Hey everyone - you don’t me yet but I’m Wyatt, LIVSN’s Sustainable Policy intern, and wearer of many hats over this past summer. I’ve been working with LIVSN in some capacity for just over two years, first working retail at our flagship storefront in Bentonville where I grew up. Recently though I have been living down the road in Fayetteville studying Political Science, Economics, and Sustainability at the University of Arkansas.

With this blog post I want to give you all a recap of what I’ve been working on this summer, and a sneak peek at some behind the scenes corporate responsibility projects we’ve been hard at work on. Each of the projects I’ll mention deserve their own deep dive, so make sure to be on the lookout for those.

Much of the work I did this summer was partially in pursuit of LIVSN achieving B-Corp certification. This goal is something we’ve been working towards in the background for quite a while and while we’re not ready to share a more specific update quite yet, we’re excited about the progress we’ve made. Each of the following projects connect in some way to what is required for B-Corp status.

LIVSN’s supplier code of conduct is a major step we’re taking to strengthen our relationships with our factories and use our growing influence to make a positive impact. One goal with the LIVSN code of conduct was to ensure it didn’t become just another tick mark on the “responsible company” checklist. The standards in the code, as they move through our supply chain, will be living and evolving as we work with our suppliers to understand where they need support and encouragement, and where we can clarify our expectations. 

Our mission with each product we create is to maximize function and minimize harm. To have any hope of executing this mission effectively, understanding how and why our products impact our environment is crucial. Over the summer we’ve been using Worldly to model and estimate the impact of each of our products, starting with the collection for Fall 25. This information is also useful to you, our potential (or returning) customers. We want to make this information available to you in as transparent but digestible a form as possible, and hope to do so over the coming months. 

This is the side of things that is the most mundane to the average LIVSN pants enjoyer, but it was important for us, if we were going to write down what we expect of our supply chain, to maintain the same or higher expectations of ourselves. The internal policies I worked on vary widely, including an office purchasing guide outlining environmentally preferred products for our home base, our employee policy and benefits handbook, and our part time employee training manual. Unlike the projects above, these policies will remain internal, but nevertheless keep LIVSN running like the moderately well oiled machine it is. 

There was much more we accomplished and odd jobs performed over the summer that won’t make it into this blog, but were all vital to my learning experience. The other thing I didn't mention: I had a blast. LIVSN already held a special place in my heart, and this summer has only solidified that. As for the future, I’ll keep doing odd jobs and help out here and there, and build on the knowledge I already gained. You’ll be hearing more from me in the coming months as we’re ready to talk on a deeper level about these projects.

Until then, I encourage everyone to pick up a book. If I have to head back to class for the fall, I’m sure you all can learn something new this week. If you’ve got any questions about the content of this article, my experience at LIVSN, or book recommendations, drop me a line at wyatt@livsndesigns.com

Thanks for reading,

Wyatt