As more and more people learn about the horrors of animal testing—and about effective non-animal testing methods—the demand for cruelty-free products is skyrocketing. Gaffer&Child—a skincare line that prides itself on creating items that are as good for the environment as they are for your skin—makes products in small batches with all-vegan materials and has been certified by PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies program.
For the latest installment of PETA Prime’s series on compassionate CEOs, Grigore Madikians, founder and CEO of Gaffer&Child, answered our questions about the passion and inspiration behind his business.
Why do you think it’s important to provide vegan versions of products?
Gaffer&Child as a brand is the product of a 20-year personal journey on the vegan path. Having eaten vegan food now for many years, I realized that there are many aspects of vegan living that are important to incorporate within my own life and the brand. Making vegan products is essential if we want to create more love, care, and a higher quality of life for both our customers and our world. Embracing compassion and consciousness is important to our well-being and that of our children, animals, and the Earth. Because we care, we wanted to create products that are nourishing and made responsibly. It’s important for vegan products to be available in the marketplace to show that it’s absolutely possible to maintain personal well-being and still live with consciousness and respect for the lives of others around us, whether human or animal. Creating such products allows love to flourish, from preventing our animal friends from being exploited to enabling our customers to share cruelty-free items with the people they love. We look to add to our customers’ quality of life and give them something powerful to start their day with. We think it’s important to have vegan products on the market so that we can wholly embrace love, compassion, and care. A vegan lifestyle encompasses our whole lives, not just our dinner plates.
Which of your products are you most excited to share with others?
We’re excited to share all our products with as many people as we can! What we do is a labor of love, and we’ve designed a line of essentials that can be incorporated into anyone’s daily routine. We wanted to create products that are powerful and effective yet safe enough to be shared with children. We feel it’s important for adults to be able to pass these products on to the next generation so that they can begin to teach ethical values and shape the future. There’s not one product that stands out from the rest, as we’ve presented a limited line and invested a lot of energy to ensure that we stay committed to our standards of production while we . Our strong focus on a minimal line of essentials allows us to share through all our products our mission of compassionate, ethical self-care.
How have consumers and retailers embraced your product range?
Gaffer&Child started at the local farmers’ markets in the Los Angeles area and has grown to become something none of us could’ve ever imagined. As we’ve grown, we’ve been selective in the retailers that we align ourselves with. We want to work with like-minded businesses that share our vision for the future, because that’s what our focus is all about. It goes beyond the products that we offer: We know that together we can be the change that we’d like to see in the world. We’re humbled by the overwhelming support that we’ve received from consumers, retailers, and a number of publications. It’s hard to explain the warmth we’re filled with every time customers stop to share their experience with us. At the end of the day, it’s what has kept us going, and we’re so very grateful for the support so that we can continue to do what we love to do.
What do you think will be the most exciting vegan trend in the next year?
It’s been exciting to witness the shift in consciousness in consumers and equally as exciting to be a part of the movement. When we started this project, many people really didn’t understand or appreciate our vision of responsibility, from sourcing to creating to presenting our finished products. I’ve started to see that more and more people are looking for products like ours that feature cruelty-free ingredients and a handcrafted process from start to finish. We focus on every step, even extracting our essential oils in house to ensure the purity and quality of our plant-based products. Consumers want products that are ethical and high quality. We’ve met many individuals who share that same vision and countless customers who desire more from the products that are offered in the marketplace. We believe this trend will be not only the next exciting thing but also an ongoing movement that will shape the demand for products like ours. We fully believe this movement will keep things real.
How do you share your compassion for animals with those who aren’t so animal friendly?
We understand that some people may not share our feelings because they aren’t well informed or haven’t been exposed to some of the modern practices that continue to harm animals. We actively share our knowledge with outreach efforts, including our brand messaging, and lead by example by getting involved with our communities and local organizations. So we feel that we’re spreading the message to a large section of the community. We’ve built a relationship with PETA over the years to support our mission of education. We want to teach compassion by continuing to focus on our vegan products and educating would-be consumers to guide them to better alternatives and choices than products that come at the expense of animals.
Any advice for someone wanting to start a cruelty-free business?
This advice would apply to anyone starting a business but especially someone wanting to create a cruelty-free business: Success starts by loving what you do. If you’d like to start a cruelty-free business, you yourself have to believe that this is the way. Take the time to seek knowledge on the subject and educate yourself on what it means to be vegan and follow a cruelty-free lifestyle. Don’t just create vegan and cruelty-free products to find vegan consumers—do it because that’s what you believe in. Do it because you know it’s the right thing to do. Align your business with your beliefs, and give yourself the time to explore new ideas without distraction. Meditate and take time to read about and understand the current situation so that you can help leave the world a bit better of a place than how you found it. The ultimate accomplishment or success would be to know that your existence has brought prosperity and happiness to others, and at the end of the day, that’s all we have. To us, vegan living is the cornerstone of that movement, and we honor you and ourselves by creating products that we truly believe in, love to make, and incorporate in our wholly vegan lives.
Please enjoy a special offer of 40% off of Gaffer&Child products when you use the code PETA40 at check out.
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Check back next month for another inspiring interview with a compassionate CEO.
