Stories of challenge and success from small businesses that are a force for good.
There is a growing community of entrepreneurs that find inspiration, meaning and success by using business as a force for good. Many of them identify as impact, social ventures, or mission-driven business owners and they are out to build a better future for us all... and make a healthy living doing it. This podcast is a collection of interviews with small business owners sharing their stories of hard-won lessons, relatable inspiration and actionable insights.
Jacinthe is the founder of Koddo & Co., a business financial literacy and fractional CFO service provider. She’s also a serial business owner, was trained as an interior designer and learned business finance the hard way over the last decade. Seeing the same pattern of money stress and shame in dozens of her clients has fueled her passion for financial literacy for small business owners, especially for women and creatives. Jacinthe is also a long-time yogi and meditator. This, along with her personal and professional development efforts, has been part of her toolkit to stay present, minimize the emotional dips, and lean into the lessons on the entrepreneurial roller coaster as they inevitably come up. Listen in on what she's learned as she busts some 6-figure myths.
Kristy O'Leary is a co-founder of Decade Impact, which is a boutique consulting firm that helps businesses measure and improve their social and environmental impact. Her expertise lies in designing impact business models, and defining purpose and future actions for businesses that drive positive change. Before co-founding Decade Impact, she worked in various fields related to sustainability and social impact, ranging from impact measurement in the cacao supply chain to campaigning for community investments for wind farms. Kristy has been a B Corp power user since 2013 and continues to deepen her dedication to the B Corp movement. Guided by a sobering recognition that we live in times where our choices are shaping whether future generations will have a livable future, Kristy has drawn upon allies she found when she moved to Vancouver BC from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. That and her own “pig-headed stubbornness” has helped to claim her calling… to play a significant role in supporting the sustainability revolution. Listen to Kristy’s story and discover how your epic failures can be super valuable, and can transform into your greatest strengths especially when you’re committed to getting back into the game.
This is a special International Women’s Day episode, so get comfortable because we cover a lot of ground in this episode with my guest Madeleine Shaw. I think of Madeleine as a titan in the social impact world. She has launched and led multiple impact ventures for over 30 years. She and her business partner Suzanne Siemens founded Lunapads in 2000, and rebranded as Aisle in 2020. Their company was one of the first in the world to champion natural menstrual care products and sustainable menstrual equity, and has proudly been a B Corp since 2012. Madeleine is also a speaker, mentor and the author of The Greater Good, Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World. This book, and Madeleine herself, is an invitation and support to “everyday people” to find their own way to empowerment and change-making through social entrepreneurship. It becomes quickly apparent that Madeleine is profoundly committed to an expansive vision. She’s not just focused on creating social benefit through business, she’s working to redefine what success as a social entrepreneur means in a 21st-century world. So, settle in and listen to what can happen when you commit to playing the long game.
Ivelisse Morales is our guest today. Her company is “Bombilla” which means lightbulb in Puerto Rican Spanish, and this company shines bright with its all women-of-color staff and is fueled by a national network of diverse co-conspiring creatives on their mission to make the world brighter. In less than five years, this small & mighty team has served over 60 clients in the Bay Area and across the US with brand strategy, visual identity and graphic design. Ivi is a recognized speaker, poet and writer and an award-winning entrepreneur who brings a decade of experience in using marketing as a force for good—for brands of all sizes. From inside major creative agencies like IDEO and Ogilvy and beyond, Ivi has sharpened her creative skillset in public relations, media, design, marketing and communications all in the service of positive change. When you listen to her, she comes across super chill, bright, and thoughtful, but don’t let her seemingly casual demeanor fool you, she’s a high-achieving dynamo that has recently learned the hard way that even a beautiful vision can crush you.
