As the CEO of Pipedream Products, Matthew Matsudaira is in the position to deem the company’s responsibilities, both internally and to its customers. Due to the recent events, Matsudaira released a memo to employees this week surrounding the worldwide protests promoting systemic police reform and the Black Lives Matter movement in light of the death of George Floyd. His employees quickly responded in kind.

“Matthew encouraged us in his letter to be part of the change and to not be silent,” says Pipedream Products employee Heather McNeely. “When I read that, I was in tears, as I am a supporter of BLM (Black Lives Matter) and have a blended family. I felt Matthew’s words needed to be shared. His words were not a regular letter to staff of ‘Oh, we will keep everyone in our thoughts and prayers.” He took a stance, was telling us to make a difference and I want to be part of that difference.”

Fellow Pipedream Products employee Mona Madrigal felt a solidarity with the message by virtue of working in the adult retail industry.

“I woke up to this email that brought me to tears and made me feel privileged to work for a company and a leader with such great values,” adds Madrigal. “Our industry is already looked at through prejudicial eyes, so it’s easy to embrace these morals and mentality of no blurred lines and complete equality. I could not be prouder and more supportive of our company/family during these times. Great goodness starts with great leadership and we are in a place to do great things. I am overwhelmed with joy to be a part of this unified team who strives to always be a part of progressive and positive change.”

Pipedream employees were so moved by Matthew’s memo that they began circulating it on their social media channels, leading to other industry professionals reading it as well and sending emails of thanks to Matsudaira. Below is the memo in its entirety.

Dear Pipedream Team,

In light of the recent events in LA, and the country as a whole, I want to be clear on where Pipedream stands.

At Pipedream, we have a responsibility to create a culture where hate and discrimination have no place. When you are at work (remotely or otherwise), I want you all to have a sense of belonging, acceptance, and safety. We will always drive to cultivate a space where everyone feels included. Working against racism is a conscious choice and silence is complicity. We should not be satisfied with ourselves, or our company, until we are intentionally and proactively changing the way we think daily. We should not be satisfied until we are consistently tearing down the prejudices that foster hate. We should not be content until we break the systemic structure that permits inequality and injustice in our society.

I want you to know that Pipedream is here to support you and our customers. We stand in solidarity with the Black community in the fight against racism. We all need to do more than just acknowledge that Black Lives Matter. Let’s play our part and participate in finding a solution. Our SLT acknowledges that it is our responsibility to be part of the solution, and I encourage you not to be silent.

As a company, we will be donating a portion of our proceeds this week to the Equal Justice Initiative. Be committed to taking action and lead with love.

xx,
Matthew