The Axial team had the opportunity to speak with none other than Lydiane Autour du Monde!
This content creator sets herself apart from others through her desire to do things right. What we mean by this is that Axial has discovered someone who cares about their impact: both their impact on the environment and their impact on their audience. Like you, today we learned that it’s possible to be a responsible influencer! Gosh, e-commerce goes far!
You’ve never heard of Lydiane Autour du Monde? This content creator is known for her many journeys, and is Quebec’s globetrotter! She shares her travel experiences on TV on the Évasion channel and has written books, including Voyage 101 and Lydiane Autour du Monde – Le livre. In addition, she presents at conferences to share her practical advice.
To get to know her better, here’s an example of her unwavering values:
If I don’t believe the corporate message and values, I won’t lie. I simply won’t collaborate.
This is easy to understand, but much harder to apply! For Lydiane, she won’t compromise on her values! It’s a refreshing way of doing things for an influencer, isn’t it? For her part, Lydiane has important criteria that must be met before agreeing to promote a product and/or service on her social networks. She’s aware of the duty she owes to her followers (70k on Instagram and 140k on Facebook). Specifically, we asked her what she wanted to know before entering into a partnership:
- What is the type of business and its industry?
- Is the applicable business related to travel, sports, or the outdoors?
- Is the partnership request consistent with my usual content?
- Would it be natural for me to talk about it and promote it?
- What are the company’s values, and does it do things that are harmful to the environment?
Previously, we mentioned that Lydiane was aware of her impact and thus stood out for her vision of collaboration! But why does she stand out? Because it is difficult to apply a responsible vision to your collaborations when the offers are often very attractive. But it’s even more difficult not to succumb to them. On the other hand, Lydiane Autour du Monde seems very determined to publish content that suits her and that is directly related to her values! She even goes so far as to say:
If I ever partner up with a car company, it’ll be an electric car company…period.
By personal choice, Lydiane has decided not to collaborate with any companies that promote the use of oil, whatever they may be!
There’s a difference between owning your own gas vehicle and promoting it.
Lydiane has much to be proud of her collaborators!
From the beginning of the article, we’ve introduced Lydiane as someone who knows what she wants! It’s simple, she wants to establish collaborations with companies with a message in which she really believes. For example, she is, among other things, an ambassador for Rab and she promotes On Running products, two companies that care about sustainable development!
“Take advantage” of your reputation’s good sense
Lydiane considers that social networks are good platforms to make people aware of responsible consumption and their environmental impact. The environmental cause is so great, and we have so far to go!
In particular, when she organized group trips abroad, the costs of participating in the trip always included carbon offsets. Lydiane was careful to promote this initiative with her participants. Also, when she has a new product that is made responsibly, she promotes it a lot through her social media. For example, she takes time to inform her followers about the equipment used, the manufacturing location and even list the product’s advantages from an environmental point of view as well as its technical characteristics! Lydiane doesn’t promote these responsible products for the purpose of self-congratulation or even to receive rave reviews, rather she does so to educate consumers. For her part, she believes that through small actions like these, consumption habits will change!
If consumers change the way they consume, businesses have no choice but to adapt. There are companies that will follow suit, but the majority will wait for consumers to ask before they will change.
Her own responsible e-commerce platform
Lydiane Autour du Monde is one of the companies that wants to follow suit BEFORE everyone else! She believes that with her e-commerce platform and social networks she can increase the demand for truly responsible products! For example, Lydiane mentions that more and more followers are asking her questions about the ethical side of her clothing. Recently, when she announced her new legging product, her audience asked her if they were made in Quebec and what material was used. This is evidence that her followers are embracing her movement! A paradigm shift is quietly taking place…
The content creator has no shame in telling the truth! If it’s not made from recycled material, she says so! On the other hand, she has a deep desire to do things in Quebec, but she says that it’s not always possible. In fact, Lydiane raises the difficulty of finding a balance between local economy and profitability. While waiting to find a location in Quebec where all her products can be made in the same place, she does business with Chinese factories in order to offer quality products at good prices. However, the Lydiane Autour du Monde products that are made in China are manufactured in grade A factories. This means the employees are well paid, have good working conditions and are safe in their environment.
Lastly, Lydiane Autour du Monde still manages to have responsible products! Here are a few:
- Bamboo fibre headbands made in Quebec in a sustainable and ecological environment.
- Eco-responsible bamboo fiber products designed and manufactured in Quebec.
- Crewnecks, a collaboration with Quebec company Dérive Ecobrand, which designs 100% ecological clothing.
- Masks handmade in Quebec.
- Paddleboards designed and created in collaboration with natürSUP: the first paddleboard company in Canada to care about the environment by offsetting its ecological footprint.
We tend to forget it, but the expression ‘buy local’ also means to encourage companies that hire Quebecers and not just companies with products completely made in Quebec. It’s important not only to look at where the product is manufactured; the workforce is important too!
