For Immediate Release

Contact:
Eric Schnell, MetaBrand, info@metabrandcorp.com, tel 888.611.5573
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnatural.com, tel 303.807.1042

The Power of Love in Business:  

Natural Products Pioneers, Husband and Wife Team Eric Schnell and Marci Zaroff to Speak at Inaugural Love Summit, June 13

Edison, NJ (May 28, 2015) — Family businesses by some estimates employ 85% of the US workforce and constitute a majority of business entities in the country. Yet, few speak about the power of love in business. Until the Love Summit, that is, where the conference producers proclaim, “Loving is good business.”

Co-presenting at the first Love Summit on June 13 in Portland, OR, are husband and wife team and longtime natural products entrepreneurs Eric Schnell, Founder/CEO of MetaBrand, and Marci Zaroff, Founder/CEO of Under the Canopy, with the duo as co-creators of I AM Enlightened. Their talk, “The Power of Love in Business and Infusing Consciousness into Commerce,” will explore how this visionary couple has integrated caring and a quadruple bottom line commitment of “people, planet, profit and purpose” into their everyday business activities, and how other companies can apply these ideas.

Love: The Missing Link in Business?

The Love Summit is a production of Dream Change, the nonprofit organization founded by John Perkins, author of the New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, plus Hoodwinked, Shape Shifting and other books. Perkins will host the summit along with Dan Wieden, Co-founder and Chair of renowned Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, best known for its creative work on Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. 

“The Love Summit brings together the business community and public to explore the missing link in business and sustainability education—love—the most likely candidate for stabilizing the economy, decelerating climate change, protecting the environment and creating positive social change for future generations,” said the conference producers.

The daylong event will feature presentations by top CEOs and world leaders – including Dan Price, founder and CEO of Gravity Payments, and Freddy Ehlers, Ecuadorian Minister of Buen Vivir, the world’s first government ministry dedicated to creating a good life for all of its people and environment – and explore the root issues around systemic social and environmental problems, and the practical application of love in the workplace for advancing business and creating greater economic security for all.

“The Love Summit adds an important element to the ongoing conversation about the role of business. Personally, we are excited as it provides Marci and me with an opportunity to express not only our philosophical approach to commerce and life, but also our love for each other in this type of interactive format with this quality of attendees,” said Schnell. 

Schnell, Co-founder and former President of Steaz, is a pioneer in the organic beverage market. He has more than 20 years of experience in the natural product, supplement and healthy beverage industries, and was the recipient of the Natural Product Industry’s 2007 “Socially Responsible Business Award, “ ironically, along with Zaroff and her company. This year, Schnell’s new "conscious capital" investment arm of MetaBrand, MetaBrand Capital, received the "Investment in the Future" award from respected trade publication Nutrition Business Journal for the fund’s investment into mission based tea brand, Runa.

Zaroff, Founder of Under the Canopy, the leading environmentally and socially responsible home and fashion brand, is an organic textile pioneer, and currently a Board member of the Organic Trade Association. She coined and trademarked the term “ECOfashion,” and also is the Founder/former CEO of FASE (Fashion Art Soul Earth), Founder of MetaWear, the nation’s first sustainable style factory, and President of Portico Brands. In 2010, Zaroff and Schnell co-founded the lifestyle company I AM Enlightened Creations.  

Changing Business and Sustainability, with Love.

The Love Summit, presented by Dream Change – a nonprofit organization with a mission to change the way people value each other and the planet – is co-sponsored by Dan Wieden, co-founder of Wieden+Kennedy, creator of Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign, and John Perkins, best-selling author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and founder of Dream Change. The summit was created to explore the root causes of social and environmental problems, and examine the role of love in stabilizing the economy, decelerating climate change, protecting the environment and creating positive social change. Visit DreamChange.org. 

About I AM ENLIGHTENED CREATIONS
I AM ENLIGHTENED CREATIONS® is a Certified B Corporation committed to people, planet, profit, passion and purpose, and dedicated to delivering the most efficacious, highest vibrational products. The company draws on ancient wisdom, modern science and the “I AM Consciousness” to create products that deliver fast-acting, sustainable results and support healthy lifestyle choices. I AM Enlightened Creations products are available online and at leading retailers including Whole Foods Market and independent natural foods stores, spas and pharmacies throughout the U.S. For information about I AM ENLIGHTENED CREATIONS®, please visit www.thinkIAM.com or call 888.206.1451. Follow us onFacebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

About MetaBrand

Created by natural products industry veteran and Steaz Teas Co-founder Eric Schnell, MetaBrand, is a leading Quadruple Bottom Line, full service firm providing product formulation, outsourced operations, and sales and marketing services to natural, organic and nutritional food and beverage entrepreneurs. With a team of 35 advisers and long-standing industry relationships, MetaBrand, a Certified B Corp., helps companies quickly and efficiently develop winning formulations for natural and organic product concepts that are on-trend and efficacious, regulation compliant, and scalable. For more information on MetaBrand, visit www.metabrandcorp.com, info@metabrandcorp.com, tel 888.611.5573.

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