A note from Ido

Carrot Lovers,

Wow, 2009 is almost over and it feels like the year is just getting started! The world has faced significant challenges this year, and yet I am so excited to see that the Yes To family has maintained the positive spirit in which we were founded.

It’s hard to believe but Yes To is now three years old! Thanks to the wonderful Yes To fans around the world that continue to spread the power of “YES”, we now have over 50 products and are sold in 29 countries. Some of our new favorites are the amazingly popular Lip Tints and Lip Glosses as well as our newest addition that has already become a #1 seller….the Yes To Cucumber Facial Towelettes. And our family will keep expanding in 2010, with our newest arrival slated for this January (hint: Zoe will love this one!)

We’ve also been spreading the Yes To love and giving back through our work with the Yes To Seed Fund. We’re able to do more by partnering with amazing organizations like the Environmental Media Association (EMA) to bring organic gardens to Los Angeles schools, the Kibbutz Lotan in Israel to provide scholarships to their Green Apprentice program, and Growing Home in Chicago to help revive an urban agricultural district. Check out The Seed Fund section on our website for all the details.

I could go on and on about 2009, but as I sit here in the Carrot Capitol in San Francisco and look out the window, I’m giddy with excitement about what is yet to come in 2010 and beyond. So once again thank you! We live to produce products that continually provide amazing natural formulas, world class packaging, affordable “guilt free” pricing infused with a boost of positivity that just makes us all smile! And in the end of the day that’s what really counts!

Cheers,
Ido Leffler
Chief Carrot Lover

Yes To 'Behind the Scenes' topic of the week: Mustaches.

As some of you might know, Yes To has a team entered in ‘Movember’ - a worldwide celebration of all things mustache for the month of November. Our team is called ‘Veggistache,’ and the point is simple. All male team members commit to growing a mustache for the full month of November in order to raise money for testicular and prostate cancer. To date, Movember has raised over $47 million worldwide! Pretty significant for a few fuzzy upper lips.

Team Veggistache has been surprisingly fruitful in its fundraising. So far this month, we’ve raised over $1,600! I’m proud of our ‘stache heroes, and frankly, quite entertained. And we'd like to send a huge thank you to all the friends and family that have donated to get us to this level. Thank you!!

And in case you were in doubt, here is proof of just a few of the many, many types of mustaches out there.

“The YMCA” 'stache (Ido)

The "Jeff Foxworthy” 'stache (Paul)

The "Cheater" (aka The "I'm masking-my-mustache-with-a-beard") (Thad)

The "I-did-this-back-in-the-80s...No big deal" 'stache (Mark)

The “Full Commitment” (aka “I-not-only-shaved-my-real-mustache-but-also-my-entire-head”) (Brian)

[unable to insert photo due to high reflection]

The “70s Adult Film Brothers” 'stache (Chris & Stephen)

The "If you can't join 'em, get stick-ons" (Kristel, Ami, Elie & Kate)

Stay tuned for the grand finale Yes To mustache contest, which will take place at our holiday party. Feel free to send your votes on Facebook ;-)

May all your carrot (and mustache) wishes come true,
The Yes Girl.

A History of Thanksgiving

In honor of the American Holiday Thanksgiving, we thought it would be nice to share a bit of history* behind the Holiday...

1541 - Spanish explorer, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, led a thanksgiving Communion celebration at the Palo Duro Canyon, West Texas.

1565 - Pedro Menendez de Aviles and 800 settlers gathered for a meal with the Timucuan Indians in the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, Florida.

1621 - Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated a harvest feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1630 - Settlers observed the first Thanksgiving of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England on July 8, 1630.

1777 - George Washington and his army on the way to Valley Forge, stopped in blistering weather in open fields to observe the first Thanksgiving of the new United States of America.

1789 - President Washington declared November 26, 1789, as a national day of "thanksgiving and prayer."

1800s - The annual presidential thanksgiving proclamations ceased for 45 years in the
early 1800s.

1863 - President Abraham Lincoln resumed the tradition of Thanksgiving proclamations in 1863. Since this date, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.

1941 - President Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

To everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving, we at Yes To wish you a wonderful and safe holiday. Enjoy the people that you are with, and we hope you find something to be thankful for, even if it is just the little things. Personally, I am thankful that this is the first year in as many as I can remember that my entire family will be together for the holiday.

We invite you to share what you will be thankful for...
*Courtesy of Mary Fairchild and about.com

Saying "Yes To..." on the Green Carpet

The entire Yes To team is still buzzing from the EMA 2oth Anniversary Awards on Sunday night. Not only did we meet amazingly dedicated people, but they shared their thoughts with us on how to make simple changes that will have a big, long term impact. We thought we'd share a few of our favorites.

Sir Richard Branson says Yes To cleaner air and more efficient fuels.

Blythe Danner says Yes To composting with her grandchildren.

Olivia Wilde says Yes To clean skin.

Ginnifer Goodwin says Yes To cruelty-free product testing.

Frances Fisher says Yes To organic food.

Dana Delaney says Yes To printing less.

Amy Smart says Yes To Carrots!

Hollywood Shines for the EMA 20th Anniversary Awards

The Environmental Media Association (EMA) hosted their 20th Anniversary EMA Awards show this past Sunday night with an evening that lived, breathed and led by example with its goal — to honor film and television productions and individuals that increase public awareness of environmental issues and inspire personal action on these issues. EMA set the stage Sunday night with a selection of vendors who provided local, organic food in a farmer’s market-style setting that used minimal electricity and on-site composting. The dinner, aptly titled “An Evening Under the Stars,” was held on the Paramount Studio lot and proved to be a low to no-waste, environmentally friendly event. Leading the evening was EMA founder [television legend] Norman Lear (and wife Lyn) and foundation president Debbie Levin.

“It’s such a great example to have an elegant Hollywood Party that’s sustainable,” said Debbie. “It’s extremely easy if you just think about what you are doing.”

EMA President Debbie Levin being interviewed by Elie Foster of Yes To Carrots.

EMA's latest major activity has been to partner with Yes To Inc. in an effort to build organic gardens in urban schools across LA. EMA recently enlisted a group of young celebrity ambassadors to create the EMA Young Hollywood Board. This board—which includes dedicated celebs such as Amy Smart, Rosario Dawson, Nicole Richie, Lance Bass and Carter Oosterhouse—actively encourages green behavior among their fans while launching an organic garden program in LA Unified School District public schools.

EMA Young Hollywood Board Chair Amy Smart being interviewed by Elie Foster of Yes To Carrots.

Each member of the board will adopt a garden, committing their personal time to planting and nurturing both the garden and the students who maintain that garden. Yes To will support the campaign through its non-profit Yes To Carrots Seed Fund, which helps underserved communities develop self sustaining, organic food sources. The chair of the Young Hollywood Board is actress Amy Smart, someone our team at Yes To has had the privilege to get to know in the past months. Amy actively works to green our society in both large and small ways…she drives a hybrid car, recycles, is working to give up her dependency on paper towels and eats organic.

Actress Olivia Wilde of Fox’s “House,” an outspoken board member, finds being green an easy process that anyone of any means can adapt to their lifestyle. For example, Olivia stated she prefers filtered water instead of bottled and brings her own bag to the grocery store. Olivia, who also drives a hybrid, said Hollywood sets tend to be "very wasteful places." However, she seemed optimistic that things are [rapidly] changing.

"We can try to waste less paper and have scripts distributed more responsibly. We can use corn-based products for craft services and we can go as far as solar-powered trailers," she said. "It's not overwhelming if you take it step by step."

Actress Olivia Wilde working the Green Carpet

My "Yes To Moment" of the Day...by Ido

Hello Carrot Lovers!

I have to confess that when my alarm went off at 6am a few days ago I had a really hard time pulling myself out of bed. What can I say, sometimes I just love my sleep! First thing, I grab my phone, check email and Facebook, and boom, I see a beautiful message from one of our Carrot Lovers (Ginger). It said how much the Yes To Carrots Gentle Exfoliating Facial Cleanser has helped to reduce her Rosacea, bringing a bounce to her step and a smile to her face. Yes! Now that got me out of bed. It was my first “Yes To Moment” (YTM) of the day.

You see, I love collecting YTMs, whether it’s beating our Chief Operating Officer Lance in foosball (I hate to admit it, but he’s really good), discovering a delicious hole-in-the-wall lunch place, finding $20 in the laundry, or hearing that our products have helped make someone happier. It motivates me throughout the week.

Tell me, what “Yes To Moments” have you had today? I can't wait to hear...

Ido

Ido...final thoughts (for now)

The last in our series of quick Q&A with Ido, Chief Carrot Lover....

Do you have any tips to make our own masks with only fresh vegetables, alone at home?
Fly to the dead sea, bring a shovel, dig deep enough to get some wonderful raw fresh mud, combine with fresh carrot juice, pumpkin juice, essential oils and botanicals, mix by hand and apply to face – or go to Walgreens, Target, Sephora, Drugstore.com (and many other places) and save some time!

Which vegetables should I eat in order to have a beautiful skin and to reduce the appearance of wrinkles?
Eat the ones that you like the most! Eating fruits and vegetables is important for our general health and wellbeing, but so is enjoying life and that includes getting pleasure out of what you eat and the way you live.

Say Yes To fun trade shows booths...

We were a participant in this year's National Association of Chain Drug Stores annual event in Florida.

Thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the pictures of our booth!

Nominate a Blogger for YTC Samples...

Know a blogger who you think needs to hear about Yes To Carrots so she (or he) can then help spread the word?

Here's your chance. Fill out this form to send some YTC samples to them (these should be bloggers who've never blogged about us before and are in the US or Canada).

You can thank Christina for this, by the way.

You see, she is one of our most dedicated and passionate Very Important Carrots (VIC's).

She is SO dedicated, that she spends up to 15-30 minutes per day identifying people who blog about organic/green/eco/beauty topics and sends them personalized emails explaining why they should review Yes To Carrots products.

By her count, close to 60% of the people she's contacted have written about our products.

We know that not everyone is going to go to those lengths, but you probably have some bloggers you read (or know) who haven't heard about yes, but you think they should.

So, we're going to make it easy for you...

Fill out this form and we'll send them some product to review (and tell them that it was your idea!).

For now, these are US/Canadian bloggers only (we'll get to the rest of the world soon). Also, these need to be bloggers who have NEVER written about us before and where Yes To Carrots would be relevant to their blog and audience.

Of course, we'll review the blogs before sending them out to make sure that it's a good fit (and we can't guarantee that EVERY blog will be), but we will keep you posted either way.

We're looking forward to having you help us spread the word.

Again, the form is here (and yes, you can enter more than one time).

Thanks for saying Yes to spreading the Yes To word!

Ido: "Yes to Red, Orange, and Green..."

More thoughts from Ido... Continuing our quick Q&A


Two other ranges have been developed: Yes to Tomatoes and Yes to Cucumbers: what are the benefits of tomatoes and cucumbers?

We should really have called our products Yes To Vegetables Orange, Red or Green – because with Yes To products, you don’t just get carrots, cucumbers or tomatoes – you get the whole family! 

Yes to Tomatoes is about all things red -  tomatoes, red pepper, watermelon.  The Lycopene found in tomatoes is a potent antioxidant that brightens, refines and purifies combination / oily skin; watermelon helps dissolves sebum build-up, keeps pores clear and adds volume to oily hair; and red pepper is refreshing, revitalizing and has anti-bacterial properties.  We’ve also added Red (Rooibos) Tea, another powerful anti-oxidant that fights free radicals as well as a whole bunch of other great ingredients.

Yes To Cucumbers is about all things green -  cucumbers, broccoli, spirulina, aloe vera.  Cucumber cleanses, cools and hydrates and also soothes and softens skin, particularly good for those with a more sensitive complexion; spirulina (commonly referred to as one of nature’s super foods) also has an excellent hydrating effect as well as detoxifying properties; and Aloe Vera, rich in Vitamin E, has great skin healing properties.

And don’t forget, that Yes To products also contain Dead Sea Minerals which not only have many great benefits for the skin and hair, but also allow our bodies to absorb more of the goodness from all the orange, green or red  fruits and vegetables found in Yes To products.

Image via Wikipedia