Innovation

One of the innovations implemented within the business model of LVD Fitness is their partnership with Water-Aid Canada. The founders knew that they wanted to implement their kind and caring personalities within their business model. They had spent a lot of time finding the perfect partner in which they could fully supported the mission of the non-profit. They partnered with the non-profit organization Water-Aid Canada and their Ottawa chapter. LVD made the commitment that for each item of apparel sold they would donate one month of clean water to an individual of an impoverished nation. Water-Aid provides a wide range of support to developing nations in services such as water accessibility, sanitation and hygiene. Water-Aid works in 38 countries around in the world in some of the world’s poorest and most marginalized communities. By working with local partners, they invest in the futures of communities. They use practical and locally appropriate technologies to make sure the right skills exist within the community to ensure the infrastructure is working long into the future. Last year, Water-Aid reached 1.9 million people with clean water and 2.9 million people with access to basic sanitation. To end poverty, they believe everyone everywhere must have clean water and toilets.

Another innovation that can relate to both aspects to the society and the environment would be LVD’s products themselves. One of the top priorities of the business is that it allows athletes to give back to the community. LVD Fitness from day one has worked with environmentally friendly WRAP-Certified suppliers to minimize the environmental footprint of their operations. The WRAP-Certified acronym stands for Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production. The non-profit organization consisting of a team of global social compliance experts dedicated to promoting safe, lawful, humane and ethical manufacturing around the world through certification and education. WRAP follows 12 principles:

1) Compliance with local laws

2) Prohibition of forced labour

3) Prohibition of child labour

4) Prohibition of harassment or abuse

5) Compensation and benefits

6) Reasonable hours of work

7) Prohibition of Discrimination

8) Health and Safety of Employees

9) Freedom of Association

10) Environmentally conscious

11) Customers compliance

12) Security

Throughout the interview with the founders Josh and Mallory, they had these positive initiatives from day one planned even prior to launching their company. “We figured people were buying shirts to workout anyway, so why not buy a shirt that’s going to support locally and impact globally? It was something we incorporated from day one, even prior to our launch, because we knew it was important to show that businesses could be for profit and still have a positive impact/give back."

Inspiration

Mallory and Josh, the founders, were two powerlifters in university. They saw a gap that needed to be filled. The sport of powerlifting was growing quickly, but there was no common community to connect everyone. They had followed a new-age approach of other recent successful apparel brands like Canada’s tentree, a company that plants ten trees for every item sold, and were inspired to bring that give-back model to the fitness community. "LVD aims to help athletes support locally and impact globally. We want to help athletes build a legacy they are proud to be a part of. By having these socially conscious aspects to our business, this works towards our ultimate mission". LVD Fitness wanted to help athletes give back, and decided water was something all athletes could relate to. It’s what fuels us every day, and we learn to take it for granted while others still don’t have access to clean drinking water. The founders decided to create a model where they provided clean water for every item they sold, and naturally felt it was necessary to keep a positive social impact across all aspects of the business. This is why they also ensure to work with environmentally-conscious partners and WRAP-certified suppliers to guarantee ethical creation of our products.

Overall impact

The impact that WaterAid has on LVD Fitness is that it instills a social responsible strategy within the core mission of its business. The company was specifically created for the purpose of establishing a way for people within the power lifting community to make a difference. This meant that when developing the business, they had to consider which suppliers to use to produce their products. Mallory explains this decision by saying “it’s not a great look if you’re donating clean water and then using non-ethical factories to produce your work. By making sure we are consistent in our values, it helps grow our brand and show people we are genuine in our values and mission.” The current definition of sustainability for a company is starting to include a company's social and environmental awareness. By incorporating WaterAid into their main mission as a business, LVD Fitness is helping customers contribute to sustainability. For every item a consumer purchases, LVD Fitness donates an equivalent amount of one month drinking water.

The company's early marketing strategy used the Instagram online platform. Within the fitness world Instagram is a huge platform for fitness industry as a lot of people post their fitness journeys and fitness videos through the social media platform. It seemed that their socially responsible concept grasped the attention of powerlifters which led to a quick sell of their first 100 shirts. Rowan points out, “most athletes want to have an impact. They want to give back, but they’re also busy people. So LVD gives them the option . . . If you’re going to buy gym clothes anyway, why not buy some that make a difference?”. With the growing interest and demand that they were receiving, Reyes and Rowan needed to find a way to invest more in order to expand. Through the help of a program called “Lead to Win”, the two powerlifters were given $8,000 which helped them meet the agressive growth of LVD Fitness. With the help of the extra funding LVD was able to introduce an entire collection at once and implement a marketing campaign that increased their sales. They even have successfully integrated into the U.S. market after sponsoring the USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals in Atlanta.

LVD Fitness has clearly tapped into a societal concern that motivates powerlifters to purchase their products. They have created a community for powerlifters which enables them to interact with one another and make a difference that they can relate to. Athletes need to consume water on a regular basis, “water is what fuels us every day”. Rowan goes on to explain that being a-part of WaterAid also educates powerlifters on the benefits of clean water on society. WaterAid believes that providing clean water and toilets to developing countries is the key in fighting poverty. A lot of people with access to clean water, tend to take it for granted.

Business benefit

The innovations that have been implemented have definitely had a positive impact on the business itself. LVD Fitness is still a relatively new business but is gaining much more attention and awareness from consumers. When speaking with the founders they provided insight on how the innovations led to additional growth of their platform. When individuals purchase products from them, more often than not without being asked they use their personal social media platform to create awareness for this brand. The word of mouth marketing and advertisement of the consumers provides outreach to individuals they are associated with, providing additional awareness of the positive innovations instilled in LVD’s mission. What is great about this, is that a large amount of the company’s growth is organic based on the founder’s original mission. LVD Fitness products are currently available through their website but their business platform has allowed them to become a global company with consumers worldwide.

Their positive innovations implemented within their business model has also created growth and awareness within the powerlifting community. LVD Fitness is associated with both Canadian and American powerlifting associations and provide sponsorship at different meets. They have had multiple opportunities to travel North America and not only engage with their consumers and platform on a personal level but compete as well at the powerlifting meets. Over this summer they attended multiple provincial championships as well as the national championship held in Calgary. Currently Josh and Mallory are travelling across the United States promoting awareness at various power lifting meets.

Social and environmental benefit

WaterAid promoted good hygiene by providing developing countries with clean water and toilets. By increasing the hygiene level within the country, they are reducing the chances of diseases. For example, diarrhoea is caused by drinking dirty water and poor toilet systems. According to Wateraid, dirty water kills children under the age of 5 every 2 minutes.

Interview

Mallory Rowan, Interview for LVD Fitness