When values are tested: How LAZ Parking put conscious leadership into practice during COVID-19.

Incorporating conscious practices is easy when the market is stable. The true test of your organization’s values comes when tides change for the worse.

LAZ Parking offers a clear example of what this looks like in practice. Guided by the “LAZ Way,” the company has built its business around a simple but demanding principle: how you operate matters as much as what you deliver.

That philosophy was put to the test during COVID-19. LAZ’s business dropped by 95% almost overnight, and for the first time in the company’s history, the company had to furlough 7,800 employees.

In moments like this, most organizations revert to survival mode, prioritizing cost-cutting over culture.

LAZ instead chose to act in alignment with conscious philosophy. Senior leaders gave up their salaries, a $1 million employee relief fund was established, and leadership advocated for external support for workers. At the same time, the company adapted quickly, converting parking facilities into COVID-19 testing centres to keep people employed and serve community needs.

And it showed. Years of doing right by partners came back when it mattered most. Landlords offered flexibility without being asked and a vendor even waived a $40,000 bill out of goodwill. In the middle of a crisis, those relationships made all the difference.

When companies grow quickly, culture is often the first thing to suffer.

For Conscious Capitalism, Inc. member Curated, the challenge was different: how to scale a fast-growing business without losing the craftsmanship, culture, and purpose that made it successful in the first place.

Curated has been working with Conscious Capitalism, Inc. since 2024, and has grown from approximately $75 million in annual revenue to over $300 million while strengthening its culture, leadership alignment, and talent development.

The company’s CEO, Jordi Ricart, first encountered conscious capitalism through mentor Alan Lazowski. Alan has been on the Conscious Capitalism, Inc. board since XXXX, and has credited the philosophy with helping grow LAZ Parking into a company with managed revenue in excess of $1.8 billion and over 15,000 employees.

Curated had already earned a reputation for restoring some of the world’s most iconic vehicles, including Lamborghinis and Ferraris. But Jordi was looking beyond growth alone. He wanted to build a company capable of scaling without sacrificing its identity.

Curated undertook a company-wide effort to define its purpose, clarify its values, and connect both directly to strategy and execution. Through leadership workshops, employee engagement sessions, and organizational alignment work, the company developed a shared understanding of why it exists, who it serves, and how decisions should be made, and continues to build on that foundation today.

The impact extended far beyond a purpose statement.

One of the most significant changes was how the company thought about its people. Rather than viewing team members simply as mechanics, Curated embraced a culture of craftsmanship, a clear Apprentice Craftsman-to-Master Craftsman development pathway. This resulted in a clear career progression within a highly specialized industry where talent is increasingly difficult to find. Curated also built relationships with restoration schools to strengthen its future talent pipeline and preserve the skills that define the business.

Conscious Capitalism has helped us achieve measurable business results, including meeting and exceeding our financial objectives. More importantly, it has helped us build a stronger organization. One with greater clarity, engagement, and resilience

At the leadership level, purpose became embedded in the way the company operates, having adopted the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS); leaders began integrating purpose into priorities, decision-making, accountability, and long-term planning.

While many factors contributed to Curated’s growth, Jordi credits the culture, energy, and clarity created through conscious capitalism as a key enabler of the company’s ability to scale.

Today, Curated is the clear leader in the exotic automobile restoration market. As a team, they continue to deepen their commitment to purpose-driven leadership, ensuring that culture, strategy, and execution remain aligned as the company enters its next phase of growth.