By Lucille Chi •
October 29, 2008
This past spring we featured an exclusive interview with Nau, only to discover a week later, to our surprise and theirs, that they would be going out of business… Luckily now, with the backing of Horny Toad, Nau has completely revived its business as unusual! Climbing into fall with functional and fashionable styles, Nau continues to be an inspiration. Their admirable redesigned site highlights the library of collective stories about sustainability, “thought kitchen” blog, “grey matters” and Partners for Change initiatives.
By Lucille Chi •
April 25, 2008
Nau is an outerwear company created by a team of individuals committed to the power of business as a force for change. Intrigued by the brand I recently intervied Andrew Wilkins the talented Brand Communications Specialist for the organization.
Your site is a provocative blend of visionary activism, story-telling, and creative organic outerwear designs. In addition on your about page I noticed how humble your organization is.
1. What are some cool ways your collective (staff, writers, designers, engineers, biz folk) communicates? Do you have any neat team building tips to share?
Rule #1: Team building = lots of trust falls. No, just kidding. I wouldn’t say we do anything particularly outrageous in this arena. We have a pretty typical ‘information age’ headquarters with an open floor plan—not even the CEO has his own office. Right now, the company is still quite small, so there is lots of opportunity for cross-communication between departments when we’re, say, waiting to use the microwave in the kitchen/overflow conference room. It’s a very entrepreneurial atmosphere. Anyone can feel comfortable bringing up an idea to any other person in the company.
2. Tell us more about the Collective. I see there is a place to submit a story and I’m tempted. I saw this educational film about H2O and the mini documentary “Sliding Liberia” was a truly moving story. Would you elaborate on this project and how to participate? Where you forecast this project going in the next five to ten years?
