KIND snacks: the difference between nice and kind

In a few rare cases, thoughtfulness can literally be baked into the brand. After graduating from law school, Daniel Lubetzky postponed taking a job at a prestigious law firm. Instead he pursued his dream of solving the Middle East crisis by creating a company that would bring the antagonists together. His idea was that he would source spices from one country, vegetables from another, can the product in Israel, and then sell it in the US. It was a hard business and it wasn't a huge success. But, during his global travels to try to make the company work, Lubetzky noticed that during these long runs that he took, there was never anything healthy he could take with him. So, that got him thinking about a different business idea, one that led him to found KIND Snacks on the principle that he could make something kind for the body and in the process bred the idea of kindness around. Unlike his first company, KIND has been an unbridled success topping three-quarters of a billion in sales in 2017. In our interview, Lubetzky revealed that he still carries KIND Bars with him and when he witnesses an act of kindness, he will press two bars into that person's hands. One is thanks for being kind and the other to pay it forward when that person sees an act of kindness.

More recently KIND has been raising the bar on thoughtfulness, creating a contest for people to showcase the difference between being nice and being kind. Being kind is actually doing something. Being nice is just saying something. This video by Lubetzky's cousin, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubetzky, is a perfect representation of thoughtfulness. I think this is a moment of a grand waking up. When you look at a crisis of death and suffering on the border, you have to respond. We are not trying to tell people to cross or not to cross. We're trying to do what we can to stop people from dying. We go, we leave gallons of water on the ground, and we walk away. It's such a small gesture, but it can be the difference between life and death. My grandmother used to say there's a difference between nice and kind. There's no sacrifice in nice, kind requires it. Everybody knows what it's like to need help and everybody knows what it's like to feel lost and afraid. Kind means that you go beyond nice to doing something meaningful. We all have the ability to be kind to each other. The choice is always there in front of us every day of our lives.