ENCINITAS —A community of kindness is core to who they are as people and as a business.
It’s why Justin and Suzi Wilkenfeld started Kindhumans, a local business aiming to make a global impact on the way people interact and shop.
Justin Wilkenfeld was one of the first employees at GoPro, while Suzi Wilkenfeld worked at Feld Entertainment before the two met. Years later, the couple decided to launch Kindhumans based of the family and friends community built by GoPro.
The Wilkenfeld’s, though, are using their business as a conduit to link consumers with socially responsible brands via the Kindhumans e-commerce store, along with building a hub for like-minded people and non-profits to highlight their kindness.
In essence, it’s a source of good news and those championing respect, compassion, empathy and equitable treatment of everyone.
“I was doing a lot of research of what products to bring into our home,” Suzi Wilkenfeld said. “It was really hard to research … and finding brands doing it with integrity. At the basis it, it’s making it easier for people to do good.”
Additionally, they are leveraging Justin Wilkenfeld’s experience with GoPro and building a network of athletes and influencers who share the mission and goals of Kindhumans.
One of their first successes came last summer, just as the company launched. The Wilkenfeld’s linked up with Jaden Smith, the son of Hollywood royalty Jada Pinket and Will Smith, to deliver clean water boxes delivering 10 gallons per minute of clean water to help address the water crisis in Flint, Mich.
“There’s so much money out there that can be used for good,” Justin Wilkenfeld said. “
Another component of their business is giving back to charities through sales on the Kindhumans website, but also connecting with non-profits on social media highlighting their good deeds.
Justin Wilkenfeld said most nonprofits cannot afford much in terms of marketing personnel, but his professional experience and networks in grassroots marketing help to connect a broader audience to organizations doing good.
In addition, he said the company also focuses on partnering with brands who are environmentally friendly or use fair trade practices to help consumers cut through the difficulties with their own research.
“There’s got to be a resource out there to tackle this and there wasn’t really,” Justin Wilkenfeld said. “Having come from a background of building a community, I realize there is this existing community in the world of people doing things for the better good. Our hope is to really create a structure that enables us to provide that marketing platform for these causes.”
The company is also putting its money toward good causes as 3% of each sale is donated to those causes the company supports. Still, they are attempting to brand kind humans the world over by creating a more positive storyline in mainstream media and social media culture, Justin Wilkenfeld said.
“At the heart of it, we want to build a community of kind humans,” Suzi Wilkenfeld added. “We know they’re out there, but how do we unite them? And then use that as kindness spreads kindness.”
