Building a Legacy Through Purpose, Resistance and a Bit of Impertinence

Feb 12
3 min read

By Johanna Stauffer

When I co-founded my eco-friendly yoga accessories brand, I did not imagine that the project would ever be called a legacy. I simply wanted to build something honest and stable. Something that would not embarrass me years later. Something that would stay aligned with my values even when nobody was watching.

My background is in Artificial Intelligence and language, a field where everything moves fast and feels intangible. Yet I spent years building a business grounded in slow decisions, real materials and long term responsibility. That contrast taught me that legacy does not come from large statements or polished stories. It comes from the quiet choices that shape a company from within.

Growing without outside investors allowed me to stay coherent, even when growth could have been faster. Moving production closer to Europe protected the integrity of the supply chain. Asking for independent ethical audits when working with a factory avoided the comfortable illusions that too many brands settle for. Documenting every process made the business readable and stable for the person who would come after me.

If there is one lesson I learned, it is that a legacy is not the noise a company makes while you are leading it. A legacy is the way it behaves once you are no longer there.

What does legacy mean to me ?

Women in entrepreneurship know that legitimacy is often questioned before competence is even considered. I learned to navigate this without trying to fit any expected mould. Leadership, for me, does not come from reproducing traditional power structures. It comes from clarity. From values that do not shift with convenience. From a form of calm resistance that says: this is my way of doing things, and it is enough.

My approach rests on three simple ideas.

Coherence means staying aligned with my ethics, even when faster options appear.
Transmission means building systems, documentation and tools that allow others to succeed after me.
Independence means protecting strategic and financial freedom so that values do not become negotiable.

People often believe that female leadership is inherently softer. I think it is more precise. It demands intention, intelligence and the patience to build structures that last instead of illusions that shine for a moment.

Who inspired me to lead with purpose

George Sand remains a deep influence for me. Not only for her writing, but for her ability to exist fully in a world determined to shrink her. She refused the limitations assigned to her. She lived, created and thought with unusual clarity. She did not apologise for her complexity, and she did not ask permission to exist in her own shape. Her example reminds me that leadership does not require noise. It requires authenticity and the courage to remain coherent.