Marisa Morin
A company’s executive C-Suite doesn’t usually include a Chief Symbology Officer, but for the billion-dollar jewelry company Alex and Ani, the position was central to their mission and ethos. Marisa Morin traveled the world consulting with rabbis, scientists and village elders about the messages and symbols attached to the company’s jewelry designs to ensure authenticity behind every piece. She credits Alex and Ani’s success to this deep research and listening, and with a market that was “hungry for that level of consciousness.” Morin admits she is not a typical entrepreneur, but shows us that intuition can be a powerful business tool. She talks with us about risk, resilience, and forging your own path.
What is a Chief Symbology Officer?
Companies have a CEO, a CFO, a COO. I was also Chief, but my job was to watch over the creative integrity of the company, its symbology, and the correct content, because we dealt with many cultures, schools of wisdom, and different ideologies and languages. It was a part of the core ethos of the company to communicate and to communicate consciousness. It was so much a part of it that it became important that there was an officer to oversee it.
How did your previous life experience prepare you for this role?
When you live a life from your heart, and when you’re driven by what you instinctively feel, it puts you on a gathering path. Everything that you do is a thread that you’re picking up in a web of experience, whether it’s connections, people you meet, cultures you impact, or knowledge about yourself that you gain. You need it all. I think our souls lead us on a mission.
What was the research process like to make sure Alex and Ani products were sustainable, and that they shared the message or symbol you envisioned?
Early on we developed something unusual. We had what we nicknamed “the network.” It spanned 11 religions and 21 countries. It was a network of people from spiritual and tribal leadership, as well as academic, scholastic, scientific and quantum physical. We had scientists, PhDs, researchers, rabbis, priests, ministers, and Native American elders on the team. We created things by intuition, rather than market analysis or consumer demand. We created what we thought the universe wanted us to create, because we would be inspired organically as a team by something going on in the world or in life, and then we would get an idea. If it impacted those cultures, we would take it to the network and get their review and vet it for authenticity. An example was a Buddha we did once that had a hand mudra of fearlessness. We did that because we felt like what the world needed at that moment was fearlessness. I went to four or five monasteries in three countries with three different sects of Buddhism, so I could get a consensus on the hand mudra. That’s how precise we were. If we did an Eye of Horus, that eye would be drawn in the dimensions of the phi ratio, as the correct Eye of Horus would be drawn. We were very particular. It’s not something we articulated well, but it was behind every piece we made.
Alex and Ani also had partnerships with Disney, the Harry Potter franchise, Frozen and other very popular brands. How did those partnerships help it go from a small jewelry company to a billion dollar company? Can you tell us more about how the partnerships were formed?
In my opinion, it wasn’t those partnerships that skyrocketed the company. Those partnerships came after the company was fairly large. I think being in mass consciousness and co-creating with what is present and current is important. It’s cultural currency. We worked with the TV show Friends, but there are larger messages at play. Larger communication was happening. People sense, feel, and know there’s something more powerful in buying some of these pieces. Why do you think people love Disney so much? There’s a lot of symbolism and belief in power, self empowerment, and magic. In that way, it was helping us stay current, connected to new customers, connected to youth and markets we perhaps wouldn’t ordinarily reach. Those were vital pieces. That happened organically.
Entrepreneurs are often told to think of products that fill a gap in the market. What gap did Alex and Ani fill in the market?
Alex and Ani was a fascinating company because it arrived on the scene at a time when there was a hunger for consciousness and empowerment. Before the brand, meaning was connected to jewelry, but it was with diamonds, like De Beers’ “A Diamond Is Forever”, or sentimentality, or the value of an heirloom like Tiffany’s. When we hit the market, we brought something that was different and more than that; it was sentimentality and meaning that you give an object. An apple might mean something very different to me than it means to you, because of experiences in our lives. It also brought some of the sacred geometry, and multiple cultures and a universal language of acceptance, diversity, universal connection, connectivity, and respect. The market was hungry for that level of consciousness, for that care. The world was ready. All of a sudden, meaning became something marketable and something interesting on Wall Street and to venture capital. We were knocked off, possibly more than any other company in our industry, because now you can hardly go anywhere without a meaning card accompanying a piece of jewelry. We really felt good about that actually, because people were thinking and exploring something that’s more important in their own empowerment. Our design team would only build something in symbols or in metal if we felt it was empowering. We built a lot of beautiful beaded things for fun and for joy, but we built a lot of pieces with intent. That showed up in the market. People felt it. You can’t fake that. It’s either there and it’s honest or it’s not. That’s another thing we did well: we were stripped down and authentic all the time. What you see is what you get.
What made Alex and Ani bracelets marketable to the younger generation? Is there anything companies can learn from your experience selling to Gen Z?
I think Gen Z is way more mature, savvy, intelligent, ethical, and planet connected than generations that have come before it. I have conversations with people your age. It really strikes me as a whole new field of intelligence. I’m super relieved you guys are here. How did we market to you? Honestly, organically. It wasn’t something we intended. I would say the way to reach Gen Z is authenticity. If you are real, you will impact the younger generation. I think versatility, unisex-ality, making pieces and things that are fluid in awesome style and universal wisdom was something we did pretty well that translated well.
As a follow up, how can showing your support for social justice causes, attract Gen Z to businesses?
They’re gonna have to do more than show. They’re gonna have to live it. They’re gonna have to do it. We’re past the point where charity is about dumping money into a system of humanitarianism. We’ve got stuff to do, and I think Gen Z is going to be looking at who is actually moving the needle, what companies are challenging each other to work together financially, energetically, sharing intellectual property and sharing genius and power toaffect something. I think Gen Z is going to be looking underneath the hood, more than any other generation, investigating and asking [questions about] the company and who is running it I think these things that are invisible to a very capitalistic culture are going to become important to this next generation. From the beginning, we had a giving initiative because we believed in tithing. Whatever abundance came in, more than 10% would have to go out. We instantly started co-creating with others to benefit their organizations. We went with traditional models at first, but we did some crazy guerrilla stuff, too. We affected the third world, we worked with a family, we did things that no one knows that we did. That’s because we were learning ourselves how to do direct giving and redefining humanitarianism. I think direct giving is going to be appealing to Gen Z, if I were to take a guess, but you guys are the experts.
What other experiences have you had in your lifetime related to entrepreneurship, both before and after Alex and Ani?
My first entrepreneurial experience was selling flowers. I lived on a street near a retirement home. I loved plants and growing things, so my very first business was taking old bottles that I thought were pretty, like wine bottles or vinegar bottles, and making vases out of them and selling flowers. That was the most important thing that I did in business because I realized that I wasn’t a merchant. That wasn’t my gig. I never thought I’d be a business person. I’m probably the least business-y business person I know. What I did learn was the power of a product to impact people and actually change the condition of their world for a minute. When I did those flowers right, they picked them up, and something good happened. I loved that. Art was a part of my entrepreneurship from the beginning. I’ve worked with scientists and alternative energy tech, and in think tanks for Fortune 100 companies. But in the entrepreneurial way, I’ve been more of a muse and a catalyst for teams and companies to give them superpowers to do what they’re doing. That’s how I am entrepreneurial. It’s not that I make and sell my product. It’s that I am my product. I show up because I like to join forces with teams that are making empowerment evolutionary leaps in the world. That’s what really lights my fire.
What is your philosophy on risk and risk-taking?
It’s part of nature. Risk keeps everything alive. I think more than asking if something is a risky move or not, companies need to ask themselves if this is who they are. If we need this money to expand, do we need it to come from this source? Is this in alignment with who we are or not? Those kinds of financial risks have to be congruent. If it’s congruent and aligned with you, it’s going to go well. The universe listens to that stuff. I believe in risk. I think it’s absolutely critical. Psychologically, for humans, it can bring out the very, very best in people.
Many in Gen Z are questioning the value of college. How did your educational environment affect your development as a leader and entrepreneur?
I had a very unusual educational environment. I was one of those people that was a student of life. I traveled a lot, visited a lot of cultures, spent time in the third world and second world. I went where my heart led me and met those people. I had some epic adventures. I consider that my education. Academically, my background is in bio psychology. It prepared me well. One of the most valuable things from all my education is Latin. It has helped me so much in science and language, understanding the root word and meaning of things because that’s interpreted in symbolism. It has been much more useful than algebra. It is weird what you actually use in life. I’m a communicator. At Alex and Ani, I didn’t just do part of the design. I was doing the words, the writing, and helping to edit the writing to keep it congruent and brand-correct. Words are important. I’m a life experience person, and I follow things. I’m not a stagnant creature. If you get an opportunity, take it.
What are the most important personality traits for an entrepreneur?
Resilience, the ability to problem solve without being emotionally reactive, and some level of spiritual maturity and intelligence. Entrepreneurs need to be good team catalysts. Even if they can’t always build or hold teams, they really need to catalyze teams and get the best out of people and empower people. Really great entrepreneurs empower everyone they meet and they are so magnetic. To me, the core is they have to have passion about what they are doing. If you’re not in love with it, you can’t sell it, and you can’t share it with other people. Those are personality qualities.
Do you think entrepreneurship is more nature or nurture?
Nature, because resilience is key. You do not make it if when you get pushed down, or you fall down, you stay down, or get scared, or feel traumatized. Entrepreneurs that are really successful bounce everything that happens to them. If you push them down, they take that energy and they make something out of it. They own it. They’re always creating, always taking every opportunity that comes. If a super-talented person with no experience knocks on your door, and they have passion and they’re teachable, bring them in. You don’t need the most pedigreed business people in the world to have genius entrepreneurially. You need a good counsel of very experienced advisors to guide a corporation, but there’s a lot to be said for nature on this one. Someone’s nature is their nature, and you feel it when you meet them.
Growing up, who were some of your biggest inspirations, in the art, design, or literary world?
My Uncle Pete, Madeleine L’Engle, Lewis Tolkien. Literature had a massive impact, because I could journey and see the world. I could be in other places in my mind and learn. I was a quiet kid. I did better with animals. I grew up in a small town in Maine. The kind of art I had exposure to was crafting arts, people making things with fibers and weaving and baskets and soaps. For me, art was something that was practical and empowering, stuff I made and then used. I also admired athletes, mountaineers, and people that challenge themselves in the wilderness. I followed that road too for a while as a ski patroller and did some wilderness medicine. I loved working with nature and helping people. I started volunteering for rescue on an ambulance when I was 15.
What is your most unique personality trait? Does it relate to business in any way?
My most unique trait is that I’m a really intuitive person. Spirituality and those things are native to me, and I suppose they make me a little odd. It is woven intricately to me. In business, you wouldn’t think it was [applicable] but actually one of the best traders I’ve ever met, who was a genius Wall Street guy, was super intuitive, so it has its applications.
Do you think growing up in today’s digital age will be better or worse than your childhood for your generation? Why?
I think better, but I wish it were easier for you. Your challenge is going to be sorting the wheat from the chaff. Using the internet not for marketing in the capitalistic culture that we’re in at the moment, but as connectivity, co-empowerment, co-creation and truth.
