Intro Announcer: Tech Sounds presents The Conscious Capitalists. Hello and welcome to the Conscious Capitalists hosted by two of the co-founders of the conscious capitalism movement and co-authors of the Conscious Capitalism Field Guide from Harvard Business Press, Raj Sisodia and Timothy Henry. Each week this podcast covers current events and business news and Raj and Timothy’s latest thinking on what it takes to build a conscious business. For more information and notes from the show, go to www.theconsciouscapitalists.com. And now, Raj and Timothy.
Timothy Henry: Hello everyone and welcome to our latest version of The Conscious Capitalists with myself Timothy Henry and my partner in making the world a better place through business Raj Sisodia. Hey there Raj.
Raj Sisodia: Hey Timothy, welcome back to the US. I hope you’re settling in well there in Washington.
Timothy Henry: Slowly but shortly. Where in the world are you this morning?
Raj Sisodia: I am in Chihuahua. I’ve been on my Mexican tour. I was in St. Louis Potosí and then I was in Querétaro and then came here and heading to London actually later today.
Timothy Henry: Ah well today we have a long time friend and member of the conscious capitalism community Carrie Freeman Parsons. She’s the chair of the board of Freeman, where she leads the brand experience category and approaches the future with a focus on refining the company’s culture business approach. Carrie actually grew up in the business and is the third generation of Freeman leaders. Having known her over the years through conscious capitalism, it is an honor and a pleasure to have you. Welcome, Carrie.
Carrie Freeman Parsons: Thank you Timothy and thank you Raj. I’m delighted to spend some time with you.
Timothy Henry: Well, we’re delighted to have you on. Maybe you could say a little bit about Freeman and your history with the firm.
Carrie Freeman Parsons: Sure thing. Freeman is in our 97th year of business. My grandfather started the business in Des Moines, Iowa in 1927 decorating for fairs and events. That has now evolved into being a global company that provides services for live events like trade shows, conventions, corporate events, and fan experiences throughout the world. As the third generation, I honestly don’t know a time that our family and the company wasn’t integrated. I worked there in the summers, joined full-time after graduating from Baylor, and was named chair of the board a few years ago. It’s lovely to see the business take on the principles I’ve cared about for so long without having to be involved in the day-to-day.
Timothy Henry: How did you first get involved with Conscious Capitalism?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: I think most roads go back to Rand Stigen and Doug Levy in Dallas. We hired Doug’s company to create a website, and as he learned about our culture, he said it sounded like the language used in a group called Conscious Capitalism. I attended a CEO summit and realized that how we thought about leading a family business—taking a long-term view and caring for stakeholders—was very related to those principles. During the Great Recession, I felt a “churn” in our business because our values were implicit rather than explicit. Conscious Capitalism provided the language and discipline to ground us back into making sure we were all aligned.
Timothy Henry: What was the origin story of why treating people well was so important to your family?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: It starts with my grandfather, Buck, who had a quote in every office: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”. He set a legacy of taking care of the people who were taking care of the business. Then my dad, who went to the Naval Academy, focused on integrity and discipline. As we grew, we had more layers between the family and the leaders, and things weren’t as explicit anymore. After a session on values at a Conscious Capitalism event in San Diego, we went through the exercise of defining what was true about Freeman.
Timothy Henry: What were those values?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: We came up with six values: integrity, enthusiasm, empathy, and performance excellence among them. We spent three days defining them at a leadership meeting and then went on a road trip to all our offices to roll them out.
Timothy Henry: How did that journey of embedding the values go?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: It took years. At first, some people were skeptical. For example, we had a value of empathy, but our customer service approach was “do anything the customer says whenever they say it”. Our shop employees pointed out that being forced to miss a kid’s soccer game for a customer request didn’t feel like empathy. We had to rethink how we delivered for customers without doing it at the expense of our people. We also had to make tough decisions about leaders who delivered financial results but didn’t live the values; we either exited them or moved them into non-leadership roles.
Raj Sisodia: Could you tell us about how you survived the pandemic?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: In March 2020, we had to tell 85% of our people that they were being laid off. We used that time to completely redesign the company’s operating model to be more effective for the future. We leaned into our values by being totally honest with our people, providing benefits for nine months, and offering LinkedIn Learning so they could upskill while they were off. We also formed an industry coalition to have a voice in Washington. When we ramped back up, 93% of our furloughed people came back.
Raj Sisodia: That’s an incredible return rate. How did you manage that heroic effort?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: We stayed in contact with them weekly or bi-weekly. Even though the coming back was an unbelievable heroic effort that was often confusing and challenging, our people talk about how much care and concern was exhibited. Now our attrition rate is back to 4% or 5%.
Raj Sisodia: Are people thinking differently about physical events now?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: Absolutely. We saw a shift even before COVID where corporations wanted more targeted corporate events over broad trade shows so they could control the content and experience. People want to connect in person for trust and serendipitous encounters, but pure education can often be done online. Our purpose is “connecting people in meaningful ways”.
Timothy Henry: How is that purpose meaningful within Freeman?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: We realized our work is a catalyst for economic growth—we help people learn how to save lives or teach math more effectively. “Connecting people in meaningful ways” applies to how we connect with each other, our stakeholders, vendor partners, and clients. It’s part of the vernacular at Freeman now.
Timothy Henry: I want to pivot to your work around women and leadership. What has that journey been like for you personally?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: My dad had two daughters and no son, so the possibility of a woman taking over was always there. When I became a general manager, I was one of only two women in that role. After my daughter Olivia was born, I asked my dad to take Fridays off. It was a first step toward seeing that we could do our work differently to accommodate women. I realized I had privilege as the boss’s daughter that others didn’t have, and I wanted to make that flexibility accessible to all people at Freeman.
Timothy Henry: You’re also involved with Girls Inc. and the Texas Women’s Foundation.
Carrie Freeman Parsons: Yes. It was an awakening to see the disadvantages many girls face and how tilted the system is. In Texas, we have significant challenges with child poverty and income disparity between women and men. Once you see it, you can’t “unsee” it. We need to collaborate to create a system where all people can flourish.
Raj Sisodia: How do you feel about the current “backlash” against things like DEI and “woke capitalism”?
Carrie Freeman Parsons: It’s a good time to be a private company because we do what we know is right. For us, DEI is just good business. We are recruiting from universities and trade schools in communities that have never heard of our industry, which gives us a deeper talent pool and a more diverse team. It’s nonsensical to me that having an inclusive culture where people feel they fit is seen as a bad thing.
Timothy Henry: I love that you’ve framed it as just being a better business. We can elevate humanity through conscious business in a way government never could. Thank you for carrying the torch for the movement.
Carrie Freeman Parsons: My pleasure. I’ve learned so much from the two of you. I would encourage people to attend the CEO Summit in October. This isn’t benevolence; it’s a way to win on many fronts in a way you’re proud of. Our young people love it because they want to be part of something good.
Timothy Henry: Carrie, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you to Tech Monterrey and the Conscious Enterprise Center for sponsoring us. Please hit the subscriber button and leave us a review. Thank you everyone, and thank you, Carrie. Be well..
To hear the full conversation with Tracey Massey, listen to the episode here.