Page 85 of Rival Hearts
Dad only nodded. It made my confidence waver. Usually, Dad was all for my ideas. He’d even said that going greener would be a good move, that it would get public approval and that was a good thing.
Why did he seem more hesitant now?
Before I could ask, the first of the investors arrived, and it was time to get started.
The boardroom had already been prepared with coffee and bottles of water for everyone, the big screen for a presentation if it was necessary, and I’d had documents for each of them prepared that outlined what my idea was moving forward.
Dad was the only partner in the room. My brothers all had other things to do—Daniel was out of town again, Chris was in the factory working on something important they called him in for, and Ben had some kind of meeting that popped up last minute.
The investors took their seats, all of them looking expectant. They made small talk with each other and with my dad. Some of them paged through the document but I couldn’t gauge the expressions on their faces.
When I cleared my throat, they fell quiet and looked at me.
“Thank you for coming to see me today,” I said. “I have some exciting news. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction our company is going. It’s so important that we never remain static, that we also learn and grow. The world is changing around us, and I like to keep up with what’s happening so that we’re always in the know, always giving the people what they want so that they can give us whatwewant.”
The investors nodded. Dad’s eyes were trained on me, his poker face in place. He nodded his encouragement, though, but today I didn’t need it.
I was excited about what I was about to propose.
“We talked to you about a new yacht that will be ready for the annual yacht show in two months, and we’re on track to have that ready for orders, but we’re also working on an entirely new line of yachts. In time, the new line will hopefully take over to become our main selling point, and the other lines we currently offer will fall away. Please, take the time to go through the document before you, and when you’re ready, I’m happy to discuss the new direction I want to take us.”
I unbuttoned my blazer and sat down, watching the others as they opened their documents again and started reading, paying more attention than when they’d skimmed a little earlier.
Dad was going through the document, too. Even though he knew exactly what I’d put in it. I glanced down and flipped through the pages to keep busy so that I didn’t sit there staring at everyone.
“Are you serious about this?” Sasha Martinez was the first to ask.
“Well, yes,” I said. “I’m running it by you to hear what you think, but I think it’s a good move for the company.”
“I thought you said we’re already committed to sustainability.” Elena Marini spoke up.
Chris had mentioned that in the last meeting when we’d talked about the activists.
“Yes,” I said. “We are. With our production we try to be very conscious of waste and how our manufacturing affects the environment. But our yachts are a different story. Emissions are a real problem, and the air pollution on deck isn’t good for our owners and their guests, either. It doesn’t help that we look after the production on land and we don’t care about whathappens once these yachts leave the marinas. We want to be environmentally conscious all-round. I think it’s time we align our product with our process.”
Victoria Sterling looked unhappy. “You can’t just pivot on a dime without repercussions. Is this because of the campaign I mentioned?”
It was about so much more than that, but I wasn’t going to go into depth about Charlotte.
“It started my thinking process, yes, but this is much bigger than that. From time to time we need to reevaluate what we’re doing, what message we want to send.”
Nigel Donovan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “And how long have you researched this new direction?”
“We’ve got our teams on it, of course,” I said. “I’m not saying we should do it tomorrow—it will take time. But there’s no better time to start than the present.”
“Look, I get what you’re trying to do,” Nigel said, cutting me off before I could say more. “But a shift toward sustainability might need changes to the company’s supply chain, the manufacturing process, the sales strategy… it could disrupt a business model that’s proven successful time and time again.”
Nigel had a deep understanding of yacht marketing and had a lot of influence on our sales team, and he heavily invested in our advertising budget. “Apivot, as you call it, can negatively impact the market’s perception of the company.”
I frowned. “I don’t know that it’s going to create a negative perception. In fact, I was hoping for exactly the opposite. After all, if we’re giving them what they want—”
“Is it what they want, though?” Sasha Martinez spoke up. “I don’t know if eco-friendly luxury yachts have a sufficient market. It’s very niche. Will customers be willing to pay a premium for sustainable features? How do you know if the market is large enough to justify the investment?”
I shook my head. Clearly, they weren’t as excited about this as I was. I’d thought they would be thrilled to get on board.
Samuel Bennett tossed his document onto the table. “I don’t know, I think this is a great idea.”
We all looked at him. He was the first person to react positively. “Eco-friendly yachts are exactly what we’ve needed for a long time. I’m not an activist but surely you can see how this might benefit us in the long run and help the environment? We have to be conscious of our footprint, no matter what we do.”
