At Shinola, Our Walls Talk. And Here's What They Say

Recently, I was invited to a CEO conference in Detroit to talk to a group of business leaders in the audience about Shinola’s journey, which began a decade ago. Once upon a time, we were a startup hiring 100 people to work in the first major U.S. watch factory built in nearly 50 years. Today, our company has grown to 450 employees and we’ve built more than 1 million watches.?

Rather than spend the entire time talking about our product expansion and future plans, I spent a good deal of time talking about the walls in our factory. Yes the walls.

Why?

It is on our walls where we have posted the values that Shinola lives by – joy, humility, hospitality, quality, and determination. Under each of these words is printed a short description of what those values mean to us.

These values are not printed in one place or on a single wall. As you walk the halls and travel the two floors we occupy as a headquarters, you’ll bump into one or another value in a nook, a cranny, or a main thoroughfare. At every value, you’ll be reminded of why we do what we do, and how we go about doing it.?

As I spoke to the audience gathered in Detroit, the manufacturing capital of the world, I realized that all the production strategy, operating philosophy and management tips in the world can’t replace the simple lesson that can be taught by these walls that can talk. By keeping our values out in front of us, we have been able to maintain a high degree of authenticity and commitment to our original mission of being a positive force in all the communities where we do business.

The past couple years have witnessed an incredible transformation at Shinola. We’ve grown in our e-commerce capabilities, put our name on a hotel and furniture line, and overhauled our HR policies in service of creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

When our logistics facility a few miles from the factory was hit with a Covid-19 outbreak, employees from headquarters left their desks and started packing boxes, wrapping watches, and labeling shipments so that customers would get their holiday orders in time for Christmas. When the pandemic spoiled our plans to introduce the Champ Detrola watch in time for the 2020 Olympics, we pivoted to launch the watch to celebrate everyday champions who rose to the public health challenge.

And the list goes on.?

This is possible because those values on our walls are not just words painted on drywall.?We?maintain and develop our values by evangelizing them, measuring them, and understanding how they’re effectively impacting our business in our offices, retail stores and partner factories across the country.

As Shinola begins crafting the next decade of our story, the values don’t change. Instead, they just grow increasingly important.?