After realizing her hectic corporate work life wasn’t fulfilling her or allowing her to be the mom she wanted to be, one South Vegas woman made a business decision that would change her life while giving back and spreading kindness. We caught up with Mandy Cordia, Founder of The Kindness Cause to find out how her desire to use her talents to make a difference and give back led her to leave Zappos to pursue her dreams of becoming a social entrepreneur.
Mandy Cordia
Owner & Founder
The Kindness Cause
Mandy Cordia is a mom of two energetic kiddos and a Midwesterner who’s called Las Vegas home for 12 years. A retail industry veteran, Mandy turned her love of shopping into a full-time career spanning over 20 years. She was a corporate retail fashion buyer for companies like The Home Shopping Network, Dillard’s, and Zappos.com. During her tenure as a buyer, Mandy had worked with hundreds of brands like Gucci, Tory Burch, Eileen Fisher, Kate Spade, and Free People.
Armed with extensive knowledge of retail and a heart full of compassion, she has dedicated herself and using her talents to create a socially responsible e-commerce business that merges her love of retail, fashion, and philanthropy to support important causes and issues. Mandy launched her purpose-driven business, The Kindness Cause, in March 2022.
An e-commerce site, The Kindness Cause (http://www.kindesscause.com), gives back to charities easily and transparently through fashion-forward gifts. The Kindness Cause vets and partners with smaller nonprofit organizations for 60-day campaigns to raise funds and awareness for the charitable organization. It creates, curates, and sells fashionable merchandise and gifts themed around the mission of each nonprofit partner, kindness, and positivity.
How did you come up with The Kindness Cause concept?
The Kindness Cause came about through my journey to heal and recover from burnout. With the onset of the pandemic, I was one of the "lucky" ones who got to keep my job in retail when many were laid off or furloughed. My job was already demanding, but I was forced to take on additional work and responsibilities that far exceeded my bandwidth. Before the pandemic, I traveled frequently, and I'd joke that my kids thought I worked in New York daily. When I was home, I made it a point to be present with my family, and my kids rarely saw me working. The pandemic changed that; they saw mommy working all day, pulling all-nighters, and working on the weekends to keep from drowning in the workload.
My breaking point was a day I will never forget. I was at home frantically working to meet a last-minute deadline. I heard my 3-year-old son playing in his room, and something he said caught my attention. I got up and peeked around the corner to watch. My son had set up his stuffed animals around his table. He made a computer out of paper and pretended to work just as he saw me do every day. After a few moments, he turned to his stuffed animals and yelled at them to be quiet. He said, “I’m on an important call and need to finish my work.” I cried. My heart was broken. This was not the example I wanted to set for my children, and I knew something had to change.
I didn’t know what that change looked like, so I started with therapy. One of my most significant discoveries was that I had been neglecting my passion for giving back. Life had become so busy since having children that I no longer had time to volunteer.
I started to buy gifts for my friends and family that supported charitable organizations as my way of giving back. The gifts became conversation starters about important issues and a way to learn about different nonprofits. However, it often took a lot of work to uncover and learn about the nonprofit benefiting from my purchase, and the giveback was often vague. As a product person, I didn’t always love the selection offered. There had to be a better way. My many years of retail experience, coupled with my love of helping others, put me in a unique position to tackle the problem.
I launched The Kindness Cause with three main goals: (1) make giving back easy when life is busy by incorporating giving into the things we do every day, like buying gifts for our friends and family; (2) provide transparency around funds donated with purchase and around the charitable organization benefiting from the sale; and (3) create a platform to educate, bring awareness, and raise funds to support the incredible work of smaller, regional nonprofit organizations.
What types of products do you offer?
We sell fashion-forward merchandise that ranges from clothing, jewelry and watches, stationery, home goods, and everything in between. We always offer merchandise that is themed with kindness and positivity; however, the merchandise we sell for our Cause Collections (merchandise themed around a nonprofit’s mission) will vary and change every 60 days based upon the nonprofit partner at that time.
How does a non-profit partner with you?
The Kindness Cause has already worked with many local nonprofit organizations and is focusing on additional local charities throughout 2023. Nonprofits interested in partnering should message us through our website or email customerservice@thekindnesscause.com.
What is your favorite kindness quote or personal kindness saying?
My daily inspiration comes from this quote by Denzel Washington, “At the end, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up … who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”
My daily inspiration comes from this quote by Denzel Washington, “At the end, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up … who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”
