Dr. Anastasia Volkova is the CEO and Co-founder of Regrow Ag, a software company specializing in scalable decarbonization solutions for agriculture, using satellite imagery and proprietary biogeochemical modeling to measure and reduce scope 3 emissions on farms. Operating globally with over 100 customers—including General Mills, Nestle, Kellogg and Unilever—and monitoring 10%+ of the world’s arable land, Regrow aims to be a one-stop shop for the agriculture industry’s climate needs.

Anastasia has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Sydney. She is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council, a TEDx speaker, and the recipient of multiple awards and honors, including MIT's Innovators Under 35, BBC's 100 Women 2020, UBS Global Visionary, and Bloomberg's New Economy Catalyst.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     How Anastasia went from a PhD in Aerospace Engineering to focusing on agriculture

●     Why some widespread agricultural practices need updating

●     How to create a more resilient food system

Key Takeaways:

●     The Compounding Effects of Our Actions: Actions don’t exist in a vacuum—they compound over time, for better or worse. Agriculture provides a stark example of this.. Conventional practices that release significant greenhouse gases year after year contribute to climate change, creating extreme and unpredictable weather that destabilizes food production. This instability carries immense direct and indirect costs for society. The more we continue down this path, the worse it will become. On the flip side, investing in regenerative practices—while requiring upfront investments—yields compounding positive effects over time. These practices not only help mitigate climate change but also build a resilient food system that can sustain future generations. The key is zooming out to understand how the long-term impacts of today’s choices ripple far into the future.

●     The Beauty of an Unscripted Journey: The most fascinating career paths are rarely linear. Anastasia’s academic and professional journey is a testament to the beauty of following your interests, even when the destination isn’t clear. Sometimes, this meandering path leads to creating something entirely new—something that didn’t exist before. Letting go of the notion that your career should follow someone else’s trajectory is liberating. Each of us is meant to carve out our own way, and as we move forward the uniqueness of our path becomes more evident. So, embrace the unexpected turns and trust that your journey will lead down the road that was meant for you.

●     Transforming Tradition Through Innovation: Rice paddy cultivation has long been a symbol of timeless tradition—a picturesque image etched into collective memory. Yet, even centuries-old practices aren’t immune to the transformative power of innovation. It’s wild to think that after so many generations, there could be a better way to cultivate rice, a way that challenges the norm and improves upon it. That’s the magic of innovation: it takes what seems fixed and familiar and reimagines it, creating something better. Whether it’s rice paddies or any other deeply ingrained system, innovation reminds us that progress is always possible, and the status quo is just a starting point.

References:

●     Connect with Anastasia on LinkedIn

●     Regrow Ag

●     Case study on Regrow’s partnership with General Mills

●     Press release on the General Mills/Walmart regenerative agriculture partnership

●     Case study on Regrow’s partnership with Cargill

●     Case study on Regrow’s partnership with Netafim

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

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This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Chris Kanik is the CEO and Founder of Smart Cups, a sustainability-driven technology company that achieved global recognition with its flagship product—a printed energy drink. All of the flavors and ingredients are printed on the button of a cup, just add water. The Smart Cups printed technology eliminates the need to bottle and ship liquids, significantly reducing carbon footprint.

Smart Cups Technology was recognized on Time Magazine's 100 Best Inventions of the Year list for 2021. Chris also gained global exposure for Smart Cups by winning Season 1 of Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars, securing a $250,000 investment from Gordon Ramsay himself.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     The inspiration for Smart Cups

●     Why Smart Cups is pursuing a white-label strategy

●     The reasoning behind releasing an energy drink as their first product

Key Takeaways:

●     A Simple Truth with Big Ripples: Smart Cups is tackling a profound yet simple truth: shipping water as a primary ingredient in products is unnecessary. By letting the end consumer add water themselves, industries can slash emissions from transporting heavy, water-laden goods. Think of the potential impact across sectors—soft drinks, laundry detergents, cleaning supplies, shampoos, conditioners—the list is endless. This shift doesn’t just cut emissions; it reimagines how products are made, sold, and consumed.

●     Awareness as the Seed of Change: Actions drive change, but awareness is often the spark that starts it all. Awareness has the power to shift perspectives and open minds, creating a ripple effect that spreads through society. As more people become aware, the momentum grows, leading to collective action that can transform entire systems. Awareness isn’t just a passive state—it’s the ignition point for meaningful change.

●     The Unexpected Doorway to Innovation: Innovation can strike at the most unexpected times. Often, the doorway to innovation opens through frustration with the status quo or daydreaming about what could be. For Smart Cups, the doorway to innovation happened at a Taco Tuesday. When you find that doorway, let your imagination wander through it. You never know where it might lead—perhaps to a transformative idea that changes how we live.

References:

●     Connect with Chris on LinkedIn

●     Smart Cups

●     The Smart Cups investment offering on StartEngine

●     UCLA paper: “Reducing life cycle material, energy and emissions for liquid consumer products through printing”

●     Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars

●     “The Best Inventions of 2021”, Time Magazine

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Julia Marsh is the CEO and co-founder of Sway, a clean tech startup scaling seaweed-based, home-compostable packaging. Sway’s patented products match the vital performance attributes of conventional plastics and are designed to plug into existing infrastructure, enabling scale and massive impact. Julia’s work is driven by a deep passion for regenerative design and biological circularity. 

In 2023, Sway won first place in the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize. In 2021, Sway also won the Beyond the Bag Challenge sponsored by Closed Loop Partners and a consortium of major retailers. Sway’s solutions have garnered recognition from Vogue, Condé Nast, Forbes, Business Insider, and Fast Company. As a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and 1% for the Planet, Sway is working holistically to scale their product for a thriving, equitable future.

Learn more at swaythefuture.com. 

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Why recycling won’t fix our plastic problem

●      The properties of seaweed that make it a flexible plastic film substitute

●      The “Amazon Rainforest” ecosystem you never considered 

Key Takeaways:

●      Seamless Integration for Easy Adoption: Introducing a new material into established supply chains and factory processes can be challenging. Take a page out of the Sway playbook. If possible, create a plug-and-play solution that works with existing machinery. This lowers the barrier for manufacturers to test and adopt the new product, making it significantly easier to scale and implement across their industry.

●      Understanding Product Lifecycles: To truly grasp the benefits and costs of any product, it’s crucial to examine its entire lifecycle. Take plastic, for example. The visible litter on beaches is just the tip of the iceberg. Microplastics in our oceans and bloodstreams are harming marine life and human health. The environmental impact of extracting petroleum for plastic production, and the long-lasting waste clogging our landfills, are often hidden from view but equally damaging. Out of sight should not mean out of mind—these unseen costs are critical to our understanding of plastic's true impact.

●      The Power of Innovative Thinking: We need more people like Julia innovating new ways to do things. People who question the status quo. People who notice the cost of continuing to do things the same way, and aren’t ok with that cost. People that are curious enough to lean in, tinker, and innovate new solutions that are better for everyone. The next time you notice something off, don’t dismiss it. Instead, explore it—maybe you’re the one who will come up with the next groundbreaking solution. Your curiosity could lead to innovations that make a better future. 

References:

●      Connect with Julia on LinkedIn

●      Sway

○      Keep up with Sway on Instagram

●      Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize

●      Lonely Whale

●      Beyond the Bag Challenge

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Dalila Wilson-Scott serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation, and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. Dalila oversees all Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives and philanthropic strategy with a focus on advancing digital equity and economic mobility through Project UP, which is supported by a $1 billion commitment.

In 2023, Dalila was honored as WICT Woman of the Year in recognition of her work developing women leaders who transform the media, entertainment and technology industry. She has been named one of the “Most Powerful Women in Cable” by Cablefax Magazine; one of the “Most Powerful Women in Business” by Black Enterprise; and an “Innovative Rising Star: Building Communities” by Forbes magazine among other honors.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     The importance of data and transparency in DEI

●     3 key lessons for running a Foundation

●     Looking at diversity through a holistic business lens to include employees, suppliers, customers, and product creation

Key Takeaways:

●     Diversity: It's Not Just Business, It's Human: I’m done debating the business case for diversity—it's crystal clear, yet it hasn't solved the leadership imbalance. Let's focus on the human case. Look around the C-suites of S&P 100 companies: 70% of executives are white men, while they make up only 30% of the US population. Despite progress in diversifying executive teams over the past decade, these numbers don’t lie. Our system is still broken. It’s past time to fix a system that continues to perpetuate unfairness and bias, not just because diversity is proven to be good for business, but because it’s the right thing to do. Let’s not hide the need for fairness, justice, and ethics behind a business case.

●     Building Solutions Through Continuous Listening: Listening to the people you aim to serve is crucial, and it’s not a one-time act—it’s an ongoing practice. This dialogue informs how programs need to evolve to meet changing needs. When you continuously listen and adapt, you build solutions that resonate and have lasting impact. It’s about creating a dynamic partnership with those you serve.

●     The Importance of Community: The power of community cannot be overstated. We know the phrase “it takes a village”. This principle extends across all areas of life. Small businesses supported by their communities are more likely to succeed. Families with community support are more likely to thrive. Individuals who feel part of a work community are more likely to flourish. Humans are social creatures; we struggle in isolation but thrive when we come together. Building and nurturing community bonds is key to collective success and well-being.

References:

●     Connect with Dalila Wilson-Scott on LinkedIn

●     Comcast

○     Project UP

○     Comcast RISE

○     NBCU Academy

●     Edelman Trust Barometer

●     National Skills Coalition

●     Pinnacle Group

●     Making Space

●     Code Path

●     Per Sholas

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Dr. Stafford (Staff) Sheehan is an American scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur at the forefront of the carbon capture and utilization industry. Staff is the Co-founder and CTO of AIR COMPANY, a business converting captured carbon dioxide, water, and electricity into the fuels and chemicals that we get from fossil fuels today. He is the inventor of AIR COMPANY’s core patents and is responsible for the technology and operations of the business. Prior to founding AIR COMPANY, Dr. Sheehan served as the co-founder and CEO of Catalytic Innovations, where he developed electrochemical technologies to reduce energy consumption in refining processes.

Staff was recognized on MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 in 2023, as one of Chemical & Engineering News Talented 12 in 2017, and a Forbes 30 under 30 in 2016. He received his BS in Chemistry from Boston College and his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Yale University.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     Carbon capture and carbon utilization

●     The process to create sustainable aviation fuel

●     The magic of chemistry

Key Takeaways:

●     Circular Economy in Fuel Production: AIR COMPANY is transforming captured carbon from the atmosphere into fuel, creating a circular economy in the fuel industry. When this fuel is burned, the carbon released can be captured again to make more fuel. This closed-loop system is an incredible leap forward in sustainable energy.

●     Cutting Costs and Emissions Globally: The ability to create fuel anywhere in the world means we can slash energy use and costs across the supply chain. By producing fuel locally, we eliminate the need for transportation, drastically reducing associated energy use, costs, and emissions. This innovation could revolutionize how we think about energy logistics and help eliminate global conflict over fuel.

●     Turning Thin Air into Valuable Resources: Chemistry often feels like magic, and AIR COMPANY's work with carbon capture and utilization truly embodies this. Their work gives the phrase "making something out of thin air" a whole new—literal—meaning as they convert atmospheric carbon into new products like - aviation fuel, perfume, and vodka.

References:

●     Connect with Staff on LinkedIn

●     Air Company

●     To learn more about renewable hydrogen listen to the Purpose and Profit episode with David Reynolds, then Chief Executive of the Department for Trade and Investment for South Australia.

●     Defense Innovation Unit

●     “$400 per gallon gas to drive debate over cost of war in Afghanistan”, by Roxana Tiron, The Hill, October 16th, 2009

●     NASA CO2 Conversion Challenge

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Alex Lauver has been in the Outdoor Industry his entire career. Alex is currently Sr Director Materials, Innovation, & Sustainability at Outdoor Research (OR) where he specializes in advanced materials, sustainability, and high-performance apparel.

Since 1981, Outdoor Research has created outdoor apparel, accessories, and equipment for outdoor enthusiasts and military users around the globe with an Infinite Guarantee for their products. Most recently, Outdoor Research has partnered with a chemical company called Nikwax for PFAS free waterproofing, with all of their products transitioning to be free of intentionally added PFAS for Fall 2024 production.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     Why PFAS are prevalent in the outdoor industry, and why PFAS are a problem

●     The ups and downs of the continually evolving sustainability journey

●     Green-washing and green-hushing

Key Takeaways:

●     Persistent and Pervasive PFAS: PFAS are notorious for their persistence in the environment and their ability to bioaccumulate in living tissues, including humans, leading to serious health risks. These "forever chemicals" don't break down easily and they’re highly transmissible through air, water, and soil. Because of potential cross-surface contamination, factories aiming to produce PFAS-free materials will most likely need to eliminate PFAS entirely from their processes, a daunting task but one that could trigger a domino effect of widespread adoption of PFAS-free manufacturing.

●     Collaboratively Evolving Sustainability: Sustainability is a continuously evolving journey. We learn, test, improve, and then repeat the process. To accelerate collective progress towards a sustainable future, transparency is key. When organizations share their sustainable innovations openly, others can replicate successful strategies and propose even better solutions. Transparency fosters a collaborative environment where sustainable practices can rapidly evolve and improve across many organizations and industries collectively.

●     Shifting to Net Positive: Alex pointed out a stark truth: the most sustainable action for companies, as they currently operate, would be to cease business. The black and white truth of this statement illustrates how radically we need to transform our current business approaches. The goal is to shift from a standard and accepted operating model that has a net negative impact on the planet to achieving a net positive impact. This paradigm shift demands a complete overhaul of our current operating methods, pushing us towards innovative, planet-friendly business models.

References:

●     Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

●     Outdoor Research

●     Outdoor Industry Association

●     Nikwax

●     California AB 1817 “Product safety: textile articles: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)”

●     bluesign

●     International Trade Association page on the Berry Amendment

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Rob Acton is the Founder & CEO of Cause Strategy Partners. Through his firm’s signature program BoardLead, Cause Strategy Partners has placed nearly 3,000 professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom on nonprofit boards, while training tens-of-thousands more in high-impact nonprofit board service.

Rob is a recognized expert on nonprofit governance and leadership. He has nearly three decades of experience founding, leading, and scaling social good organizations as both a nonprofit chief executive and board leader. Rob currently chairs the Board of Directors of Broadway Inspirational Voices. His causes are second chances for formerly incarcerated individuals, nonprofit capacity building, and the performing arts.

Rob’s forthcoming book, Becoming a Causie: Champion Your Cause Through Nonprofit Board Leadership will be available for preorders on July 5th and is slated for release in early September.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     The personal—and professional—benefits of joining a nonprofit board

●     What makes a great board member (and what makes a terrible board member)

●     Why diverse representation on nonprofit boards matters

Key Takeaways:

●     Shifting The Conversation To Meaningful Action. “What causes do you support, and how do you support them?” This was a question Rob started asking people, instead of the standard “What do you do for a living.” It stopped people in their tracks. I love this question. In an age when so many people confuse liking an Instagram post with action, this question moves beyond what causes matter to you and into the world-changing realm of actions. With that in mind, I’d like to ask you: “What causes do you support, and how do you support them?”

●     The Three T's of Board Commitment. Rob discussed the commitment expected of nonprofit board members, emphasizing the three T's: Time, Talent, and Treasure. Time involves dedicating 4-6 hours a month, manageable alongside a regular job. Talent means leveraging your professional skills to guide the nonprofit. Treasure is about financially supporting the cause, reinforcing your commitment. There's a psychological shift when you invest your own resources, and it feels disingenuous to ask others to donate if you haven't done so yourself.

●     Setting Up for Success. Cause Strategy Partners provides a blueprint for success that all organizations can learn from. They emphasize three key components: high expectations, training, and accountability. High expectations mean clearly defining the job role and responsibilities from the start. Training ensures individuals acquire the necessary skills to excel. Accountability involves regular check-ins to track progress and ensure each person meets the established expectations. This structured approach sets new board members—and employees—up for success.

References:

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn

Cause Strategy Partners

Taproot Foundation

Broadway Inspirational Voices

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Anna Hammond is the Founder and CEO of Matriark Foods, a social impact business on a mission to scale access to healthy food for the benefit of people and the environment. Each year in the USA, roughly 33 million tons of perfectly healthy vegetables never make it to the table. That’s a waste of food, water, and greenhouse gasses. It’s bad for farmers and the planet. Matriark Foods upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, delicious, low sodium vegetable products for schools, hospitals, food banks and other foodservice. 

All Matriark products are Upcycled Certified. Upcycled food is about doing more with less, and elevating all food to its highest and best use.

Matriark is also a certified Women-Owned Business (WBE) that mentors and supports other WBEs. It’s a fact that despite receiving less than 5% of venture capital,  WBEs outperform  other structures by 63%. In the words of Joan Armatrading, “If women ruled the world, it would be a good thing.” Matriark Foods is a shining example of this.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      The issues with our current food system that cause so much food waste while people go hungry.

●      What Upcycled Certified means.

●      How Matriark Foods benefitted from participating in incubators and accelerators.

Key Takeaways: 

Forging New Paths: Imagine setting out on a journey into uncharted territory, where every step forward demands innovation and resilience. For the most interesting projects with the biggest potential to make an impact, at the start there is no “plug and play”. In order to have a plug and play you need a system to plug into. But when you’re creating entirely new ways of doing things across an entire supply chain, you’re doing the heavy lifting of creating an entirely new system. While the initial stages will be daunting, each stride forward lays the foundation for a future where, eventually at scale, you will have created a new system that others can plug into—and that new system you forged will enable systemic change making a bigger impact than any one person or organization could ever have on their own. This work of system reinvention takes time, it takes collaboration, and it’s essential for fixing the broken systems we’re currently relying on that are damaging people and the planet. 

Tackling Food Loss and Waste: Food loss (on farms and in supply chains) and waste (at the retail and consumer levels) deprives farmers of income, costs consumers money, and exacerbates biodiversity loss. All while more than 700 million people go hungry worldwide including 44 million Americans (13 million of which are children). America discards more food than any other country, an estimated 30-40% of the entire food supply. Each year that equates to 46 million tons of food, 145 billion meals, and $473 billion lost dollars that were used to grow, transport and dispose of the surplus (which is roughly 2% of U.S. GDP). This wasted food not only doesn’t make it to hungry people’s mouths, it’s also a greenhouse gas footprint equivalent to 4% of total U.S. GHG emissions. All of that of that time, energy, and money for nothing. Matriark's innovative approach to food upscaling offers a triple win: income for farmers and manufacturers, reducing carbon footprints, and enhancing nutritional well-being. 

Food as a Gateway: Food is more than nourishment; it's a gateway to connection, grounding, and humanity. We talk about breaking bread with others, as a way to form bonds. And food is literally how we nurture our bodies, so they have the fuel they need to operate in the world. Food is a way to ground, since natural food literally comes from the ground. Food serves as a cornerstone of human experience that ties us all together—but too many people are still tied together by the shared experience of food insecurity. This is a global problem, that we call need to do our part to help solve. 

References:

●      Connect with Anna on LinkedIn

●      Matriark Foods

●      Matriark Foods + Google Food Team case study

●      ReFED

●      Baldor Specialty Foods

●      Chex Finer Foods

●      Hudson Harvest

●      Rainforest Distribution

●      Foodbuy

●      Compass Group

●      Upcycled Food Association

●      Planet FWD

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Shawn Seipler is the founder and CEO of Clean The World, a social enterprise that offers sustainable, socially responsible programs to the hospitality and meetings industry. Their mission is to prevent millions of deaths caused by acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease.

Clean The World started in Shawn’s garage in 2009, recycling leftover soap from hotel rooms to create new bars for those in need. Today Clean the World is a global enterprise with over 8,300 hospitality partners, and processing centers in seven cities that have manufactured and donated more than 84 million bars of soap while diverting 26.7 million pounds of waste from landfills.

Partner organization CTW Events is a customizable team-building experience with a purpose that enables corporate teams to build hygiene or educational kits. Since 2012, CTW Events has distributed 5.1 million kits to over 933 charity partners around the globe and supported 191,000 hours of corporate team-building participation.

In this episode we discuss:

●     How one person's trash can be another person's treasure (and life saver!)

●     The ups and downs of a social impact start-up

●     The importance of mission when the going gets tough

Key Takeaways:

●     The Power of Clarity: Ever notice how a simple, easy-to-understand mission can light a fire in your belly? It's like a roadmap, guiding us through the twists and turns of our journey. When a mission speaks to our hearts, it's not just a statement—it's a call to action that inspires us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. In a world buzzing with noise, clarity is a powerful lightning bolt leading us toward meaningful change

●     Honoring the Why: Amidst the complexities of execution, it's essential to stay true to your “why” not your “how”. While strategies and tactics may evolve, the core purpose (i.e. your “why) remains constant, guiding decision-making and fostering authenticity. Staying true to our why is like finding our true north. It keeps our actions grounded, reminding us of our core values and passions.

●     The Rise of Changemakers: We need more people rolling up their sleeves and using their intellect, creativity, and business knowledge to dive into the world of social enterprises—accelerating the business revolution. The power of social enterprise is in the marriage of business savvy with social impact. It’s the marriage of purpose and profit. These changemakers aren't just dreaming of a better world—they're building it, one impactful venture at a time.

References:

●     Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

●     Clean the World

●     The WASH Foundation

●     CTW Events

●     The Soap Story Museum

●     “After 10 million bars of soap, Clean the World is just beginning”, Orlando Sentinel

●     CBS Evening News feature on Clean the World

●     Learn about becoming a B Corp at B Lab.

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Hannes Schoenegger is the co-founder and CEO of Swiss bag brand QWSTION and its “spin-off” company Bananatex®. QWSTION has been making bags from plants since 2008, combining functionality and timeless design with the smallest ecological footprint and biggest social footprint possible. Their efforts have been honored with several international awards for outstanding material development and sustainability solutions. Bananatex® is a Cradle to Cradle Gold Certified® material. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why recycling won’t solve the global plastic pollution problem
• Understanding the full cost of materials
• The importance of questioning the status quo

Key Takeaways:

Beyond Recycling: Addressing global plastic pollution requires more than just recycling. While recycling plays a role, it's not a complete solution. First, not all plastics can be recycled, and those that can degrade with each recycling cycle, limiting future usability. Plastic's diverse chemical composition also complicates the recycling process by making effective sorting challenging when compared to materials like glass and aluminum. Moreover, the recycling process itself can increase toxicity and release harmful microplastics into the environment.

Equitable Waste Management: It’s interesting to think about how to spread the cost of our waste problem across all stakeholders. While regulations target corporations' environmental impact, what about consumer responsibility? Could a shift toward consumer accountability for end-of-use disposal accelerate demand for sustainable alternatives, prompting companies to adopt more eco-friendly practices?

Navigating Sustainability's Complexity: Sustainability is complex because you’re dealing with natrual ecosystems and business systems, and sometimes there aren’t clear ways to value costs and benefits. We don’t always know all the implications of a process or decision. But what we can do is make the best decisions available to us given the information we know now. For example, we know plastic can be a huge problem, and therefore we need to start innovating alternative solutions across the board.

References:

• Connect with Hannes on LinkedIn
• Bananatex®
• A Textile (R)evolution, a short film on Bananatex®
• QWSTION
• The National Law Review primer on New York State’s “Fashion Act”

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If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

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Kimberly Shenk is the co-founder & CEO of Novi Connect, a company that was inspired out of transparency pain points Kimberly experienced firsthand launching an indie clean beauty company.

Novi Connect is the first data-driven marketplace for personal care product development. Novi helps brands create clean and sustainable products by working with suppliers, manufacturers, brands, and retailers to validate ingredients along the supply chain. The company acts as a neutral party to ensure full transparency while protecting intellectual property for each group. 

Kimberly was formerly the Head of Product/Data Science for multiple tech startups, including Eventbrite, and served as a Data Scientist and Officer in the United States Air Force. She holds an MS from MIT and a BS from the U.S. Air Force Academy. 

If you’re in the beauty industry and would like to learn more about Novi Connect, head to their website and sign up for a free account: noviconnect.com/purpose

In this episode, we discuss:

●      How to start building a trusted network across stakeholders in order to deliver benefits along the supply chain

●      How intellectual property within industries can create challenges for transparency

●      Why it’s difficult to verify source ingredients the further down the supply chain you go

Key Takeaways: 

●      The Empowerment of Third-Party Verification. The power of third-party verification comes from two crucial factors. First,unlike internal assessments, an unbiased outside entity assesses the product. A third-party verification cannot be bought, and this independence ensures the integrity and credibility of the verification process. Second, these verifiers stake their own reputation on their assessments, underscoring their accountability and commitment to integrity. To maintain credibility and mitigate legal risks, they rigorously conduct due diligence before endorsing any product.

●      Broken Systems Inspire Innovation. I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again: When you experience a broken system, that experience is an invitation to fix it. To innovate a solution takes courage, creativity, and a leap of faith. Kimberly experienced a broken system when running her own beauty brand, and that experience inspired her to create a new company that fixes the challenges she encountered. By creating Novi Connect, she’s created a solution that helps an entire industry.

●      Data Science's Role in Advancing Transparency. The evolution of data science has revolutionized our capacity to capture and analyze diverse datasets, fostering transparency within businesses and across sectors. This transparency helps us make more informed decisions, driving progress and accountability. Looking ahead, the integration of AI holds promise for further transparency, shaping a future where data-driven insights catalyze positive change.

References:

Connect with Kimberly on LinkedIn

Novi Connect

ChemFORWARD

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

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This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Glen Delaney is a project director at the nonprofit Earth Economics. Earth Economics quantifies and values the benefits nature provides, driving effective decisions and systemic change through a combination of education, natural capital analysis, and policy recommendations. As businesses begin to explore their impact and dependency on nature, valuation is a useful tool for integrating nature into their existing frameworks.

In his role, Glen works with climate-impacted communities, tribes, and governments to value ecosystem services—the benefits created by nature—translating their work protecting and restoring nature into a dollar figure.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     What “ecosystem goods” and “ecosystem services” are and why they’re valuable

●     How and why businesses are starting to value nature

●     Frameworks that help businesses embed nature into their strategy and decision-making

Key Takeaways:

●     The Economic Wake-Up Call from Nature. The conversation around nature’s value is growing louder, especially as we confront a critical juncture where environmental degradation and climate change start to hit our wallets. Look at California, where leading insurers like State Farm and Allstate stepped back from renewing homeowner policies in 2024 due to increasing risks. This move strips individuals of coverage, leaving them to face financial vulnerabilities on their own. Companies too are grappling with the tangible impacts of climate change, from droughts affecting manufacturing to unpredictable crop yields in supply chains. It’s a stark reminder of an old adage: we often fail to appreciate what we have until it’s under threat. Our collective delay in valuing nature’s gifts is now being countered with the harsh reality of its decline, signaling an urgent call for environmental stewardship.

●     Climate Change: The Economics of Health Impacts. The repercussions of climate change extend well beyond financial losses, touching the very essence of our well-being. Health insurance companies are also considering adjusting premiums to reflect the increased risks associated with environmental shifts. Wildfires deteriorating air quality, extreme heatwaves, and out-of-character flooding are translating into higher medical claims and hospitalizations. Droughts leading to wildfires not only claim lives and devastate communities but also jeopardize access to healthcare, contaminate water sources, and degrade air quality far beyond the immediate areas of the fires.

●     A Global Domino Effect: From Migration to Food Security. While the U.S. may not be grappling with climate-induced migration or food security yet, the global nature of our supply chains and the pandemic have highlighted our interconnectedness. Events unfolding across the globe offer a glimpse into potential future scenarios closer to home. Our global interdependence reminds us that the impacts of climate change are not confined by borders.

References:

Connect with Glen on LinkedIn

Earth Economics

The Natural Capital Protocol framework by Capitals Coalition

Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures

inVEST by the Natural Capital Project, Stanford University

The Nature Conservancy

Kresge Foundation

Soil and Water Outcomes Fund by Quantified Ventures

Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project with Pachama & Delta Land Services

Stitching the West Back Together: Conservation of Working Landscapes, edited by Susan Charnley, Thomas E. Sheridan, and Gary P. Nabhan

Purpose and Profit episode with Fawn Bergen, lead of Intel’s Corporate Sustainability Group

Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD)

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Dimitry Gershenson is the CEO and co-founder of Enduring Planet, a fintech platform that offers founder-friendly working capital and financial advisory services to climate startups and SMEs.

Prior to Enduring Planet, Dimitry led M&A and served as COO for Rango Wireless, an Enduring Ventures portfolio company. Before that, Dimitry built Meta’s Energy Access program, a $15M+ investing initiative that enabled energy access for 3M people and unlocked nearly $500M in additional capital in underserved markets like Kenya and India

Beyond his role at Enduring Planet, Dimitry sits on the board of Ecosafi, a Lowercarbon-backed climate startup enabling clean cooking in emerging markets.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     What bridge financing is

●     The different financing tools available for climate tech start-ups

●     Why Enduring Planet started offering bookkeeping and fractional CFO services to climate start-ups

Key Takeaways:

●     Bridging the Climate Finance Gap: Addressing climate change requires substantial financial investment. We are building things that have never been built before, and solving challenges that have never been solved before. US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen suggests that achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 necessitates annual investments of approximately $3 trillion. However, in their own study, Moody's states that current funding levels fall significantly short, with a gap of about $2.7 trillion per year projected by 2030. This shortfall hampers efforts to mitigate climate impacts and underscores the need for increased investment from both public and private sectors to build a sustainable future.

●     The Power of a Complementary Co-Founder: Launching a startup demands a diverse set of skills, often too extensive for one person to manage alone. Finding a co-founder with complementary abilities can be crucial to a startup's success. This partnership allows for shared responsibilities, diverse perspectives, and a balanced workload, setting the foundation for a resilient and dynamic business. Also, with the mindset of true collaboration, it’s more likely that a leader will share equity equitably across all individuals that are building and contributing to the start-up.

●     Embracing Unexpected Opportunities: In the entrepreneurial journey, unexpected opportunities can arise when least anticipated. A potential partner might agree to collaborate despite previous indications otherwise, or a chance encounter could lead to a pivotal breakthrough. Maintaining an open mindset allows you to recognize and seize these moments of serendipity, turning unforeseen possibilities into tangible successes. Stay open to possibility, stay open to things working out for you, stay open to being delightfully surprised

References:

●     Connect with Dimitry on LinkedIn

●     Enduring Planet 

●     World Resources Institute (WRI)

●     Power for All

●     Enduring Ventures

●     Photon Marine

●     Circuit

●     Dollaride

●     Sparkz

●     Blip Energy

●     Project K

●     Kinetix

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Senan Ebrahim is a physician-scientist and entrepreneur dedicated to creating technology to improve global and maternal health. Senan is the founder and CEO of Delfina. He developed Delfina to create lifesaving AI-powered pregnancy care after personally witnessing the challenges faced by pregnant patients and their care teams.

Senan previously founded Hikma Health, a tech nonprofit creating digital health solutions for refugees, migrants, and other vulnerable populations. He has an MD and PhD from Harvard in Computational Neuroscience

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Why the United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the developed world

●      Why maternal health inequity exists across populations

●      The importance of data for better decision-making (and better health outcomes)

Key Takeaways:

●      Change Takes a Village - Real change, the kind that reshapes systems, is a team effort. It thrives on a network of individuals across the whole system that are ready to rethink, test, and collaborate to create better solutions for us all. Senan's initiative with Delfina in maternal healthcare shines a spotlight on this truth. Senan is the first to acknowledge all of the partners that have shaped Delfina’s journey. From doctors willing to pilot a new idea, to users offering feedback for refinement. The truth is, that it takes a village to create systemic change.

●      Tailoring Solutions to Fit the User - The principle of one size fits all falls short in addressing complex human behaviors, especially when it comes to health and wellness. Delfina's approach to maternal healthcare highlights the importance of understanding and respecting individual risk, environment, and challenges. By integrating recommendations that resonate with the individual's daily life and cultural context, Delfina makes behavioral change more approachable and sustainable. This sensitivity to the nuances of the user experience isn't just thoughtful—it's effective, bridging the gap between knowledge and action in meaningful ways that create better outcomes for all.

●      Closing the Gap Between Us and “Other” - Refugees are often painted with broad strokes that obscure their individuality and humanity. Senan mentioned his grandmother was a Syrian refugee. My family is intertwined with narratives of displacement and resilience as well. From my father and grandparents' escape from Lithuania during WWII, to my sister-in-law’s flight from war-torn Cambodia. Each story is a testament to the human spirit, and each story reminds us that the plight of refugees is not a distant issue; it's woven into the very fabric of our communities. By bringing these stories into the light, we bridge the gap between 'us' and 'them,' transforming refugees from abstract concepts into fellow humans deserving of empathy, dignity, and support. The more we share stories of displacement, the more the refugee crisis moves out of the shadows of “someone else’s problem to solve”, and gently nestles into our interconnectedness, asking us to care for our fellow humans. 

References:

●      Connect with Senan on LinkedIn

●      Delfina

○      Learn more about Delfina’s collaboration with the Mayo Clinic here

●      Hikma Health 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Shola Richards’ life’s mission is an ambitious one: To end generations of professional suffering, simply by changing how we treat each other at work. An advocate for positive change, Shola addresses the often-ignored issue of workplace bullying by highlighting its impact on trust, communication, and company resources. With a focus on unveiling the cost of toxic behaviors, Shola offers practical solutions for creating healthier work environments.

At his core, Shola is an advocate and humanitarian, guiding us back to our shared humanity. Shola shares his insights as a speaker, coach, consultant, and author. His work includes the best-selling books Go Together and Making Work Work, with a third booking coming out in late 2024.  

I met Shola a year ago at an incredible NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) workshop. I immediately gravitated toward his genuine warmth and openness. Shola is a remarkable human-being, making a huge impact.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      The transformative power of sharing mental health stories

●      The importance of practicing civility in modern-day discourse

●      The often-overlooked distinction between being nice and being kind

Key Takeaways:

●      Embracing Ubuntu: "I Am Because We Are". Imagine a world where we live by the profound ethos of ubuntu, an African philosophy that teaches, "I am because we are." This philosophy illuminates our inherent interconnectedness. It suggests that our humanity is inextricably linked to the humanity of others, and that our personal well-being is anchored in the collective well-being of society. Shola's exploration of ubuntu in Go Together suggests that adopting this worldview could revolutionize our approach to life, work, and leadership. Ultimately, transforming the world around us.

●      Cultivating Culture: A Collective Responsibility. We are all collectively responsible for the culture we live in, the culture we work in, and the culture we’re passing down to the next generation. Simply put, culture is just a collection of the norms we accept, or no longer accept. Culture is powerful because it permeates everything. Seeping into how we behave, how we view the world, and how we view ourselves. What we have compassion for and what we judge. What cultural norms don’t feel right to you? When have you felt like you had to “play the game” when your insides were boiling or crumbling? What if, next time you felt that way, you took a deep breath and said “That didn’t sit well with me. Can you please explain what you meant?”. This could invite a courageous dialogue that might just help pave the road to a better culture.

●      Protecting the Heart of the Workplace: Listening to the Empaths. In environments that feel cold and disconnected, those most in touch with their humanity—the empaths—feel the impact most sharply. They are the canary in the coal mine, alerting us to psychological hazards that lurk within toxic cultures. For leaders, the call to action is clear: listen and respond. Ignoring toxic behaviors erodes morale, diminishes trust in leadership, and questions the organizational commitment to employee well-being. Remember, your employees are building your company's future. Their success is your success. As leaders, it's your job to foster a nurturing environment where every team member can thrive, innovate, and excel. 

References:

●      Connect with Shola on LinkedIn

●      Shola’s website

●      Books by Shola:

○      Making Work Work: The Solution for Bringing Positive Change to Any Work Environment

○      Go Together: How the Concept of Ubuntu will Change How We Work, Live and Lead

●      Keep an eye out for Shola’s next book due out September 2024

○      Civil Unity: The Radical Path to Transform Our Discourse, Our Lives, and Our World 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Dr. Cassandra Zentner is the Vice President of Technology and Sustainability at actnano, the global leader in PFAS-free nanocoatings used to protect circuit boards across industries. Actano was created after the CEO, while working at a different company, saw factory workers getting sick from handling traditional coatings. Actnano’s technology is currently protecting many of the world’s foremost consumer electronic brands, safeguarding millions of vehicles, and defending numerous industrial applications against harsh electrical and environmental conditions.

Cassandra leads actnano’s implementation of innovative protective materials. While driving customer-focused technical initiatives, she also leads the company’s sustainability efforts and commitment to protecting human health and the environment. She brings her scientific background—a PhD in Chemistry from MIT—to drive actnano’s mission to bring safer chemical alternatives to the electronics industry.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     PFAS—what they are and why they present a huge problem

●     The meaning of “safer chemicals”

●     The importance of prevention versus mitigation 

Key Takeaways:

●     Takeaway 1: Innovating Out of a Broken System. When actnano founder Taymur Ahmad noticed the harmful impact of PFAS in protective coatings, he didn't just stand by. He saw a broken system as a call to action. A puzzle to be solved. By developing PFAS-free nano-coating he stepped up as a true innovator, showing us that discovering a broken system is the first step towards creating a solution. It's a reminder that the world benefits immensely from changemakers like Taymur, who not only dream up safer alternatives but also pave the way for others to adopt these groundbreaking solutions in their operations.

●     Takeaway 2: The Invisible Threats Among Us. We're naturally drawn to the big, obvious problems. The proverbial elephant in a room. Yet, it's often what we can't see that poses the greater danger. PFAS, a prevalent yet invisible threat found in countless everyday items—from electronics to personal care products—carries serious health risks, including certain cancers, fertility issues, and developmental delays in children. This hidden danger reminds us that sometimes the most significant threats to our well-being lurk out of sight, challenging us to look beyond the obvious.

●     Takeaway 3: Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind. Then there are the enormous issues we choose to ignore, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an immense span of waterborne waste twice the size of Texas, floating in the middle of the Pacific without much attention. This "plastic continent" is a stark example of "out of sight, out of mind," yet its impact on our health and environment is profound. Microplastics, including those containing PFAS, break away from this mass, infiltrating the seafood we eat and carrying with them a host of health risks. It's a clear signal that just because we can't see a problem, or a problem feels far from home, doesn't mean it's any less real or harmful. This unseen danger serves as a critical wake-up call to the interconnectedness of our global ecosystem and the hidden impacts on our health.

 References:

●     Connect with Cassandra on LinkedIn

●     actnano

●     EPA page on PFAS

●     ChemSec

●     North Carolina DEQ page on the Cape Fear River

●     Change Chemistry

●     EU page on REACH Regulation

●     EU page on RoHS

●     Purpose and Profit episode with Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Sam Shiroff is the Senior Director of Global Sustainability for EnerSys. A multibillion-dollar business serving over 10,000 customers in 100 countries, EnerSys is an industrial technology leader offering stored energy solutions that meet the growing need for energy efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. The company’s purpose is “Powering the Future, Everywhere for Everyone”.

Sam combines 20+ years of international corporate ESG, sustainability, and community relations experience with a deep knowledge of carbon finance, energy efficiency, and the nonprofit world. Sam has held leadership roles in sustainability at nonprofit organizations and companies including Bosch, Deutsche Bank, and Signet Jewelers. He was a Fulbright Scholar to Germany, has an MBA, a Creating Shared Value (CSV) accreditation from Harvard Business School, is a LEED Green Associate, and is Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) accredited.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      The role of batteries in transitioning to a renewable energy future

●      The enormous electronic vehicle market you never considered

●      An unexpected gold standard case study in the circular economy

Key Takeaways:

●      Climate Tech – A Marriage of Growth and Sustainability. It's so cool to see companies—like EnerSys—whose business success is intrinsically linked to reducing carbon emissions. Their success is a barometer of our collective progress in battling climate change. The more we excel in this fight, the more they thrive. What if all companies had their individual thriving tied to our collective thriving? How would the world look differently? This is a model of growth that raises all boats with the tide.

●      The Ebb and Flow of Energy Consumption. I loved the description on how the power grid works—it's an exercise of balance, matching the energy poured in with what's drawn out. Consumer demand for energy is not consistent throughout the day, which is a challenge, but it’s also cool to note that people are using the most energy during the day,  and when solar energy is available. It’s neat that our own productive cycle mirrors nature’s in this area.

●      The Many Gifts of Environmental Reporting. Sam's insights into environmental reporting sheds light on its multifaceted benefits within organizations. It's not just about compliance or public image; it's a tool that crystallizes sustainability strategies. It aligns teams on key metrics, sets benchmarks, and maps out ambitious goals. More importantly, it ensures a consistent focus on long-term progress and keeps the entire team engaged in the sustainability journey. When done right, environmental reporting acts as a compass guiding organizations towards a greener, more responsible future.

References:

●      Connect with Sam on LinkedIn

●      EnerSys

●      International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

●      Ridwell

●      Call2Recycle

●      Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

●      Climate Disclosure Project (CDP)

●      United Nations Global Compact 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Amelia Nickerson is the CEO of First Step Staffing, an organization that connects people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and recently incarcerated individuals to sustainable employment and income. The First Step team has created an ecosystem for success, coordinating closely with other nonprofits to help provide clients with resources and services such as housing, healthcare, childcare resources, transportation, food, and clothing needs to develop a stable path out of poverty and homelessness.

First Step has successfully replicated the Atlanta-based model they started in 2007 to become the largest nonprofit staffing agency in the U.S., with operations in seven states. They employ more than 1,900 individuals weekly and in 2022, 75 percent of their staffing placements were actively experiencing homelessness, and 25 percent were recently incarcerated. 

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Untapped talent waiting to fill your labor shortage

●      The power of solving social challenges through a business framework

●      The importance of avoiding mission creep

Key Takeaways:

●      Blending Worlds – Nonprofits and Businesses Learning Together. Imagine a nonprofit moving with the agility and strategic growth mindset of a tech startup, reaching more people, creating greater impact. Now picture a corporate giant, inspired by the heart and purpose of a grassroots organization, igniting passion and commitment in its team. This is the essence of cross-sector learning. Nonprofits using business strategies can scale their impact, ensuring their cause isn't just a flash in the pan but an enduring beacon of change. On the flip side, businesses adopting a nonprofit’s purpose-driven approach can see a transformation in their workforce. It's like adding a soul to the corporate machine; employees are no longer just working for a paycheck, but for a purpose. This cross-pollination of approaches between nonprofits and businesses isn't just beneficial—it's a powerful catalyst for sustainable growth and genuine engagement.

●      Reframing Challenges into Opportunities. How we frame a situation can transform it. Take, for instance, the employment of individuals with past criminal records. Viewing this as businesses benefiting from the untapped potential of these individuals, rather than doing them a favor, shifts the entire narrative. The statistics are compelling—$87 billion in GDP is lost from 1.9 million workers excluded due to criminal backgrounds. The unemployment and underemployment rates for formerly incarcerated individuals are staggering, and yet, those who find employment have a 70% lower rate of recidivism (i.e. reentering the prison system). They’re not just employees; they often become dedicated, fast-learning members of the workforce. It’s about changing the story from charity to opportunity, from exclusion to economic empowerment, from broken communities to thriving lives.

●      The Power of a Focused Purpose. There's a lesson to be learned from the Swiss army knife: trying to do everything can mean excelling at nothing. In business and life, it's easy to stretch yourself too thin when attempting to be a multi-tool. However, true effectiveness comes from honing in on your core purpose and core skills. Follow the example of First Step Staffing, and avoid mission creep.  Stick to your core focus and you'll not only do it well, you'll do it exceptionally. This approach is the key to making a meaningful impact.

References:

●      Connect with Amelia on LinkedIn

●      First Step Staffing 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Ken Cook is the president and co-founder of Environmental Working Group (EWG), whose mission is to empower individuals with breakthrough research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. EWG lives its mission by empowering American families with easy-to-use, data-driven tools to help reduce their exposure to potentially harmful ingredients in everyday products like foods, personal care products, cosmetics, and cleaning products.  

Ken testifies regularly before House and Senate committees, and for the past 20 years has briefed top White House officials and every U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and EPA Administrator on EWG’s research and policy positions. In the 1990s, EWG’s research was a major factor in the passage of the landmark pesticide reform law, the Food Quality Protection Act. 

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Why products containing harmful ingredients are sold in retail outlets across the USA

●      The changing landscape of environmental policy in the USA

●      The power of the Internet to create transparency and empower consumer choice 

Key Takeaways:

●      Investing in Progress, Not Stagnation - I wonder about the mountains of money poured into lobbying since 1996 to keep industries unregulated, clinging to a harmful status quo. Imagine, for a moment, if those funds were instead channeled into innovating for a better future. Where we direct our resources is a choice between stagnation and evolution. It's high time we bravely choose to evolve, not just for our sake but for the generations to come, shaping a legacy that’s woven together with pride and progress.

●      Toxic Products – A Call for Responsibility - It’s wild to me that a lot of products on store shelves contain known toxic ingredients. Known carcinogens as ingredients. The burden of screening products for safety should not be placed on the consumer, it should be placed on the government setting regulations that make toxic-free products a bare minimum before something can be sold. And the accountability should be placed on business leaders, ensuring consumer safety is standard practice. 

●      California Leading the Charge in US Product Safety - California's recent legislative victories in banning harmful chemicals in cosmetics are a beacon of hope and a call to action. With Governor Newsom's approval of legislation banning 26 toxic chemicals in 2023, following the landmark Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act of 2020, California is trailblazing personal care product safety. When the federal government lags, states like California step up. As the largest economy in the USA, California's laws can create a domino effect. If a company has to innovate safer products for California, those safer products will probably be sold in all states. But let's be clear: we've only scratched the surface. When you compare California’s legislation to the European Union's ban on nearly 2,000 chemicals in personal care products, it's evident that our journey towards safer products is just beginning. 

References:

●      Connect with Ken on LinkedIn

●      Environmental Working Group

○      Skin Deep database

○      Healthy Living App

○      EWG Verified

●      Natural Resources Defense Council

●      Environmental Defense Fund

●      World Wildlife Fund

●      EPA page on the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment

●      Henry Rose

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

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This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Marissa Fayer is the founder and CEO of HERhealthEQ, a global non-profit with the mission to improve women’s health in developing countries by providing access to medical devices & equipment, creating an equitable standard of care.

Here are two 2020 statistics from the World Health Organization that highlight the inequitable standard of care for women in developing countries that HERhealthEQ is trying to combat:

●       90% of cervical cancer and related deaths worldwide occurred in low- and middle-income countries

●      approximately 95% of all maternal deaths occurred in low and lower-middle-income countries, and most could have been prevented
 

Marissa has spent the last 22 years growing medical device companies into world-class organizations through improvements in their operations, implementation of new innovations, connections to capital sources, and creation of more sustainable impact-driven organizations. She is a strategic advisor, board member, and executive leader of several venture-backed private companies. Marissa is also a UCSC Miller Center Social Entrepreneur Fellow and has been listed as one of the Top 100 Women in Medtech. 

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Why HERhealthEQ is focused on noncommunicable diseases

●      The counterintuitive healthcare consequences of foreign aid ending as a developing country grows its economy

●      The importance of strategic partners in creating change

Key Takeaways:

●      While we often spotlight sustainability in business, focusing on financial, social, and environmental sustainability, it's crucial to turn this lens inward and consider personal sustainability. This is about finding that sweet spot where what we do aligns with what we love and what we're good at. This harmony is the antidote to burnout. It's about not just being a cog in a machine, but being a vibrant, contributing part of a meaningful pursuit. Working towards something that resonates with our values and beliefs isn’t just fulfilling; it's personally sustaining and personally regenerative.

●      There's a curious magic in the act of paying, even a token amount, for something. It's like a psychological switch that flips our perception of value. When people invest in something, even minimally, they're more likely to use and appreciate it. This principle is a fundamental human truth that applies to products and services. Charging a fee isn't just a business strategy; it can be a way to ensure engagement and respect for what's being offered.

●      Amazon famously paid zero federal income taxes in 2018, despite an $11.2 billion profit. They achieved this through completely legal tax strategies: heavily reinvesting profits back into the business, which allows for tax deductions; utilizing tax credits, especially for research and development; paying employees with stock options, which can offer tax advantages; and carrying forward financial losses from unprofitable years to offset taxes in profitable years. It feels unfair that a successful company can avoid federal income tax, which supports the common good for a nation including roads, infrastructure, emergency services, and education. However, I love the idea that corporations should only be eligible to enjoy certain tax benefits if they demonstrably contribute to society or the planet. It's about modifying our systems to align financial success with ethical responsibility, transforming business from a mere profit-making entity to a force for positive change. 

References:

●      Connect with Marissa on LinkedIn

●      “How to ensure social enterprises have an impact”, TEDxLugano

●      HERhealthEQ

●      Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Carrie Freeman is the Chair of the SecondMuse Group,  which includes SecondMuse, the SecondMuse Foundation, and SecondMuse Capital. Carrie is also the Interim Executive Director for the SecondMuse Foundation, a non-profit focusing on advocating for building relational wealth as an approach to building inclusive and resilient economies.

SecondMuse focuses on the design, development, and implementation of innovative programming that seeks to benefit people and protect the planet. Over the last decade, SecondMuse has designed and implemented programs on 7 continents with 600+ organizations such as NASA, The World Bank, and Goldman Sachs. SecondMuse’s initiatives have delivered the following impact: accelerating 200 + ventures annually; prototyping 50,000+ solutions; enabling $575M investment to supported ventures, with 80% still in business; and generating $10B in social and environmental impact. 

Under Carrie’s leadership, SecondMuse won numerous awards including the Reuters Responsible Business Award, Real Leaders Most Impactful Leaders, and the YPO Global Impact Award.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      The importance of collaboration in solving complex challenges

●      How the timeline of change can determine who the best change partners are

●      The role of intersectionality in systems change

Key Takeaways:

●      Navigating the labyrinth of tax and accounting systems is a Herculean task for trailblazing organizations that are marrying commerce with compassion. It's akin to a team of adventurers channeling all their might into deciphering an ancient map, only to have no energy left after deciphering it. This bureaucratic quagmire siphons away the zest they could pour into sculpting a brighter world. As we build a new vision of what a thriving economy, society, and planet means, we need to consider the new types of organizations required to create and sustain that vision. Then, we need to create the systems that allow these new organizational structures to not only exist, but thrive.

●      Think of how easy it is for a kid who grows up in a wealthy neighborhood to snag a great internship through family connections—it's like having a VIP pass to the front of the line. Now think of a kid from a regular family, who doesn't have that golden ticket—it's like they're stuck in the line that barely moves. This is just one way life isn't fair. But when we become aware of the value of networks, and the inherent inequity in opportunities caused by networks, we’re able to build solutions that bridge the equity gap. Only then can we find ways to share these VIP passes around so everyone gets a shot at the good opportunities.

●      Getting people to come together for a common goal is like lighting a fire that everyone wants to gather around. Carrie talked about the work SecondMuse does to build networks, community, and solutions around a shared objective. The shared objective is the fire. It’s the call to action. This same principle is also powerful inside a company. When you establish a purpose beyond profit for your company, you invite employees and consumers to join a movement that’s bigger than themselves. Your purpose acts as a magnet, attracting employees and consumers with aligned values. This shifts the relationship from transactional to emotional and meaningful. 

References:

●      Connect with Carrie on LinkedIn

●      SecondMuse

●      SecondMuse Capital

●      SecondMuse Foundation

●      NASA International Space Apps Challenge

●      Circulate Initiative

●      Circulate Capital

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Since 2023, Rukaiyah Adams has served as CEO of the 1803 Fund, an innovative firm that seeks to grow shared prosperity through the alignment of financial investments and investments in community-based organizations. It is not a conventional investment firm, and it is not traditional philanthropy—its work includes aspects of both and is ultimately about ‘investing for the people’.

Rukaiyah has been a pioneer in socially responsible investing, establishing key frameworks in the field. Previously she was CIO at Meyer Memorial Trust, where she spent 8 years growing the foundation’s assets under management to more than $1 billion. Rukaiyah has also managed a $6.5 billion fund at The Standard and chaired the Oregon Investment Council, the board that manages approximately $100 billion of public pension and other assets for the State of Oregon. During her time as chair, the Oregon state pension fund was among the top-performing public pension funds in the United States. 

Rukaiyah holds a BA from Carleton College, a JD from Stanford Law, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      A need to move away from putting bandaids on broken systems and move toward building new systems with awareness and intention

●      The problem inherent in reacting versus responding

●      The gifts of awareness that 2020 brought

Key Takeaways:

●      The legacy of African Americans serving as the "original capital" in America is a deep stain on our history. It’s a narrative that's still being wrestled with today. Rukaiyah explained it well: Imagine moving from being an object in the economic system to being a subject in control of it. Moving from being chess pieces to becoming the players. With the lens of being players in control, let’s look at the term “capitalism”. The word "capital" isn't just about dollars; it encapsulates the value and benefits you bring to the table through your skills, energy, and time. Think of it as the ink in your personal narrative. The "ism" suffix? It converts the noun “capital” into action, practice, and process. No matter who you are, or what narrative society has tried to force on you, it’s worth asking yourself: what story do you want to help write with your ink?  How do you want to use your inherent capital to contribute to—or reshape—existing narratives? What practices do you want to support, and where can you build something better than we ever imagined possible?

●      Language isn't just a collection of words and grammar; it's the very framework that shapes our perceptions and dreams. If your aspirations are so grand that no existing term captures their magnitude, then it's time to create new language. Once that new language is in place, it acts like a bridge, facilitating collaboration and sparking movements. Then we can evaluate the systems that support this new dream and identify those that act as roadblocks. Language shapes the way we think and defines the boundaries of our dreams; it's a tool for both reflection and revolution.

●      Discomfort is a precursor to growth. Much like a toddler learning to walk, stepping into unfamiliar territory is bound to involve stumbles and moments of frustration. But it's within this discomfort and uncertainty that expansion takes root. When you stretch beyond your current boundaries, knowledge, and capabilities, you're essentially investing in your future. And the currency? It's your newfound growth and abilities. Discomfort always precedes expansion; it's the gritty, less Instagrammable side of personal development. Yet, it's precisely in navigating this discomfort that your new capabilities evolve and eventually become as natural as walking. 

References:

●      Connect with Rukaiyah on LinkedIn

●      1803 Fund

●      “A Love Letter to Portland, OR”, Rukaiyah’s 2nd TEDx talk

●      “Homegirls’ Guide to Being Powerful”, Rukaiyah’s 1st TEDx talk

●      Meyer Memorial Trust

●      Michael McAfee

●      Beyond Doer and Done to: Recognition Theory, Intersubjectivity, and the Third by Jessica Benjamin

●      Albina Vision Trust

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Mary Harvey is an accomplished sports governance and sustainability executive with 15+ years of leading worldwide initiatives to achieve societal change and gender equity through sports. As Chief Executive of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, Mary oversees the Centre’s vision, including facilitating the deliberations of the Centre’s multi-stakeholder Advisory Council, operational and financial management, stakeholder engagement, and good governance. Prior to leading the Centre of Sport and Human Rights, as a FIFA executive, Mary pushed for gender inclusion during a period of organizational reform. She also served as a sport envoy for the US State Department’s Sports Diplomacy Division, and as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Green Sports Alliance. 

Mary’s work has improved the empowerment of girls and women, inclusion of marginalized groups, stewardship of the environment, and achievement of health and educational objectives. 

A lifelong athlete, Mary enjoyed an 8-year career with the US Women’s National Soccer Team, winning the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 and Olympic Gold in 1996.  

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Why the protection of human rights is needed in sports

●      The true heroes who are raising awareness of human rights violations in sports

●      How businesses can help push for human rights reforms through sport 

Key Takeaways:

●      Awareness is where change starts. Simply put, we can't fix problems we don't know about. When we become aware of issues, like injustice or inequality, we begin to understand the need to address them. It's like a lightbulb turning on, showing us where things are going wrong. This understanding helps us take action to make things better. This is why whistleblowers are so important. Once we know about a problem and understand it, we can work together to find solutions and create a better world for everyone.

●      The importance of truly understanding a problem before trying to fix it. While this is true in each area of life, it’s especially true when dealing with social problems like human rights abuses. Social problems are complicated. As Mary mentions, you need to get input from every perspective,  think very carefully about what you’re trying to do, who you’re trying to help, and what your collective understanding of a desired outcome is.

●      Every voice matters in the pursuit of human rights, especially for the most vulnerable among us. The movement to codify human rights in sports is new, but the truth is we need to look for how to protect human rights in every corner of society. It is not just a moral duty but an act of humanity to ensure that every individual, irrespective of their status, feels the protection of rights, respect, and dignity. To successfully disrupt systems that allow for violations and abuses will require collective action and accountability. Every individual deserves an existence in which justice is not a privilege but a universal reality.  

References:

●      The Centre for Spot and Human Rights is developing a new series produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Production. The series will launch in 2024 and will feature documentary-style short films exploring critical issues on the sport and human rights agenda.

●      Connect with Mary on LinkedIn

●      Centre for Sport and Human Rights

●      International Labour Organization (ILO)

●      “For the Game. For the World.” FIFA and Human Rights by John G. Ruggie

●      U.S. Center for SafeSport

●      Council on Foreign Relations page on the kafala system

●      Building and Wood Worker’s International (BWI) 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com. 

Eugene Kirpichov runs Work On Climate, a non-profit building the workforce needed to solve climate change equitably and justly, which he started after leaving his big tech career in 2020 to focus on solving climate change. Work on Climate has helped thousands of people land climate jobs and advance their companies, and is now focusing on creating systems change to support the full climate talent transition.

In this episode, we discuss:

●  How a systems thinking approach is needed to create “the climate workforce”

●  The power of purpose to unite people around a common goal

●  Why Eugene left a great career in tech to start Work on Climate

Key Takeaways:

●  Uniting Around Purpose to Drive Change: A common purpose acts as a powerful bridge, connecting people across backgrounds and experiences by giving them a shared reason to invest their time, energy, and passion. Work On Climate is a perfect example of this. Experts volunteer their time, offering office hours to help people navigate their way into climate careers. Donors open their wallets, not just because it's a good cause, but because they believe in the mission. This common goal of tackling climate change unites individuals who might not have crossed paths otherwise. When people come together around a shared purpose, doors open in new ways—opportunities for collaboration, support, and impact flourish. That’s the true power of purpose.

●  Rethinking Our Roles for a Sustainable Future: Solving the climate crisis will require more than just new technology—it demands a complete shift in how we think about our roles, regardless of industry. Eugene emphasized that everyone, no matter what their job is, should be thinking about how they can support a sustainable future. Whether you’re in finance, marketing, engineering, or education, there’s a role to play in driving systems change. The future isn’t just about “climate jobs”—it’s about making every job a climate job. The key is embracing a mindset where sustainability becomes part of every decision and action we take.

●  Building the Skills to Shape a Better Future: As we tackle the climate crisis, we need people equipped with the right skills to lead the charge. Eugene highlighted some essential tools for building a sustainable future: STEM knowledge, design thinking, systems thinking, and collaboration. Whether you’re just starting out or already seasoned in your career, these are some skills worth developing.

References:

●  Connect with Eugene on LinkedIn

●  Work on Climate

●  An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim (2006)

●  Eugene’s resignation letter

●  terra.do

●  OnePointFive

●  Climatebase

●  Cisco Foundation

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Maximilian Winter is the Founder and General Partner at Harmonix Fund as well as a fourth-generation entrepreneur. Having successfully deployed two funds, Maximilian has invested in over 40 early-stage companies, resulting in an enterprise valuation of $5 billion. Maximilian invests in scalable technological breakthroughs to advance human health and scientific progress. This includes improving healthcare, accelerating life sciences, and helping create deep tech infrastructures—the building blocks for a healthy civilization. 

Maximilian's commitment to societal betterment extends to The Winter Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization he co-founded with his brother, Alexander Winter.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Challenges embedded in our current healthcare system

●      Science-fiction-sounding advances in bioresearch

●      How life’s biggest hurdles can shape an individual's path and purpose

Key Takeaways:

●      The metrics we choose to measure, in our lives and in our companies, often turn into the foundation for how we define success. Unfortunately, we’ve defaulted to the easiest-to-measure metric: money. When this metric isn’t attached to anything meaningful, it rings hollow and causes the question, “Isn’t there more to life than this?” to play on repeat as we sit through soulless meeting after soulless meeting. But real success is more complicated and nuanced. Real success asks us to dig deeper with questions like: Are you making a positive impact? Are you giving more than you’re taking? Are you acting with integrity?  Are you creating a future that’s better because you existed?  

How would your relationship with work change if you changed the metric you used to measure success? 

What if you were measuring how many lives you improved, how many endangered species you saved, or how many tons of plastic you diverted? If these questions awaken something in you, then consider where—in your life or business—you can start tracking metrics that align with your values.

●      Venture Capital has the ability to foreshadow our future because financiers are investing in the companies they believe will shape industries, or create new industries. They are placing a bet on what the future will look like. What if collectively we only invested in companies that not only have a potential financial return, but that are also designed to improve people, society, and the planet? What if we agreed on impact metrics to intentionally stack the investment deck, and ensure the future will be better?

●      Maximilian asked about my experience with our healthcare system. While I was in the Peace Corp, I was in a fatal bus accident. I lost a friend and I sustained a lot of injuries. I have a spiderweb of fractures spanning 7 bones in my face. One of the fractures splintered and punctured my brain lining, causing me to leak brain fluid out of my nose. I was in a hospital in Mocorro for two weeks until it was safe to fly me to the USA for medical treatment. I was lucky that my subsequent surgery to patch the hole in my brain lining was covered by workers' compensation. If it hadn’t been, I would have had mountains of medical debt. The fact that in the USA you can not only have the misfortune of a serious illness or injury, but on top of that be saddled with financial ruin, highlights a very broken system. 

References:

Connect with Maximilian on LinkedIn

Harmonix

Population Services International (PSI)

Development Innovation Ventures at USAID

3D Systems (parent of Volumetric)

Peter Attia’s website

Fritz Winter 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

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This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Walden Lam is the co-founder and CEO of unspun, whose mission is to reduce global human carbon emissions by 1%. To get there, unspun is focused on zero-waste production and circular reuse for clothing. In their aim to remake the fashion industry, unspun had to remake how clothes are made. They started with digital fit jeans, and then created VEGA, a 3D weaving technology that changes how clothes are made to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and make clothes easier to recycle back into raw materials. unspun is also a certified B corp. 

Prior to founding unspun, Walden led growth strategies at Lululemon, worked with innovative companies at IDEO, and invested in early-stage ventures. 

I learned about unspun through Unreasonable Ventures, and in full transparency, I was so impressed with the change they’re trying to create in the retail industry that my husband and I became investors in the company.  

In this episode, we discuss:

●      How a truly ambitious goal can require a foundation of collaboration

●      the waste problem at the heart of the global fashion industry

●      What retail can learn from the local food movement

Key Takeaways:

●      As the unspun website says, “It's a simple enough idea. Start with thousands of individual yarns, and directly weave them into seamless 3D textiles. Think 3D knitting... but 10X faster and 5X cheaper. By skipping entire steps in the conventional cut-and-sew process, Vega™ opens the door to an entirely new world of on-shore and on-demand production for woven apparel.”

●      Oversight of a global supply chain for a single company can be very difficult because so much of the production process for a single product is outsourced to other companies. It's not uncommon for clothing items to pass through the hands of 20 to 50 different suppliers, manufacturers, and intermediaries from the raw material stage (e.g., fabric production) to the finished product (e.g., retail distribution). When modern-day slavery or other issues show up in a company’s global supply chain, they are (and should be) held accountable. But it’s important to realize it can be difficult to monitor. What’s unique about unspun is they take the raw material of yarn and turn it into a finished product, all under one roof. As a partner to other clothing brands, unspun’s model drastically simplifies supply chain oversight.

●      California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to sign two landmark climate-related disclosure bills into law. The bills will require large companies in the US to disclose their full value chain emissions and report on climate-related financial risks. These laws would introduce the first major mandatory climate-related reporting obligations for many US companies and go beyond proposed SEC rules, including both public and private companies.  This increased visibility into scope 3 emissions will change the conversation around global supply chains, giving a huge benefit to companies like unspun that have figured out how to bring manufacturing closer to the end consumer.

 References:

●      Connect with Walden on LinkedIn

●      unspun

●      Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s The Jeans Redesign

●      Read more about the unspun/Eckhaus Latta collaboration here

●      European Commission press release on Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Nick Stone is a Lead Director and Board Member for Wilderness. Known for its once-in-a-lifetime safari experiences, Wilderness was founded in Botswana in 1983 with the goal of introducing visitors to the country’s natural beauty while protecting the environment and providing local jobs. Today, the company has more than six million acres of land under its stewardship and provides an economic support system for the communities where it operates, creating durable, well-paying jobs for roughly 2,600 people from more than 20 different ethnic groups and supporting local farming and infrastructure.

Nick is also a board member of LedderTech and Kelvin Inc. For his day job, Nick is a Partner at FS Investors, a private investment entity with long-term capital. Nick graduated cum laude from Harvard and was an Arjay Miller Scholar at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

In this episode, we discuss:

●      How combining tourism with conservation is changing the economic model for protecting nature

●      How expansive wilderness can be a catalyst for deepening interpersonal connection

●      The outsized influence of company culture in setting the trajectory of a business

Key Takeaways:

●      There's an elusive quality to the energy a place holds. Anyone who's attempted to capture a sunset in a photograph understands how it pales in comparison to the real thing. It's a mere two-dimensional representation of an experience that's inherently three-dimensional and engages all five senses. Nick mentioned the difficulty of articulating the essence of a journey with Wilderness, and I can't help but think there’s a similar challenge at play here. How do you convey the profound experience of venturing into the unspoiled wilderness, where the world still echoes with the rhythms of millennia, when our daily lives have drifted so far from that primal connection? It's akin to stepping back in time, immersing oneself in a natural equilibrium unlike anything we're accustomed to today.

●      Exposure to different cultures is a transformative journey of self-discovery. As we engage with diverse customs, beliefs, and perspectives, we gain valuable insights into the human experience, fostering a deeper awareness of our own values and biases. Through these experiences, we become not only more culturally sensitive but also more compassionate and empathetic individuals, contributing to a more harmonious and interconnected world.

●       The tragedy of the commons occurs when individuals, acting in their self-interest, deplete shared resources. It's a collective action problem that often arises with public goods - like open wilderness - where individuals have an incentive to exploit the resource to their own advantage. We see this with deforestation across nations, overfishing the oceans, and the shrinking African wilderness. The business model Wilderness has created develops a more attractive alternative to the tragedy of the commons by using the natural resources of the African wilderness to educate on the importance of conservation, to earn funds necessary to support the conservation of the land, and to increase economic opportunity for local communities through well-paying jobs. Where else can we change the economic model away from the tragedy of the commons—which in the short term profits a few—to a model that values community building, increased access and education, and protecting resources for generations to come?

References:

●      Wilderness website

●      UNESCO page about Okavango Delta

●      Children in the Wilderness

●      Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress by Christopher Ryan

●      The Rise Fund

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

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This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Fawn Bergen leads Intel Corporation’s Corporate Sustainability Group. In her role, Fawn directs the implementation of Intel’s sustainability goals across their manufacturing operations and office facilities around the world, including Intel’s commitments to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2040, 100% renewable electricity by 2030, net positive water by 2030, and zero waste to landfill by 2030.

Fawn’s 24+ years of experience in the environmental field has spanned multiple industries and specialties including air quality engineering, environmental engineering, global strategy, and environmental management roles. Prior to leading Intel’s sustainability group, she led their climate change, water stewardship, and corporate air programs globally.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Intel’s ESG Framework called RISE

●      Why water is a key sustainability focus for Intel

●      How Intel has reached 93% renewable energy across its global operations 

Key Takeaways:

●      Gone are the days of vertical integration, which meant a business handled all aspects of production internally, from raw materials to final assembly. The Ford River Rouge complex, completed in 1928 in Dearborn, Michigan, was the largest vertically integrated factory in the world. River Rouge was a mile long and 1.5 miles wide. It contained over 100 miles of internal railroad tracks and housed everything from its own energy plant to an integrated steel mill. The factory took raw materials like iron and turned them into fully assembled Fords. Today companies rely on expansive supply chains to create their products, a horizontal integration across many companies. This change in business structure means there is an interconnectedness across companies and stakeholders when it comes to reaching individual corporate ESG goals. Take greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as an example. There are 3 different scopes for GHG. Scope 3 emissions tend to be the largest emissions category because it covers all the companies up and down your supply chain whose emissions you are indirectly responsible for. A company can’t reduce Scope 3 emissions without collaborating across the supply chain.

●      If your company is just beginning its ESG journey, consider starting where you have the most control. To be a great corporate partner requires cleaning up your own operations first. Today no company is an island, and the improvements you make to your own operations will benefit the footprint of the companies you work with across the supply chain.

●      Communities are asking for transparency and accountability from the corporations that operate near their homes. Fawn shared great examples of the questions Intel gets from the communities they operate in, as well as the work they’re doing within these communities.  If you don’t know the role your company is playing locally, ask. Challenge your leaders on how your organization can leave the community better off by virtue of being there.  

References:

●      Connect with Fawn on LinkedIn

●      Intel’s RISE Strategy and Goals

●      The 2022 CDP A-List

●      The Nature Conservancy

●      National Forest Foundation

●      Trout Unlimited

●      World Resources Institute Aqueduct page

●      WRI’s fact sheet on Renewable Energy Certificates

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Lata Reddy is Senior Vice President of Inclusive Solutions at Prudential, and chair of The Prudential Foundation. In these roles, Lata harnesses the power of capital markets to drive financial and social mobility. By combining diversity strategies, impact investments, philanthropy, corporate contributions, and employee engagement with Prudential’s full business capabilities, she helps position the company to promote inclusive economic opportunity and sustainable growth. 

Under Lata’s leadership, Prudential became one of the first institutional investors to grow and manage an impact investing portfolio with $1.2 billion in assets under management. Additionally, she oversees a yearly grant-making budget of over $40 million through The Prudential Foundation, and a $17 million corporate contributions budget. 

In this episode, we discuss:

●      What it means to be an anchor institution (in your corporate HQ geography)

●      How the revitalization of a Newark mansion is supporting equity and access in the city

●      The importance of a learning mindset, and systems for continuous improvement 

Key Takeaways:

●      This conversation reminds me of how small the world is, and the beauty that lies in finding overlapping connection points with others. Lata and I both have immigrant parents. Both of Lata’s parents are from India. My father, and his parents and siblings, were refugees from Lithuania after WWII. When my family immigrated to America, they moved to Chicago. My grandmother found a job as an office cleaning-lady in the Prudential building downtown. Through employment, Prudential played a significant role in supporting the agency and financial security of my family, helping them integrate into a new community. I share this story to highlight the generational ripple effect. If my grandparents couldn’t find work as refugees, my story would be drastically different. During this conversation, we discuss many ways that Prudential supports inclusive growth through its operations, investments, and grants. As Lata defines it, inclusive growth is about creating agency within people’s lives so that they have the ability to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. These actions create ripples.

●      Over the course of history, our expectations for the timeline an investment should take has drastically shrunk. The Great Wall of China was built over the course of more than 2,000 years. Notre Dame took more than 100 years of major construction, and work continued for hundreds of years after. The Giza pyramids were built over the course of three generations. In contrast, modern-day shopping mall takes 2-5 years. With these shrunken timelines, the beauty and joy the end result delivers has also plummeted. The same immediacy mindset has happened with financial investments. The existence and growth of day trading is an illustration of this. In day trading, a trader buys and sells a financial instrument within the same trading day. The truth is, most things in life don’t maximize over a day, or even a year. Getting a college education. Having children. Growing your career. Starting a business. If you’re only focused on immediate returns, you can miss out on some of the most rewarding and impactful opportunities. From an investment standpoint, Prudential bucks this immediacy trend. They use a different approach called long-term investing, or patient capital, which means making a financial investment with no expectation of turning a quick profit but an anticipation of more substantial returns down the road. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

References:

●      Connect with Lata on LinkedIn

●      Corporate Social Responsibility at Prudential

●      My Brother’s Keeper Newark (and nationally)

●      Makerhoods

●      L+M Development Partners page on the Hahne’s department store redevelopment

●      Brick City Run Club

●      Newark Anchor Collaborative

●      Read more about “Equity Re-Imagined” here

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

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This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Amy Terpeluk leads the CSR & Social Impact Practice at FINN Partners, a values-based marketing and communications agency. FINN Partners helps brands share their stories in ways that drive business value and make a positive impact in the world. Amy has created initiatives in education, DEI, public health, economic inequality, sustainability, climate change, and veterans’ well-being.

Amy also helped launch the NO MORE Foundation, a global campaign galvanizing greater awareness to end domestic and sexual violence and continues to serve on its board of directors.  

In this episode we discuss:

●      The process FINN Partners uses to help clients assess the potential risks and rewards of publicly taking a stance on an issue

●      The importance of authenticity and transparency in corporate communications

●      The impact of company and employee value alignment

Key Takeaways:

●      Authenticity is an inside job—for a person and for a company. It means being clear on your values and acting in alignment with them. It means standing up for what you believe in, as well as standing up for yourself. It means staying true to your values, regardless of the pressures you are under to act otherwise.

●      One litmus test for authenticity is to ensure that what your company says externally is in alignment with how your company shows up internally (i.e. how your company treats its employees). For example, if your company says they stand behind equality externally,  make sure they stand behind equality internally. Ask questions. Here are two examples: has your company ensured that pay and benefits are equal across gender and race within each salary level; has your company instituted hiring practices to remove cognitive bias?

●      When a company has strong values, it’s easier to navigate an unexpected PR crisis. When values are referred back to habitually, and used in daily decision making, the shared knowledge of what decisions are right for your company grows across the organization. That means, when hard decisions come your way (as they inevitably will) deciding what to do becomes a little less hard. Values make it easier to land on a clear direction even in the middle of a storm. One classic example of values in action is the Tylonal recall of  1982,  after capsules laced with cyanide killed 7 people in Chicago. The Johnson & Johnson CEO at the time, James Burke, credited the Johnson & Johnson Credo—their company value statement—to helping navigate the crisis, and giving him “the ammunition to persuade shareholders and others to spend the $100 million on the recall. A move that would name him as one of history's most outstanding CEO’s. (Read more on that crisis here.

References:

●      Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

●      FINN Partners

○      Societal Return on Investment Index, with The Harris Poll

○      FINN Purpose Alignment Index

●      Miami Lighthouse for the Blind

○      Learn more about FINN’s work with Miami Lighthouse here

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Chuck Templeton is a Senior Managing Director at S2G Ventures, the direct investment team at Builders Vision—an impact platform providing philanthropy, investment, and advocacy tools to organizations that are building a more humane and healthy planet. S2G Ventures has 4 focus areas for investment: Clean Energy, Food & Agriculture, Oceans & Seafood, and Special Opportunities. 

Once an entrepreneur himself, Chuck founded OpenTable. He is many things: an ultra-runner, a former Army Ranger, a father, a businessperson. Most importantly, he is a citizen of the world who is dedicating his expertise to build, fix, and support a healthy and sustainable ecosystem.

In this episode we discuss:

●      The meaning of systems investing

●      The importance of real market feedback on a minimal viable product (MVP)

●      How to manage risk when investing in new technologies  

Key Takeaways:

●      The oceans and the air we breathe are shared worldwide. We either all have clean oceans and air, or no one does. When the oceans die and the air is toxic, all humans die. But food stability and access to clean water are not shared worldwide. Food and water instability thrives among the world's most vulnerable populations, not the ones setting regulations. That doesn’t mean rich nations are safe from future insecurity. Climate change is already impacting agriculture in once “safe” geographic environments. Once food and water insecurity hits the doorsteps of the most privileged, it will be too late for all of us. But more importantly, we have a responsibility to look after each other. A responsibility to support our fellow humans who are experiencing food and water instability NOW. A responsibility to leave the planet better off for the next generation than we found it. There are actions each of us can take now to support the transition to sustainable systems, and a healthy planet for future generations. Action can look like buying from food companies that use regenerative farming, sustainable fishing practices, and humane animal welfare. Action can look like supporting companies that have switched to renewable energy (and switching your household to renewable energy too).  Action can look like voting for more regulations around emissions. Action can look like switching your financial investments out of harmful industries and into sustainable businesses.

●      Chuck sets a great example for all of us. He assessed his skills, then found a way to use them in a capacity that gives him meaning, and that builds a better future for his kids (and everyone's kids). Consider how you can follow Chuck's example and use your energy, skills, and time to support what’s important to you. How can you push your current company to be a better global citizen? If your company doesn’t light you up with meaning, consider finding a company that’s purpose aligns with what’s important to you. Or look into volunteering your skills to a non-profit whose mission you believe in.

References:

Connect with Chuck on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ctemp/

S2G Ventures: https://www.s2gventures.com/

Once Upon a Farm: https://onceuponafarmorganics.com/

Learn more about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Stephanie Benedetto is the Co-Founder and CEO of Queen of Raw. This award-winning company is turning deadstock pollution into profit through two major channels: 1) its proprietary inventory management software Materia MX, and 2) an integrated deadstock marketplace. Queen of Raw enables fashion companies to sell their excess inventory, while at the same time supporting sustainability compliance measurement and reporting.

Stephanie is a member of Pledge 1% and a founding member of the New York Circular City Initiative. An advocate for women in business and sustainability, her companies have been featured in Good Morning America, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

In this episode we discuss:

●      Why deadstock clothing and textiles are often landfilled or incinerated

●      The $280b+ excess inventory sitting in warehouses worldwide

●      Why the fashion industry is the 2nd largest contributor to global water pollution

Key Takeaways:

●      There is an incredible opportunity for new marketplaces to enable value creation by tapping into unused resources and capacity. These marketplaces allow supply to meet demand. This is what Airbnb does. This is what Uber and Lyft do. And, this is what Queen of Raw does. What makes Queen of Raw’s marketplace stand out is the sustainability component at the heart of what it does. With their focus on unused textiles that would otherwise be burned or end up in landfill, the company is enabling a circular economy across the fashion industry by keeping resources in use longer.

●      The early success of Queen of Raw shows the power of a compelling vision that benefits all stakeholders. A key part of this success has been Queen of Raw’s ability to bring in strategic partners—like SAP and UPS—by aligning on values and clearly adding value.

●      Currently, 1.1 billion people worldwide don’t have access to clean water. The World Wildlife Fund has stated that by 2025 two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. That’s in just 2 years. That statistic is shocking and hard to absorb when 70% of the world’s surface is covered by water. Water seems abundant. The problem is, only 3% of global water is freshwater, and 66% of fresh water is unavailable to use (i.e. frozen in glaciers or otherwise inaccessible). That leaves just 1% of total water as fresh water that we can use. Currently, 70% of that freshwater is used in agriculture, and the amount of freshwater is declining. The fashion industry contributes to water scarcity in two major ways: 1) through agricultural products used to make textiles like cotton, wool, and leather—as well as any pesticide runoff that contaminates waterways; and 2) through pollution from toxins used in the textile production process—like fabric dyes—that contaminate waterways. Not contaminating what little freshwater we do have is incredibly important.

References:

●      Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn

●      Queen of Raw

●      Queen of Raw’s low-volume marketplace

●      New York Circular City Initiative

●      MIT’s Solve 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com. 

Lindsey Hoell is co-founder and CEO of Dispatch Goods, a women-founded reverse logistics company building the infrastructure for circular packaging. Dispatch Goods enables direct-to-consumer brands to offer their customers’ meals and groceries in completely reusable packaging, again and again. Their mission is to make single-use waste a thing of the past, with the motto of “better, cheaper, greener”. Since 2020, Dispatch Goods has kept over 2 million single-use items from entering waste streams.

In this episode we discuss:

●      Why reusable packaging is the gold-star ambition over compostable packaging

●      The moment that inspired Lindsey to tackle single-use plastic

●      The immense opportunity in reverse supply chain solutions

Key Takeaways:

●      Mastering logistics is HARD. The reason Amazon has turned into one of the first (and few) trillion-dollar businesses is because they mastered logistics: get everything shipped anywhere fast. While Amazon’s logistics mastery is pumping out packages to homes, Dispatch Goods is building reverse logistics, returning packaging from homes so that it can be seamlessly reused for future orders. While it’s difficult for individual companies to build a circular capability in-house, there is a huge opportunity for Dispatch Goods to be a plug-and-play option across companies and become the third sustainable option: recyclable, compostable, or Dispatch. It’s time to keep packaging out of our waste streams.

●      There aren’t many women working in logistics. According to JBAndrews Insights, of the 125 million people employed in Logistics & Supply Chain globally only 2% are female. The female-founded Dispatch Goods is a great example of the disruptive ideas that are possible when industry outsiders, and diverse perspectives, enter into a historically homogeneous field.

●      I hadn’t thought much about single-use paper products, since all of the paper products I purchase are recycled, bamboo (which is more sustainable), or have been replaced entirely by reusable cloth options. But the other week, single-use paper products floated into my mind. I was driving through the national rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, admiring the beautiful trees lining the road. I realized that the fate of many trees is toilet paper. What a depressing fate for such a majestic living and breathing thing. The average American uses an astounding 141 rolls of toilet paper a year. If the “tree to toilet pipeline” seems wrong to you too, consider switching to a bidet (Tushy is an easy-to-add option to a standard toilet), TP made from recycled paper, or TP made from bamboo (I have a subscription to Rizzi).

References:

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn

Dispatch Goods

Oceana

Surfrider Foundation

-Ocean Friendly Restaurants

“Plastic Recycling Is A Dead-End Street,” Greenpeace Report, October 24, 2022

World Centric

Imperfect Foods

Yay Lunch!

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Buddy is President & CEO at Soles4Souls, a not-for-profit social enterprise creating opportunity through the collection and distribution of shoes and clothing around the world. Teaster’s experience at Soles4Souls, along with the organization’s global economic impact, is chronicled in his book, shoestrings: how your donated shoes and clothes help people pull themselves out of poverty.

Previously, Buddy was President of StarKart and the National Association of Local Advertisers, and served as Chief Network Officer for the nonprofit Young Presidents’ Organization. In 2012 he joined Soles4Souls to rebuild the organization after a period of leadership turmoil. 

In this episode we discuss:

●      How to regain trust after it’s been lost

●      The surprising impact new shoes have on kids experiencing homelessness

●      The business case for partnering with Soles4Souls (from my adidas days)

Key Takeaways:

●      One important pathway of impact Soles4Souls uses is to foster economic empowerment by supplying micro-enterprises with gently used shoes and clothing. There is a strong case for using this approach to alleviate poverty, versus giving products away. While giving products away is important during times of crisis, poverty is a systemic issue and therefore requires a systemic solution. Some academic research points to evidence that free donations can flood a market, ruining demand for local businesses. As Michael Matheson Miller, the director of PovertyCure says, “When you give away something free, you’re giving away a band-aid. You’re not addressing deeper causes of poverty and you may be inhibiting long-term solutions. Poor people aren’t poor because they lack stuff; they’re poor because they lack the infrastructure to create wealth.” This is an important distinction that explains why supporting economic empowerment is so powerful.

●      Dignity is a powerful word. Each person deserves to be treated with dignity. It’s important to keep that word front and center when helping others, and when seeking help ourselves. Each of us will be on the receiving and the giving end of help countless times throughout our lives. Too often the foundation of dignity is lost when the numbers of need exceed our ability to imagine the individual. In these cases, emotion gets lost in faceless numbers and is replaced with efficiency. But it’s acting on the foundation of dignity that keeps humanity on both sides of the equation. It’s a standard worth holding ourselves accountable to in every interaction.

●      As consumers, it’s important for each of us to take accountability for the lifecycle of the products we consume. It takes time and energy to sort and recycle items. It takes time and energy to drop off your old clothing and shoes at a donation center, instead of throwing them away. It’s these small acts of time and energy that are needed from each one of us to enable a circular economy. A circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible—keeping the material out of landfills and letting material be repurposed for a second life.  

References:

• Connect with Buddy on LinkedIn
• Soles4Souls
•   Learn more here about how you can contribute to the Soles4Souls mission
• shoestrings: how your donated shoes and clothes help people pull themselves out of poverty by Buddy Teaster
•  For deeper insight into how charitable donations may impact economic development, I recommend “The One-for-one Business Model: Avoiding Unintended Consequences”, Knowledge at Wharton, February 16, 2015.
• Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Zimri T. Hinshaw, Founder and CEO of Rheom Materials, Inc., is a graduate of Temple University's Economics program and SOSV's IndieBio Program. Zimri started the company from his Temple University dorm room with initial ambitions to design leather jackets and pivoted to creating the materials themselves after realizing a gap in the market.

Rheom Materials is pioneering the use of biopolymers derived from plant-based matter for new applications across the fashion, home goods, electronic, and automotive sectors. Their collaborative approach and advanced melt extrusion techniques allow them to develop new materials effectively and sustainably while transforming the plastics industry to create a cleaner, greener, future. They currently have a bio-based resin designed to replace petrochemical plastics and an eco-friendly plant leather.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      Lessons in creating a start-up

●      What makes Rheom Materials suited for explosive growth

●      The librarian as a secret ally

Key Takeaways:

●      University as a Prime Launchpad for Entrepreneurship: Universities can be the perfect testing ground for entrepreneurial ideas. When Zimri founded Rheom Materials, Inc. at Temple University, he leveraged the rich ecosystem a university provides—tapping into students across various disciplines for collaboration, leaning on the university Librarian for market research support, and taking advantage of programs like the Blackstone LaunchPad. Universities, you might say, are the original incubators, offering access to resources, mentorship, and a network of motivated peers. It’s a unique environment where big ideas can be nurtured and refined if you have the vision and drive to create something new.

●      Building a Sustainable Future with Alternative Materials: We’re witnessing a boom in the development of alternative materials, and it’s paving the way for a more sustainable future. Companies like Rheom Materials are creating innovative solutions that could replace plastics, leather, and other harmful or environmentally costly materials. Continued innovations in materials science will be key to transforming industries and shifting toward a future where sustainability is the norm.

●      The Power of Self-Awareness in Business: When Zimri started Rheom Materials, he had a clear understanding of his strengths and weaknesses. As a young entrepreneur, his strengths were boundless energy, optimism, and a huge vision for what’s possible. But he also recognized there was a lot he didn’t know—like what could potentially sink his company. Instead of pretending to know it all, he hired experienced professionals with decades of industry expertise to complement his vision. This level of self-awareness is crucial in business. It’s not about trying to be good at everything; it’s about leaning into your strengths and surrounding yourself with people who fill in the gaps. The mix of complementary strengths around the table is what paves the best path forward for long-term success.

References:

Connect with Zimri on LinkedIn

Rheom Materials

Blackstone LaunchPad

Temple University|Fox School of Business Innovative Idea Competition

SOSV IndieBio

Biofabricate

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Neda Nia is the Chief Product Officer at Stibo Systems, a master data management company whose purpose is to deliver better data, better business, and a better world. As part of their data management suite of solutions, Stibo Systems has innovated tools that help clients track and achieve their sustainability and ESG goals. These tools enable clients to evidence their ESG performance, create supply chain transparency, and share reliable sustainability data with stakeholders.

Neda and I met last year at the Stibo Systems annual conference, where I gave a keynote for their clients on how to create an effective ESG strategy.

In this episode we discuss:

●      The ABC’s of master data management (MDM)

●      Why sustainability data is important

●      A sustainability data business case walkthrough

Key Takeaways:

●      Before embarking on a journey, it’s important to start with a vision and an intention. Why do you want to take this journey? What about the journey is important to you? Where do you want to end up? The same principle holds true when developing a company's sustainability strategy. Once you have a vision, you’re able to clarify goals and a path to get there. You’re able to determine the most important metrics to assess your current standing, and to track your progress. If you don’t know where you want to go, it’s unlikely you’ll get anywhere remarkable.

●      Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress. While it’s important to have a vision, know that the journey will be messy. Anytime you’re charting new territory and paving a path to a new destination, there will be twists and turns in the road. Each turn is a lesson learned. Each twist is a pivot toward your goal. Expect that those unpaved roads are filled with bumps, and bravely start the journey anyway. What a privilege it is to be an explorer, charting a new journey of what’s possible. While changing ourselves—and the world—along the way. 

●      Never underestimate the impact of small acts. When done consistently over time, and collectively across multiple individuals, huge shifts happen. Consider the snowflake. A single snowflake is tiny. And yet, over a few hours, when snowflakes are added together, they can blanket a mountain. 

References:

●      Connect with Neda on LinkedIn

●      Stibo Systems 

●      Oatly

●      Watch this video about how Stibo Systems worked with Oatly

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Carbon Market Watch works to ensure that carbon pricing and other climate policies cut pollution and drive a just transition towards zero-carbon societies. The NGO utilizes evidence-based advocacy to improve climate action through market-based solutions working in concert with sound regulatory policy. 

Gilles Dufrasne leads Carbon Market Watch's work on global carbon markets. He has been following carbon market negotiations at the UN climate and aviation agencies, as well as developments on the voluntary carbon market. Gilles is a member of the expert panel of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM),  and the Technical Advisory Group of the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTI).

In this episode we discuss:

●      The two types of carbon markets (what they are, and how they’re different)

●      The issues with carbon offsets

●      The most important thing any business can do to impact climate change

Key Takeaways:

●      Fighting climate change is a learning journey for all of us. This is new territory. A common global enemy. Unfortunately, time isn’t a luxury we have. We need to test, experiment, learn, and adjust at an accelerated rate to avoid collective disaster. One key element that will help us on this journey is standardized and transparent reporting requirements for companies across the globe. This will enable employees, investors, consumers, and governments to all make informed decisions that collectively move us in the right direction.

●      Regulations that raise the bar of sustainability requirements across industries change the business equation. It makes the capital investment needed to innovate more sustainable practices level across companies, and the competitive advantage of cutting corners is removed from the equation. It also opens a door to collaboration on system solutions across industries, creating a far bigger shift than the impact a single company can make by adopting individual sustainable practices.

●      Remarks from US Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968 are very relevant to the need to diversify how we measure success and prosperity. He says, “Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things….If we judge the United States of America by [GNP] - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads…Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.

References:

Connect with Gilles on LinkedIn

Carbon Market Watch

“Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2023”

“Combating Corporate Greenwashing Through Regulation”

“Remarks at the University of Kansas, March 18, 1968”, Robert F. Kennedy

New Climate Institute

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! 

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com. 

Melissa C. Potter honed her expertise in the topics of Race, Identity, Culture, and Equity working in both the social justice and entertainment worlds. Today she is the Vice President of Strategy and Impact at Paramount, upholding the company’s commitment to the long-term social impact of cultural shifts in society as driven across a diverse collection of brands including CBS, SHOWTIME, MTV, BET, and Nickelodeon. 

Melissa is also responsible for the MTV Entertainment Group’s Culture Orientation program. Working in collaboration with the country’s leading racial and social justice organizations, this initiative unites shared values, increases understanding, and amplifies learning to empower the entire creative community to tell stories that reflect the diversity of Paramount viewers.

Part of Paramount’s mission is to increase representation on both sides of the camera through their Content for Change initiative. 

In this episode we discuss:

●      The power of media to break down narratives that enable intolerance, hurtful stereotypes, and systemic racism

●      The importance of multidimensional storytelling

●      How MTV is addressing mental health and inspiring civic action

Key Takeaways:

●      Melissa’s career journey is a great example of the magic that can happen when you follow your interests—even when those interests don’t clearly overlap or immediately present an end destination. It might be that the end destination doesn’t exist yet, but you’re developing your unique skills so that you’re ready when it does. Melissa’s background in entertainment, PR, communications, social justice, and sociology isn’t something found on most resumes. But it’s this specific combination that makes her the perfect candidate for leading strategy and impact for Content for Change at Paramount, a role that didn’t exist until 2020.

●      Our impressions can be influenced by the status quo, as well as our internal and systemic biases. This is why measurement is so important. Data enables us to move beyond the lens of bias to understand where we currently stand so that we can figure out how to get to where we want to go. Paramount’s analysis of its content was a critical first step to developing a strategy around Content for Change.

●      Stories are powerful. They have the ability to capture our attention, to draw us in, to make us feel seen, understood, and less alone. Stories also shape our perspectives. They have the power to expand our understanding of others, and consequently increase our capacity for empathy and compassion. But stories aren’t inherently good. Stories can just as easily cause damage, increase misunderstanding, reinforce damaging stereotypes, and promote intolerance. The stories we tell are important. They shape us. We must handle them with care. 

References:

●      Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn

●      Paramount

●      Content for Change

●      Learn more about MTV Entertainment’s Culture Orientation program here

●      Learn more about the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative here

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Mike Salguero is the founder of ButcherBox, the leading high-quality, direct-to-consumer meats brand. Since its launch in 2015, the company has grown to become a $600 million business, all while putting an emphasis on animal welfare, the environment, and supporting farmers and fishermen. ButcherBox is a certified B Corporation, signaling the brand’s commitment to using its business as a force for good.

In 2020, Mike was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® National Award winner by Ernst & Young. 

In this episode we discuss:

●      Lessons from a failed start-up that informed the approach to building ButcherBox

●      What it looks like to develop the whole human (personal and professional) at work

●      How Mike would like every employee—past, present, and future—to feel about their time at ButcherBox

Key Takeaways:

●      ButcherBox relies heavily on suppliers to support its business. Not just farmers and fishermen, but also box manufacturers, website developers, and many other service providers. Often businesses will choose to create these things in-house, but there is beauty in ButcherBox’s approach. First, it enables ButcherBox to focus on what they’re good at. Second, by going to suppliers with a request for a sustainable box (for example), ButcherBox causes a ripple effect by creating demand for goods and services that will benefit many other companies. This approach reminded me of the African Proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It’s the “together” piece that’s needed to create systemic change.

●      I can’t help but see parallels between common-day cubicle life and feedlots. Both were created to maximize efficiency, with a sole focus on profit. Both are unnatural habitats. Both have damaging consequences. The basic principle of the feedlot is to confine the animal in order to fatten it up as quickly as possible. The cramped quarters make animals distressed and prone to disease. In cubicle life, employees are confined for better management oversight. Research shows that cubicles result in less productivity, because of constant distractions. Plus, the uninspired environment reinforces a message that each employee is a replaceable cog in the machine (not great for mental health).  Trying to liven up corporate environments with foosball tables and free drinks is like adding disco balls to feedlots to drive cow happiness and engagement. Broken systems need a complete overhaul. A shiny disco ball band-aid won’t make cows healthier or workers happier.

●      Regenerative agriculture moves away from conventional mono-crop farming (which takes from the soil without giving much back) to mirroring mother nature in its design. Regenerative agriculture embodies a natural cycle of give and take that improves soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience. As Mike shared his leadership approach, I couldn’t help but think of it as regenerative leadership. Here’s why. The relationship between an employee and an employer usually resembles this: the employee gets a paycheck for showing up to perform a mono-function. The employer is taking energy out of the employee, and mainly replenishing through a transactional payment. It’s lopsided. Mike talked about developing both the professional side and the personal side of his workforce. Not compartmentalizing—only investing in the “work version” of employees—but investing in employees to grow holistically as individuals.   

When you compartmentalize, you show up as less than yourself, a fractional compartment of who you are.  

I’m willing to bet that regenerative leadership results in a more healthy, more innovative, and more resilient workforce. 

References:

Follow Mike on Twitter and let him know what you think about this episode

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn

ButcherBox (New members can get $30 off their first box by entering the promo code “Mike sent me”)

CustomMade

You can learn more about the B Corp movement here

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Andrew Winston is one of the most widely read and respected writers on sustainability. The author of four books and hundreds of articles, his work has been published in many outlets including the Harvard Business Review and the MIT Sloan Management Review. In 2021 Andrew was named a top 50 management thinker in the Thinkers50 list.

Andrew's latest book is, Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take. It was co-authored with Paul Polman, the legendary ex-CEO of Unilever. This book is a must-read.

In this episode we discuss:

●      What Net Positive means and why it’s crucial for business

●      How ESG got tied up in American Politics

●      The difference between ESG and Sustainability

Key Takeaways:

●      There’s a big difference between the ambition of 1) minimizing the damage your company causes to humans and the planet, versus 2) becoming neutral, and causing no harm, versus 3) making the world better through your operations. Where we set our ambition anchors our thinking (in psychology this is referred to as the anchoring effect). In business, we create company ambitions to anchor the entire organization and orient employees in the same direction.  The ambition you set will determine how inspired your organization is to reach it, the types of innovation they develop to attain it, and ultimately your ambition will influence how far you go. Take a look inside your organization. Where have you set your ambitions? What are you anchored against?

●      ESG and Sustainability are not the same things. They were created for different reasons. ESG, at its most fundamental level, was created to assess the risk of investments, mainly by understanding how the future of a business could be affected by environmental and social issues. It includes an additional lens on whether a company has good governance in place to manage those risks. Sustainability, on the other hand, looks at how a company impacts the world and society, not limited to the lens of business risk.

●      As humans, we have a cognitive bias toward hiring people similar to ourselves. We also know from sound research that diversity makes the strongest teams. How can we help overcome our cognitive bias in hiring? Next time, before you start interviewing to fill vacant spots on your team take a moment to do this visualization. Close your eyes and imagine your workforce filled with clones of you. Honestly assess: what you would be good at and what are your known weaknesses and blind spots. Then mentally scan each of your current team members to determine which of your strengths are reinforced, and which of your weaknesses are compensated by them. Now you know what you and your team already bring to the table, and more importantly, what’s missing that a new hire could offer. Knowing this will help intentionally shift your focus from the common “culture fit” question, which is often a disguised way of asking “is this person like me and do I want to be friends with them”, to instead asking “is this person adding to our Super Hero Marvel Team, bringing what none of us have to the team?”

References:

●      Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn

●      Andrew’s website

●      Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take by Andrew Winston and Paul Polman

●      Paul Polman’s website

●      “ESG Is Going to Have a Rocky 2023. Sustainability Will Be Just Fine.”, MIT Sloan Management Review, February 7th, 2023

●      “2022: A Tumultuous Year in ESG and Sustainability”, Harvard Business Review, December 21st, 2022

●      Learn more about Edelman’s research and reports on trust here.

●      You can read BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s most recent letter to investors here.

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Today’s episode is extra special. 

On the Purpose and Profit podcast, I interview business leaders that are innovating new approaches to business. These changemakers are marching to the beat of their own drum, paving new paths that others will follow.

To be a changemaker requires having the courage to do things differently. Yesterday, my husband Ozan Varol released a new book called Awaken Your Genius: Escape Conformity, Ignite Creativity, and Become Extraordinary. This is a practical guidebook for impractical people. People that are determined to carve new paths as leaders and creators. In hindsight, we call these people geniuses, as if they’re another breed. But genius isn’t for a special few. It can be cultivated. This book shows you how.  

In this episode, I share the introduction of Awaken Your Genius, to inspire you on your changemaker path. 

Some of the insights Awaken Your Genius shares are:

●      The secret to stop overthinking and start doing

●      A completely counterintuitive practice that the best thinkers use to generate original ideas

●      The one question you can ask to identify hidden time-sucks that clutter your brain and create overwhelm

●      Why you’ll never feel “on top of everything” (and what to do about it)

References:

Awaken Your Genius: Escape Conformity, Ignite Creativity, and Become Extraordinary by Ozan Varol

Visit Ozan’s website here 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Brad Liski is a social entrepreneur and the CEO of British Columbia-based Tru Earth, a global household cleaning product company focused on biodegradability and the elimination of single-use plastic waste.  In 2022, Tru Earth partnered with Ocean Wise to launch the American Shoreline Clean-up Program.

Brad was recently named a Sustainability Leader by Canada’s Clean50 for 2022. Other awards Brad and Tru Earth have received include B.C.’s CEO of the year, B.C.’s Top Exporter of the Year, and Best Eco-Friendly Household Product Company 2022.

To learn more about the TruEarthMovement, go to tru.earth.

In this episode we discuss:

●      The most sustainable innovation in laundry detergent (ever)

●      Why Tru Earth manufacturers in North America

●      Tru Earth’s secret for attracting top talent

●      The recipe behind Tru Earth’s record 4-year growth

Key Takeaways:

1. When you create a product that aligns with consumer values, makes life easier, and fixes a market need for both consumers and retailers, magic happens. The market rewards smart solutions, and we need more smart solutions like Tru Earth’s eco-strips across industries.
2. What we measure shows what we value. Brad talked about the two main metrics that Tru Earth uses to measure success: 1) how many plastic bottles Tru Earth has eliminated from shelves, homes, and ultimately landfills; and 2) how many loads of laundry they’ve donated. These metrics have incredible power because they are meaningful. These metrics are a reason to get out of bed in the morning, a reason to innovate new solutions, and a reason for employees to engage deeply with work. What are you measuring at work? We sell our potential short when we set our sights too low. Focusing only on extrinsic metrics, like revenue and market share, is setting your sights too low. But when you tap into someone’s intrinsic desire to make a difference, when your metrics show a deep meaning for why your company exists in the world, you unleash a force more powerful than anything found in a traditional business model.
3. Recycling plastic is not going to solve our plastic waste problem. Only 5% of plastic is recycled, which means 95% of plastic—year after year—ends up in landfills,  polluting our waters, or being incinerated (which hurts our air).  This is a call to action for changemakers across industries to innovate solutions that eliminate plastic, especially single-use plastic. This type of innovation is not only important and meaningful, but it can also be incredibly profitable. 

References:

●      Tru Earth

●      You can learn more about polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and its use in dishwashing detergent pods here.

●      The Greenpeace report on plastic recycling can be read here.

●      Ocean Wise

○      Shoreline Cleanup conservation program

●      entrepreneurship@UBC

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

After 2 years of speaking with some of the most innovative leaders in the ESG space today, this week’s Purpose and Profit is extra special. It’s my very first solocast! 

In this episode I take you behind the scenes, sharing part of my journey in creating the global purpose strategy for adidas, a $22 billion company. My experiences shaping how adidas positively impacts people and planet catapulted me on my mission to re-purpose business into a force for good. I also let you in on why purpose is essential for your people and your company, and I share the most common mistake businesses make on the path to purpose. 

A couple eye-opening facts:

●      The average lifespan of an S&P 500 company has plummeted from 61 years to less than 18 years

●      85% of millennials in the US would switch brands for a good cause

●      The highest-ranked companies on social and environmental performance have a 7% higher return on equity compared to the Russel 1000 Index (i.e. the largest companies in the USA based on market capitalization)

Here’s a little of what I cover in this episode:

●      The big mistake we made at adidas (even though we were a leader in retail sustainability)

●      How to generate the best marketing there is—word of mouth

●      How financial maximization damaged the long-term value of companies

You don’t have to do it alone! If you need help transitioning to become a purpose-led company, or innovating new ways to bring your purpose to life, I’d love to help you.

References:

●      Sustainability at adidas

●      Parley for the Oceans

●      Run for the Oceans

●      Dow Jones Sustainability World Index

●      2019 Business Roundtable statement on moving away from shareholder primacy

●      JUST 100 

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! 

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Sarah Bratton Hughes is the Head of ESG & Sustainable Investing for American Century Investments. American Century is not your standard investment firm. They have embedded purpose into their core, with a focus on supporting breakthrough medical research.

In the 1990s, the founder of American Century and his wife, Jim and Virginia Stowers, established and endowed the Stowers Institute for Medical Research from their personal fortune. This world-class biomedical research organization owns a controlling interest in American Century, and more than 40% of American Century’s profits go to the Institute to ensure ongoing funding for medical research. In 2015 American Century and the Institute received the Financial Services Cares Award for their roles in the fight against cancer. 

Sarah Bratton Hughes has been a senior leader in the finance industry for the past 15 years. Before joining American Century, she worked at JP Morgan and Schroders. 

In this episode we discuss:

●      What ESG and Sustainable Investing means

●      The 3 factors that are accelerating ESG and Sustainable Investing

●      American Century’s unique business and ownership model (that funds medical research) 

Key Takeaways:

●      The impact American Century - and its employees - are able to have has two key components. Like any company, the first is based on their industry. As an investment firm, they create impact based on the businesses they choose to invest in. This can be positive or negative. On a basic level, investments act as a vote for the type of companies that will be around in the future. With the American Century focus on ESG and Sustainable Investing, they are including not just financial returns, but social and environmental returns in their investment approach.  By doing this, the company is voting with its investments to shift what business looks like in the future.

●      The second component is something most companies don’t think about or innovate around. It’s their unique business structure. The way Jim and Virginia Stowers restructured the ownership model of American Century to establish a sustainable funding mechanism for medical research that supports their values and benefits society. How a business is owned and structured has an enormous impact on the role it plays in society. Ownership models are an area that’s ripe for disruption. A more recent example is Patagonia. In 2022 Patagonia made Earth the only shareholder when the Chouinard family transferred all ownership to two new entities: Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective. With this ownership move, every dollar that is not reinvested back into the company will be distributed as dividends to protect the planet. How would your relationship with your job change, if you knew its success was funding what you value most?

●      There’s a lot of work to be done around changing the way we measure the success of an investment, and equally, the way we measure the success of a company. Collectively, we don’t have the measurement systems nailed down yet for ESG. This will take time. A lot of organizations are innovating new approaches.  It’s important to find ways to come together and collaborate,  to share what’s working and what’s not working, and to establish best practices. We don’t have the luxury of time for each company to invent the wheel from scratch.

References:

●      Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

●      American Century Investments

○      Sustainable Investing at American Century

●      Stowers Institute for Medical Research

●      The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

●      Sarah’s article about the Dept. of Labor’s new rules on allowing firms to consider ESG factors when building 401k retirement plans.

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Alex Budak is a social entrepreneur, author, and faculty member at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. His new book is called Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level, and is based on the transformative course (of the same name) Alex created and teaches.

Previously, Alex co-founded the social impact platform StartSomeGood, ran Sweden’s leading social innovation incubator, Reach for Change, and worked at Change.org.  Alex teaches, speaks, consults, and advises organizations around the world, with the mission of helping people from all walks of life become changemakers.

In this episode we discuss:

• The magic that sparks movements
• What elephants can teach us about daunting goals
• Why giving yourself permission is the first step to change

Key Takeaways:

• Alex tells his Changemaking students that they don’t need to know yet the change they want to make, they just need to believe that change is possible. This is an important message. The truth is, throughout our lives each of us will gravitate toward changes someone else has already started. The biggest challenges our world faces—like climate change and inequality—will take lifetimes to fix. These challenges require countless people to step into the same arena to help out, support each other, provide different perspectives, and solve from different angles. You do not need to be the originator of a change idea to have a significant impact. What you need is the belief that change is possible and the bravery to step into the arena to create a better future.
• Change can be a mixed bag. Sometimes change is good, and sometimes it’s not. What change always does though, regardless of impact, is it disrupts. It pushes us out of our comfort zone. If change were to never happen, we’d all live our lives mindlessly on autopilot. The blessing of change is that it can wake us up, and with eyes wide open we can look under the hood of the status quo and decide if we like what we see. By doing this, change creates the opportunity for something better.
• There’s a lot of power in reframing failure. The fear of failure can mean not trying and, in many situations, not trying is the worst failure of all. While many things in life are out of our control, trying is one of the few things that is in your control. Don’t close the door on your dreams because you’re afraid someone else might close the door on you. Give yourself permission to try. You might just discover what’s possible is way bigger than you ever imagined.

References:

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level by Alex Budak

Changemaker Index

Changemaker Canvas

Learn more about the Becoming a Changemaker courses at Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley here

Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative

Damon Centola discusses the 25% tipping point in his book Change: How to Make Big Things Happen

“Boardroom Racial Diversity: Evidence from the Black Lives Matter Protests”, by Anete Pajuste, Maksims Dzabarovs, and Romans Madesovs, Stockholm School of Economics, Riga

“Leadership Lessons From Dancing Guy” by Derek Sivers

Former mayor of Palo Alto and Sr. Director of Philanthropy, Microsoft, Sid Espinosa on LinkedIn

The Long View: Some Thoughts About One of Life's Most Important Lessons by Matthew Kelly

Blackbook University

StartSomeGood

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Eric Rubenstein is the Managing Partner at New Climate Ventures (NCV). NCV launched in October 2021, holistically tackling climate change by investing in innovative early-stage startups that target carbon removal, reduction, and avoidance ecosystems. NCV has invested in companies across climate tech, recycling, alternative materials, food tech, and energy transition, among other emissions-avoiding technologies

Before founding NCV, Eric held roles at Citigroup and Louis Dreyfus in their respective commodities and energy trading divisions.

In this episode, we discuss:

●     Why New Climate Ventures decided to invest in early-stage start-ups

●     The different areas they look at when deciding what companies to invest in

●     The importance of the founder and leadership of a start-up

Key Takeaways:

●     What's Your Life Thesis? Most Venture Capital (VC) firms have a thesis, which means a guiding framework or set of principles that defines the types of investments the firm will make, and outlines the firm's core beliefs. If you were to create a thesis to identify and evaluate where you spend your time and energy, what would it be? Take a moment to write it out, and then check where you are against your thesis. Are there any shifts you want to make with how you spend your time and energy?

●     Taking a Page Out of the VC Playbook: Three of the filters that New Climate Ventures uses when evaluating potential start-ups to invest in are, 1) alignment with their purpose of carbon reduction, 2) potential for strong financial returns, and 3) New Climate Venture’s ability to add value to the start-up beyond just money. These same filters work wonders when evaluating your next career move. First, does the work align with your purpose? Second, does it offer significant growth and return for you, both financially and personally? Finally, are there ways you are excited to contribute and show up beyond the job description? Remember, where you spend your career energy is a huge investment in the future you're helping to create.

●     What Stories Are You Amplifying? The stories we focus our attention on grow. They take up time and space as they’re passed from one person to another—entering rooms, heads, and hearts. The next time you share a story, consider if it’s a story you want to take up more space. Consider shedding light on the things you want more of. Consider making “good-finding” a habit, where you go out of your way to applaud what someone is doing and tell them to keep up the good work. It’s amazing the impact positive reinforcement has, not just to the person we’re patting on the back, but in our own brains when we use our attention to amplify the things we love.

References:

Connect with Eric on LinkedIn

New Climate Ventures

Listen to the Purpose and Profit episode with AIR COMPANY here

CarbiCrete

Rheom Materials

Dimensional Energy

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Steve Preston is the President and CEO at Goodwill Industries International. Many people are familiar with Goodwill as a place to donate clothing and home goods or go thrift shopping. But most people don’t realize that a significant part of what Goodwill does is help people overcome challenges to find jobs and grow their careers.

Goodwill transforms donations into job opportunities by using the revenue from their stores to provide free career counseling, skills training, and résumé prep services that help unlock opportunities for job seekers. Every day, more than 300 people find a job with Goodwill's help. In 2021 alone, almost one-quarter of a million people found jobs with support from Goodwill, and another 120 thousand were employed by the organization itself.

And when you make a donation or shop at your local Goodwill you not only help people in your community, you also help protect the planet. In 2021, Goodwill diverted 3 billion pounds of usable goods from landfills.

Before joining Goodwill, Steve held leadership positions in the public and private sectors.

He served as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, leading both federal agencies during times of national crisis. He also orchestrated successful turnarounds as the CEO of two private corporations, and was the CFO of two Fortune 500 companies during times of significant change and restructuring.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How big companies are partnering with Goodwill to transform communities
• The impact of believing in an individual's potential and helping them communicate it
• How Goodwill closes the widening skills gaps

Key Takeaways:

• One theme across Steve’s career has been enabling transformation. You could call it his superpower. Earlier in his career, he developed a reputation for leading companies through transitional periods. What made him successful was his ability to identify and remove barriers so that employees could show up in the best way possible, allowing the organization to perform at its best. Now, through Goodwill, Steve is removing barriers for marginalized groups that enable individuals to perform their best and attain the skills they need for better employment. This work is impacting lives and transforming communities.
• It’s easy to hide from accountability. To complain about a problem, but say it’s someone else’s job to fix it. It might actually be someone else’s job, like your boss or the government. But you are not powerless. You can find ways to step in, even if it’s not your job. You can take accountability for creating the change you want to see. It’s hard work to create change, but the reward is so much greater than a paycheck when your convictions inspire you to act.
• You know the saying that “you’re only given what you can handle in life”? You’re only given what your courage can handle, what your resilience can handle. Whether or not you believe this, it is a sentiment that has embedded itself into our cultural consciousness. Through this lens, I look back at my life and realize not much was expected of me. Yes, I’ve had challenges, but nothing compared to the challenges so many others have faced. I also understand why these stories of overcoming are often hidden. People don’t always want to share them and risk having their past judged. Sometimes we lock people’s identity into what’s happened to them or where they’ve been, not who they are. And let's face it, each one of us has already spent a lifetime being judged by the things we can’t hide: our age, our gender, our skin color, our spiritual beliefs or non-beliefs. Why add more fuel to the judgment fire?  For the record, I am in awe of every single person who has overcome a deck that was stacked against them. I am in awe of every single person who had the courage to pivot away from one path and bravely choose a new one. I am in awe of every single person who was able to expand beyond the box society tried to trap them in. I am proud of you for everything you have survived, overcome, and accomplished. From the small things to the big things.  I am proud of you for who you are, and who you are working to become.

References:

• Connect with Steve on LinkedIn
• Goodwill Industries
• See ’s story and learn how your organization can partner with Goodwill here.

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

David Reynolds is the Chief Executive of the Department for Trade and Investment for South Australia (an Australian state twice the size of France). The Department enables economic growth in South Australia by attracting investment, increasing exports, and removing barriers to business.

South Australia has built a global reputation as a leader in sustainability. The state, a leader in renewable energy, replaced coal with wind and solar. Today, 70% of the state's energy use is from renewables, which is an incredible achievement. The goal is to get to 500% renewable energy generation in order to export their surplus.

David has served South Australia through the public sector since 1995. In 2022 he was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service in relation to South Australia’s economic and financial response during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2018 he was awarded as a National Fellow of the Public Administration for Australia.

In this episode we discuss:

• What hydrogen power is
• The cultural trait of South Australians that has produced a history of leading change
• Two practical actions every leader can take to advance diversity and equality in their organization

Key Takeaways:

• As a leader, you inherit accountability for your organization. The culture you walk into. The pay and hiring inequities that were established before you got there. When you take the lead role, you take ownership of all of it. I’m not just referring to the CEO, though the tone they set is incredibly important. But if you’re the head of any team, any department, you are responsible for it. You are the lead advocate for everyone on the team. You are responsible for advocating up the chain of command. So dive into the details, look under the hood, and get curious. We live in a world where we know unconscious biases favor certain individuals over others. That’s why the world looks the way it does. Rest assured, you will find things that need to be fixed. It’s up to you to have the courage to try new approaches to get different results.
• A strategy is of no use if you don’t know how to implement it. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the framework is if it doesn’t translate into action. To be effective you need to get clear on your objective, identify the actions you’re going to take to get there, and determine how you’ll measure success so you’ll know if your actions are working or if you need to start again. Remember, progress is a process. There will always be opportunities to improve.
• Our discussion around the three different types of hydrogen power (black, blue, and green) highlighted the importance of transparency. This example was a great reminder that not all things that appear interchangeable are actually equal. In this case, the end product is exactly the same. It’s the same chemical element of hydrogen. However, the process of isolating the hydrogen varies drastically, creating widely different environmental footprints. Process matters. How you get to an output is in many cases more important than the output itself. Transparency has the power to create a tsunami-sized change in our purchasing decisions, which in turn changes which companies succeed and which ones fail. What you choose to buy matters. So get curious about the process for how something was created.

References:

Connect with David on LinkedIn

Department of Trade and Investment, South Australia

Here’s the department’s contact information if your company is interested in doing business with others in South Australia

Find out more about the Carbon Accounting Lab here

You can learn more about Australia’s green hydrogen project here

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Simon Mulcahy is the founder and lead of C02, a company created to help businesses of all sizes become net-zero—the point at which the greenhouse gasses we put into the atmosphere are equal to the amount we remove from it—and nature-positive. CO2 offers climate-action portfolios that support high-quality carbon dioxide removal and reduction, as well as the protection of important carbon sinks, all while benefiting nature and communities. CO2 will also include a learning hub to provide guidance on pathways to becoming net zero and nature positive.

CO2 is a new division of TIME, Inc., where Simon is also President of Sustainability. TIME itself will be CO2’s first customer as the company works towards becoming net-zero by 2026 (or earlier). TIME will also continue to focus on climate leadership in its editorial coverage.

Simon and I met earlier this year at Dreamforce where I was on a panel called Sustainable To The Core that he moderated. I’m so excited to have him on the podcast and to share the work he’s doing.

In this episode we discuss:

• The difference between CO2 and a carbon offset marketplace
• Why it’s important to invest in a diverse set of climate solutions
• How CO2 is using a “shark tank” of climate scientists to select their portfolio

Key Takeaways:

• Analogies are a great way to give a frame of reference and put new ideas into context, but it is equally important to highlight where an analogy falls short. An analogy can shed light on where a familiar concept has been repurposed while leaving room to explain what aspects are entirely new. Using an investment portfolio as an analogy for CO2’s Planet Portfolio is a great example. While the analogy captures the reasoning behind the portfolio approach CO2 is offering, the analogy falls short in other ways. For example, the Planet Portfolio’s “return” is a planetary return, not a financial return. Also, every carbon credit from the Planet Portfolio is retired the moment it is sold, so there’s no trading of the carbon credits the way there is trading of shares in an investment portfolio. Simon does a great job highlighting where the concepts are the same, and what the key differences are. An important takeaway about the Planet Portfolio is that it is a unique approach that any sized company can include in its sustainability strategy to complement its internal sustainability efforts.
• When embarking on an unfamiliar journey, it’s important to have trusted experts and advisors who can support you along the way. Regulations on businesses are changing across the globe. As these changes accelerate, TIME Inc. identified a knowledge gap. This gap, if left unchecked, will limit the speed of adoption and will miss the opportunity to maximize the effectiveness of the sustainable business practices that are adopted. TIME created CO2 to fill that gap, and they are walking the walk. TIME is leading by example, becoming the first customer of CO2.
• The pace of economic revolutions seems to be increasing. An economic revolution is defined as the rapid and thorough displacement of a regime or system by a new and very different regime or system. The world’s first economic revolution was the Agricultural Revolution. This marked the switch from hunter-gatherers to farmers. The transition period took about 7500 years. The world stayed in the agricultural revolution for about 6500 years, until the Industrial Revolution kicked off in England in the mid-1700s. With the industrial revolution, industry began to forge ahead. The Industrial Revolution includes three chapters: the steam engine, the age of science and mass production, and the rise of digital technology. The transition period from the agricultural age to the industrial age was significantly shorter than the previous transition. Both of these revolutions drastically changed the way societies functioned, and the laws that were needed to govern them. It seems we’re on the edge of a new economic revolution. A displacement of systems we now know are degenerative is needed to protect the future of the planet and society. I hope this revolution centers on the values of humanity, equality, and conservation. I hope we are on the verge of a Regenerative Revolution.

References:

• Connect with Simon on LinkedIn
• com
• The Edelman Trust Barometer
• Project Drawdown
• “The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting” (PDF)
• Conservation International

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Rania Hoteit is a multi-award-winning serial entrepreneur and global impact leader. As Founder and former CEO of ID4A Technologies, Rania built a global company that is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. ID4A Technologies has been revolutionizing the manufacturing processes while creating significant environmental, economic and social impact.

Under Rania’s leadership, ID4A was recognized by the White House Office of Science and Technology for “Fostering The Development of Advanced Manufacturing in the US and The World”; ranked on Entrepreneur 360's list of the “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America”; included in the Inc. 5000 List of “America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies”; received the Real Leaders “100 Top Impact Companies” Award; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 2021 Citizens Awards for "Best Economic Opportunity and Empowerment Program.”

In this episode we discuss:

• The importance of diversity at the highest level of an organization
• The missing narrative of the positive impact artificial intelligence can have on employment
• Why Modern Day Slavery persists in global supply chains
• The role of dignity and accountability in leadership

Key Takeaways:

• An underlying theme throughout this discussion was the importance of training and upskilling. This means investing in individuals. That individual employee investment is also an investment in the future of your organization. But this investment shouldn’t be limited to equipping individuals to take on new roles as technology shifts what skills are required and in demand. It also needs to be extended in ways that will enable your organization to achieve diversity across seniority levels.  As the saying goes “a rising tide lifts all ships”, but what history has blatantly taught us is that systemic biases are making it so only some ships rise with the tide. To get a different outcome, a different approach is required.
• Your values shape your priorities, and your priorities shape your corporate culture. Take a look at your culture. What are the values and priorities that drive it? If you say “diversity and inclusion” is a core part of your organization, but you don’t see diversity and inclusion reflected in the culture and across senior leadership, then it’s clearly not a value or a priority. If something truly matters to your senior leaders, they’ll prioritize it and figure out a way to make it happen. If it’s not reflected in the culture, then it’s just lip service.
• Have you heard the saying that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with? This saying communicates how we absorb the norms of those around us, so we should be intentional about who we choose to spend our time with. The same could be said for organizations. Think about the partners up and down your supply chain. Assume that their norms will rub off on your workforce, because they will. Do these partners meet the standards that you believe in for your company? Are you stronger together, helping each other become more transparent and ethical businesses? Or, are you enabling practices to continue that you don’t agree with? Complicity means accountability.  Who we choose to partner with is a vote for what we approve of. Each of us is accountable for our choices, so make them wisely.

References:

Connect with Rania on LinkedIn

Learn more about the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDGs 5, 8, 9, 10, and 12 that Rania mentions, here.

Connect & Share:

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them!

If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good!

Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

This podcast is for you, the listener. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.