
Speaker 1: say we missed an opportunity to help the climate, to
Speaker 1: help individuals, to make the world more prosperous. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: the good news is there's so many times in our
Speaker 1: history where we have said we're going to reimagine a
Speaker 1: different future and work to make that happen, And we
Speaker 1: absolutely have to do that right now. We cannot recover
Speaker 1: to the status quo or recover to what happened before
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen hit our country and our planet. The reality
Speaker 1: is that was just too fragile and too inequitable of
Speaker 1: a society on a freight train towards disastrous climate change outcomes.
Speaker 1: So we we've been asking ourselves, how can you reimagine
Speaker 1: the future. We can actually imagine a future where two
Speaker 1: to three billion people who are fundamentally left behind by
Speaker 1: globalization are brought into a global economy based on big
Speaker 1: investments in renewable electrification and inclusive growth in country after country,
Speaker 1: in wealthy nations. We're making those kinds of investments right now.
Speaker 1: We have to do it smartly, otherwise we're going to
Speaker 1: waste this once in a lifetime opportunity to put twenty
Speaker 1: to thirty of GDP back into the economy in the
Speaker 1: form of economic stimulus. But the opportunity is there to
Speaker 1: re envision the future and and build back to a
Speaker 1: condition that's both more inclusive and fundamentally more sustainable. Well,
Speaker 1: and you know, talk to us about some of the
Speaker 1: work that you guys are doing, because you, from what
Speaker 1: I understand, you are making specifically a commitment when it
Speaker 1: comes to fossil fuels. Yeah, well, we you know, I
Speaker 1: know many of the participants in this conference are investors
Speaker 1: and uh and business leaders, and we, like other partners
Speaker 1: within the Rockefeller ecosystem, are making a commitment to effectively
Speaker 1: remove our investments in fossil fuels and over time, we
Speaker 1: manage an endowment about four and a half billion dollars.
Speaker 1: Over time, we've brought down our fossil fuel exposure to
Speaker 1: something very very small, and we will divest of indirect
Speaker 1: of direct investments in in fossil fuels because it's not
Speaker 1: consistent with the future we imagine in the future. We're
Speaker 1: working so hard to achieve on behalf of a sustainable planet.
Speaker 1: In doing so, we actually are following the footsteps of
Speaker 1: our system organization, the Rockfeller Brothers Fund, and so many
Speaker 1: other courageous members of the Rockefeller family that have come
Speaker 1: out publicly as as heirs of the traditional standard oil
Speaker 1: fortune um and made the point that society needs to
Speaker 1: rethink growth, capitalism, and sustainability for the future. So we're
Speaker 1: proud to follow in those footsteps. You know, it's interesting
Speaker 1: we talked so much up Bloomberg about you know, you
Speaker 1: can really make a difference by what you do with
Speaker 1: your money, how you spend it as an individual, as
Speaker 1: a corporation, the supply chaine you work with as an investor,
Speaker 1: what you invest in. We know e s G has
Speaker 1: really taken off this year specifically, so talk to me
Speaker 1: too about the role of investors in kind of this
Speaker 1: plan that you envision, uh, this mission that you are
Speaker 1: setting out that where we can look at the pandemic,
Speaker 1: look at the climate, look at the energy poverty that
Speaker 1: the world a big bulk of our world is dealing with.
Speaker 1: How we can make it better, improve those three pillars.
Speaker 1: But what's the role of investors in all of this?
Speaker 1: What's the role of leaders in all of this? Well,
Speaker 1: leadership is where this all starts, and investors just have
Speaker 1: to be more have to own the leadership mantle much
Speaker 1: more significantly. There's one thing we've seen is you simply
Speaker 1: cannot count on public sector leadership from government to solve
Speaker 1: all of our problems. And so you know, I would
Speaker 1: encourage all the investors here to just make the simple
Speaker 1: pledge that you'll look at your portfolio and demand um
Speaker 1: and demand that you're proud of everything you're investing in
Speaker 1: from the perspective of its overall impact on society. That's
Speaker 1: ultimately what E s G investing is all about, and
Speaker 1: showed us so much can be accomplished when we focus
Speaker 1: collectively on solving some of the world's biggest issues. That
Speaker 1: was Dr rajiv Shaw, president of the Rockefeller Foundation. You're
Speaker 1: listening to Bloomberg Business Week coming up, lots of struggles
Speaker 1: for cruise lines in how Carnival has stayed afloat amid
Speaker 1: the new world Order. This is Bloomberg. This is blue
Speaker 1: Burg Business Week with Carol Messier from Bloomberg Radio. Safe
Speaker 1: to say, one of the hardest hit industries by the
Speaker 1: coronavirus is the cruise industry. Carnival, the world's largest cruise group,
Speaker 1: raised billions in the debt market, also sold assets. Now
Speaker 1: here's my conversation from late summer with Arnold Donald, Carnival
Speaker 1: Corporation President and CEO, from the company's headquarters in Miami,
Speaker 1: where we began with talking about juggling many key stakeholders
Speaker 1: all at once. Our primary responsibilities and therefore our top
Speaker 1: priority is always compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety
Speaker 1: and well being of our guests, of the people in
Speaker 1: the place as we go, and of course our Carnival family,
Speaker 1: our shipboard and short side personnel. So you know, the
Speaker 1: interests of public health is always in the forefront for us.
Speaker 1: And how do we get people back on ships when
Speaker 1: there's some social gathering and society has developed the compensating
Speaker 1: measures that is comfortable with that we have effectively mitigated
Speaker 1: the spread of COVID nineteen and then we'll be able
Speaker 1: to cruise again. And there are a lot of people,
Speaker 1: as you know, Carrol, who are ready to cruise right now.
Speaker 1: And in fact we're looking at starting up in Europe
Speaker 1: where the spread has been mitigated substantially, in places like
Speaker 1: Germany and Italy, and we're looking at starting up in
Speaker 1: September there and a few um cruise lines have but
Speaker 1: there's a lot of pin up demand, you know, for
Speaker 1: travel in general, and especially for cruise. Well, and when
Speaker 1: I wonder, Arnold, though, can you kind of drill down
Speaker 1: a little bit what are some of the specific protocols
Speaker 1: that you might put in place to get ships safely
Speaker 1: back at sea. I've been reading, you know, about different
Speaker 1: folks and what they might be considering different cruise lines.
Speaker 1: They're talking about no buffets, constant um temperature checks, constant testing,
Speaker 1: maybe no excursions. What specific protocols will you be putting
Speaker 1: in place? Well, again, as you well know, we we
Speaker 1: have a lot of measures in place already on cruise
Speaker 1: that often short side destinations don't already have, but didn't
Speaker 1: have prior to COVID nineteen. We do medical screens, were
Speaker 1: already doing temperature checks in many cases. UM, we had
Speaker 1: hand sanitized us throughout the ship and signs all over
Speaker 1: about washing your hands because we've had to deal with
Speaker 1: viruses and the over seven hundred parts and destinations we
Speaker 1: go to annually for many years now. Of course, CORVID
Speaker 1: nineteen is especially unique because the whole world is shut down,
Speaker 1: and because of that, there's still a lot of learning
Speaker 1: around COVID nineteen. As you know from all the scientists,
Speaker 1: there's still a lining around epidemiology. They're lying around testing,
Speaker 1: they're lying around the role of testing. The one thing
Speaker 1: everybody right now is aligned on, though, is that you know,
Speaker 1: good personal care in terms of wearing a mask, washing
Speaker 1: your hands. I'm using hand sanitizers, you know, physical distancing
Speaker 1: at appropriate times, but wearing a mask is a great
Speaker 1: way to mitigate the spread. So for the time being,
Speaker 1: any cruises that will happen will certainly incorporate some physical
Speaker 1: distancing and you know, wearing masks. And of course what
Speaker 1: we already had was the the hand sanitizers ECCERAA. Beyond that, UM,
Speaker 1: there's a plethora of possibilities, but it depends on the
Speaker 1: destination depends on the level of community spread in that destination, etcetera.
Speaker 1: So there could be various testing protocols. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: a possibility for the US. It's premature. You know, we're
Speaker 1: not ready to sail here yet. Obviously the community spread
Speaker 1: is still pretty vibrant here in the US, and when
Speaker 1: when out of position to sail here, And we're walking
Speaker 1: cautiously in the other places too, because our primary interests
Speaker 1: is to stand what everyone else in mitigating the spread
Speaker 1: of COVID nineteen. But I did read your your Custer
Speaker 1: Cruise is safety protocols and you talked about three tests
Speaker 1: for crew members before boarding. UM you also talked about,
Speaker 1: of course social distancing, new filters. UM entertainment will have
Speaker 1: more shows on during the day so that they're smaller groups.
Speaker 1: And then also no self service restaurants, so no buffets,
Speaker 1: which for many of you go on a cruise, they're
Speaker 1: pretty used to it. So there are some changes coming. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely for the ones that are going to sail now,
Speaker 1: we have to be ready. Just like hotels today, any
Speaker 1: hotel that's open the day has to deal with the
Speaker 1: current situation and the limited knowledge there is. And so
Speaker 1: for Costa. We are deploying a number of testing protocols.
Speaker 1: Obviously for our crew, we have not only testing but
Speaker 1: quarantine except because it's really important for us to have
Speaker 1: the clue crew UM, you know, safe from the beginning,
Speaker 1: and then to keep them safe. And obviously UM, once
Speaker 1: we get guests on board, we'll have protocols on board
Speaker 1: for them. I do wonder how you do it safely.
Speaker 1: I mean, Arnold, you know this industry better than everyone,
Speaker 1: uh and better than most in terms of lay personnel.
Speaker 1: But I wonder how you do it safely because there
Speaker 1: have been some smaller cruise operations that have come out
Speaker 1: of Europe, come out of Alaska, Tahiti, UM, and I
Speaker 1: believe there are less at least ten crew members aboard
Speaker 1: UM your I eat a cruise ships out of Germany
Speaker 1: that contacted the virus ahead of you getting ready to
Speaker 1: kind of get back to the seas um that was
Speaker 1: in August. So I just wonder how do you do
Speaker 1: this safely when even when some small cruise operations are
Speaker 1: starting to go back out on the water and still
Speaker 1: having problems with the virus, and people are contacting the virus. Carol,
Speaker 1: think those two stages one as you want to reduce
Speaker 1: the risk of having um the COVID nineteen come on
Speaker 1: board from shore. So that's the first thing. So you
Speaker 1: test UM, and you monitor, and you quarantine in the
Speaker 1: case of the crew, So the ones you mentioned on Naida,
Speaker 1: you know, those crew members were tested before they left
Speaker 1: their home country, and then they were tested again once
Speaker 1: they arrived in Germany and we got some positives. They
Speaker 1: were then retested again and a couple of in several
Speaker 1: of those cases, the individuals got a double negative test
Speaker 1: after that, which meant they had a false positive, and
Speaker 1: then the others were obviously isolated in quarantine, and so
Speaker 1: the risk of them spreading it on board with zero,
Speaker 1: because we wouldn't have them sail. Okay. Now, once you're
Speaker 1: at that level, the next question is what else are
Speaker 1: you're doing to mitigate spread? And that's why all the
Speaker 1: other practices on board. Any event you do get someone
Speaker 1: on board who has COVID nineteen, if it's in society, UM,
Speaker 1: if it's out there in general, chances are you eventually
Speaker 1: will have someone on board the ship that will have it.
Speaker 1: And so the trick then, of course, is to make
Speaker 1: certain that you are able to quickly identify that you
Speaker 1: can isolate the person and that during the time they
Speaker 1: were exposed there was plenty of mitigation of risk protocols
Speaker 1: in place, so the probability of spread has been greatly reduced.
Speaker 1: And that's where you know, wearing masks, physical distancing, washing
Speaker 1: your hands, um using a hand stand, the size, et cetera,
Speaker 1: all come into play. They do also wonder, you know,
Speaker 1: what are your plans for passengers and crew members who
Speaker 1: do get sick in the future. You know, you know
Speaker 1: the horror stories of ships that were you know, basically
Speaker 1: lost at sea they couldn't find a homeport. You I
Speaker 1: know and your team have spent you know, a long
Speaker 1: time repay trading, you know, your crew members back home.
Speaker 1: So what do you do? Will there be a way
Speaker 1: to airlift passengers off ships? What will you do? We
Speaker 1: had to repay trade over eighty thousand crew members and
Speaker 1: it took us quite a while with borders closed and
Speaker 1: airlines shut down, et cetera. So it took us several
Speaker 1: months to effectively do that, but we were eventually able
Speaker 1: to do it. In regards to now, you know that
Speaker 1: was before now there's enough understanding we and not go
Speaker 1: to a destination where we did not have a plan
Speaker 1: already any event that there was COVID on board. We're
Speaker 1: not going to tie up thousands of people off of
Speaker 1: one positive COVID case or a couple of positive COVID cases.
Speaker 1: You know, we would have the protocols in place to
Speaker 1: ensure one that the individual is taken care of whoever
Speaker 1: has it, that we can get them the care they
Speaker 1: need um and then number two that everyone else uh
Speaker 1: is on effect. That you know, we would have some
Speaker 1: form of contact tracing on our boards, so we know
Speaker 1: who we're the most exposed people. But we have to
Speaker 1: have those protocols for each destination. We go to seven
Speaker 1: hundred ports and destinations around the world, so they're all
Speaker 1: not going to have these zact same protocols. Putting in
Speaker 1: place new measures just one part of that puzzle. That's
Speaker 1: Carnival CEO Arnold Donald speaking with me before the rollout
Speaker 1: of vaccines. You can catch that full conversation on our
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week podcast feed coming up for Rising Business
Speaker 1: CEO Tammy Irwin of reducing the mental toll of the
Speaker 1: pandemic on her employees. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business Week. With Garrol Massier from Bloomberg Radio. This week
Speaker 1: especial holiday weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week highlighting some
Speaker 1: of our favorite conversations from some of the standouts with
Speaker 1: big thinkers, and that included one that talked about one
Speaker 1: of the big issues of the pandemic, which as we know,
Speaker 1: took of course a physical toll on many people, but
Speaker 1: also a mental one. And I spoke with Rising Business
Speaker 1: CEO Tammy Irwin at the Bloomberg Breakaway CEO Summit about this.
Speaker 1: Her team, though, started dealing with the impacts of the
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen crisis in early January. I think about where
Speaker 1: we are, almost a year into this crisis. What started
Speaker 1: as a I think a physical health crisis, I think
Speaker 1: is increasingly becoming a mental health crisis for all of
Speaker 1: us as we think about kind of the duration of
Speaker 1: the COVID crisis and the uncertainty of how long it
Speaker 1: continues for um. I think about when it first started
Speaker 1: in the first half of the year. I think we
Speaker 1: all thought, if we just get to summer, it will
Speaker 1: be over. And then I think we thought, we can
Speaker 1: get through summer and we can get to school, to school,
Speaker 1: your kids will go back to school and now we're like, whoa,
Speaker 1: what when does it end? And we've had to really
Speaker 1: focus our efforts on how do we create a sense
Speaker 1: of hope, how do we acknowledge the anxiety and stress
Speaker 1: that people are feeling, and then how do we try
Speaker 1: to build an environment that allows our employees to do
Speaker 1: what they do so well, which is great resiliency. And
Speaker 1: I'd be clear on what successful looks like so that
Speaker 1: they can lean in and feel confident that what they're
Speaker 1: doing is making a difference in defining the purpose of
Speaker 1: what they do every day. So, Terry, how do you
Speaker 1: do that? Okay? So mental wellness? I know when you
Speaker 1: and I talked last week, we live in a society
Speaker 1: as evolved as we are that it's still uncomfortable for
Speaker 1: a lot of people to say. It's easy for me
Speaker 1: to say I've got to go to the doctor, I've
Speaker 1: got something physically wrong, But when there's something in my
Speaker 1: head that's not quite right, it's hard for us to admit.
Speaker 1: As a society, how do you do especially when we
Speaker 1: can't even talk face to face, We've got to do
Speaker 1: it virtually. So do you keep tabs on your teams
Speaker 1: that some of the individuals are maybe having a tough time. Yeah, listen,
Speaker 1: I think it takes a series of things to really
Speaker 1: open up that dialogue and conversation. You're right, it's not
Speaker 1: a conversation we want to have an open We tend
Speaker 1: to whisper like, oh, I think somebody is having a
Speaker 1: hard time. I think historically that's how we've dealt with it.
Speaker 1: And I think that what we're seeing is that we
Speaker 1: really have to put mental illness, stress, anxiety, suicide, addiction,
Speaker 1: all of those things into the middle of the table
Speaker 1: and realize that they impact and affect everybody. And the
Speaker 1: way that we collectively show up in behalf of how
Speaker 1: we lift each other up and acknowledge and recognize the stress,
Speaker 1: care for it, help people get the resources that they
Speaker 1: need to be successful has been really important. We've actually
Speaker 1: in our series of communication that we call up to Speed,
Speaker 1: which is how we communicate broadly to our employees around
Speaker 1: the world, and we open it up quite frankly, uh
Speaker 1: to one who wants to participate. But we've done a
Speaker 1: lot of highlighting of some of the challenges around mental health,
Speaker 1: around suicide, around domestic violence, around child abuse, around addiction
Speaker 1: to really say these are real, and they're happening in
Speaker 1: increasing odds because of what we've all been through in
Speaker 1: the last year. And here are the resources that are
Speaker 1: available to you and to your family into the community
Speaker 1: in which we live. And I think that's so important
Speaker 1: that we put a spotlight on it and make it
Speaker 1: okay to talk about. So you know too, though, Like
Speaker 1: I work for a great company too, and there's tons
Speaker 1: of resources. And there's one thing about knowing that there's
Speaker 1: an array of resources is another thing of making sure
Speaker 1: people kind of reach out and and tap into it.
Speaker 1: So I'm curious whether it's through your line managers, how
Speaker 1: are you making where somebody says you seem like you're
Speaker 1: having a tough time, I want you to, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of either push them and help them in terms
Speaker 1: of finding what they need. How do you make sure
Speaker 1: basically that people who are having a tough time like
Speaker 1: tap into the array of resources that you guys are
Speaker 1: offering up. Yeah, I think that's a very fair question
Speaker 1: of how do you really make sure it's doing And
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know that you always know
Speaker 1: that it's happening, But I can tell you that some
Speaker 1: of the framework that we've created has said, we've done
Speaker 1: a quarterly pulse service. So we've asked our employees directly,
Speaker 1: how are you feeling, what more do you need from
Speaker 1: us as an employer to really deal with the crisis
Speaker 1: that you're in. We've asked managers to then go through
Speaker 1: that feedback and work an action plan with their team
Speaker 1: more broadly and with people individually. We've also used our
Speaker 1: performance management cycler quarterly Cycle of Performance Manage to really
Speaker 1: touch in with employees and say, how are you feeling
Speaker 1: about your work environment? Thank you for inviting us into
Speaker 1: your home UH to work over the last six months,
Speaker 1: because that's really what employees have done. We've found ways
Speaker 1: to celebrate the kids, the cats, and the dogs that
Speaker 1: are in the background of the zoom calls that we're
Speaker 1: all in. We've tried to ask parents to take some
Speaker 1: time to help educate their kids when they get up
Speaker 1: and get started in the morning. UH. And so we've
Speaker 1: really worked to try to create that one to one relationship,
Speaker 1: the team relationship, and then a broader framework of the
Speaker 1: tools that are available. You only know that if you
Speaker 1: ask the question, and we've created a dialogue of uncomfortable
Speaker 1: conversations for the purpose of getting comfortable that our employers
Speaker 1: have what they need to really feel successful. Checking with
Speaker 1: colleagues and team members so important, so key during this time.
Speaker 1: That was Verising Business CEO Tammy Irwin. You're listening to
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week. Still to come. We're gonna stay in
Speaker 1: the importance of maintaining mental wellness. We're gonna catch up
Speaker 1: with actress Alissa Milano who shares her own path to
Speaker 1: mental well being. That conversation still to come. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massier from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: Our next guest is definitely someone you know. She has
Speaker 1: lived a lot of her life in the public eye.
Speaker 1: We're talking about actress Alissa Milano, No stranger by the
Speaker 1: way to mental dresses, something she has also publicly talked about.
Speaker 1: We caught up with her about that. We also talked
Speaker 1: with her about getting COVID early on in the pandemic.
Speaker 1: She began our conversation describing the long term impact that
Speaker 1: the virus has had on her. It's interesting, um vascialates.
Speaker 1: Some days I feel back to normal, and other days
Speaker 1: it's like I have a recurrence of the acute symptoms.
Speaker 1: I was sick with the acute illness for five weeks
Speaker 1: in in March and April, UM, and I've just I
Speaker 1: have not felt that to that to normal since then. Uh,
Speaker 1: some days I feel okay, but really it's just this
Speaker 1: like this, this incredible um exhaustion. It feels like I
Speaker 1: have no motivation to physically move my body. And I
Speaker 1: don't know if that is some sort of mental protection
Speaker 1: or if it's my body trying to regenerate or or
Speaker 1: what is happening. But I have shortness of breath, hard palpitations,
Speaker 1: my hair is still falling out, and I have this
Speaker 1: the worst part, I have this ringing in my ears
Speaker 1: that is driving me bonkers. So um, yeah, it's it
Speaker 1: has not been great. And it's interesting because of of
Speaker 1: all my friends have quite a few friends that that
Speaker 1: we're sick. There's maybe one out of twelve that feels
Speaker 1: completely back to normal. The rest are just having these
Speaker 1: these long hauler symptoms and um. So you know, we
Speaker 1: find great comfort in each other knowing that that there
Speaker 1: are other people out there going through the same thing
Speaker 1: um um. And that makes a really big difference. And
Speaker 1: I think that that makes a big difference in our
Speaker 1: mental health and in general, just to know that there
Speaker 1: are other people, UM, you know that go through similar
Speaker 1: things that then that we do well. This is why
Speaker 1: we're so grateful that you're talking with us and talking
Speaker 1: about your own mental illness and talking about anxiety. And
Speaker 1: I want to take a few steps back because from
Speaker 1: what I understand just doing a little bit of research
Speaker 1: and watching some different things and some interviews you've done,
Speaker 1: you've dealt with anxiety for a long time. Is that fair? Oh? Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: but I don't know that I had labeled it as anxiety.
Speaker 1: But my earliest my earliest recollection and and everybody experiences
Speaker 1: anxiety differently. For me, I get very UM, I get
Speaker 1: in a crisis mode that is very hard for me
Speaker 1: to break the pattern UM. And basically it gets to
Speaker 1: the point that my brain just thinks that's the way
Speaker 1: it's supposed to be functioning and fight flighter freeze UM.
Speaker 1: And I should also say, is when when when we
Speaker 1: were talking about UM issues that affect brain, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: we really prefer to talk about mental health, not mental illness.
Speaker 1: I think once we start calling it mental illness, UM,
Speaker 1: that's when the stigma UM comes with that. And and
Speaker 1: also to try to sort of be conscious of of
Speaker 1: the phrases that we use UM as far as like
Speaker 1: I actually just did it, and I caught myself, you
Speaker 1: know that the rings in my ears was driving me bonkers.
Speaker 1: Like all of those things, all of those natural UM
Speaker 1: ways of describing things in the past, we sort of
Speaker 1: have to break out of, I think, in order to
Speaker 1: in order to break the stigma. But my earliest recollection
Speaker 1: of being in crisis mode was UM. I lived in
Speaker 1: South Africa for three months in two thousand and it was,
Speaker 1: you know, only nine years after apartheid was abolished, and
Speaker 1: I volunteered in a township and a children's hospital, and
Speaker 1: I was very strong while I was there. When I
Speaker 1: came home and had to assimilate like that part of
Speaker 1: me UM that volunteered and and dedicated my time to
Speaker 1: helping other people, and trying to to assimilate that with
Speaker 1: the person that lived in Beverly Hills and drove a
Speaker 1: BMW UM, I had a very hard time getting back
Speaker 1: and getting acclimated and UM and I went through about
Speaker 1: and at this time I didn't I didn't know, but
Speaker 1: I would say four or five months of complete and
Speaker 1: total panic anxiety UM and for me I have generalized
Speaker 1: anxiety disordered that also and I also get panic attacks.
Speaker 1: So what that basically means is my base level of
Speaker 1: anxiety is almost in a panic attack mode, and then
Speaker 1: panic attacks are sort of on top of that. Um
Speaker 1: so yeah, So I remember, like I went to my
Speaker 1: general practitioner and I wasn't even in therapy, which, by
Speaker 1: the way, there was anyone that needed to be in therapy.
Speaker 1: It's it was a child after that that that survived, right, Um,
Speaker 1: but was there anybody? Was there anybody around you? Was
Speaker 1: there anybody around you saying, you know, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: a lista, this isn't right. You know, you shouldn't feel
Speaker 1: this way chronically, and that would step in. I mean
Speaker 1: my mom was, well, I have a lot of the
Speaker 1: same characteric characteristics as my mother. She um, she suffers
Speaker 1: from anxiety. She also has dyslexia. UM, I have dyslexia
Speaker 1: as well. So she was, yes, she was encouraging me
Speaker 1: to go. But I went to my general practitioner and
Speaker 1: they put me on a you know, a very generic
Speaker 1: antidepressant which made me, you know, gain fifteen pounds, and
Speaker 1: and that was like a whole other issue. And plus
Speaker 1: I was working week I was working on charm and
Speaker 1: so it was very hard to take that sort of
Speaker 1: break and sort and self care. I want to bring
Speaker 1: you forward a little bit because, from what I understand,
Speaker 1: it really became, I guess, very debilitating. After the birth
Speaker 1: of your son, Milo, tell us a little bit about
Speaker 1: what happened. Right you came home and and I know
Speaker 1: there were some complications or some stress just before he
Speaker 1: was delivered. Tell us what happened. So. Um, So I
Speaker 1: was in labor for eighteen hours. I pushed for three
Speaker 1: and a half hours, and um, he came to us
Speaker 1: vias um c section. Um. The birth itself was in
Speaker 1: the labor itself was very traumatic. UM. Not to get
Speaker 1: too graphic, but when a woman says she pushes for
Speaker 1: three hours, it is with the help of of nurses
Speaker 1: who are basically trying to manipulate the baby while it's
Speaker 1: still inside of your body to get the baby out.
Speaker 1: So for me, it felt incredibly invasive, um and traumatic.
Speaker 1: And I think that it triggered my sexual assault trauma
Speaker 1: because I was sitting there and I was thinking, why
Speaker 1: is this feel like such a violation, Why is this
Speaker 1: does not and I don't think women talk about this
Speaker 1: UM at all, and you're not in control, and it's
Speaker 1: it's right, you're not in control. It's it's a very
Speaker 1: tough situation, very heated, and there's lots of people coming
Speaker 1: in the room and plugging things in and like you know,
Speaker 1: I used to my mom used to joke like if
Speaker 1: they had a car in there, they'd be back in
Speaker 1: that end just to like so so that I think
Speaker 1: is what triggered my postpartum anxiety. And then I had, UM,
Speaker 1: I felt better, my milk came in, I felt better.
Speaker 1: I had this beautiful, little delicious baby, and UM, and
Speaker 1: it was it was when he weaned. He weaned himself
Speaker 1: very suddenly without any like going down. My hormones were
Speaker 1: out of control, and UM, that's when my anxiety started
Speaker 1: to come back again. Was when my hormone level dripped
Speaker 1: dipped after he weaned, which was at ten months. So
Speaker 1: then I had experience where I gohead, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, you eventually found yourself in the
Speaker 1: e R room right at you know, in the wee
Speaker 1: hours of the morning. Yes, But before that, a part
Speaker 1: of this story that I think is almost the most
Speaker 1: important is I went into my O B G Y
Speaker 1: N um when this first started happening, and she looked
Speaker 1: at me and with a straight face, she said to me, well,
Speaker 1: it's a big life change. Go for a hike, try
Speaker 1: to find some self care time. And by the way,
Speaker 1: she said to me, you're thirty eight years old, so
Speaker 1: if you want to have another baby, we should probably
Speaker 1: start thinking about that. And I remember so clearly, just
Speaker 1: being in tears, and I looked at her and I said,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure I want the baby that I have
Speaker 1: right now, and you're talking to me about another baby.
Speaker 1: So I felt completely like the the the health care
Speaker 1: that I was getting was totally not where it should
Speaker 1: have been. So I would just go to the emergency room.
Speaker 1: I would go to the emergency room every time I
Speaker 1: felt like I couldn't deal well. And one of the
Speaker 1: times that you went, you actually had yourself committed right
Speaker 1: for three days, I did. I did I? Why did
Speaker 1: you do that? Why did you do that? Why did
Speaker 1: you know you needed to do that? So at the time,
Speaker 1: I was working on Mistresses, which was a show on ABC,
Speaker 1: and I was still functional and I was still able
Speaker 1: to learn my lines and show up for work. And
Speaker 1: the thing about mental health and when you're struggling with
Speaker 1: mental health uh issues is you can't see it right.
Speaker 1: Someone looks completely together and healthy. And so I knew
Speaker 1: that the only way that I was going to get
Speaker 1: adequate care, that the production would understand that I needed
Speaker 1: to take time off only if and I think women
Speaker 1: feel this in every industry, if um, they could see
Speaker 1: the severity. And I didn't think that there is a
Speaker 1: way for them to see the severity without going into
Speaker 1: a facility for for three days. And I have to
Speaker 1: tell you that experienced really saved my life. That's something
Speaker 1: she's working to change how society responds to mental challenges
Speaker 1: and reversing some of the stigma associated with it. That
Speaker 1: was active producer Uniseef, National Ambassador New York Times bestselling
Speaker 1: author A Lissim a lot not at the Bloomberg Equality Summit.
Speaker 1: And that wraps up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business
Speaker 1: Week from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: I'm Carol Masser. Be sure to tune into our daily
Speaker 1: radio show Monday through Friday starting at two pm Wall
Speaker 1: Street Time. Be sure also to check out our Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business Week podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and that's
Speaker 1: where you'll find our Bloomberg Business Week extra. This week,
Speaker 1: it's with Josh Jacob's, co founder and CEO of Speakeasy Company.
Speaker 1: It's a digital business for those looking to sell alcohol
Speaker 1: and merchandise online. And don't forget we're also on YouTube.
Speaker 1: Just search Bloomberg Global News. This is Bloomberg