What is trust? This is a question I often ask myself in this current society where trust increasingly appears to be in short supply. In a world where ‘fake news’ is rampant, where philosophers ask ‘what is truth anyway?’, where influencers are those who have large numbers of social media following, and where a senior government official can say with confidence ‘... people of Great Britain have had enough of experts..’, it is important that we carefully reflect upon the value of trust and trustworthiness. I start by looking at inspirational quotes about trust. I have listed some of my personal favourites which gives as an insight on the fundamental components of trust/trustworthiness:
- “Trust starts with truth and ends with truth” - Santosh Kalwar
- “Consistency is the true foundation of trust. Either keep your promises or do not make them.” - Roy T. Bennett
- “Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.” - Alfred Adler
In summary, trust is about being truthful and honest, and following through on your words with actions. It is also not something you give or gain in a short period of time-but a core component of trust is time. Trust is built over time, and is based on consistency and reliability. It also means that when a person falls short of these values, openness and transparency is key to re-building trust.
Here at Mia Pelle trust is one of our key core values, and we consider it a privilege for our customers to put their trust in us. We do not take this for granted and appreciate that trust must be gained and preserved over time. We also apply this key core value when choosing the brands we stock.
Eucerin is one example of a brand that we believe demonstrates the key value of trust. Eucerin is one of the brands produced by the German multi-national company, Beiersdorf. Beiersdorf is also responsible for other well-known brands: Nivea, La Prairie, Hansaplast etc. Beiersdorf originates from the work of a pharmacist, Paul C. Beiersdorf in Hamburg, who in 1882 applied for a patent for a new type of medical dressing and in so doing founded the Beiersdorf Company. In this sense, the Eucerin brand has been around for over 100 years. A company that is able to exist for >100 years is a company that to me has trust as a core value, exhibiting reliability, honesty, openness and transparency.
As a company, Mia Pelle, is a ‘new kid on the block’, but through our core value of trust (which we know must be earned), we also aspire to be a company that is still relevant in 100 years!
