Podcasts about fair trade federation

Confession time—we meant to bring you this episode back in September, but life had other plans. So, if you hear us talking about September, just roll with it! This December, we're diving deep into social impact, exploring the stories, struggles, and triumphs of those making a difference in the world. In this episode I sit down with Chris, a passionate advocate for fair trade and ethical consumerism, to talk about his journey, insights on greenwashing and fairwashing, and advice for navigating today's complex marketplace as an ethical business. 00:00 - Introduction   More about our guest today Chris has dedicated his career to strengthening fair trade businesses and advancing the goals of the larger fair trade movement. As Executive Director, Chris leads the strategic, administrative, and programmatic aspects of the Fair Trade Federation. Prior to joining the FTF in 2016, Chris spent ten years with Ten Thousand Villages US, focused on sales training, event facilitation, and board development. He has served on the WFTO Global Board of Directors since 2019 as the Pacific Representative .  Chris has a BA in Social Science from Cleveland State University, and a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University.   Learn more about Chris and his work in the episode   09:10 - Experiences and Influences on Chris's Career 12:13 - Challenges of Greenwashing and Fairwashing 19:01 - The Role of Large Corporations in Ethical Consumerism 34:07 - Consumer Empowerment and Personal Responsibility 34:21 - Conclusion Mentions Chris Solt LinkedIn Fair Trade Federation Fair Trade Principles Fair Trade Federation Code of Practice   Connect with me: https://jennynuccio.com/contact Follow along with my Weekly Wild: Sign Up! Find me on social media: Jenny Nuccio Work with me through one-on-one mentorship and strategic coaching sessions: Join me! Sign up to receive a copy of the podcast slides covered in this week's episode: https://jennynuccio.myflodesk.com/ry8jrddbfx

How can we make sustainable fashion more culturally and politically relevant? Fashion's environmental and social impact often gets overlooked by the climate movement and by governments, though this is slowly starting to change.Similarly, the conversations around sustainable fashion don't often feel aligned with mainstream media and culture. But there is a massive opportunity to harness the power of mass media and celebrities or artistic talent, to drive change in the industry. In this episode, Stella interviews Samata Pattinson, CEO of RCGD Global — formerly Red Carpet Green Dress — to explore how we can drive the sustainable fashion conversation forward and expand it to wider audiences.Samata also shares how she brought in fashion to decision-making spaces at COP27, what role celebrities play in the sustainable fashion movement, and moreI found this conversation super inspiring, and it was a reminder that each of us, every single one of us — belongs in this movement, and has a unique place here.P.S. If you're searching for where you might fit in in the movement through your career, I'd definitely recommend checking out our free ebook on Conscious Fashion Collective on 101 Careers in Sustainable Fashion. ***EPISODE SPONSORSPassion LilieFair trade fashion brand Passion Lilie partners with 5 different artisan groups in India to create their beautifully printed dresses, jumpsuits, and a variety of other clothing and accessories. As a Fair Trade Federation member, Passion Lilie ensures that their partners are paying living wages to their makers, offering a safe and healthy work environment, and are investing in the overall wellbeing of the artisans. The brand also uses durable natural fibers and non-toxic dyes for their collections.Conscious Fashion Collective Job BoardWant to start or grow a career in sustainable fashion? Find your next career opportunity on Conscious Fashion Collective's Job Board. (Or if you are hiring, submit your job opening!)You can also sign up for the Conscious Fashion Collective job newsletter to get career opportunities delivered to your inbox, plus upcoming events.***SHOW NOTEShttps://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/samata-pattinson***RESOURCES MENTIONED:Free Ebook: 101 Careers In Sustainable FashionPodcast Ep.55 How To Challenge Cultural Misappropriation with Monica Boța-MoisinWorking Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities in AfricaAfrica Earth Jurisprudence MovementSindiso KhumaloLukhanyo Mdingi***CONNECT WITH RCGD GLOBAL & SAMATA:

The fashion industry has an outsized carbon footprint. But many fashion brands have been making promising statements about their carbon emissions reduction or carbon neutrality goals. How does the actual progress and supply chain action match up to these goals, though? It can, frankly, be difficult to discern. But in today's episode, we're going to unravel the tangled web of confusing greenwashing and claims and dig into the nitty gritty of where fashion actually stands on climate action today. I (Elizabeth here!) spoke with Rachel and Erdene of the climate and environmental advocacy organization Stand.Earth. The team at Stand just released their 2023 Fossil Free Fashion Scorecard, ranking 43 influential fashion brands on their progress towards decarbonization in their supply chain.In this episode, we talk about this scorecard, discuss where fashion stands now on climate action, and what brands need to do in order to reach their climate goals.***THIS EPISODE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY... Passion LilieFair trade fashion brand Passion Lilie partners with 5 different artisan groups in India to create their beautifully printed dresses, jumpsuits, and a variety of other clothing and accessories. As a Fair Trade Federation member, Passion Lilie ensures that their partners are paying living wages to their makers, offering a safe and healthy work environment, and are investing in the overall wellbeing of the artisans. The brand also uses durable natural fibers and non-toxic dyes for their collections.***Conscious Fashion Collective Job BoardWant to start or grow a career in sustainable fashion? Find your next career opportunity on Conscious Fashion Collective's Job Board. (Or if you are hiring, submit your job opening!)You can also sign up for the Conscious Fashion Collective job newsletter to get career opportunities delivered to your inbox, plus upcoming events.***SHOW NOTEShttps://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/stand-earth-fossil-free-fashion***TRANCRIPT:https://conscious-style-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/80-where-does-fashion-stand-on-climate-progress-rachel-erdene-of-standearth ***CONNECT WITH STAND.EARTH: 

How can fair trade economically empower women and communities? In so many ways! Join Elisha as she chats with Joy McBrien, founder of the social enterprise Fair Anita, about her path towards entrepreneurship and the powerhouse women she met along the way. Joy shares the sobering connection between financial insecurity and domestic abuse, how Fair Anita incorporates women's empowerment into their business model & reporting structures, and the importance of centering their makers in the design process. Finally, Joy also shares how joining a network like the Fair Trade Federation helped her business thrive and grow. Visit fairtradela.org/podcast for show notes and exclusive discounts.  

It seems like every week a new video comes out about someone losing their cool on airplanes, this week Kristen and Matthias dive into what might be going on. Plus, is high functioning anxiety a real thing? Links + Resources Onsite Workshops The Anxiety and Worry Workbook: The Cognitive Behavioral Solution  EveryPlate's easy-to-follow recipes and pre-portioned ingredients take the stress out of dinnertime. Great for kids learning to cook and great for parents who are stressed between work and school supervision. EveryPlate does the meal planning, shopping, and prepping for you, taking the time-consuming guesswork out of cooking. Try EveryPlate for just $1.99 per meal plus an additional 20% off your next 2 boxes by going to EveryPlate.com and entering code selfie199. Fazl is a company that works in collaboration with artisans in India to make gorgeous wool goods while providing fair wages for the women who make their products.The women Fazl employs create cozy handmade items such as warm socks, hats, and mittens in really beautiful traditional patterns. They have a passion for both caring for orphans and preventing children from being orphaned in the first place. They donate a significant portion of profits to children's homes, and provide sustainable jobs for hundreds of Indian women in need. Fazl believes every person has the right to dignified work and ethical wages, and as such they are certified with the Fair Trade Federation for accountability. Their vegan blend of acrylic and nylon means the warmth of wool without the itch, and long-lasting durability and wamrth. And guys - they are cute. If you are looking for some great winterwear, or some gifts that give back as the holiday season approaches, keep Fazl in mind. You can check out their products at shopFazl.com. There's no “one-size-fits-all” solution when it comes to haircare. Prose makes custom haircare that's effective because it's personal. Using natural ingredients with proven results, Prose customizes every product in your routine from your shampoo to supplements. First, Prose starts by asking about you as a person with their in-depth consultation and creates products specific to your hair type. As a carbon-neutral certified B-Corp, Prose is an industry leader in clean and responsible beauty. All their ingredients are sustainably-sourced, ethically gathered, and cruelty-free. They're also the first custom beauty brand to go carbon-neutral. If you're not 100% positive Prose is the best hair care you've had, they will take the products back no questions asked.Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Take your FREE in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order today! Go to Prose.com/selfie.  We've talked quite a lot in our community group about the unexpected and frustrating symptoms of perimenopause, menopause. Bonafide is a company dedicated to providing natural solutions for women. Their supplements are created to effectively relieve the symptoms that accompany hormonal fluctuations within our bodies.Bonafide believes every women deserves relief without compromise – from PMS to menopause and everything else along the way. Their Relizen® supplement provides powerful, hormone-free relief to women experiencing menopausal hot flashes and night sweats, so they can stay cool and dry all day and night. Tthe ingredients in every Bonafide product are the result of thorough research, development, & clinical trials resulting in every product being scientifically validated, All products are made with safe yet powerful ingredients, completely free from hormones, & without alarming side effects. Give Bonafide a try today for REAL relief, without compromise, and without a prescription needed. To get 20% off your first purchase when you subscribe to any product, go to HelloBonafide.com and use promo code SELFIE. 

Today Kristen and Matthias answer a listener question about how to help a spouse dealing with mental health issues but won't seek treatment. Plus, everyone's favorite topic: anxiety! Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder a chronic, life-long condition? And...why is Squid Game so popular? Links + Resources Health at Every Size (HAES) The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor Squid Game on Netflix Subscribe via Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | IHeartRadio Fazl is a company that works in collaboration with artisans in India to make gorgeous wool goods while providing fair wages for the women who make their products.The women Fazl employs create cozy handmade items such as warm socks, hats, and mittens in really beautiful traditional patterns. They have a passion for both caring for orphans and preventing children from being orphaned in the first place. They donate a significant portion of profits to children's homes, and provide sustainable jobs for hundreds of Indian women in need. Fazl believes every person has the right to dignified work and ethical wages, and as such they are certified with the Fair Trade Federation for accountability. Their vegan blend of acrylic and nylon means the warmth of wool without the itch, and long-lasting durability and wamrth. And guys - they are cute. If you are looking for some great winterwear, or some gifts that give back as the holiday season approaches, keep Fazl in mind. You can check out their products at shopFazl.com and use the promo code SELFIE15 for 15% off.

Kristen introduces Selfie's new co-host, Matthias Roberts. After playing 10-questions, Matthias and Kristen discuss resources for parents wanting to raise kids in a sex-positive environment. They end with a conversation about the new Netflix show Maid and the issues of emotional domestic abuse it addresses. Links + Resources: Shameless Parenting by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends It's So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health Maid on Netflix Subscribe via Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | IHeartRadio Fazl is a company that works in collaboration with artisans in India to make gorgeous wool goods while providing fair wages for the women who make their products.The women Fazl employs create cozy handmade items such as warm socks, hats, and mittens in really beautiful traditional patterns. They have a passion for both caring for orphans and preventing children from being orphaned in the first place. They donate a significant portion of profits to children's homes, and provide sustainable jobs for hundreds of Indian women in need. Fazl believes every person has the right to dignified work and ethical wages, and as such they are certified with the Fair Trade Federation for accountability. Their vegan blend of acrylic and nylon means the warmth of wool without the itch, and long-lasting durability and warmth. And guys - they are cute. If you are looking for some great winterwear, or some gifts that give back as the holiday season approaches, keep Fazl in mind. You can check out their products at shopFazl.com and use the promo code SELFIE15 for 15% off. .

India is in a crisis. In September 2020, the Indian government passed three new agricultural bills that deregulate and privatize India's agricultural industry. Since then, farmers and farmworkers across India have taken to the country's capital, staging the largest protest in human history. By prioritizing corporations over people and the planet, many believe these laws further environmental degradation and economic oppression, deepening an already stark wealth disparity. These protests are as much about land rights as they are about human rights, as dissent continues to be silenced. In this urgent conversation, moderated by social impact advisor Manpreet Kaur Kalra, panelists Arjun Singh Sethi, a human rights lawyer, and Navyug Gill, scholar of modern South Asia and global history, unpack the history of industrialized agriculture in India and the geo-political factors influencing the protest that is unfolding today. Arjun Singh Sethi is a human rights lawyer, professor, author, and community activist based in Washington, DC. He works closely with Muslim, Arab, South Asian and Sikh communities, and holds faculty appointments at Georgetown University Law Center and Vanderbilt University Law School. In the wake of the 2016 election, Sethi traveled the country and met with a diversity of people to document the hate they experienced during the campaign and after inauguration. American Hate: Survivors Speak Out was released in August 2018r. Sethi also serves as Co-Chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, Terrorism & Treatment of Enemy Combatants at the American Bar Assocation and has served as a legal observer across the world, including military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. Navyug Gill is a scholar of modern South Asia and global history. He is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at William Paterson University. His research explores questions of agrarian change, labor politics, caste hierarchy, postcolonial critique, and global capitalism. Currently he is completing a book on the emergence of the peasant and the rule of capital in colonial Panjab. His academic and popular writings have appeared in venues such as the Journal of Asian Studies, Economic and Political Weekly, Al Jazeera, Law and Political Economy Project, Borderlines, and Trolley Times. Manpreet Kaur Kalra (she/her) is a social impact advisor, anti-racism educator, and Seattle-based activist working to decolonize storytelling. She navigates the intersection of impact communication and sustainable global development. She founded Art of Citizenry to support impact-driven businesses and organizations to address inclusion in all aspects, from business development to marketing strategy. Her activism focuses on the interconnectivity of economic, social, and climate justice. She educates using a variety of mediums, including the Art of Citizenry Podcast, where she shares her nuanced and unfiltered insights on building a more just and equitable future. Her work unpacks history and addresses systemic power structures. She serves on the board of the NYC Fair Trade Coalition and co-established the Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Fair Trade Federation. Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here. 

How are artisans and their social enterprises overcoming barriers? How is Fair Trade being combined with commercial innovations to adapt to new challenges? In what ways do Fair Trade Enterprises differ from conventional businesses? These questions will be explored by leaders from the Fair Trade movement. WFTO is the global community of social enterprises that fully practice Fair Trade. It's Guarantee System verifies purpose-driven businesses that put people and planet first. In this episode, Erinch Sahan, Chief Executive of WFTO, is joined by Sasibai Kimis, Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Earth Heir and Rachel Spence, Director of Operations and Engagement at Fair Trade Federation to discuss innovations during COVID times, the commercial gains of Fair Trade and and they remain committed to their workers, artisans and communities.  

We always love to highlight organizations that value people over profit, and there's no better way to do that than inviting Kristen King, an Organizer for Equal Exchange, which has been a leading pioneer in fair-trade productions and ethical production for the past 35 years. Kristen breaks down what exactly "fair-trade" means and how to ensure the product you're consuming really is ethically produced. She also shares the modus operandi Equal Exchange uses, which connects small-scale farmers with a global market and consumers with the farmers behind the coffee, tea, chocolate and other products we all consume everyday. Fierce Freedom listeners can also get 10% off their Equal Exchange purchase this month by using our promo code FIERCE at checkout. Listeners are also encouraged to join EE's free Citizen-Consumer Network to continue the conversation and learning how to transform the food system into a sustainable model throughout all parts of the supply chain. To check out a list of other ethical orgs you can visit the Fair Trade Federation's page linked here.

What makes Fair Trade Enterprises stand out from mainstream businesses? How are they distinguishing themselves through the pandemic, and how could they reshape business? WFTO is the global community of social enterprises that fully practice Fair Trade, with a Guarantee System that verifies purpose-driven businesses that put people and planet first. In this episode, Chris Solt, Executive Director of the Fair Trade Federation (US and Canada) and WFTO Board Member, is joined by Alice Grau, Creative Director of Global Mamas and Hisham El Gazzar, CEO of Yadawee to discuss how COVID-19 has impacted their production and trade, the challenges and opportunities that have emerged, and how they remain committed to their workers, artisans and communities. RESOURCES | NY NOW Podcast Page: https://nynow.com/podcast | NY NOW Email Subscription: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/147c19d133dc472cbc83778bcaec0402 | NY NOW Digital Market: https://nynowdigitalmarket.com | NY NOW : https://nynow.com

Sojourns sources its goods from distributors vetted by the Fair Trade Federation. Fair trade is no sweatshop labor, no child labor and no forced labor. Artisans are paid fair and living wages and work in safe conditions. We work with over 400 artisan cooperatives in 60 countries. 60% are woman and many of those women have been liberated or protected from sex trafficking. Your Sojourns purchase makes a difference, both locally and nationally. Please support local and go visit this amazing store located in Crestwood Village.

I think we can all agree that education is important. My guest today is passionate about making higher education accessible and giving opportunities to incredibly bright students in Africa for development and education around the world. 1:13 – Dr. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire’s background Dr. Bosire is the founder and CEO of 8B Education Investments, a financial and education technology platform specialized in lending to African students to attend world-class global universities. 5:48 – Meet Dr. Bosire The “B” in 8B stands for billion. They want to find out what Africa needs to do in order to compete, innovate and thrive in a world of 8 billion people. 8:51 – What led Dr. Bosire to do this work She was born in western Kenya and went to United World Colleges. She found that international spaces in business and other sectors were not inclusive, and she wanted to see more people like her in those spaces. 14:40 – Breaking down barriers and expanding opportunities Dr, Bosire realized she needed more people like herself in power to help others. Her sole purpose is to address the key bottleneck, which is the financing. If financing was as available for African students as it is available to a Chinese student or Indian student or a Singaporean student, a lot more African students would be in universities. 24:41 – Narrative matters Our words matter. How we tell stories matter. Because those things begin to get imprinted in our minds, in our culture, in our society. 32:10 – Charity vs. education investment It doesn’t have to be either or. It doesn’t have to be charity or education investment. It can be both. “You’re saying to somebody, ‘I see this potential in you. I see this talent in you, and I’m investing in your education for a greater purpose.” – Molly 37:45 – Not enough innovation in nonprofit There’s not enough innovation in the nonprofit space. Business can be used for good, like a nonprofit. Overall, most nonprofits don’t innovate because they just don’t have to. But businesses have to innovate. 48:03 – Get to know you questions Who has influenced Dr. Bosire the most? Oprah What song she has to sing along with? Frozen ballads Favorite dinner – Kale and avocado First thing she does when she gets home? Hug those close to her FEATURED QUOTES “That’s the business that I am in now, of making opportunity.” – Dr. Bosire “If we had financing as available for African students as it is available to a Chinese student or Indian student or a Singaporean student, we would have a lot more African students in universities.” – Dr. Bosire ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OR LINKS  https://africaglobaleducation.com/ https://twitter.com/8B_AfricaEdu About Dr. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire Dr. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire is the Founder and CEO of 8B Education Investments, a financial and education technology platform specialized in lending to African students to attend world-class global universities and supporting them to succeed. 8B is on a mission to strengthen Africa’s human capital by equipping the continent’s future leaders and ecosystem builders to innovate, compete, and thrive in the knowledge economy of the 21st century. A Kenyan national, Lydiah brings to the field of innovative finance her personal experience, and over eighteen years working on issues of international politics, development, and human rights. Prior to founding 8B, Lydiah worked at the United Nations, the World Bank, and leading global NGOs. Most recently, she served as lead for the UN-World Bank Partnership at the Department of Political Affairs of the UN Secretariat. While completing her studies at the University of Oxford, Lydiah co-founded Oxford Transitional Justice Research. Lydiah was a pioneer of the global youth movement around HIV/AIDS. She co-founded the YouthForce advocacy platform used at all international HIV/AIDS conferences since, and served as a founding board member of the non-profit Keep a Child Alive. Lydiah currently serves on the board at WorldQuant University, and is a member of the UWC Atlantic College Advisory Council. She publishes and speaks on a wide range of topics, including on the role of innovative finance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN and the World Bank in conflict-affected states, and the role of world-class human capital in African development. Lydiah completed her doctorate (D.Phil) in Politics at the University of Oxford. She also holds a Master of Science from Oxford, where she attended as a Clarendon Scholar. She received an undergraduate degree with honors in Government and a Master of Public Administration at Cornell University. Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

Here we are, it’s the end of 2020, and this year has been bananas. There have been beautiful things but also a lot of really difficult things, and I wanted to end the year in kind of a unique way. I have shared openly on this show over the last few years about how my faith is the foundation of all that I am and how it has influenced my life and changed me in so many ways. In the last few years, I have read through the Bible in one year. In 2020, I finished my third reading of the bible in a year, cover to cover, chronologically. It’s been formative and life changing. If you’ve never read the Bible, please don’t click away. I’m sharing this episode from my heart about something I really believe is life changing. My guest this week is Tara-Leigh Cobble. She is the creator and host of the Bible Recap Podcast and the author of the book, The Bible Recap. She founded D-Group, an international network of weekly discipleship and accountability groups, and she hosts a daily radio show called The God Shot. She hails from Dallas, TX by way of Eastern TN, and I’ve had the privilege of hearing her voice every day as I read the Bible throughout the year. The Bible Recap has greatly impacted my life and I wanted to learn more about Tara and her the work behind The Bible Recap. 6:00 - The Tara-Leigh 101 Tara-Leigh wasn’t always someone who read the Bible. She might have told you she loved it, but she hadn’t read it. She knew it was true, but she didn’t know what it said. Cleary, that has all changed and along with writing The Bible Recap and hosting Bible Recap Podcast, she also founded D-Group, which stands for Discipleship Group. it is a weekly Bible study and discipleship group that meets in homes and churches and online and does deep dives into books of the Bible and topics of theology. She started D-Group the same year she started reading through the Bible because she needed and wanted to talk to people about what she was reading. She started learning about so much she never knew growing up in the church and wanted to talk about it. Tara-Leigh was working in ministry and not even reading through the Bible yet. She spent her days talking to people about and singing about the God of the Bible but had not read all of his word. One day, a friend asked if she’s ready the whole Bible. She’d been a student of the word, but still hadn’t read the Bible in its entirety. Her friend recommended she read the whole thing (even the genealogies). She was told it would take 12 minutes a day to read it in a year. Surprisingly, the commitment was not the hard part. It was what she was seeing when she was reading it. She had not yet encountered a lot of these things about the Lord and realized she’d taken things out of context, was not understanding things rightly, and was reading it as if looking into a mirror looking back at herself instead of holding a lens to see the living God and who He is. Tara-Leigh’s friend encouraged her to stick with reading through the Bible and challenged her to look for God and His character. It was a huge awakening for her to read through the Bible chronologically the first time, but even more so the second time when she started looking for God instead of how he could make all her dreams come true. 15:38 – Through the Bible in a Year Tara-Leigh has read through the Bible 14 times now. Even on read 14, she’s learning new things and seeing some things for the first time. She recently recorded a podcast episode on God’s intervening in our lives. A few days later while she was praying, she felt like God was telling her, “I don’t intervene.” She measured it against scripture to see if it was really from the Lord. She looked through Hebrews to see if the word intervene shows up anywhere. It doesn’t. She looked through the Greek and Aramaic translations and the word “intervene” is nowhere in the Bible. She looked up the word in the dictionary. To intervene, you have to be outside of a situation and insert yourself into it, and God is not outside of any situation. Tara-Leigh had to go back and edit that podcast episode.

The word for 2020 has been PIVOT. Especially when it comes to sustaining a business during an economy in the middle of a global pandemic. My guest today is living this idea of pivoting out. Her story about launching a business at the beginning of a pandemic and them completely pivoting is incredibly inspiring and you are going to love this conversation. Marissa Goldstein is a proud mother of two sets of twins. Yes, you heard that right – two sets of twins. She’s also the CEO of the leading sustainable travel accessory brand Rafi Nova. As an avid traveler, Marissa founded Rafi Nova to encourage families to travel while creating meaningful connections with global communities. While the pandemic shifted her company’s production to face masks, it expanded the company’s ability to connect and protect communities and support social causes committed to inclusivity. Under Marissa’s leadership, Rafi Nova will have donated more than 150,000 masks to organizations in need and workers on the front lines by the end of the year. This was such an incredible conversation and Marissa is such a leader in this area. Grab a warm, cozy, festive drink and Join me as I chat with Marissa. 4:42 - The Marissa 101 Marissa is the co-founder and CEO of Rafi Nova. Rafi Nova is a social enterprise on a mission to create great products that meet the ever-changing needs of families and communities, and serves to connect, inspire, and encourage others to get out there and go. She and her husband are parents to TWO sets of twins. Marissa’s family lives life on the go (or certainly before the pandemic). For the last 3-4 years, they spent half the year living in Vietnam, and the other half living right outside of Boston, MA. After Marissa finished her MBA in 2015, she joined her husband working at his manufacturing business helping consumer products companies in the US make products overseas in Vietnam. They’ve always had a wanderlust, and quickly fell in love with Southeast Asia on an around the world trip. They settled in Vietnam, creating their own supply chain and amazing community of friends. Their niche was bags, backpacks, duffel bags, luggage, etc. Every weekend they traveled to other Southeast Asia countries to meet with different ethnic women and tribes. In Northern Vietnam four years ago, they met women trying to sell their trinkets with a colorful textile wrapped around then. They discovered the women’s stories as well as the story behind the artform that has been passed down from generation to generation. It started to disappear because of technology and younger generations choosing different career paths in cities. Marissa and her husband wanted to find a way to use that textile traditional art form and put them on meaningful products in the US while also supporting the women, telling their stories, and preserving the art form. They started their own brand, Rafi Nova, which is named after their two sets of twins. They goal was to create useful products and accessories that people can wear when they’re on the go. All of the Rafi Nova products use upcycled textiles that have a story. Marissa and her husband spent a year building the company in Vietnam and came back to Boston to officially start the company. It was right as Covid-19 started spreading in the US, before anyone knew what was coming. They launched the day after the product arrived on February 16th and two weeks later received their town’s stay-at-home orders before Rafi Nova even had a shot at thriving. They knew they needed to put their factory to good use to help during the pandemic as well as keep their factory opening as product orders began plummeting. It was actually their four-year-old who suggested they start making masks. In Vietnam, people wear masks every day because of the air pollution, which gave Marissa and her family a unique perspective on masks that most Americans don’t have. They know what it takes to make a comfortable, safe, and effective mask. They called up their factory and decided they were going to make 10,000 makes to donate to front-line workers. Word caught on quickly and people were asking if Rafi Nova would sell the masks for their own personal use. It was in March, when there was a lot of dialogue about masks but nowhere to buy them.  They put the masks on their website, and 24 hours later they’d done over $25,000 in sales with a gratitude for the opportunity and the need for a plan to fulfill the orders! Since that day, Rafi Nova has sold over 2 million masks, and donated over 125,000 masks and have more than 30 employees in a 7500 sq ft fulfillment center. Marissa credits her experience as a mom of two twins for preparing her for this endeavor. 19:22 – Empowering Artisans Through Partnership After discovering the traditional handicrafts in Northern Vietnam, Rafi Nova wanted to find a way to connect with local communities and communities around the world. They would stay in the communities in a very different environment than what they were used to and believe that exploring these differences is a beautiful part of life. They found that we all have commonalities. Marissa saw that the communities in Vietnam had children whose parents wanted them to thrive, just like Marissa wanted for her children. They were able to connect through their roles as mothers. Even through language barriers, the language of motherhood rose up to connect them. Rafi Nova fell in love with the traditional art form and after learning more about the tribes who made them, they wanted to bring the art to the US, not to profit of the artisans, but to tell the story of the textiles and purchase them at fair trade rates to help families profit and preserve the art in various forms. 22:07 – Seeking Adventure (in 2020 and beyond). Rafi Nova has a vision to connect the global community of families to seek adventure. 2020 was a heck of a year, and it also gave Rafi Nova an opportunity to begin. They sold a lot of masks and created a loyal customer base while also giving back during a tumultuous time in our history, fulfilling their core values. While masks are not the product they intended to sell originally, they are a part of Rafi Nova’s story and fit their mission to connect people, keep them safe, and giving back to the community. In 2021, they want Rafi Nova to be a lifestyle brand destination of ethically-sourced products that encourage families to get out, connect, and give back. Even though adventure looks different in 2020, it is still relevant to Rafi Nova’s mission, just with an evolved definition. Most of us have an ideal vision of adventure that involves hoping on a plane and exploring a place we’ve never been to. These days, it could be a family bike ride, RV trip, a camping trip, or just a walk exploring the woods behind your house together. Adventure can also mean finding new and better systems for you and your family to slow down and spend more quality time together. Rafi Nova will continue to sell masks and are also adding a new line of products to accompany us on our new adventures and journeys. 24:37 – The Ethical Piece Marissa was raised with a sense of community and giving back. It’s so important to know where our products come from, how it’s made, and who made it. When finishing her MBA, Marissa was the cofounder of a solar startup based in India creating solar energy machines that provided fans, cell phone charging and light to rural communities. Rafi Nova spends time in their factories with the factory owners every day. They are like second family and it has been eye opening to have the opportunity to join communities in understanding the lifecycle of a product. There are so many pieces of the production line and every step holds the story of a person. 27:42 – Connecting You can find more about Rafi Nova at www.rafinova.com and on all the social channels. If you want to follow Marissa and her family’s adventures, follow @twinsonthegox2 on Instagram! 28:13 – Getting to Know Our Guest Find out what song Marissa has to sing along to when it comes on the radio, a person who has influenced her the most, what she would eat if she had to eat the same meal every night for the rest of her life, her favorite TV show to watch growing up, and of course, stay tuned to hear what it means to Marissa to run a business with purpose. 14:41 - “We started this pivot out of a sense of service, not out of a sense of business.” 15:42 - “I think my experience as a mom to two sets of twins or even a set of twins prepared us for this. We always go into life being flexible and being open-minded and knowing things are not going to come as they seem and that you need to pivot in a lot of your everyday life.” 24:08 – “Adventures have new meanings these days.” 24:23 – In 2021, while we will still be selling masks, we are coming out with a line of amazing products that we’re working so hard on that can accompany you on these new adventures and these new journeys.   Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

Marriage is beautiful. It’s hard, but it’s beautiful. Work can be beautiful. Hard, but beautiful. When you combine marriage and work, those things can be beautiful, but they can also be really, really hard. My guests today recently completed the largest research study on working married couples in the US, and spent the last few years interviewing couples who want to stay in love, change the world, and raise a happy family. Jeff and Andrew Shinabarger. Jeff is the co-author of Love or Work: Is it Possible to Change the World, Stay in Love, and Raise a Family. He’s also the founder of Plywood People, a nonprofit in Atlanta leading a community of startups doing good. His work has been featured in Forbes Inc., CNN, USA Weekend, and Huffington Post. He’s mentored over 600 startups and created the largest social entrepreneurship event in the South called “Plywood Presents.” His wife, Andre Shinabarger is an adventurer who loves seeing the world. She was born in Boliva, and she has a deep passion for building community with marginalized people groups. She works at Grady Memorial Hospital as a physician’s assistant and is an adjunct professor for Emory University as well as an advisor to Plywood People, host of the Love or Work Podcast, and coauthor of the Love or Work book along with her husband, Jeff. These two are incredible and I’ve long admired their work through Plywood People and Plywood Presents. It was such a joy to have them on the show. You’re going to get so much out of this conversation whether you’re married or single. This episode is for everyone. 6:41 – The Jeff and Andre 101 Andre was born in Bolivia and Spanish is her first language. She is a physician’s assistant at Grady Health System where she and her colleagues take care of underserved communities. She and Jeff met in college, have been married for 18 years, and have two children who are 10 and 8 years-old. Jeff leads an organization called Plywood People, a nonprofit that leads a community of startups doing good. He loves getting involved in these projects to help pass on his wisdom, lessons from mistakes, and help people grow their dream projects. Early on, Jeff and Andre stared a project called “Gift Card Giver.” They would collect unused gift cards and give them to people in need. People started sending their gift cards from all over the nation. Because of that, people started connecting Jeff with other people with ideas. They gave away a few hundred thousand dollars in gift cards, and people started recognizing Jeff and asking him how to help them get their ideas off the ground. The name Plywood People came after Jeff and Andrew traveled extensively doing various relief work. He always saw Plywood as a short-term fix to a long-term problem, and people giving their lives to continue raising up a place and making it better. 11:48 – Love or Work? The Book Love or Work came out of a long personal journey of working with people who are starting their own business. Unfortunately, they often also saw a lot of relationships falling apart because of those startup businesses efforts. It’s hard to maintain and nurture relationships when so much of an entrepreneur’s time is taken up by stress and trying to get a new project off the ground. Often business mentoring sessions would also turn into therapy sessions with clients emotional over their stressed relationships or lack of free time to spend with their partners. They saw such a big need in the community that they started to research how many people were feeling that struggle. They wanted to know if it was really possible to do it all or is that just an idealistic notion? Jeff and Andrew started interviewing people and asking more questions. The book is especially timely during this pandemic we’re experiencing in 2020. With many couples now working at home and in close proximity, many are struggling to adjust to this adjustment in their increased time together at home. Virtual school, kids, and general stress adds even more pressure on relationships. 14:54 – Podcasts and Pandemics Jeff and Andre also have a Love or Work Podcast in addition to the book. They help couples focus on their marriage with resources that help people have not only a great marriage, but also a great career and family, all at the same time. It is possible! They hosted over 100 couples on their podcast and did a research project where they surveyed 1500 working couples! They wanted a broad perspective backed up by data. Andre personally didn’t think she wanted kids because she didn’t think she could move up in a career if she had kids too. 83% of couples say that working has made them better parents. The proof is in the data. We really don’t have to choose. We can both work and be good parents. Women and men feel guilt being away from their kids while they are working, but you can let go a of a lot of that guilt. Jeff cares a lot about Andre’s purpose and while it is not perfect, many couples reported that they desire that support in their relationships. It should be a marriage issue, not a career issue. It’s not a topic that is brought up in marriage books, but if a partner doesn’t value the other’s purpose, they don’t value their partner. Women are coming out of the workforce 4x more than men right now. They are bearing a lot of the burden during the pandemic to both work and care for their children. Just because we’re home more now doesn’t mean we’re connecting. Both the Love or Work book and podcast helps people connect heart-wise and get deeper into issues of work, love, and kids. It has work couples can do together at the end of the book as well. When was the last time you invested in resources to help you with your relationship? We invest in so much, but this important aspect of our lives together is too often an exception to that. 30:15 – Love and Work Through the Years A desire for passion and fulfilment in work has started to develop in the last few decades in our society: A real deep desire for passion and purpose in what we do for our careers, and that is only going to continue. More families are likely to include to people with deep passion for their work. The question is how to maintain partner relationships, relationships with the children in the family, and how everyone stays healthy in that. 95% of participants in Jeff and Andre’s study believed it’s possible to say in love, change the world, and raise a happy family. However, they’re all exhausted trying to do it. No one goes to counseling, they don’t exercise, they don’t take vacations. It’s not worth it to “have it all” if you’re having it all in an unhealthy state. Jeff and Andre talk about practical ways to have it all in a way that’s healthy. This increased time at home has also spurred difficult and important conversations and given couples time to reflect on their relationship and make sure they’re both willing to stay on the same team long term. It’s a hard but vital question. Counseling and opening the conversation for feedback to trusted friends is vital. 37:42 – Strong Marriages If we change the world and lose our family, we lose. Sometimes we have to say no to work and prioritize our kids. You can change your family set up if it is no longer working for you. It’s your family and marriage, and you can adjust together and edit accordingly. Don’t force something that isn’t working for you and your family just because you said you’d do it. It will help you grow together rather than grow apart. A finding from their research that genuinely surprised Andrew is that only 8% of couples surveyed have ever gotten counseling. Even if counseling feels scary, even talking to someone close to you who may be further along in their journey or buying a book to help can set couples on a better path simply because they are investing in something for their relationship. Only 31% of couples have a shared calendar. This also surprised Jeff and Andre. Especially if you have kids, a shared calendar can save a lot of relationships from frustration, miscommunication, and fights. 59% of people surveyed do now use their vacation time! Taking time to step away to be together is a privilege that families should take advantage of if they have it! There are so many forms of different intimacy that can emerge while on vacation! Jeff and Andre learned from their sex therapist friend about the 4, 4, 4 principle. It’s an idea that each person needs for hours of induvial time a week, and couples need 4 hours of time together every week. Away time invigorates us when we actually come back together to spend time with each other. It should of course be intentional time, not just watching Netflix together. Getting to Know Our Guest Find out some fun get-to-know-you things about Jeff and Andre! Things like which of their pet peeves are the strangest, if they had to eat the same meal for dinner every night for the rest of their life, what song they have to sing when it comes on the radio, their favorite TV shows growing up. Be sure you hear what it means to Jeff and Andre to run a business with purpose! Memorable Quotes 13:21 – “When you look at some of the historical leaders that we count as heroes, most of them had pretty rough family lives; Somebody took a hit because they pursued this heroic thing.” 17:46 – “That is a core issue that should be a marriage issue. I’ve never read in a marriage book that you should be in support of your partner’s purpose. That’s not been a topic brought up in any marriage book before. If I don’t value her purpose, I don’t value her.” 23:12 – “The reason why so many women take pride in their work is because they want to paint a picture for their daughters that is a new path forward. A lot of the men connected to this women in committed relationships want the same thing. They want their daughters to see a different image of what their mother is. ” 27:08 - “It’s important that kids see a bigger world view. Whatever you do, it’s important for kids to see that it’s outside of this immediate safe bubble of home, because there are hurting people, and there are bigger needs, and it’s a bigger world out there.” 40:08 – “If we change the world and lose our family, we lose.” About Jeff and Andre Shinabarger: Jeff Shinabarger is the co-author of "Love or Work: Is it possible to change the world, stay in love, and raise a family?" and founder of Plywood People, a non-profit in Atlanta leading a community of startups doing good. His work has been featured by Forbes, Inc., CNN, USA Weekend and Huffington Post. He is the co-founder of Q, mentored over 600 start-ups and created the largest social entrepreneur event in the South called Plywood Presents. André Shinabarger is an adventurer who loves seeing the world. Born in Bolivia, she has a deep passion for building community with marginalized people groups. She works for Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta as a Physician Assistant and is an adjunct professor for Emory University. She is an Advisor to Plywood People, host of the Love or Work Podcast and co-author of the Love or Work book alongside her husband Jeff. Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

There’s a lot of talk about what kindness really looks like these days. Don’t get me wrong, I am someone who is deeply passionate about kindness. True kindness. One of my most important goals as a parent is to raise kind and compassionate kids because it matters. Kindness can also be fleeting. When we take it for granted, the kindness that we think we are spreading around is just very surface-level or even in some cases, harmful. What does real, true, deep kindness really look like? My guest today is on a mission to call all of us to action to exhibit deep kindness. Houston Kraft is a speaker, author, and kindness advocate who has spoken at over 600 schools or events internationally. In 2016, he co-founded Character Strong, curriculum and trainings that help teach social and emotional skills. To date, they’ve worked with over 2500 schools globally, serving over 2 million students. In 2019, his face was actually featured of Lays BBQ chip bags as someone who helps spread smiles. This year, his first book, Deep Kindess was released. Deep Kindness is a call to action beckoning us to a deeper understanding of kindness. It calls readers to move past that surface-level “confetti” kindness marked by cutsie phrases and empty gestures. Instead, Kraft reveals that deep kindness is an ever-growing skillset, rooted in empathy, perspective, courage, and forgiveness. Featuring a 30-act starter plan, journal prompts, and practical exercises, Deep Kindness dives into the types of kindness the world needs most today, taking an honest look at the gap between our belief in kindness and our ability to practice it well. Houston’s hero is his mom, and his best life lesson is to “hug like you mean it” (adjusted safely for Covid-19 of course)! I had the best conversation with Houston. He is really funny and has incredible insights about what kindness looks like today. 6:02 - The Houston 101 Houston is blessed with having parents who have always supported any idea he’s wanted to pursue. He was really passionate about soccer growing up but broke his ankle his freshman year of high school. In lieu of playing soccer, he was invited to participate in his high school’s production of the musical “Once Upon A Mattress.” While honored, Houston has to inform his theatre teacher that he couldn’t sing! They found place for Houston in the musical as the character of a mute king. He fell in love with the story-telling and collaborative process of theatre. Houston continued with theatre all the way through college and took a year off to determine whether he wanted to pursue acting or some form of leadership. He got connected with a speaker who spoke about leadership, compassion, and kindness in schools. He realized it was what he wanted to do too and started speaking at events after college. He absolutely loved being on stage and sharing stories. So much of his own personal story was shaped by stories shared with him in high school around leadership, paradigm shifts, and what it meant to show up for the world in meaningful ways. Houston spoke for 7 years at 600 schools or organizations all over the country. In 2016, he met with a hero of his named John Narlen. Houston wanted to see what John thought about replicating their speaking services for administrators and educational systems to teach empathy, compassion, and social and emotional skills that indicate success and fulfilment in life. The program now works with over 2500 schools and reaches about 25 million kids! Houston also just published his first book that came on in September of 2020 called Deep Kindness. It includes all Houston has learned about kindness and compassion over the past decade. 11:11 – Impacting the Next Generation with Deep Kindness Houston founded Character Strong and works to equip kids with the skills to think of others before themselves, and it’s an important skill to start teaching early to instill people with lifelong empathy and compassion that inspires others around them as well. Houston has found that kids are really impacted by what they think their leaders and culture think about them. We are too focused on achievement over kindness and happiness, and our kids are aware of it. We are missing the mark. What we measure matters. What we ask young people to show us proof of matters. We are not allocating enough time toward selflessness and compassion. Anxiety and narcissism have increased, and the biggest barriers to empathy are fear, anxiety, and narcissism.  Dr. Ross Green tells us that kids do well when they can. Kids want to please the adults in the world around them. The only reason they wouldn’t is lagging skills and unsolved problems. We need to recognize that they need tools to handle the issues in front of them. There may also be things in their life out of their control that they don’t know how to deal with that cause big feelings to be taken out in other areas of their life. It’s been a tough year, and the pandemic and the political season have made it even tougher for adults to be kind to one another. How are we to expect our children to be kind when we’re not doing it? There’s a double standard. Character Strong recognizes that being in the business of school culture change means first and foremost being in the business of adult behavior change. 29:03 – What Gets In the Way Recognizing the obstacles to creating a kinder world helps us narrow the gap between our intentions and reality. Deep Kindness challenges readers to address questions like this. It’s not light and fluffy and takes a little diving to find what we need to move the cultural needle forward. The three categories that can get in our way are incompetence, insecurity, and inconvenience. If we don’t know how to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, we will treat them as a label instead of a person. With insecurity, most of the things we do in life says “I love you” or “please love me.” Those fears can drive disconnection. It’s important to practice kindness. It’s not something that is as easy or simple as we sometimes paint it to be as a society. We are also often too busy to devote our time to that practice. What we give our time to is what we value. We can’t control society or the people around us, but we can choose our reactions and how we interact with the world, and that can be a powerful modeling for others. Deep empathetic kindness requires listening, sacrificing, and discipline. Conditional kindness is just being nice when it’s convenient for us. We must allocate consistent practice of kindness. If we don’t have that discipline day in and day out, we are doing kindness, not being kind. We have to be careful of doing more harm than good, which is what can easily happen if we are doing kindness to feel good instead of truly serving others with an awareness of what they need as opposed to what we want to give to them. 46:14 – Character Strong Character Strong has Pre-K through twelfth grade curriculum for schools and works with individual schools as well as school districts. Teachers, administrators, parents, and community members can reach out to see how Character Strong can work with them! If you’d like to take a deeper dive into kindness, be sure to also check out Deep Kindness for conversations about kindness, a journal with 30 days of practical actions, and all the places where you can purchase the book! 48:15 – Getting to Know Our Guest Find out what song Houston has to sing along with when it comes on, what he most looks forward to when he gets home from traveling, what he would eat for dinner if he had to eat the same thing every night for the rest of his life, his favorite movie to watch growing up, who has influenced him most other than his parents. Listen for Houston’s answer to what it means to him to run a business with purpose! You won’t want to miss that one. Memorable Quotes 18:55 – “We look at the world and sometimes we get frustrated with younger generations wondering why they are not more kind. We have to self-reflect to ask what culture we have created that they feel like these are the metrics of success that they have to live into. What we say is important and what we make to be important are two different things.” 22:45 – “When it comes to school culture change, we are first and foremost in the business of adult behavior change.” 24:20 – “Kids do well when they can.” – Dr. Ross Green, Child Psychologist 25:52 – “I think about the filters with which I can experience the world…if I can provide a couple of layers between me and that person, if I can offer that small veil of what that person is missing or the unsolved problem in their life, it gives me that moment of distance to treat them with compassion.” 33:31 – “I think one of the most damaging narratives to kindness is that it’s free…being kind requires a profound amount of empathy, discomfort, and forgiveness, even if it’s inconvenient to me…the biggest preventer of compassion is just that we are busy all the time.” 41:47 - “Without listening, we lose the empathy side of kindness.” ABOUT HOUSTON KRAFT: Houston is a speaker, author, and kindness advocate who has spoken at over 600 schools or events internationally. In 2016, he co-founded CharacterStrong - curriculum and trainings that help teach social and emotional skills. To date, they have worked with over 2500 schools globally serving over 2 million students. In 2019, his face was featured on Lays BBQ chip bags as someone who helps "spread smiles.” In 2020, his first book, Deep Kindness (Simon & Schuster, Tiller Press) was released. His mom is his hero and her best life lesson is to “hug like you mean it.” Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

I know I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating: I am so excited about the next generation of young people who are coming up in the world and how they are so motivated and determined to make the world a better place. They seem to be starting at a younger and younger age. Just this year, I’ve had quite a few teenagers on the show who are just doing absolutely incredible things in the world. Today’s guest is not different, and she’s going to knock your socks off. My guest this week is Isha Uppalapati, the founder of A Girl’s Frontier, a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on helping young girls find and harness their leadership potential while providing them with the opportunities to do so. She is also the author of Her Toolbox: Learning to Be A Female Leader with Advice from Women in Power, a compilation of advice from women leaders. Isha is a high school senior (can you believe that?!) in Marietta, GA. She is doing more by the age of 18, than I think I’ve done in 35 years of life! Isha is incredibly motivating and encouraging, and you are going to love this conversation. 5:19 - The Isha 101 Isha is the founder of A Girl’s Frontier, a nonprofit that helps young girls fulfil their aspirations and helps them with their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. She’s also the author of Her Toolbox: Learning to Be A Female Leader with Advice from Women in Power. This was all before she became a senior in high school! The idea for A Girl’s Frontier started with some of Isha’s hobbies. She’s always loved making things or putting things together. She’s always had the support of her parents, and would put together doll houses with her dad, or write her own little books and even make her own binding for them. Her family and friends who gave her so much love and support gave her the confidence from a very young age that she could be whatever she wants to be and do whatever she wants to do. Even when she told her support system that she wanted to be a race car driver, they believed she would do it if she said she wanted to. Isha created A Girl’s Frontier to provide the same opportunities she had to girls everywhere. The organization helps fund education for girls around the world, including Honduras and India, connecting them to mentors who can help guide them to be who they want to be. They’ve been holding broken iPad drives. It provides books to young girls in the local community as well as iPads, which has been especially crucial during the pandemic with so many schools having to convert to virtual classrooms. When visiting India, Isha met a young girl who shared her dreams of becoming a doctor with Isha. The girl’s family was extremely poor, and Isha was moved by the girl’s lofty goals and determination. Her parents were not able to afford secondary education, and the realization that this young girl did not have the same opportunity to go to any college she chose, like Isha did, was both a jarring and life-altering moment. Isha knew there were so many brilliant, passionate people in the world who just have doors shut in their faces because of money and lack of opportunity. That moment fueled Isha to do what she’s doing now: ensuring more young girls have equal opportunities to pursue their talents and gifts. 11:39 – A Book and Nonprofit Before the Age of 18 Isha also credits her strong support system with helping her start A Girl’s Frontier. She started researching how to start a 501c3 and started working on her business filing and making the nonprofit official. In Honduras, A Girl’s Frontier works with a group of girls who’ve been rescued from human trafficking and other traumatic situations. Isha simply just started asking people for financial support and material donations, and both started flooding in. So many women are enthusiastic to share with A Girl’s Frontier, understanding their own privileges and opportunities, and desiring to pull other young women up alongside them. Isha has also learned a lot from these incredible women leaders while writing, researching, and interviewing for her book, Her Toolbox: Learning to Be A Female Leader with Advice from Women in Power. Every single women she met emphasized the importance of mentors. Isha knew they were important but really began to understand their impact while writing her book. Mentors not only help you with your struggles, but share their own to help you learn from their failures. She also learned that it’s important to learn how to fail. It’s especially difficult for high schoolers like Isha, trying to pass tests and get good grades to get into college! 17:21 – Women in the Driver’s Seat Isha wants young girls to know that they have the power to be in control of their dreams, lives, and futures. That can look like asking for help, advocating and/or standing up for yourself, and digging in and working hard and continuing to try even when things are difficult, instead of making excuses. Sign up for online seminars, talk to college admissions counselors, ask people who’ve been to college for their advice. All it is is taking control of the situation you are in and making the best of it. Isha is applying to college and may decide this Fall or Spring where she’ll go! She is even applying to international schools. She’s working hard to keep her options open. 22:27 – A Girl’s (Future) Frontier Isha knows her generation if capable of just about anything they put their mind to. Her hope for her generation is that they follow their own dreams and what they want more than generations before them. They have so much access to the world and opportunity through connection and technology, and she wants them to make the most of it. With more opportunity, there’s also more room for them to do more good in the world. Isha is looking toward the future but also staying grounded and taking things one day at a time. She wants to continue with A Girl’s Frontier throughout college and settle in a new area to expand her outreach. She’s also debating another book! 25:12 – Supporting A Girl’s Frontier Head to A Girl’s Frontier to learn more about supporting the organization and all of their programs. You can also find Her Toolbox on Amazon, which is linked at the top of this post in the intro! You can find A Girl’s Frontier on Instagram (@agirlsfrontier) and Facebook to stay connected! 25:54 – Getting to Know Our Guest Find out some fun facts about Isha like what song she has to sing along with the second she hears it, what person in her life has influenced her the most, her favorite TV show to watch growing up, what she would eat for dinner if she could only have the same thing every night, her most unusual talent, and of course stay tuned for her answer to what it means to her to run a business with purpose. Memorable Quotes 7:13 – “They supported me so much through anything I wanted to do, and then I came to this realization that a lot of people don’t have this amazing support system that I have. This vast support system of people telling me I can be whatever I want to be, and showing me that I can and encouraging me that I can.” 15:15 – “You have to learn to fail. You will never do well on every single thing in your life. If you did, it just means that you’re not challenging yourself enough.” Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

November 17, 2020 Tex Dworkin is the co-founder and Chief Community Officer of Raddle, a virtual brainstorm community of (un)like-minded people who help Solopreneurs keep building forward. Before Raddle--she was a socially responsible business leader and spokesperson, growing one of the first ever online fair trade stores close to a million in sales, serving on multiple boards (including eBay's World of Good and Fair Trade Federation) and making media appearances (incl CNN and NPR) to promote business as a tool for social change. She's advised 1000s of entrepreneurs worldwide on building sustainable businesses and is obsessed with helping passion-driven solopreneurs succeed in business. Tex is a huge proponent of thinking outside of the box to grow your business and as you’ll soon find out - sharing that passion with other small business owners.Guest Unsponsor: Proxie Detroit. Grant's Unsponsor: Happy Eco. November 13, 2020 Worldwide total COVID deaths: >1,299,000. USA total deaths: >248,000. World's COVID deaths in the USA: 19.13%. Total active world cases: >14.58 million. Total active USA cases 3.90 million. World's active COVID cases in the USA: >26.7%. New US cases per day: 135,399. USA total cases: 10.87 million. % of Americans who have had COVID: 3.29%. USA National Unemployment: 6.9%. Initial unemployment claims filed last week: 709,000. Dow Jones Industrial Average: 29,479

One of the reasons I started this podcast was to provide a medium to share stories that matter around topics that matter, and to hopefully bring on guests that challenge you, encourage you, inspire you; Maybe to make you think of things in a way you haven’t previously. 2020 has been an exceptionally difficult year between a pandemic, elections, and everything surrounding the topic of race. I am so excited about today’s guest because he is someone who has had an impact on me. I pray our conversation is one that impacts you too. This conversation is challenging, encouraging, funny, and heart-wrenching. I know you are going to walk away feeling inspired. My guest this week is Corey Paul Davis, more widely known as Corey Paul. Corey is a Houston-based rapper, creator, and entrepreneur. Throughout his life, he as overcome several incredible adversities including drug addiction in his family and witnessing his mother shot by his father at the age of seven years old. Eventually he completed high school and served his community as a firefighter, where he won the Ann Sullivan award for heart and courage.  He has a heart for kids who grew up in similar situations to him and started a nonprofit program for youth in the juvenile detention centers of Houston in hopes of providing them mentorship and resources. They successfully graduated over 100 teens from their Hope program and built foundational relationships with the youth in their community. Music has always been a passion of his and an outlet for his pain and thoughts. Corey started his first media company in 2011, and eventually became a full-time creative entrepreneur. Through music, he was able to amass more than 6 million streams, performed international shows, and built a strong social media presence. He has released three studio albums, two of which made it on the Billboard charts! As a young business owner, Corey quickly learned how little he knew about money management due to his lack of exposure growing up in the marginalized, low-income community. That experience started his financial literacy quest, which would ultimately lead to his desire to start The Literacy Kings Podcast. For over 10 years, he has worked to build his platform as a trusted voice for creatives, entrepreneurs, social justice, and faith. He still believes that this is only the beginning. He is married to his high school sweetheart and they have a beautiful two-year-old daughter. Join me as I sit down to hear more from Corey about the ways God has woven his path so far, and Corey believes God has in store! 12:37 - The Corey 101 Corey was born in Houston, TX in a low-income neighborhood called South Park. Unfortunately, the neighborhood has a 30% high school drop out rate. Corey’s mother kept the family together. His father became a drug addict, and over time it got worse and worse.  Corey started witnessing verbal and physical abuse. His father could not overcome his addiction and passed away when Corey was just 9 years old. Corey tried to find his way and became immersed in street culture and rapper. When he was just 12, he knew he wanted to rap. He started experimenting with codeine and soda. All he and his friends wanted to do was party. When Corey was 16, he met a Christian girl and at the same time, one of his best friends got saved and started talking to Corey about church. When he was 17, Corey became saved and started changing his rapping to contextualize the gospel with Hip Hop. Corey started putting out albums that made it to Billboard and started touring. Music was the seed for Corey’s other passions and ministries. Corey was also served as a Houston firefighter! He met a firefighter when he was 16, and that firefighter told Corey he loved his job. It struck Corey that someone said they loved their job when so many people talk about hating their jobs. Corey always admired firefighters because they he saw them as very community-oriented, which is something his community very much needed growing up: mentors, rays of light, people to look up to. When he was younger, Corey was more focused on rapping and partying. As Corey started to fall in love, he realized he needed to make money to take care of his spouse, so he applied to be a firefighter. At the same time, Corey’s music was doing well and started to take off. The firefighter schedule allowed him flexibility in his schedule to keep going with his music career at the same time. God granted Corey so many amazing experiences with both passions, and as a firefighter, he literally witnessed people coming back to life. 22:00 – A Change in the Rap Game When Corey started changing his rapping to match his faith, many people were encouraged by it. Some were not convinced; those who’d been along before and after he became a Christian. Corey had always been in search of a way to help his people. He was inspired by a line in a rap song, Big Picture that says “this been goin’ on too long to get even” speaking about systematic oppression. When Corey’s pastor explained that Jesus already came and fixed things. It was about worshipping the Creator, not the created. It was super intriguing to Corey. It was never about leaving his peers or telling them to straighten up. Corey knew he could bring the promise of the Gospel back to them. Corey never tried to force his new beliefs down anyone’s throat but did bring the Gospel back into his regular life. When he started having a Bible study in his house, his mom would listen in and one day, dedicated her life to Jesus too. Jesus helps us along our path and sends people to sharpen us (iron sharpens iron) while ALSO showing us in scripture that it it’s ok and that we are called to go out and be among the mess in the world as well. 29:24 – A Perfect Segue Corey encourages us to be open to experiences we have not lived, breathed, walked. It is the foundation of his next story. Corey is from a neighborhood that is low-income, systematically oppressed, undeserved areas. When a person grows up in one of these areas, there is a certain way they learn to receive people and information. Corey is from South Park, George Floyd grew up in Third Ward, a similar neighborhood as Corey’s in Houston. Corey’s church was in Third Ward, and they wanted to connect with the people there. It’s just not as simple as going in and connecting though. People have been taken advantage of so much that trust is very hard. Corey knew they had to find a person of peace. Someone who is respected and loved with similar ideas and beliefs. Big Floyd (George Floyd) was that person. He was the connector. Big Floyd came to a concert that Corey’s church put on where they provided food and school supplies to give back to the community. Big Floyd came to the concert and connected with Corey and complimented them for trying to give back. Corey and Big Floyd connected and became friends. Big Floyd told Corey about his neighborhood and the people and said, “If it’s about God business, it’s my business.” Big Floyd said he’d spread the word to the community and the word Corey’s church was trying to do in the community. Big Floyd really started spreading the word about church events and helped run baptisms, church ceremonies, and community events. The things Corey and Big Floyd both went through growing up where they did give them a voice for others. Their pasts give them voices for other young boys to listen to them and change their lives. Corey knew people would try to bring up Big Floyd’s past and use it against him, but Corey knew the 180 Big Floyd did in his life and witnessed Big Floyd facilitating baptisms in the hood, changing young lives, and advocating against drugs and gun violence. After Floyd’s death, it was important to Corey for people to know more about Floyd and that he was so much more than what can be Googled about him. It’s also important that we continue to spark change for racial justice and equality. It’s not a magic solution, it’s a marathon, a continuous work that is on our shoulders. 43:10 – Faithful Hearers of the Word We have a long way to go on the fight for civil rights. The changes we’ve seen in civil rights have only just happened in the last 50 years and it has taken slow, steady progress, and we still have a long way to go. We must be faithful hearers of the word. You can read the Bible from a self-centered perspective, knowing you should forgive your enemies but not recognizing that you could be an enemy that someone else needs to forgive. In James, the Bible tells us of forgetful doers of the Word, not hearers of the Word; a person who looks in the mirror, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. Our perspective matters, and when it’s selfish, it’s not biblical. We are called to fight for the least of these, and our brothers and sisters who are not different from us. Jesus did not come for one type of person. There is a difference between being not racist and being anti-racist. It’s important for white middle class America to bear the beautiful burden of actively using their privilege to fight racism and for being anti-racist. Corey believes it’s his beautiful burden to build a bridge in his neighborhoods in a progressive and united way. It can’t be an “us” vs. “them” progression. It has to be a united front. It is important to know that we will mess up. We can’t cancel people for making mistakes. We must humble ourselves to link arms and hike these mountains together. We will stumble and need to be there for each other to pick one another up again. We must work through our emotions together and move forward together. 1:00:00 – Seeking Understanding: Tune in to hear Molly and Corey discuss important ways to create safe places to approach difficult conversations with care and productivity. At 1:05, hear more about how to keep these lines of communication open with the young people in your life. 1:08:26 – Literacy Kings Corey became an independent musician after leaving a label with an album that made it to #16 on the Billboard charts. Now he works on a podcast called Literacy Kings with JaMorcus Trayham. The podcast breaks down popular financial books in culturally relative ways, contextualizing the material and using examples that are relatable to people from low-income, underserved areas. Many of the valuable financial education materials require you to have some knowledge of the terms from the start. Culturally, it’s hard to think about buying stock or getting an LLC and building a business from the ground up if you’re struggling just to pay your bills. Corey and JaMorcus share the mental, physical, emotionally experiences and barriers that affect people who may have never been introduced to these financial terms and contextualize them in relatable ways. The goal of the podcast is to transform it into a network that invites more voices to speak on financial topics, and to curate topics to any group of people that has been marginalized. 1:16:31 - Getting to Know Our Guest Find out what song Corey has to sing along with when it comes on, the first thing he does when he gets home from a long trip, and what artists have influenced him the most. Be sure to stay tuned to hear what it means to Corey to run a business with purpose! Memorable Quotes 21:05 – “As a believer, it shows you how powerful that we are in Him. Death to life is a real thing…he enables us here on Earth to work through Him in order to really cause true change.” 38:03 – “You will never be able to truly understand it until you lean in and listen to the voices that he (George Floyd) served.” 42: 17- “The chant, ‘We want justice and we want it now.’ I get it. I get the chant…but it’s not practical… ‘We want justice. We want it over time, continuously’ is more accurate.” 45:23 – “It’s just recognizing the magnitude of something in order to better equip ourselves for a lasting solution.” 57:33 – “It’s recognizing a very clear advantage and disadvantage and then leaning in and saying: Do I have something I can offer in this situation?” Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

Sex trafficking is a $99 billion industry, and human trafficking in its total is a $150 billion industry. The statistics around human trafficking can feel incredibly overwhelming and at times it can feel like there is just no way that we could ever make a real change in this industry. A denim company is striving to make a dent and a real difference in fighting human trafficking. My guest this week is the incredible James Bartle, founder and CEO of Outland Denim. Outland Denim started as a means to provide stable employment and income opportunity to women who would otherwise be vulnerable to human trafficking. But James didn’t stop there. He innovated on industry standards to create an incredible line of jeans with a minimal footprint. This was an absolutely phenomenal conversation. James has been a highly requested guest this year, and I was really honored to have him on the show. We touch on some important topics and you’ll see what I mean when I say that I could have talked to him for hours! 4:32 - The James 101 James is the CEO and founder of Outland Denim, which has been in the marketplace for about four years now. They’ve spent the last six years developing their business model to impact people around the world and right environmental and social injustices. James knew in order to truly accomplish this, he needed to be impacted first. James was first introduced to what human trafficking is while seeing the movie Taken. The film mentioned in text that human trafficking happens in the real world, and it really affected James. Over the next few years, James and his wife started researching more about the issue. James had a chance to travel with a rescue agency through Southeast Asia and witnessed a life-changing and heart-breaking situation where someone was selling a young girl.    James thought of his young nieces and now his own daughters. He was horrified that any human has to be sold for their own survival, family’s survival or are stolen and held captive. They knew it was an economic problem and if they wanted to solve it, they needed to come up with something that addressed the economic system and/or situation that was making them vulnerable. It is important to recognized that human trafficking is very nuanced and complex. It can’t be summarized in one movie. For James it was a very gradual learning experience. He wished he could go fix the problem immediately but realized it would be much more complicated than that. James realized that it wasn’t until they could address the roots of the problem and systemic issues that they could really start to help people out of trafficking. They knew they needed to equip people to make their own decisions to change on their own through education and opportunity. 12:19 - Change Can Come from Us Sometimes there is a disconnect approaching Human Trafficking from a business standpoint when a portion of profits go toward a cause. James and Outland Denim began early-on by melding with another industry: the ethical fashion industry. At the root of the fashion industry is trafficking. James chose to merge the two things by fighting trafficking while building a sustainable fashion brand. James learned early on in his education about trafficking that nearly 80% of people that come through rescue programs often end up in a worse position later down the road because there’s no way for them to move forward with a plan or new life. Before Outland Denim, James never gave the health of the environment a second thought, but once he was able to link environmental degradation to social injustice. He realized that his worldview as a Christian should also include a responsibility to protect the planet and that doing so also helps protect marginalized people groups.  16:10 - The People and the Planet Outland Denim understands that you can’t care for people without the planet or the planet without the people: they are very much connected. They decided to try to use industry to challenge the environmental degradation of the planet by the fashion industry while also impacting not only the lives of marginalized people groups all over the world, but even the sales associate and the brand’s stakeholders. James sees denim as the ultimate product for changing the world. It’s one of the most unsustainable and damaging fabrics in fashion. The chemicals, water, and energy used is massive. Denim can also hold a nostalgic comfort in our psyches. James compares it to music. It can conjure memories and emotions. Everyone has their favorite pair of jeans that they never want to throw out that can transport them to another time or distant memory. The goal is to remove the environmental damage and keep the positive impact. Outland Denim even prints messages of thanks in the jean pockets from the women makers who made that pair of jeans. If ethical brands are not thinking about making a product that customers want, it’s just a “pity purchase.” It doesn’t empower the artisan who made the product. When a product has consumer demand, you sell more product and are able to employ more people. We can’t push people into the change, but we can inspire them to want to be a part of the movement. More Christians can lead the way in supporting ethical fashion. If we are called to love our neighbors more than ourselves and deny ourselves and follow Jesus, we can invite others to be a part of a bigger story like Jesus does for us. 34:39 – Global Brand Outland Denim had a successful launch in Australia, and then James’ wife told him about WWD (Apparel and Retail CEO) Summit happening in New York (about 5 years ago). There was no mention of sustainability in the presentations he heard. It was all about finding cheaper production in another country and how other markets were doing. It was disheartening for James to witness where the fashion industry was then, about five years ago. James sat next to a man and the two got to discussing what James did for a living. The man grabbed a handful of James’ jeans and told him, “Tell all your investors they’re about to lose all their money!” The man’s wife, embarrassed by her husband’s actions, invited James to lunch and they stayed in touch after the Summit. It turns out the man was a distributor in Canada, and he invited James to come visit to show him the jeans. He took a big risk and put James in front three of the biggest retailers in Canada. They gave him 20 minutes, looked at the product, heard the pitch and an hour and a half later, everyone is crying and wanting to know how to help. The next day, another retailer came with a family member who was extremely passionate about sustainability and that retailer, Harry Rosen, Inc., still supports Outland Denim to this day. They’ve helped evolve the brand, the product, and bring relevance to their customer. Not long after that, Outland Denim signed a contract with David Jones, one of the biggest retailers in Australia. And shortly after that, Megan Markle visited Australia, WEARING OUTLAND DENIM JEANS! The media went crazy and James had to jump on a plane for TV appearances. She really opened the brand up to the world and because of the attention, Outland Denim was able to hire 46 new seamstresses! That lead to more exposure to other retailers and right before Covid-19 hit, Outland Denim launched with the new Nordstrom store in New York City! Many retailers really do want to be a part of creating change now and are supportive of brands that do. To support the brand, it is important for purchases to go through retailers, and is generally sustainable well into the future. 43:05 - Tune in to hear how Outland Denim has been affected by Covid-19 and the creative ways they are working toward the future. Find out how we can turn the word “consumerism” into a positive phrase and solve global issues that the government isn’t able to solve. 46:54 - Getting to Know Our Guest Enjoy hearing some fun facts about what James’ favorite movie was when he was growing up, his guilty pleasure, some common misconceptions about Australians and Americans, and of all of his pet peeves, which is the strangest, and more! You’ve got to tune in to the end to hear from James what it means to him to run a business with purpose! Memorable Quotes: 9:54: “If we really want to create change, we’ve got to change people’s hearts in countries like ours ad well as countries that we work in. We’ve got to be able to create opportunity that gives everybody, people in developing and poor nations, the same opportunities we have to be educated, have health care, save (money), and live with their families. Just the basic stuff.” 11:46 “It is incredibly powerful when you put the power back in the hands of the people to make the change themselves: you give them what they need to be successful at it and everything changes.” 32:02 – I hope that’s a legacy about the brand, that it would have a small part to play in motivating our staff that “You’re not a victim, but you’re somebody that has so much to offer in your community and in the world.” If we all look for that opportunity and use it, we’re going to create massive impact. Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

Our words matter. Especially as a business owner, an entrepreneur, as a creative. Our words really matter. Words are often how we can fundamentally ensure the success or even failure of a business. How we use words to market our businesses or communicate our message often becomes an afterthought and can cause unintended harm when it comes to how our business comes across to our customers or potential customers. My guest today is using her gift of words to help businesses have the biggest impact. Kaitlin Senter is a social media manager turned conversion copywriter and brand strategist who is obsessed with pairing social impact and targeted messaging to create industry-changing content.  She’s made it her mission to teach all that she knows about cause-marketing and sales-messaging to help businesses create deeply rooted impact that drives results with connective content. I was fascinated by this conversation with Kaitlin. I was a creative writing major in college and I naturally love words. It was so impactful to hear from Kaitlin about how we use words to market our business. 4:56 - The Kaitlin 101 Kaitlin’s journey to where she is today as a conversion copywriter and brand strategist began on an untraditional path. Kaitlin started as a virtual assistant, and more in more during that time, people started asking her for help with social media. Kaitlin became a social media manager but realized the actual issue most people were having using social media centered around their messaging. At the time, Kaitlin wasn’t even aware of what copywriting was! She dove into education and became a copywriter! Once she homed in on those skills, Kaitlin started learning about cost-marketing and the unique niche it has become. Social entrepreneurship is on the rise and people are starting to realize how much power they have as consumers. They want to spend their money with brands who are doing things the right way. Often there are brands that provide beautiful products at the right price point, but their message is not getting to those who would most want to know about it. That’s where conversion copyeditors like Kaitlin come in. There is a delicate balance for ethical brands in communicating their mission and still making a profit. Kaitlin works with brands to lead with that mission without compromising sales. Since so many ethical brands are great at focusing on their mission, Kaitlin often starts her focus working with them on business strategies. Kaitlin helps brands determine why people want to shop with them outside of the mission. What are the problems that a brand is solving for people outside of the mission? 9:50 – Products Pique Interest, Words Make Sales Often there are brands who look like they are super successful because the aesthetic of their brand is beautiful. Many people think that if they have something beautiful, it will sell itself, but it’s not true. The beauty of a product primes people and pique their interest, but the words behind them are what makes sales. Kaitlin realized she had a gift for turning words into an experience for people when working as a social media manager when critiquing her client’s social media marketing. She thought about what she would want to read and examples of when she’d seen it done well. What feelings do the words bring up, what thoughts do they bring up, what is the world going to look if everyone could shop this way? One of the brands that does this well is called Known Supply. When Kaitlin buys a t-shirt from them, instead of feeling guilt for making a purchase, she feels good knowing it goes toward providing a good job to an artisan and that she is not making a fast fashion purchase. It’s not about giving out information, it’s taking a shopper on a journey. It’s important that messages are genuine as well. People know when a brand is being disingenuous. Every business can be a cause-based business. Producing a great product that connects followers to the maker of the product or a story behind it creates brand loyalty with referrals and high quality, loyal brand ambassadors. 21:12 – Social Media Hiatus Would you believe that Kaitlin recently took 6 months off of social media?! As someone who runs an online business, it was certainly a revolutionary act! It helped her get clear about what kind of messaging people want to see that makes them feel refreshed instead of tired or uninterested. Without outside thoughts, opinions, and noise, Kaitlin was able to find clarity in what she wants for her own unique message. It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the world of social marketing as small business owners. If there is a feeling of anxiety around it, it’s time to take a break. There is a way to find a health balance between being connected and taking time for ourselves offline. It’s about creating real, meaningful connection online, rather than feeling pressure and/or anxiety to keep up with everything happening online. 25:27 – Help with Writing! If you are feeling overwhelmed with the idea of getting your copy in order, Kaitlin suggests beign mindful of who you’re writing to and why what you have to say matters to them. It’s going to take a lot of thought and time, but if you don’t know these answers, you will start to feel stuck or could be tempted to simply copy the methods of others. That is when you start contributing to the noise of the internet instead of sending out messages that matter. It’s also important to “name your customer.” Go on a deep dive about who you think this person is who would want to know about your brand, who would want to buy from you. Write to that person! Kaitlin uses the “Jobs to Be Done” framework. You can Google it to learn more, but it’s basically teaches you how a product connects to the better version of the customer; the person the customer wants to be. It’s how they imagine their life after they have a certain product. It’s less about the task, but the emotional feelings a product produces; the “true job” of what your customer wants to accomplish. 30:12 - Getting to Know Our Guest Find out what Kaitlin’s not-so-guilty pleasure is, what she’s reading right now, her favorite show to watch when she was growing up, and what it means to Kaitlin to run a business with purpose. Memorable Quotes: 5:58 - “I think this cost-marketing niche is really unique because it’s on the rise and I think more and more consumers are worried about what their dollars are voting for.” 6:16 – “I think there’s this fine line that you have to walk between keeping your life on and making sales, but also educating in a way that doesn’t alienate those on the fringes of the cause who are just learning and they don’t want to feel bad for past decisions they’ve made or for not knowing about sustainable fashion or ethical ways or farming, but also in a way that still makes sales without feeling disingenuous.” 9:26 – “That’s what we really have to focus on: You meet the need of the customer and that mission where they connect, that intersection between mission and meeting the needs of the customer.” 18:46 – “Connection is one of the biggest components of successful marketing.” About Kaitlin Senter: Kaitlin is a social media manager turned Conversion Copywriter & Brand Strategist obsessed with pairing social impact & targeted messaging to create industry changing content. She has made it her mission to teach all she knows about cause-marketing & sales messaging to help businesses create deeply-rooted impact that drives results through connective content.   Connect with Kaitlin: strikingconversation.com https://www.instagram.com/kaitsenter/ Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

I realize that it is a cliché to say this at this point, but I am just going to say it: 2020 has been a year! There has been this tension of trying to get through the year while also trying to focus on our goals while also dealing with what is happening around us in our culture while also taking care of our families. It is a lot. There are many well-intentioned, encouraging messages that are preached at us, especially women. Things like “you are enough”, “you can do it”, and “you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Those are well-intentioned, but in the end, often leave us feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. My guest today is trying to restructure that narrative with a counternarrative that helps women understand how to overcome adversity and live with confidence. Alli Worthington is known for her straight-talking encouragement and practical tools that help women reach their dreams in business and in life. She’s a business coach and the co-founder of Called Creatives, where she coaches writers and speakers. She is also the author of The Year of Living Happy, Fierce Faith, Breaking Busy, and her most recent book, Standing Strong: A Woman’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity and Living with Confidence. Alli is also a well-known speaker and host of the popular podcast, The Alli Worthington Show. I’ve been a big fan of Alli for a long time. It was such a treat to have her on the show today, especially at such a time as this. ABOUT ALLI WORTHINGTON: Alli Worthington is known for her straight-talking encouragement and practical tools that help women reach their dreams in business and life. She’s a business coach and co-founder of Called Creatives, where she coaches writers and speakers.  Author of The Year of Living Happy, Fierce Faith, and Breaking Busy, Alli is a well-known speaker and host of the popular podcast, The Alli Worthington Show.  Her no-nonsense, guilt-free take on business, family, and balance have led to appearances on TODAY and Good Morning America.  Alli lives with her husband, Mark, and their five sons outside of Nashville with the only golden retriever who refuses to retrieve. CONNECT WITH ALLI: Instagram: @AlliWorthington Twitter: @Alli Facebook: @Its.Alli.Worthington Website: AlliWorthington.com Podcast: The Alli Worthington Show Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world. It actually makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, drying up water sources, polluting rivers, streams, and oceans. More than 85% of all textiles go into the dump each year. There are many incredible fashion brands that are tackling this issue head on by creating fashionable, sustainable, and zero waste products that are making a big impact. My guest this week is Paola Masperi, the founder of Mayamiko, an ethical, sustainable, and zero-waste fashion and lifestyle brand on a mission to champion a more responsible approach to shopping. Using slow and traditional craftsmanship techniques, Mayamiko works with global artisans from Malawi to Milan to create trans-seasonal women’s clothing, accessories, and homeware collections. With a zero-waste policy, the brand utilizes pre-consumer waste and reclaims materials where possible, including cotton deadstock from reclaimed silk alongside locally sourced artisanal fabric from Malawi, geo-TS certified organic cotton and linen. Paolo is also the founder of the Mayamiko Trust, which helps Mayamikan get up and running with training schemes and microfinance projects which provide funding and teach basic financial and business planning skills. The trust then connects the trainees to fantastic ethical and sustainable fashion brands and designers. This creates links to markets where they can trade their products as high-value items according to fair-trade principles. I loved this conversation with Paola and I learned so much from her! 5:48 - The Paola 101 Paola was born in Milan, Italy and grew up there in a big family with strong, independent women and men who supported them. She moved to England to finish her studies and early in her career, traveled to Germany and then a number of African countries for work in the early 2000s. Through her work in Africa, the seeds of Mayamiko were planted and began to grow. Her worked in Africa focused on using digital innovation to support education across developing countries. Through that work, she became very passionate about the potential of the places and people she met, and the friendships she developed through her work. Paola grew up seeing two sides of her family working day jobs while also working on social engagement projects. Her dad opened the first cinema in the town which became a safe place for the youth of the town who may have otherwise been affected by the growing drug problem in the community. It became a place to learn about culture and diversity while also creating a safe community gathering space. Growing up with family who worked hard on both their careers and passions influenced Paola with confidence that she could work a day job while also pursuing passion projects and traveling the world. In the late 80s and 90s, there was not a lot of diversity in Milan, but when Paola moved to London, she worked for an educational company working on software to teach language. Each year on the project, Paola wanted to do a little more to bring education to more places and more people. She made a suggestion to the company’s leadership to see if they could apply language solutions to a broader global context. The company started working with governments across African countries to see if their technology could support bringing primary education to those countries as well. Paola spent the majority of her time working in Malawi and Uganda. It was a formative experience that taught her how much she had to learn from what was going on around her, even if just by listening. Whenever Paola lands in an African airport, it feels like home to her. 14:42 – Mayamiko The heart of Mayamiko came from a friendship with a woman Paola worked with on one of her language projects. The two started thinking about what else they could do to help empower women. They understood more than anything else that women needed choices. They agreed access to choices came from access to education and finance. In 2008, they started the Mayamiko Trust to provide those choices to women through vocational training and access to fair wages, both which would continue to open women to more and more opportunities and choices. The Mayamiko Trust allows women to make their own choices about what skills they want and need, letting them make choices about what they are trained on and what to do with those skills after training. They can either stay with Mayamiko in an apprenticeship and go on to be employed by Mayamiko, or take out a microfinance grant to set up their own business. Some of the women went out on their own and others set up group co-ops together. Mayamiko is now 12 years old, and nothing has changed in that approach to give women those choices. Mayamiko also wanted to offer sustainable income opportunities to women, so they started the Mayamiko label, setting up their own brand to create a long-lasting employment opportunity and to not be dependent on donations. Now they have a self-sustaining model that creates jobs. The first few years Mayamiko experimented with accessories and bags to test the concepts. It was 2012, and there were not many conversations happening around ethical or sustainable fashion. It was still very niche. They realized direct to consumer resonated most, and customers loved knowing the stories behind their products and knowing that the artisans making them were being treated well and compensated fairly. In 2015, Mayamiko launched a small women’s wear capsule and has been slowly broadening the quality of those projects and telling their stories to create products people love for a long time, both for their aesthetic quality, and the story behind them as well. More often than not, the root of global poverty comes from lack of economic opportunity. Both charities and business have a role in tackling global poverty. Mayamiko would not be where they are today if they’d not started their charity first. Risk is inherent to business, and Paola was clear she did not want to risk any of the money meant for charity initiatives with the Mayamiko Trust. That was the motivation behind separating the charity and the business. Mayamiko comes from the Chewa language spoken in Malawi used for both boys and girls that means “Praise” or “Thanksgiving.” Along with having a beautiful meaning, it is also the name of a child that Paola worked with and so it has a special personal meaning to her as well. 27:27 – Not the Great Equalizer Covid-19 has affected people disproportionately, and statistically it’s reversing a lot of progress that had been made for people rising out of global poverty in all parts of the world. While we’re all experiencing it at the same time, our experiences with it are going to vary greatly. For many artisans around the world, whether or not they are getting paid is a matter of life and death. Paola was acutely aware of Covid-19 a bit earlier because of her family in Italy. When the UK started to enter lockdown, the training academy in Mayamiko in Malawi had to shut down and people were sent home. For people in Malawi there started to be a question of whether to social distance or earn a living, and working from home looks very different in different places around the world. Day to day life is conducted in big cities with bustling markets and crowded public transportation is needed to do business in the cities. It’s not possible to social distance in some places in the world. The responses to Covid-19 really need to be localized. For Mayamiko, they knew prevention was the most important answer. The government did well closing borders, shutting down airports, and monitoring people who came into the country from other parts of the world. They also realized they could space out sewing machines within their facility and give everyone hand sanitizer and masks. But the reality is that to get to work, people had to use crowded public transportation options. Mayamiko decided to come up with their own plan to allow employees to work from home. While they love making clothing, it was much more important to make masks for the community. Mayamiko employees work from home while wearing masks, and Mayamiko provides a system to bring supplies to artisans at home and collect them when they are finished. Mayamiko has done their best to make the most of a difficult time. Luckily, they’ve worked hard and been able to keep everyone healthy and employed while also giving back to the community! 39:45 – Getting to Know Our Guest Find out what Paola’s favorite TV show was growing up, what her biggest guilty pleasures are, what she’s reading right now, and of course, what it means to Paola to run a business with purpose! Memorable Quotes 13:07 – “One of the things that I learned very quickly is that I knew nothing…very quickly I realized I could put all my past knowledge to one side and have a listening attitude to everything that was happening around me.” 16:39 – “We were very clear from the beginning that we were not going to make choices on behalf of women, we were just going to equip them with the skills that they told us they wanted and needed, and then it was entirely up to them what choices they made with those skills and those tools.” 23:43 – “At the time, the choice was the charity and the charity’s funds should be safeguarded to do charity work, the business should be allowed to take reasonable risk as a business would, and therefore it makes sense to separate the two. The two still have an agreement that any money that the business made, it goes back into the charity.” About Paola Masperi: Paola Masperi is the founder of pioneering women empowerment charity Mayamiko Trust and lifestyle brand Mayamiko The Label, which has sold to over 40 countries and counts Meghan Markle as a fan. With a background in International Development and Digital Innovation, Paola has a a passion for crafts, traditions and the stories they tell about the people behind the product, their relationship with each other and their natural environment, which she attributes to growing up in Italy surrounded by a strong culture of traditions, combined with a strong sense of curiosity about the future.   She started Mayamiko Trust after working on several projects with women across a number of African countries, and the Label followed a few years later as a way to create dignified, creative and sustainable employment for women. The label now works with women’s initiatives across different countries such as Malawi, where the main hub is located, SriLanka, Peru, Afghanistan and Italy.   An award winner for sustainability leadership, alongside Stella McCartney, Raeburn, Bottletops and others, Paola is always searching for collaborative ways to create responsibly, and ensure that her work has a positive impact along the entire supply chain by actively protecting the environment and creating safe, sustainable and creative jobs for women, as well as remaining leaders in innovation and sustainability. Paola is passionate about meaningful storytelling, and has a keen interest in the ‘future of work’, exploring opportunities and challenges posed by automation and the impact on human relationships with each other and our planetary environment.   Connect with Paola Masperi & Mayamiko: https://www.mayamiko.com/ https://twitter.com/Mayamiko_ https://www.facebook.com/MayamikoTheLabel https://uk.pinterest.com/mayamiko/ https://www.instagram.com/mayamikodesigned/ https://www.instagram.com/paola_ohlala/?hl=en Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

Every business owner will tell you that entrepreneurship is hard and it takes time. Rarely do you find a “silver bullet” or the thing that leads to your “overnight success.” Most overnight successes are really 5, 10, 30, 50 years in the making. Nothing happens overnight, especially in the fashion industry. My guest today has spent the last 15 years growing an incredible ethical fashion brand that is changing lives, and changing trends. Belinda Kazanci is the founder of Bel Kazan, and ethical women’s wear brand made with modern women in mind: Empowered, adventurous, independent spirits. Belinda started Bel Kazan after a life-changing journey to Bali, Indonesia. From the delicate flower offerings that lined the streets to their vibrant textiles and joyful spirits, she felt an unparalleled sense of inspiration among the people of Bali. It was then that Belinda decided to uproot her life in Los Angeles, determined to make her vision of a socially and environmentally responsible apparel line real. I can’t wait to share Belinda with the Business with Purpose listeners! 3:52 - The Belinda 101 Belinda Kazanci is the owner and designer of the brand Bel Kazan, that specializes in women’s clothing made from original prints in Bali and uses sustainable and environmental practices. The goal is that the Bel Kazan garments have minimal impact on the environment. Belinda and Bel Kazan have been in business for 15 + years now! They built their own factory in Bali from the ground up and have been training women and men from villages in skilled training like sewing, quality control, and more. They’ve been slowly growing their business through this skills training program. Belinda has been a singer and songwriter all of her life. She has always been doing music, and she felt like her only other creative outlet was through fashion. Her family comes from the textile business in Istanbul, which is also where Belinda was born. Much like music, she’s been around textiles her whole life. Textiles and creative expression through clothing has always been an interest of Belinda’s, but she never thought it would take off into a career. In 2005, she took a course with the Landmark Forum where she met a woman who spoke about her business in Bali. She and Belinda connected after the talk and that’s how Belinda was introduced to the manager she has now. After their initial conversation, Belinda booked trip to Bali within two weeks! She fell in love with the people, the culture, the textiles, and she started sewing her own designs with help from local women along the way. Slowly, it turned into an independent business with its own factory! And before all of this, Belinda was already a singer-songwriter who grew up playing jazz flute, singing in choirs, and was even in a band called The Echo Cell, and played all over Los Angeles for many years! She’s also written and created albums as well as worked on a few TV show and written songs for film. All of Belinda’s grandparents were in the textile business. They sold and purchased textiles, and both of her grandmothers were also seamstresses who made beautiful clothes for her and her mom growing up. Her parents own a dry cleaning and alterations business. It taught Belinda about how style, how care for fabric as well as production and purchasing. 11:18 – It’s Going to Be Successful The timing of the Landmark Course aligned with where Belinda was in her life, and she left feeling like anything was possible. She was ready for a change, and she fell in love with Bali. She was like a sponge, learning about the culture and getting to know people around her. She really felt a warm welcome from the people there. She also started falling in love with culture, textile, and colors. Belinda wanted to find a way to bring two worlds together while modernizing the textiles but also keeping their cultural feel. The plan was never an intentional move toward big production. Everything started very small scale, and even with their own factory now, is still relatively small. Belinda uses what she calls a “lean production model” which means each order is “cut to order.” When an order is placed, the garment is then cut, sewn, made, and shipped. Having their own factory allows Bel Kazan the luxury of not having to meet minimum order requirements. Reducing waste has always been a value of Bel Kazan, but they also now look at what fabrics are sustainable, garment wearability, their impact on the environment, and more. All garment cuttings are upcycled and donated to villages that need baby and kids clothing. 22:33 – 15 Years, Humble Beginnings, Calculated Risk There’s a statistic that most business fail within the first 18 months. Belinda is now 15 years in with Bel Kazan. I mentioned that things start small with Bel Kazan, but go all the way back to the beginning and it started even more humbly with no investments and $1,500 that was borrowed, and run in a garage while Belinda continued working full time. Slow strategic growth and minimizing spending helped Belinda and Bel Kazan get off the ground, as does continued awareness of the budget and spending carefully and conservatively, minimizing costs as much as possible. Taking risks and putting Bel Kazan out there has also truly paid off for Belinda. She’d always dreamed of having Bel Kazan garments in Anthropologie, so she had an artist in Bali paint a picture of the Anthropologie window with Bel Kazan dresses in the window. She shipped it to Anthropologie’s buying office with samples of each dress. A year later, an Anthropologie representative contacted her to tell her that Anthropologie saw one of her pieces and a partnership formed. The store loves Bel Kazan prints and does a lot of exclusive pieces with them. It’s been a great partnership with new projects starting regularly. A face mask partnership is on the way now! It’s a great start to see a big fashion corporate company partnering with a sustainable brand. All the money made from masks with go toward helping Bel Kazan sewers and keeping them employed during Covid-19! 30:51 – Working Vision Belinda would love to see her prints in stores like HomeGoods. So many people compliment Bel Kazan prints (which are all created by Bel Kazan and copyrighted!) and ask for them on pillows and baby clothes. 32:07 – Getting to Know Our Guest Get to know some fun things about Belinda like who she’d choose to sit next to on a 13-hour flight to Bali, which of her pet peeves is the strangest, how she’d prove she’s from the future if she could time travel 400 years into the past, and of course, what it means to Belinda to run a business with purpose! Memorable Quotes: 8:21 - “Well it’s a process, and even though I think one is writing a song and the other one is designing a garment, the process is very similar. There are different types of steps, but it’s all about details and they all kind of work together.” 19:04  - “What we can now do is, maybe (if) we have some fabric left over, we can rework that fabric into a new style so it’s not just wasted.” About Belinda Kazanci and BEL KAZAN: ORIGINS Behind every collection is designer Belinda Kazanci, who started BEL KAZAN after a life-changing journey to Bali, Indonesia. From the delicate flower offerings that lined the streets to their vibrant textiles and joyful spirits, she felt an unparalleled sense of inspiration among the Balinese people. It was then that Belinda decided to uproot her life in Los Angeles, determined to make her vision of a socially and environmentally-responsible apparel line real. Today her time is split between the BEL KAZAN production facility in Bali and her studio in Los Angeles. She is committed to giving back to the culture and people that gave her a renewed sense of purpose. APPROACH BEL KAZAN womenswear is made with modern women in mind: empowered, adventurous, independent spirits. Inspiration is taken from around the globe to create bold prints and effortless silhouettes that easily take wearers from day to night, and quickly become wardrobe staples. Every BEL KAZAN garment is crafted in our personally-constructed factory in Bali, using traditional techniques for an authentic, timeless feel. Learn more about our design process, fabric choices, and the art of creating each print by hand. CONNECT HERE: https://www.belkazan.com/pages/about https://www.facebook.com/belkazan https://instagram.com/belkazan https://twitter.com/belkazan https://www.pinterest.com/belkazan/ Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

Steven Benedict is a Professional Track Athlete & Olympic Qualifier, Keynote Speaker, the founder of the Fostering Success Project, and Published Health Personality.  In this episode Steven tells his story of growing up in the foster system, how that led to his running career and how he is now using his platform to come alongside foster children.  His ongoing determination to his sport and companies runs parallel with his dedication to sharing a story that will inspire and highlight an oftentimes hidden reality. There are hundreds of thousands of adults and children like him who need to know that our experiences are not our finish line. More importantly, there are millions of people that need to hear his message. Resilience and the ability to overcome adversity is not just a story for kids in foster care or adopted homes, it is a story for everyone. Check out all that Steven is doing here:  https://www.stevieyb.com This episode is sponsored by GOEX - GOEX believes in the power of purchase. They use a simple t-shirt to connect their customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. They are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com Email Us:  AdoptionHacksInfo@gmail.com FB/IG:  AdoptionHacks Review us on iTunes!  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adoptionhacks/support

About Mary Marantz: Mary grew up in a single-wide trailer in rural West Virginia. The first of her immediate family to go to college, she went on to earn a law degree from the nation's top-ranked law school, Yale. After ditching six-figure-salary law firm offers in London and New York, she started a business with her husband, Justin. Together they have built a successful online education platform for creative entrepreneurs. She is also the host of the highly ranked and popular podcast The Mary Marantz Show. Just YESTERDAY, Mary released her first book, "Dirt: Growing Strong Roots in What Makes the Broken Beautiful,". She lives in an 1880s fixer-upper by the sea in New Haven, Connecticut, with her husband, Justin and their two very fluffy golden retrievers, Goodspeed and Atticus. Connect with Mary Marantz: https://marymarantz.com/ https://www.instagram.com/marymarantz/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marymarantzshow/ https://marymarantz.com/themarymarantzshow Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

How to Get Started Shopping Ethically | Business with Purpose Podcast EP 210 [spp-player url=https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/businesswithpurpose/209_-_MOLLY_STILLMAN_-_ERYN_EDDY.mp3] Click a timestamp below to be taken to the exact spot in the episode... One of the most common questions I get asked on a regular basis is “How do I get started shopping ethically?” It is easily the most common question I get asked. Today I wanted to answer that question. Normally each week I interview someone like an entrepreneur, CEO, non-profit director, community leader, or just an incredible person who is trying to make a positive impact, not only with their personal life, but also with their career. My goal is to show you that no matter what you do for a living, you can make an impact wherever you are. But this week is episode 210 which means it’s time for another solo episode, and I have some questions that many of you submitted that I will be answering today! 2:52 - Why is it important to shop ethically? We’re not just talking about shopping ethically because it’s cool or trendy, it’s because it really does make a difference. Not only are you providing actual wages, skills, and safe options to real people, you’re telling other companies that these things matter, that money talks. 4:44 – Do I need to get rid of all my stuff? No! Don’t feel like you have to get rid of everything you’ve bought previously that isn’t ethical. If you want to “Marie Kondo” your stuff, I have talked about ways you can ethically dispose of the things that may no longer “spark joy” for you. You can find that information on Episode 130 5:27 – Which category is “most effective?” Is there a particular item that has a better or bigger impact than others? For example, should I start with ethical denim vs. ethical jewelry? There are a few ways to look at this. At the end of the day, it’s more about intentional, little by little choices and understanding what your morals or your values add up to. If you’re somebody who wants to shop ethically and you’re also environmentally conscious, ethical denim may be a great place for you to start. When I started shopping ethical brands, it was also important for me to look for companies making a difference in the area of human trafficking. I started with companies working directly to combat human trafficking by supporting human trafficking overcomers. You have to figure out what is an area that you really care about, or a topic you want to really tackle. Another place to start is taking a look at what products you already purchase in greater quantities. Start with that product. If you love shoes, you can start by changing out which types of shoes you buy and the companies you by shoes from. It could be beauty, or skincare, or jewelry, not only for the environment, but for clean ingredients as well. 8:20 – Shopping Ethically on a budget I have another podcast episode on this exact topic, Episode 120, which is all about tips for shopping ethically on a budget. The short answer is YES! You can shop ethically on a budget. Shopping second-hand is arguably the most ethical way to shop and it’s really affordable. Check out Episode 120 for a more in-depth look at this and 6 tips for shopping ethically on a budget. 8:59 – How do I know that a brand is really ethical? How do I know they’re not just “greenwashing?” Would you believe I have another episode about that? Episode 110 also goes into this topic of how to tell if a brand is truly ethical. When in doubt, always contact the company. Reach out and ask specific questions like whether or not they have a 3rd party auditor, where they manufacture, what kinds of auditing they do of their factories, whether they work with certified organic material, if they monitor where they source their materials from, how they check their supply chains, etc. There are very specific questions you can ask companies. If they can’t give you a definitive answer, there may be reasons for a little bit of a red flag. There are brands that green wash and lie about these things, but you can do your due diligence to not shop with them. We will make mistakes along the way, but this is about progress, not perfection. Little by little, these choices really do add up. 10:39 – How do I get my family or husband on board? This question came up a lot! My husband and I have talked about this on the podcast. I have so many conversations with him about shopping ethically that he understands that I am passionate about it, though he may not be as passionate about is as I am. He also has very different buying habits than I do and only shops for himself once, maybe twice a year at the most. He buys something and wears it until it is hanging on by a thread. That’s an ethical way to shop too. There are areas he’s also changing his own buying habits. He’ll check with me when he needs to purchase something. Just recently he needed some new gym socks and asked me if I knew of an ethical company where he could purchase his new gym socks. Turns out those are now his favorite gym socks and he wants to order from that company all the time now. Having a conversation and communication is key. Understand that there are times when husbands might just not be on board and it might take time. I also watched the Netflix documentary called “The True Cost” with my husband, which opened up an opportunity for us to have a conversation around these topics as well. I talk about this stuff with my kids all the time. My daughter is 7 and my son is 4. My son doesn’t really understand yet, but my daughter does. Now she’ll ask me if a company is ethical and she can understand and discuss it with me to an extent. There are age appropriate ways to have these conversations with these kids and explain why we care about the planet and other people. You can explain that there are children their age that have to work in factories to make toys and that kids their age shouldn’t have to do that. It’s a great way to open a conversation about ways we can advocate for those children. 15:52 - How do have these conversations with my teenagers? Since I don’t have teenagers (yet), I reached out to a friend of mine who has a teenager who is the type of young woman I hope my daughter grows up to be like. I asked her mom how she got Emma on board with this. Her teenager’s nature is to want to make sure that no one is hurt. It steers her away from wanting anything not ethically made. It’s important for other parents to find out what their teens care about. Emma cares about dogs and small children, so it upsets her to hear that children are working instead of going to school. She hates bullying, so they talk about how trafficking and the unethical treatment of people is related to bullying. It’s about finding what your teen cares about and help them see how it might relate to unethical practices in business. 17:25 – Is it ethical to wait to shop an ethical company only when they run sales? There’s likely a variety of opinions on this but in general I would say no. Brands (especially ethical brands) that run sales typically do so to clear out previous seasons or older products to make room for new products. The majority of the businesses I know that run sales run them very intentionally so that there is still a way for them to pay artisans. When they have excess inventory, they’ve already paid the artisans in full, but simply need to clear the shop to make way for new product. Sales can also be a gateway for people who want to shop ethically, but don’t have the opportunity to do so when items are full price. 19:31 – How long did it take you to transition to shopping ethically? I started this process back in 2011 and bit by bit, slowly started to change my buying habits. It’s not something I overhauled overnight and became an expert in. I’m constantly learning, changing, and adjusting. It’s become a process. You don’t have to change everything or learn everything overnight. It really can be a little by little intentional process each day. 20:37 - Do you always shop ethically for everything? The answer is, of course not. I’m sure there are people who do, but to shop ethically 100% of the time would be very difficult. I’d love to get there one day. If I can’t buy it from an ethical company, I’ll try to buy it second hand. If I can’t buy it from an ethical company or second hand, I’ll try to find a local small business to buy from. I also try to choose the lesser of the two evils if I can’t find it ethically, second hand, or from a local small business. I love Target, and they’ve actually made big strides in partnering with IJM (International Justice Mission) to help illuminate labor traffic and have started supplying from ethical brands like their fair trade denim line. Sometimes there may not be an ethical option. My daughter is obsessed with Barbie this year. I was able to find some items second hand. I felt OK knowing that whatever Barbie brand items we buy for her will be well-loved and used for years and years to come until we pass it along to another family to use. My goal is not to judge other peoples choices, but decide which ones are the right fit for me and for my family and share the information so that others can make the right choices for their family. 22:47 – Additional Resources You can follow my journal toward ethical shopping on my blog and social media: You can find me on all social media networks: @stillbeingmolly and @businesswithpurposepodcast You can find more episodes on these topics at my website stillbeingmolly.com as well as my Ethical Brand Directory. You can also join my Purpose with Purpose Facebook Group to continue learning more about shopping more ethically and intentionally. Memorable Quotes 3:44 - “When you buy from a company like a fair-trade company or a small business, you really are making an actual difference…one small purchase might be worth 10 hours of dignified work.” 7:10 - “I think that for you, you have to figure out what is an area that you really care about? What is a topic that you really want to tackle?” 10:28 – “Will we make mistakes? Yes. But this is about grace, not perfection. Progress not perfection. Little by little, these choices really do add up.” 18:31 - “The majority of the businesses that I know that run sales, run them very intentionally and so it really is an opportunity for them to pay their artisans…at the end of the day, the artisan is still getting paid their full wage…” Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! After 2 years of global impact, Simple Switch is raising money to grow the company and make ethical shopping our new normal. You can learn more about that campaign at IGG.me/simple-switch The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.    

All of us have something in our lives that we might feel embarrassed by, or something that has happened to us that gives us a feeling of shame or something in our past that is holding us back. There are times where these negative thoughts come into our head and we feel like we’re not worthy enough or capable; maybe that we’re not even worth loving. My guest today is an incredible woman of faith who is trying to change that narrative to let women know that they are so worth loving. My guest this week is Eryn Eddy, the founder of So Worth Loving, a lifestyle clothing brand bridging the gap between not talking about self-worth and talking about it. Eryn began her clothing brand as a refuge. She needed to be present with other people’s stories before she could be truly present with her own. “Divorce broke me” said Eryn. “My heart had to be shattered in order to see the hole that God wanted to fill all along. I resisted accepting or believing that God could love me so recklessly and beautifully. The enemy watches our vulnerabilities and uses his findings against us, but God always brings beauty back in.” Eryn is releasing her debut book in January 2021, and she is the cohost of the new podcast, God Hears Her, which launched back in May. The podcast is for Christian women seeking friends to come alongside them in the hurts, joys, and struggles of the everyday. This conversation was so refreshing. There is an air and spirit about Eryn that is just filled with joy and peace, and I felt in so many ways that it was for me, but I know it was for so many of you listening too. 4:34 - The Eryn 101 Eryn comes from a line of self-starting entrepreneurs. Her parents manufactured furniture for 45 years, and Eryn now owns a clothing company and lifestyle brand called So Worth Loving. So Worth Loving bridges the gap between not talking about struggles of identity and self-worth and talking about it. Eryn started So Worth Loving a little over 9 years ago with no intention of starting a company. Eryn did not go to college and had no idea what she wanted to do with her career. She started working in ministry for an organization called Orange working her way up from no experience. While at Orange, the owner asked Eryn what she wanted to do with her life. Eryn thought she’d found her path working at Orange but when asked again about what she wanted to do, she couldn’t come up with an answer. Eryn realized that for a lot of her life she’d just been reactionary and never thought too far beyond whatever her circumstances were at any given time. After considering her boss’ question some more, Eryn thought he wanted to pursue music and dove in headfirst. Jumping full speed ahead into a passion you’re excited about often makes us vulnerable to other people questioning your ability to do it. Eryn saw a good amount of success with her music finding its way to commercials and TV shows. Everything happened quickly. In that time, Eryn wanted to create something to support the people who supported her music. Eryn felt that the people who loved her music were more like friends than family. They were not admiring her art from the outside, but they were actually making it happen. Eryn decided to create t-shirts for free and get this – they included her HOME ADDRESS! Luckily no one showed up at Eryn’s house, but they did sent her their t-shirts to her to spray paint and send back to them. Many included letters with stories of why they struggled with self-worth and wrestle with believing they are worth of love. It was then that Eryn realized this was about so much more than just her music. 10:10 – An Important Conversation We all struggle with self-worth at one time or another, but our society is not well-equipped to face and discuss it. Part of Eryn’s story includes her divorce while she was building and growing So Worth Loving. When Eryn started So Worth Loving and began hearing other people’s stories, she noticed after her divorce that she had not been paying attention to her own story. She was carrying the weight of what other people had been going through and was not as present in her own life. As So Worth Loving grew, the company was shipping to all 50 states and did everything in- house, and Eryn started experiencing burnout. It wasn’t until her divorce that she started to realize she’d been trying to find her self-worth in the wrong places. The hardships of shame and the divisions that can come with divorce left Eryn questioning whether she was enough and if she was worth to be loved again. At that time, Eryn decided to take about a year and a half off from So Worth Loving so spend time on herself and work for another organization. Historically, the church has not been great with responding to divorce or people who experience divorce. Divorce has a stigma and we’re uncomfortable with it because we don’t talk about it and don’t know how to talk about it. Stigmas are divisive. Eryn experienced a lot of divisive questions from people in the church during and after her divorce. Eryn decided that it was not up to her to fight her battles, it was God who she would let fight her battles, including the misrepresentation of who God is through wrong comments from people in the church. That didn’t mean it was easy, but God did fight Eryn’s battles and it strengthened her relationship with God. 18:33 – Encouragement if you are in the midst of a marriage crisis 20:41 –Book Resources: How To Survive the Loss of a Love and Option B, and The Soul of Shame 21:50 – To friends and family members of someone who is going through a divorce and some ways to love someone going through a divorce. 29:49 – So Worth Loving & God Hears Her Eryn’s book launches in January of 2021 and it’s called So Worth Loving: How Discovering Your True Value Changes Everything. It’s a formal journal where Eryn shares about her wrestling with who God is, her questions, mistakes, and journey to understanding her value. You can preorder wherever books are sold! Eryn also launched a podcast in May called God Hears Her and cohosts the show with Elisa Morgan. The two share personal stories of hope and encouragement. True freedom comes from sharing our journeys and knowing we’re not alone. Be sure to subscribe! 36:28 – Hear more about So Worth Loving, how it has evolved through the last 9 years and what the organization is doing today. They also provide valuable and helpful resources on their So Worth Living page. 38:01 – Getting to Know Our Guest Find out about one of Eryn’s unusual talents, who she’d most like to sit next to on a 16-hour flight, what her hype song would be, who she’d choose to play her in a movie about her life, and what it means to her to run a business with purpose. Memorable Quotes 12:09 – “When I went through my divorce, I had to go through a dismantling to see where I found my self-worth. I was finding it in my finances, I was finding it in the growth of my business, I was finding it being in a relationship, I was finding it in the communities I was around, I was finding it in the network that I had.” 12:31- “Anybody who’s listening has experienced divorce, they know that it is a death and the person is still there. You lose friends, you get a Scarlett letter immediately, especially in the Christian community, there’s a lot of shame, and people pick sides. And so all of that definitely played a part in my wrestling with ‘Am I enough? Am I worthy to love? Am I worth to be loved again?’ “ 17:32 – “At the end of the day, I knew the Lord would fight it and He did and I am so glad because it was an opportunity for me to develop a deeper intimacy with Him.” 20:35 – “You are worthy to be taken care of.” Eryn is the founder and CEO of So Worth Loving, a lifestyle clothing brand. Since starting in 2011, she’s grown her company to include customers in all fifty states and in thirty countries, and the company is still going strong. She and her work have been featured on CNN and MSNBC, as well as Southern Living and Atlanta Magazine. This creative enjoys oil painting and singing, and she’s even had her music featured on MTV and VH1. Eryn is also an author and a speaker, and she calls Atlanta home. Connect with Eryn Eddy: https://www.eryneddy.com/ https://www.eryneddy.com/soworthloving https://www.facebook.com/iamErynEddy/ https://twitter.com/ErynEddy http://instagram.com/eryneddy https://soworthloving.com/ http://instagram.com/soworthloving http://facebook.com/soworthloving http://twitter.com/soworthloving Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com.  Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! After 2 years of global impact, Simple Switch is raising money to grow the company and make ethical shopping our new normal. You can learn more about that campaign at IGG.me/simple-switch The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

There’s a lot of debate these days around the topic of masks…no, I’m not talking about Covid masks right now, I’m talking about the proverbial masks that a lot of us put on. Maybe we are putting on a mask that says that we think we’re perfect or our life hasn’t been hard, or maybe we’re hiding things in our past. Those masks can be so dangerous, but when we begin to remove those masks to reveal the deep layers of truth within us, that’s when we really come alive. My guest this week is Ashley Abercrombie, a writer, speaker, and author of the book Rise of the Truth Teller: Own Your Story, Tell It Like It Is, and Live with Holy Gumption. She’s also the cohost of the hilarious and helpful podcast, Why, Tho? and can be found basically wherever there is a coffee or a cheese board. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons. I had the absolute best conversation with Ashley. When I met her, I knew she was my kind of person. With no further ado, join me to hear more about Ashley and her mission. 6:00 – The Ashley Abercrombie 101 Ashley is an author, speaker, and podcaster.  When she was 21, she moved from the small town of Eden, North Carolina to Los Angeles where she met her husband and they had their first baby. Four years ago, they moved to Manhattan and had their second baby. Not long after, they realized how much they missed their home in California and decided it was time to move back to their beloved community there. Ashley has been writing since she was her little girl. Her best-selling author and chart-topping podcast were not overnight successes. Ashley has been writing since she was a little girl; hers has been a journey of 20 + years spent writing on lunch breaks, early in the morning, and late at night because she simply loves expressing herself through the written word. Writing has been a way for Ashley to process her own pain and serve the community around her. In her early 20s she became distracted from that calling and experienced a lot of pain, but was able to process it, recover, find her voice, and pursue writing and speaking full time. It took a long time for Ashley to understand how to put on her own oxygen mask first but take off her “performance” and “strong” mask to realize she couldn’t be strong all the time, every day. Especially in the Christian sphere, we can act like we need to show up with everything clean and tidy and that we can’t have messy stories, which is obviously a lie from the pit of hell. 11:36 – A Deep Wound, A Lifeline Growing up, Ashley and her brother spent a lot of time with their grandparents and great aunt while their parents worked. Ashley went to church with her great aunt every Sunday morning and brought flowers for the alter and opened the library for the pastor and church members. For Ashley, it represented a place where she could find respite and quiet from the noise of school and the hustle and bustle of trying to figure out everyday family life. When she was 16, Ashley decided to walk away from the faith community because as a teenager, she was struggling to relate to an older church crowd. At 21, while living in Los Angeles, Ashley came back to the church in one of her most broken moments. She found a community where she was loved and not judged. So many people grow up in the church but walk away from it at a young age, wrestling with their faith and what church looks like as an adult. We can absolutely be constantly wrestling with God and asking hard questions. There is so much shame around difficult conversations. Often the church makes judgements or avoids these conversations all together. The silence of shame became unbearable for Ashley and becoming more an more isolated worry what people would think about her but knowing she couldn’t tackle her struggles on her own. She started asking God where He was. One day she took a drive around Raleigh, NC and it started to storm. She started shouting at God and as she did, she felt flooded by the love the Holy Spirit had for her. She’d never experienced anything like it before, especially since she thought she had to have everything right before she could be loved by God. It was the first time she admitted to herself that she couldn’t hold things together, and certainly not on her own. It’s when she started to take the mask off and stopped caring what people thought about her. 21:30 – Leading with Story Recover communities lead with stories. The first thing you hear when you go to a meeting is other people’s stories. They also helped Ashley realize the things from her childhood that affected her as an adult. Ashley leads with stories in her book, the way she learned in recovery. It’s connective and teaches us that we’re not perfect. We don’t have to wear masks all the time, performing for each other. For the first time in her life, Ashley started to read the Bible and listen to sermons. She realized in the church she was fed a “victory narrative,” but when she took time to examine the lives of people in the Bible, she realized their lives were very hard and began to identify with the imperfection she was finally learning about. The Bible makes room for ALL people from all walks on life on all different journeys. Ashley realized she could finally stop trying to be perfect all the time because victories never came from easy times in the Bible. God uses imperfect, flawed people with imperfect, flawed stories. These biblical stories were literally the foundation of our faith and God’s plan! The more we own the dark parts of the story, the more healing it is for others who have parts of their stories they feel shame over. It’s easy for our shame to creep back in even in the midst of owning our stories in their entirety. God doesn’t lead us with shame or guilt or holding our past over our heads. We may have to reconcile our pasts, but you can identify that shame is not from God. It is not how we would speak to ourselves or anyone we love. We’re often expected in our cultures and societies to stay inside certain boundaries and stay in our little boxes. If we branch out from this, we’re told to get back in line. This is especially true for women in our culture. The reality of integrity is a deep commitment to being who we are, even when we’re working toward improving our lives. 32:47 – Consequences We can made mistakes and find freedom in forgiveness and repentance, but there may still be consequences to our actions. Even when David repents and has been forgiven, God tells him he will still have to face the consequences of what he did. When we’re brave enough to take off our masks and make mistakes and try again and do our best and be honest with our story, we give others the courage to do the same. We are supposed to value people as made in the image of God. It creates community here on earth as God designed it when we drop our performance narratives and allow our real stories to come through. 37:30 – Faith and Justice Ashley is passionate about social justice, fighting human-trafficking, and initiatives against mass incarceration. There’s a huge relationship between faith and justice and for many people in the world right now, they are waking up to it for the first time. Justice is the heart of God and goes hand to hand with righteousness in scripture. There is never a way we can hate our neighbor but say we love God. We can’t divorce our love of God from love of neighbor. When Ashley really started listening to people’s stories, she finally started to understand how unjust our systems are. God invites us to learn His ways in a relationship with Him that includes humanity. We must hold people and systems accountable to right damages and injustice that they create, which includes letting them feel the consequences of those actions.  God has a lot to say about injustice, over 300 scriptures as a matter of fact. We are to create righteous communities and connections, valuing all people in God’s image. 51:06 – A Prayer As we navigate the rest of the 2020, Ashley’s prayer for the world and for herself is that this would be a time for us to lean into what the Spirit says. 54:00 - Getting to Know Our Guest Find out what Ashley’s professional athlete hype song would be, how she’d prove she’s from the future if she could time travel, what she thinks we’ll be nostalgic for in 40 years, and a few of her guilty pleasures. Be sure to stay tuned to find out what it means to Ashley to run a business with purpose. (So Many) Memorable Quotes 10:26 “I believe that I have a voice and that it’s important that I use it. I believe that about every person, no matter our sphere of influence. I believe that God has created us so uniquely to speak and that we live in this very wild world that is looking for hope and looking for grace and looking for more nuance than our news narratives and social media narratives allow us to have.” 10:59 “I didn’t know how to let people in I didn’t know how to say, ‘I have needs too,’ and I just thought I could always be the fixer or the advisor, the one people came to, the strong one…you realize that falls apart at some point. I’m not strong all the time.” 11:19 “I had to go on a real journey of taking off my mask and getting real and stop pretending and performing and learn how to be in real relationship with people. We can be loved even though we’re broken.” 14:58 - “I’m still unlearning some of the things [in the church] that are cultural and not biblical. Even though I’ve been hurt in the church, and I think if you’re human you have and the church is not perfect (it has imperfect people in it), overall I really do love that gathering and the corporate worship, and being together.” 15:27 - “For me in some ways the church has been a deep wound, but it’s also been a lifeline.” 22:27 – “I have come to a place where I value so much more, integrity over image.” 23:32 “I really began to identify, and I began to allow myself to be imperfect because that is all I saw in the scripture … imperfection.” “The bible is so diverse and rich. It makes room for people. It makes room for people of all colors, all shapes, all sizes, all backgrounds, and I just began to cultivate a life that did that too.” 35:59 – “When you meet a free person, you feel free to speak…when you see a brave person stand up against injustice, it makes you feel brave. It makes you feel like there’s a normal person doing the right thing, so I can be a normal person doing the right thing instead of pretending this thing doesn’t exist.” “Our courage gives others courage. Our vulnerability allows space for vulnerability for others. Our love for humanity cultivates diversity, equity, opportunities for people to be together and I think that’s really what we’re here for.” 39:23 – “Justice is just not a trend. It’s the very heart of God. Justice and righteousness are present together in scripture.”   About Ashley Abercrombie: Ashley is a speaker and writer, whose work has been featured in various magazines and digital outlets, including Darling, OprahMag.com, Relevant, and Grit and Virtue. She is the author of Rise of the Truth Teller: Own Your Story, Tell it Like it is, and Live with Holy Gumption, and her YouVersion devotional, Finding God in the Hard Places, has been completed by over 250,000 people. Ashley is the co-host, alongside Tiffany Bluhm, of the hilarious and helpful podcast — Why Tho. For more than 15 years, she has worked in non-profit spaces, leading faith-based initiatives, serving as a prison chaplain and pastor, and speaking at conferences, churches, and events. Ashley has an unrelenting passion for justice, particularly anti-human trafficking and mass incarceration initiatives, and serves as the Executive Board Chair of Treasures, a non-profit that reaches and supports women in the sex industry, and victims of sexual exploitation. Ashley and her husband, Cody officiate a lot of weddings, leading couples through premarital counseling, and are developing a curriculum and course to help people prepare for marriage.  Born and raised in the Southeast of America, Ashley has called Los Angeles and Manhattan home, so she’s got a little southern, east coast, west coast twang. Ashley currently resides in Los Angeles, raising two boys by the pool, with her husband and beloved Nespresso machine. Connect with Ashley: https://www.ashabercrombie.org/ https://www.instagram.com/ashabercrombie/ https://www.facebook.com/ashleyabercrombienyc https://twitter.com/AshAbercrombie https://www.pinterest.com/ashabercrombie/ Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma  Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code SHOPWITHMOLLY for the month of August. Head to shopwithmolly.com for all the details. GOEX At GOEX, we believe in the power of purchase. We use a simple t-shirt to connect our customers with their apparel makers. GOEX customers sustain fair wage jobs that liberate workers from poverty and empower them in their families and communities. We are proud to be a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation. Shop sustainable, eco-friendly t-shirts and sweatshirts with purpose today at goexapparel.com. (Clocked at :26) Simple Switch I want to introduce you all to a company I believe in that helps you more conveniently purchase with purpose, SimpleSwitch.org Simple Switch is an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. They let you shop online for more than 3,000 products ranging from everyday essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to special gifts like journals or jewelry. Every product has a positive environmental or social impact, like planting trees or fighting human trafficking. Simple Switch is offering a discount exclusively for our listeners. Check out the marketplace on simpleswitch.org and get 20% off your first order with code PURCHASEWITHPURPOSE at checkout! After 2 years of global impact, Simple Switch is raising money to grow the company and make ethical shopping our new normal. You can learn more about that campaign at IGG.me/simple-switch The Lemonade Boutique  This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a women’s clothing with a cause store. Featuring ethically made and fair trade items from over 10 countries, every item is made by women facing extreme challenges such as trafficking, poverty, and more. Your purchase empowers women to take life's lemons and make lemonade.  Shop at THELemonadeBoutique.com. Listeners of the Business with Purpose Podcast can save 15% by using code PURPOSE15 at checkout.

It’s Episode 200, and today’s guest is the one and only John Stillman, my husband! I knew for this episode I’d have to invite my special guest back to the show. His first appearance was Episode 100, and since my listeners loved it, I thought it was about time I brought him back for another interview! It’s hard to believe we are here at 200 episodes. It was a different time when I launched this show in the summer of 2016. I certainly didn’t think then about being at episode 200. We have some fun things planned including listener-submitted questions, a review of the top 10 episodes, and more! 4:31 – Kicking things off with the first user-submitted question which is actually a question that many of you asked: “What have things been like for us over the past few months?” We’re both self-employed. John has a financial advising business and media company and went from working in an office to working from home with me! During quarantine 2020, we’ve developed some habits and routines that John enjoys very much, especially getting Chipotle for lunch every Monday. We don’t know what we were doing on Saturdays before Covid-19, but we’ve finished a number of house projects that have been waiting for us to complete them and enjoyed leisurely prepared breakfasts and slow mornings. Since I’m working at home and home-schooling, implementing true rest on the weekends became important too, which led us to examine our Sabbath and really for the first time, intentionally carve out a time for rest on the weekends. John’s weeknight habits have changed too. He’s much less inclined to do any work on his laptop in the evenings, compared to when he was working all day in the office. He’s been more disciplined in keeping his workday confined to regular business hours because he’s already home all day. We both feel much more efficient, too. It’s been really nice to be home together. When John started returning to the office for half days, it was actually much harder than either of us thought it was going to be! The biggest adjustment for me has been recording podcasts at home. I usually go to the recording studio, but moving all of that into well, basically my closet, has been a big transition. 10:19 – User Submitted Questions, Let’s Dive into the Q&A! 10:40 – Question One: “What is your favorite quality about the other person?” 12:57 – Question Two: “John, you have edited nearly all of Molly’s podcasts episodes. Which one, or which ones have stood out to you. Do you have any particularly favorite interviews?” 14:12 – Question Three: “How do you build your business as a woman without losing your marriage?” 21:03 – We’re going to take a quick break from questions to recap the top 10 episodes of the first 200 of the Business With Purpose podcast! These are the most popular episodes based on the highest number of downloads + a few honorable mentions of my personal favorites: 21: 30, #10 –Episode 129: Chris Solt, Executive Director at Fair Trade Federation 21:47, #9 – Episode 149: Llenay Ferretti, Ten Thousand Villages & Bhava World Project 22:04, #8 – Episode 100: The 100th Episode Spectacular with Guest – My Husband! 22:22, #7 – Episode 110: How To Know If A Brand Is Ethical 22:41, #6 – Episode 139: Mark Choyt, Reflective Jewelry 24:04, #5 – Episode 136: Fair Trade Federation Conference Recap 24:26, #4 Episode 130: Solo Episode, So You Just Marie-Kondo’D Your Life? What to Do with All Those Things That Don’t Spark Joy 25:37, #3 Episode 137: Rebecca Smith, Better Life Bags 26:20, #2 Episode 135: Kat Eckles, Founder of Clean Juice 26:38, #1 Episode 71: Devan Kline & Morgan Kline, Founders of Burn Boot Camp 27:25, Honorable Mentions: These are some of my all-time favorites in no particular order: 27:36 Episode 165, Santiago, “Jimmy” Mellado, Compassion International President & CEO 28:03 – Episode 115, Antonio T. Smith Jr., From Living In A Dumpster to Self-Made Millionaire 28:32 – Episode 101: Barrett Ward, Founder & CEO of ABLE 28:59 – Episode 155: Sharon Hodde Miller, Author, Speaker, Theologian 29:34 – Episode 124: Leon Lee, Founder of Flying Cloud Productions, Producer of “Letters From Masanjia” 29:41 – Episode 153: Comedian Kevin Fredericks, Aka @kevonstage 30:56 – Back to your questions! The first one is for John: “Do you ever feel like a #instagramhusband ? 35:13 – “Do you have any first steps or resources for couples to get on the same page financially before marriage?” 37:49 – “Do you think couples should combine their finances?” 40:43 – “Where do you see the other person in 10 years” 41:53 – I loved that someone asked us the question I ask all my guests: “What does it mean to you to run a business with purpose?” 46:40 – My answer to “What does it mean to you to run a business with purpose?” Thank you for the support that all of you have given me. I truly would not be doing this if not for you being on this journey with me. For those who’ve left comments, I appreciate it so much! If you want to leave a review, it is much appreciated and helps me know how the show is helping you. Subscribing and sharing is also incredibly helpful. Thank you for being a part of this community and learning more about doing something with purpose, on purpose with me! If you’re not a member of the “Purchase with Purpose” Facebook group, it’s a great place to ask questions and learn more about fair trade and ethical fashion. Here’s to 200 episodes and here’s to you! Thank you for your questions and thank you John for joining me!

Ambitious Soul Masterclass Open Enrollment for 12 more days! https://ambitioussoul.co/coaching  Shannon started Mango + Main in 2016 with the primary goal of connecting talented artisans across the globe with U.S. customers who were looking for authentic, handmade products. It all started with a group of seamstress in Rwanda who had incredible sewing skills and wanted to expand their business.  She then opened a little online store to sell their market tote bags, aprons, and skirts... and slowly over the years began adding new artisan partners all over the world.  Now, 3 years later, Mango + Main is a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation and we source apparel, accessories, home decor and gifts made by artisans in 23 different countries!  She also has a storefront in historic Annapolis, Maryland and offers a wholesale line to stores across the U.S. Through the power of fair trade, artisan entrepreneurs in places like Haiti, Peru, India, Kenya and Guatemala are able to preserve cultural traditions and make a positive impact on their communities.   Connect -https://mangoandmain.com  On Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/mangoandmain/ Ways to Connect with Me:www.ambitioussoul.co  Get on the Soul Squad Newsletter List & Get Inspiration in Your Inbox:https://ambitioussoul.co/soul-squad Instagram@christylepleyhttps://www.instagram.com/christylepley/ @ambitioussoulpodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/ambitioussoulpodcast/ AND Don't Forget to Subscribe on iTunes to get Next Week's Episode!

Episode 021 of the DO.ERS podcast features Chris Solt, Executive Director of The Fair Trade Federation, a community of fair trade enterprises from the U.S. and Canada. The post DO.ERS 021 All in on Fair Trade with Chris Solt appeared first on The Candy Factory.

In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast I connect with newly elected District of North Saanich Councillor Patricia Pearson. We share many of the same interests and so while this is a rather short conversation compared to the past few episodes, I view this as just a starting point. As the title of the podcast notes, Patricia is far more than just a recently elected Councillor. She works in sales at Level Ground fair trade coffee company, is the Chair of the Fair Trade Federation, the parent of a young daughter and entrepreneur. Patricia's work is founded on the principles of sustainability and resilience seeking social, environmental and economic justice. Her small business Hansell & Halkett (Facebook / Instagram) highlights her passion for reusing items that still have value by recycling and upcycling abandoned roadside furniture. Check out Patricia's page on the District of North Saanich website for her short bio and contact information. You can also find her on Facebook. I hope you enjoy this episode with Patricia Pearson!

In the last year, big brands like Nike, Athleta, and J.Crew have entered the fair trade industry. It's a big win for the fair trade movement, but it leaves small business owners with daunting challengers. Mom-and-pop shops are no match for companies like Target. No longer is it enough to market the story of your artisans and expect to generate revenue. If you want to compete, you must put your customer first. In my keynote address at the Fair Trade Federation Conference in Austin, I challenged business owners to reconsider how they position their organizations in the fair trade space. This is what I had to say... Things You Don't Want To Miss: A Crazy Dream 1:17 - In the next 25 years, I want the term fair trade to cease to exist. I want ethically-made products to become so much the norm that the term "fair trade" is no longer needed. The Power Of Persistence 1:45 - When I was about eight and 1/2 years old, I took it upon myself to look out for the other children in my neighborhood. Our neighborhood didn't have any sidewalks, so I decided to petition the town council for safer streets and the implementation of sidewalks. As you might imagine, nothing happened. In six months, we still had no sidewalks, so I began to write the town council, asking for change. Finally, after two and 1/2 years of calling, writing letters, and begging for change, we finally got the sidewalks. While this is a cute story, it's an important illustration for the power of persistence. If we want to see change, we must be persistent. Life Lessons From Kenya 7:34 - In 2011, I visited the Kazuri Bead Factory on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. It was my first exposure to the fair trade movement, and if you're not familiar with them, their goal is to provide employment opportunities for disadvantaged members of Kenyan society. This trip put in me a desire to learn more about the movement, and I soon jumped all-in on fair trade. I wanted to do my part fo effect change for those living in poverty around the world. The Challenges Facing Fair Trade Businesses 9:10 - Fair trade businesses are changing lives, and striving to make ethical business practices a standard around the world. However, the jump to fair trade isn't without its challenges. One day, fair trade will become a seemingly standard operating procedure, and cause marketing will slowly begin to lose its power as consumers come to expect ethical practices as the norm. 9:52 - Fast fashion brands Madewell and J. Crew recently launched Fairtrade certified denim lines. Athleta is now a certified B Corporation, and Nike has an entire department dedicated to sustainability and ethical practices. The industry of business is wising up, and that will affect small businesses who operate on fair trade principles. Small businesses will lose their competitive edge to monoliths like Target as it seeks to enter the fair trade space. A Unique Perspective 13:10 - I'm a fair trade customer, and I love ethical fashion. I've also worked alongside small business owners as they seek to stay alive and use their revenue to serve their local communities as well as men and women in poverty around the world. As a blogger, I've interviewed hundreds of fair trade business owners who seek to thrive as entrepreneurs, and I hope my perspective will challenge you to consider how to run your business with purpose. Change Your Messaging 15:35 - If you want to survive in the next era of ethical business, change your message. Put the onus on your customer first, your product second, and your artisans' stories third. Disclaimer: We're not telling you to neglect your artisans, nor are we suggesting you hide their stories. Of course we want to tell the stories of those who make your product. However, the message of fair trade for years has focused around the artisans, and in reality, it's the customers who can be the heroes of the story. Customers purchase products, and their purchases keep your business alive and lift your artisans out of poverty. 16:55 - The Root Collective is a great example of a company that's shifted it's messaging. They realized their customers wanted to be noticed in their shoes, so they began focusing on developing a rock-star product that would solve a problem for the customer. Now, their customers get noticed, and in turn, they share the story of The Root Collective. Focus on meeting a need for your consumer, and in turn, they'll get behind your cause. Shift Your Brand Perspective 19:26 - Consider your branding. Does your branding blow people away? Do you impress people when they visit your website? If you want to compete with Nike, you've got to brand yourself. Ask yourself, "other than fair trade, what's your competitive edge?" 21:36- Tribe Alive is an ethical fashion brand that's killing it these days, and their branding is SHARP. In fact, it's so sharp that J. Crew and Madewell approached them. Now those companies are selling Tribe Alive products. Tribe Alive's branding speaks for itself. It's messaging is focused on the customer, and it leads people to a conversation about the work they're doing. Develop Your Marketing Strategy   22:47 - Are you using social media as a tool to create a community of brand evangelists, or are you using social media as a megaphone to announce new products and sales? Too many people are taking the "social" aspect from social media. People want to belong; they want to connect. A brand that connects people will thrive. 23:54 - Elegantees uses its platform to share sneak peaks of upcoming products while connecting users. It brings users into the company, and gives women an opportunity to become brand evangelists. Invite your community into your business, and market to them by speaking directly with them. Start Small  27:24 - Don't be afraid to change. Take one element from this talk, and use it to shape your business. Implement it in the next 24 hours, and set yourself up for success in the next 25 years. A Memorable Moment: "When it comes to the marketing of your business, your customer is your hero. Always. You're the guide. The customer is your hero."   - Molly Stillman To visit the Business With Purpose website, click the link: https://www.stillbeingmolly.com/2019/05/08/business-purpose-podcast-fair-trade-federation-conference-keynote-address/

Join me for a special edition of the podcast as we feature exciting moments from the Fair Trade Federation Conference in Austin, Texas. I'll recap my favorite stories, brands, and personalities from the week. Things You Don't Want To Miss: Llenay Ferretti, Acting CEO Of Ten Thousand Villages. 2:41- Llenay Ferretti has been involved in fair trade for years. She gave a presentation outlining the research surrounding consumer markets as well as the information gap between the consumer's understanding of fair trade and what they value. Reshaping The Story. 3:28 - Llenay discuses Ten Thousand Villages' efforts to bring its mission into the modern age. They created the Maker to Market Movement, and they now encourage consumers to connect to ten thousand villages around the world. Liz Bohannon, Founder Of Sseko Designs.    5:00 - Liz Bohannon encourages us to use design thinking to build better businesses and in turn, a better world. The Myth Of Preparation. 5:56 - The idea that we can perfectly design a product is a myth. Every solution we have is simply a stepping stone to a more relevant, more robust solution. If you want to improve your ideas, get them out into the marketplace. Working With Influencer Marketing.  8:50 - Kirsten Dickerson, founder of Raven + Lily, hosted a panel on partnering with influencers who will leverage their status for the good of your fair trade brand. The panel spoke on finding the right influencer for your brand and how to find influencers who are more relational with their followers. Catching Up With Shannon Riesenfeld.  12:22 - Shannon Riesenfeld is the founder of Mango + Main. Her company works with artisans in Rwanda, Haiti, and Peru to develop and distribute their products around the U.S. We caught up to discuss her journey into the world of fair trade and her recent jump into the Fair Trade Federation. Alice Grau, Global Mamas.  18:24 - Global Mamas seeks to create prosperity for African women and their families by selling their beautifully hand-crafted jewelry, apparel, and soaps. Alice Grau is the organization's creative marketing director, and she shared Global Mamas' mission to create prosperity and enable their producers to buy a car, build their own home, and educate their children. Charlie Brandes, Equal Exchange  23:55 - Equal Exchange is a producer of fair trade coffee, chocolate, and tea. Charlie Brandes works in their sales department. He spoke about Equal Exchange's goal of connecting consumers with the farmers who grow their food and the challenges or partnering with big box stores. Lucia's Imports. 28:28 - Lucia's Imports is a wholesale business that sells handmade imports from Guatemala. They design jewelry, ceramics, purses, and other products as they seek to preserve Mayan culture. Marita Miller, Pebblechild. 30:58 - Pebblechild is a  fair trade organization that makes baby products while providing opportunities for employment to women in Bangladesh. It wants to enable women to work while continuing to care for their own children. Pebblechild works with about 12,000 women and keeps them from working in hazardous inner city factories. The Grain Of Rice Project. 34:28 - The Grain Of Rice Project is a non-profit ministry, which seeks to empower Kenyan people with the love of Christ by helping them become self-sufficient through employment, education, and skills training. It works within one of the largest slums in Kenya, generating income for locals by selling handmade jewelry, accessories, housewares, and decorations. Rover And Kin. 37:34 - Rover & Kin is a newly-minted fair trade fashion company. All of its clothing comes from a small, women's cooperative in West Bengal, and it centers its style around minimalist designs. Mayamam Weavers. 40:55 -Mayamam Weavers is a brand I've often talked about. Mayamam Weavers make beautiful handwoven textiles, and they seek to preserve Mayan culture while empowering women from a small cooperative in Cajolá, Guatemala. Katie Schmidt, Passion Lilie. 45:15 - Passion Lilie is a fair trade clothing line that utilizes artisanal fabrics manufactured in India. Katie Schmidt is the founder, and she leveraged her background in fashion, sewing, and textile design to provide fair wages and employment opportunities to women in India. Joy McBrien, Fair Anita. 47:57 - Fair Anita is a beautiful line of ethical jewelry and accessories. Fair Anita seeks to make ethical brands more affordable. Joy McBrien is the founder and CEO, and she wants to appeal to the average consumer. She wants to feature designs that fit into your everyday closet. Campbell Plowden, Center For Amazon Community Ecology. 50:57 - Campbell Plowden is the executive director of the Center for Amazon Community Ecology. He started the organization in an effort to help people make a living in the rainforest without cutting it down. The organization works with 15 communities as they develop and market innovative fair trade handicrafts and essential oils. A Snippet From My Talk. 54:22 - I was honored to be featured as a plenary speaker at the Fair Trade Federation Conference. I wanted to inspire fair trade warriors to continue to innovate as the Fair Trade Federation turns 25. My hope is that fair trade will one day become business as usual. Jessica Honegger, Noonday Collection. 1:00:43 - Jessica Honegger is the founder and CEO of Noonday Collection. She encouraged fair trade warriors at the conference to continue striving toward their vision of eradicating poverty and promoting fair trade principles in industries worldwide. A Memorable Moment: "I hope to see the term fair trade cease to exist in the next 25 years. Fair trade values need to become the norm." - Molly Stillman To visit the Business With Purpose website, click the link: https://www.stillbeingmolly.com/2019/04/10/business-purpose-podcast-fair-trade-federation-conference-recap/

The Fair Trade Federation is an association that works to elevate and strengthen fair trade partners in the United States and Canada. It's a key partner in the global fair trade movement. On this edition of the podcast, we catch up with the organization's executive director, Chris Solt. Things You Don't Want To Miss: Come To The Fair Trade Federation Conference!  1:20 - I'm going to be speaking at the Fair Trade Federation Conference in Austin, Texas in March. If you live in the area, you need to come check it out. There will be all sorts of speakers, fair trade organizations showing their wares, breakout sessions, and much more. For more information, visit fairtradefederation.org. The Chris 101. 3:45 - Chris takes us all the way back to the beginning and shares the story of his upbringing in Vermont and Ohio. Chris' father was a band director, and he grew up learning to play the drums, bass, guitar, piano, and many other instruments. He was even in a band, and he just knew he'd become a musician. He chose to skip college and become a recording engineer while working in Border's in Cleveland. In 1999, Chris became a father and attended college. His degree in Social Science landed him in a Ten Thousand Villages store, and it ultimately changed his path completely. Following A Different Path.   8:04 - Chris took a job with a company called Ten Thousand Villages. It's a nonprofit that markets fair trade artisan products to alleviate poverty around the world. While there, Chris learned how commerce and retail could be leveraged to impact lives and boost local economies. Becoming The Executive Director At The Fair Trade Federation.  10:58 - A friend connected with Chris and led him down the path toward working with the Fair Trade Federation where he now serves as their executive director. How Do We Find Our Calling?  12:38 - Maybe you grew up wanting to be a teacher or a doctor, so you went to school and turned your passions into a profession. However, maybe your path hasn't been as clear. Chris shares how his life experiences in his twenties led him toward his calling later in life. What Is The Fair Trade Federation?  14:10 - The fair trade industry consists of more than coffee, tea, and chocolate. There are all sorts of businesses involved, and the Fair Trade Federation is a trade association that seeks to strengthen and promote these organizations. Their mission is to build equitable and sustainable trading partnerships and create opportunities to alleviate poverty. The Fair Trade Federation works with all sorts of wholesalers, retailers, nonprofits, and faith communities. These organizations seek to promote justice and provide opportunities for laborers all over the world to find dignity in their work while sustaining their livelihood. How The Fair Trade Federation Operates.  19:50 - The federation operates under principles of transparency and accountability for the purposes of creating opportunities, promoting fair trade, ensuring fair wages, and developing safe working conditions for laborers. They also fight for the rights of children, cultivate environmental stewardship and respect cultural identity. These seem like high standards, but the organization seeks to guarantee the products being sold by federation members haven't come at the cost of someone's health or dignity. The Fair Trade Federation wants its members to put fair trade in the very DNA of how they operate. How The Fair Trade Federation Operates.  23:50 - The Fair Trade Federation works with all sorts of marginalized communities. They want to alleviate poverty and suffering, and they want to be a resource for those trapped in modern-day slavery. A Story From Nepal.  26:16 - Chris shares the story of a trip to India and Nepal in 2008. While there he partnered alongside an organization called New Sadle which works exclusively with victims of leprosy. These victims are seen as outcasts in their villages and are even considered to be cursed. Consider Your Purchases.  27:08 - Walk through Walmart and consider a $1.99 t-shirt. While that graphic tee might be harmless to you, there's a real possibility it was put together by an indentured servant on the other side of the world. We must consider where our money is going. Chris Explains The Difference Between The Fair Trade Federation And The World Fair Trade Organization.  30:30 - In short, the Fair Trade Federation is based in the United States in Canada while the World Fair Trade Organization is worldwide. A Difficult Question.  34:49 - Can something be ethical and not be fair trade? While this is a challenging concept to consider, the answer is absolutely. The Fair Trade Federation sets a high bar for its retailers, and not every well-meaning company qualifies. The fair trade movement is a spectrum, and while the term "fair trade" can get nebulous, any movement toward becoming fair trade is to be applauded. The simple step of adding transparency to a business can change lives. Fair Trade Is A Learning Process.  41:22 - You don't change the world overnight, and you don't change your behavior overnight. It takes time to educate yourself about what it means to support fair trade and ethically made goods. It's easy to be discouraged, but take heart. The small steps you're taking really do impact lives. Chris Shares More Details About The Fair Trade Federation Conference.  45:57 - This conference runs March 26-28th in Austin Texas. It's the 25th anniversary of the federation. While it's a professional conference, it's a great opportunity to learn about the fair trade industry, and the expo portion of the conference is open to the public. Getting To Know Our Guest: 52:20 - We take a moment to get to know Chris a little bit better by quizzing him on his favorite tv shows, meals, and guilty pleasures. A Memorable Moment: "When it began to click for me, I realized there is no piece of jewelry, there is no pair of shoes, there is no t- shirt that is worth someone else's life being treated as not worthy just so I can buy that item." - Molly Stillman   To visit the Business With Purpose website, click the link: https://www.stillbeingmolly.com/2019/02/20/business-purpose-podcast-chris-solt-fair-trade-federation/    

One of the things I love most about ethical and fair trade fashion is telling the stories behind the companies that make these beautiful things. That’s basically why I started this podcast, so you could hear the stories behind the brands doing these amazing things! But what I love even more is when I’m out somewhere and someone says “Oh I love that gorgeous necklace” or “That shirt is incredible, where did you get it?” and I get to tell the story behind the gorgeous piece. But it’s not like they knew that piece was made by artisans or is changing the world somehow. They just knew it was beautiful and wanted to know where I got it, but the fact that it has a story behind it means that much more. My guest on the Business with Purpose podcast this week is Manish Gupta, founder of Matr Boomie, a fair trade brand that produces some of the most beautiful jewelry and hand-crafted goods that works with INCREDIBLY talented artisans in India. I have been a big fan of Matr Boomie for quite some time and was honored to hear Manish’s story and hear about how they got started. This is such a great conversation and you’re going to learn so much! EMPOWERING ARTISANS When ethical brands try to sell products, it is easy to make the products too much about the story of the artisans and not the art itself. Manish and I discuss how he lets the products lead while still empowering the artisans behind the products. By viewing the artisans as partners and not as a charity, Manish avoids “pity sales” and lets the amazingly beautiful products speak for themselves. FAIR-TRADE CERTIFIED In today’s world, the term “fair trade” is thrown around quite often while few companies are actually fair-trade certified. It is so much harder for craft products to be certified due to the complex nature of supply chains. However, some businesses are Fair Trade Certified by the Fair Trade Federation, meaning they follow ethical practices. Manish explains the intense review companies like his own have to go through to become certified and the principles they have to follow. POWER OF CONSUMERS As consumers in the US, we are so far away from where many products are being made and it is easy to say we don’t know the processes and ignore the problem. Manish and I discuss how consumers need to take ownership about what they’re buying in this day and age. Consumers make a huge impact and can make brands more conscious just by asking them how products are made. A change in consumers’ spending habits will force businesses to pay attention and make a change. About Manish Gupta, Founder of Matr Boomie: On a trip back to his native India after years living in the United States, Manish Gupta was struck anew by the extreme material poverty of his homeland. With deep respect for the rich culture and potential of rural Indians, he began asking questions. After hundreds of conversations and even more glasses of tea, Manish realized that he had a role to play — that he could bridge these two seemingly disparate worlds. He started partnering with grassroots organizations to transform unskilled women and men into master artisans. He personally ensured that the materials were safe for people and kind to the land. With the help of his mother and sister, Manish established a team in India to guarantee clear, efficient communications and high-quality production. He gathered a team in Austin, Texas, to design collections that entice Westerners while honoring the culture, craft and capacity of Indian artisans. And along the way, he married a beautiful, inspiring Indian designer, Ruchi, who quickly became his partner in life, love and business. Nearly a decade later, the little company run out of Manish and Ruchi’s Austin apartment has grown into a leading fair trade wholesaler and innovator in ethical, sustainable business. CONNECT WITH MANISH: Matr Boomie Website Matr Boomie Blog Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matrboomie/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/matrboomie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatrBoomie/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fairtraders Special thanks to CAUSEBOX for sponsoring this week’s Business with Purpose podcast. Use coupon code MOLLY for $15 off! Join my Purchase with Purpose Facebook group and let’s continue the conversation! https://www.facebook.com/groups/purchasewithpurpose/ Subscribe to the Business with Purpose podcast (and I’d love it if you left a review** on iTunes!) Subscribe on iTunes** Subscribe on Google Play Subscribe on Radio Public Subscribe via Podcast RSS Feed **Want to know how to leave a review of the Business with Purpose Podcast on iTunes from your iPhone or iPad? Launch Apple’s Podcast app. Tap the Search tab. Enter “Business with Purpose“ Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right. Tap the Blue album art for the podcast. Tap the Reviews tab. Tap Write a Review at the bottom. Enter your iTunes password to login. Tap the Stars to leave a rating. Enter title text and content to leave a review. Tap Send.  

In this episode, Starfish co-founder Beth Awalt and friend of Starfish Amanda Brown discuss the challenges, joys, and wisdom of starting a business. Amanda is the owner and founder of Sweet Lupine.   Other amazing resources discussed during the episode: Personal Contacts Mom Blogger: Shannan, of Faithfully Beautiful,  @shannan_pan  BioTech: O-Ray Pharma Small Business Resources SCORE: www.score.org Bloguettes (webinars): www.bloguettes.com Canva: www.canva.com Being Boss: https://beingboss.club 5 Love Languages (Languages of Appreciation): http://www.5lovelanguages.com Ethical Fashion Resources Fashion Revolution: Who made my clothes? Great resources on ethical fashion and how you can get involved. (This group supports college chapters). World Fair Trade Organization: www.wfto.org Fair Trade Federation: http://www.fairtradefederation.org True Cost Documentary: http://truecostmovie.com  

TOPICThe Impact of Trade Deals in America IN THIS EPISODE[02:36] Introduction of Rodney North. [03:13] Rodney shares about when he became passionate about fair trade. [04:27] Rodney explains the mission of Fairtrade America. [05:54] Rodney describes the coffee-focused project Fairtrade America is involved in. [07:45] Is there a corollary within the tea industry for those who don’t drink coffee? [09:24] Why is fair trade an important issue for working-class and lower-income Americans? [10:24] How would you define “fair trade”? [13:33] Rodney explains NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). [16:15] How do trade deals impact the environment, working-class Americans, and our communities? [18:52] Is it possible to structure a trade deal when the cost-of-living imbalance is so great on a global scale? [23:03] If people don’t understand the value of organized labor and being paid a fair wage, are they able to understand what’s happening with the undermining of workers in other parts of the world? [26:07] Where can listeners learn more about Fairtrade America? [26:48] Rodney shares one change that would lead to smarter, more sustainable, and more equitable communities. [27:40] Rodney describes the action listeners can take to help build a more equitable and sustainable future. [28:52] Rodney explains what trade looks like 30 years from now. GUESTRodney North is Fairtrade America’s Director of Marketing and External Relations. Rodney oversees Fairtrade America’s marketing, public relations and advocacy efforts to increase awareness and support for equitable business practices involving smallholder farmers and other stakeholders. He has worked in the fair trade foods movement longer than all but a handful of individuals in the nation and has been deeply involved in communicating the fair trade story to diverse constituencies. Prior to his role at Fairtrade America, Rodney worked for Equal Exchange, a worker-owned cooperative and market leader in the fair trade and organic food movements. North joined the pioneering company in 1996, serving in various positions, including for the past 15 years in media relations and public advocacy roles. He earned the nickname The Answer Man because of his extensive knowledge of fair trade, the global food industry, small farmer co-operatives, socially responsible and sustainable business practices, and how business models intersect with human development. At Equal Exchange, North was also one of the co-operative’s 120 worker-owners. He was a two-term director of the enterprise’s Board of Directors, and he served as Vice Chair for three years. North has also volunteered with the Fair Trade Federation (membership screening committee), and for four years was an advisor to the board of directors of La Siembra, a Canadian worker co-operative and 100% fair trade, 100% organic food company. ORGANIZATIONFairtrade America is a national, nonprofit organization committed to helping smallholder farmers and workers around the world get a fairer price for their products, access to international markets, and funds for community development that will enable them to lead better lives, and invest in their communities. Fairtrade America is a member of Fairtrade International, which comprises 25 such organizations around the world and three producer networks that together establish international Fairtrade standards. Fairtrade International is unusual among ethical certifications due to the large governance role played by its members in the global south. Participating farmer producer groups hold half the votes in the Fairtrade International General Assembly and more than one-third of the seats on the Fairtrade International board of directors. The Fairtrade Mark is the most recognized and trusted ethical label worldwide, found on products sold in over 120 countries that are sourced from over 1,200 producer organizations representing 1.5 million farmers and workers in more than 65 countries. The

Around our world, artisans in all media are able to thrive because of stores like Zee Bee Market, a proud local member of the Fair Trade Federation. St. Louis retailer Julio Zegarra-Ballon, a native of Peru, melliflously articulates the principles of fair trade in this Earthworms conversation. Goods Julio has brought to the KDHX studio embody collaborative relationships between seller and maker, to develop product lines both novel and useful. These exchanges go beyond protection, to enhance the social, economic and environmental well-being of global cultures, sources of Zee Bee's wares. Located at 3211 South Grand Boulevard - in one of St. Louis most vibrant business districts - and online, Zee Bee Market is a delightful and ethical shopping destination. Thanks to Stacey Bernard, host of Backroads, Saturday mornings on KDHX, for introducing Earthworms to Zee Bee Market and its owner, Julio Zegarra-Ballon. Music: Infernal Piano Plot, performed live at KDHX by the Claudettes.

Supply chains are increasingly using innovation and collaborating with civil society and government to bring novel solutions to social problems. In this panel discussion, experts describe innovations that are benefiting society and delivering economic value, including responsible e-waste recycling efforts that generate revenue, innovative methods to end child labor in the carpet industry, and environmental supply chain innovations. They discuss keys to success for notable innovations, and how corporate supply chains can leverage social innovation to build shared value and make change on a large scale. The panel was part of the 2012 Responsible Supply Chains conference at Stanford. Lakshmi Karan is director of global strategy with Riders for Health, a social enterprise delivering transportation solutions to millions. In the social sector, most recently she was the Skoll Foundation’s director of impact assessment. She has also served as a strategic advisor to global non-profits. In the private sector, Karan was a technology consultant to Fortune 500 companies. Dara O’Rourke is associate professor at UC Berkeley and co-founder of GoodGuide, the most comprehensive source of consumer information on the health, environmental, and social performance of products and companies. He has consulted to organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. O’Rourke was previously a professor at MIT. Steven Rockhold is global program manager for product reuse and recycling for Hewlett-Packard. This includes responsibility for operational strategy, volume, cost goals, metrics, international product take-back standards development and compliance, HP global policies, and communications. In addition, he manages HP’s vendor standards for reuse and recycling, vendor audit protocols and processes, and third-party vendor audits. Nina Smith is the executive director of GoodWeave USA. She oversees the development of GoodWeave’s child labor-free certification, which monitors weaving supply chains down to sub-contracted village and home-based production. She was formerly the executive director of The Crafts Center, a nonprofit organization providing marketing and technical assistance to indigenous artisans around the world. Smith was also president of the Fair Trade Federation. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/leveraging_social_innovation

Special Guest: Carmen K. Iezzi-Executive Director, Fair Trade Federation. Carmen completed her master's degree with a focus on the impact of regional integration on good governance from American University. Presently, she acts as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Ten Thousand Villages of Alexandria, is a director for the Abyssinian Fund, chairs the Millennium Development Goals Task Force for the UN Association of the National Capital Area, and served on the editorial board of the Journal of Fair Trade Studies. Special Co-host: Meg Widholm is a Fair Trade enthusiast with a commitment to the abolition of sweatshops and equal pay for equal work. She has done volunteer work for 10,000 Villages, a non-profit Fair Trade retail store with locations in the United States and Canada. She is currently employed in IT and working in parallel to open a Locally-Produced and Fair Trade retail shop in the Philadelphia area.