Can I Laugh On Your Shoulder?

My guest this week is Jennifer Dukes Lee. She lives on a 5th generation Lee family farm in Iowa, where she and her husband are raising crops, pigs and two beautiful humans. She writes books, she loves queso and enjoys singing loudly. Once upon a time she didn't believe in Jesus, and now He is her CEO. She just released her latest book, Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-hurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl. 4:14 – Jennifer 101 She lives in northwest Iowa. Her husband's great, great, great grandparents had the original farm. She is a farm wife, even though she never imagined being in that role. 7:40 – Growing fast and slowing down Jennifer is an over achiever, and her personality makes her want to grow things fast. She left her newspaper job to be on the farm with her family. Even though she was in the more peaceful setting of a farm, she kept working hard and was told by a doctor that she was stressed out and "had a hurried heart." She has since adopted a new way of living. 14:57 – A growing slow year Jennifer began studying her farmland and how seeds grow to find out why some things grow faster and others slower and how seasons affect the farm. 26:50 – Soil of your heart Jennifer says you should take time every day to examine the soil of your heart. Come to God with your hands open and ask him to take some of your burdens or worries. Go through your seasons of life with open hands. 32:52 – Practices to slow down To slow yourself down, there are little things you can do, like not checking your phone at stoplights. Also, don't multitask. Uni-tasking is better and you have more focus. 36:50 – Remember, reflect, return Jennifer asks me to remember, reflect and return. I also share my struggle with not being as far ahead as I planned. 4:30 – Get to know you Her hype song? Chumbawumba "I Get Knocked Down" Favorite TV show growing up? Three's Company FEATURED QUOTES "I'm a farm wife, and I didn't expect to be in this life." – Jennifer "You can be busy and still go about it with a peacefulness in your heart." – Jennifer "Take time every day to examine the soil of your heart." – Jennifer CONNECT: https://jenniferdukeslee.com/ ABOUT JENNIFER: Jennifer Dukes Lee lives on the fifth-generation Lee family farm in Iowa, where she and her husband are raising crops, pigs, and two beautiful humans. She writes books, loves queso, and enjoys singing too loudly to songs with great harmony. Once upon a time, she didn't believe in Jesus; now he's her CEO. Find Jennifer at JenniferDukesLee.com and on Instagram at @JenniferDukesLee.

My guest this week is Richard Lui. As a veteran journalist, he has spent more than 30 years in television, film, technology and business. He previously worked with CNN Worldwide and is currently at MSNBC. He is the first Asian American man to anchor a daily national cable news program. He just released his first Book, "Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness." 5:17 – Richard 101 Richard says he has lived a life of zigging and zagging. He has worked in many different fields, including small business, technology, Fortune 500 and journalism. 7:16 – What led him to journalism? He says his family encouraged him to be open to life, which is why he has worked in several different jobs. 11:03 – Selfishness pandemic Richard's goal was to create an anti-self-help book. He says the idea that we are living through a selfish pandemic is real. He wanted to dig into the topic in an approachable way without being too heady. 16:42 – Generous people are happier and live longer Gratitude is the healthy cousin of selflessness. It's giving, it's vulnerable. When you send a gratitude letter to someone, you get a personal benefit by thinking of others. Studies show you'll live longer, look better, be happier. One chapter in Richard's book is called "Goodness is Gorgeous," because you look better when you are generous. 27:30 – Reminding himself about selflessness Even though he wrote a book about selflessness, Richard sometimes has to remind himself to practice what he writes about. 32:54 – Stories that stick with him In Ferguson, Mo., a man's store was looted every night, but he still opened every morning. Richard asked the man why he continued opening the store, and the man said he kept opening for his customers because they needed him. 36:05 – What's on the horizon? Richard wants to do a project about caregiving and look at organizational selflessness. 38:07 – Get to know Richard What child's movie scarred him? Christmas Story Something you would never guess about him? He has a bunny FEATURED QUOTES "Who knows what's next? … Anything's possible." – Richard "Our goal was to create an anti-self-help book." – Richard "Gratitude is the healthy cousin of selflessness. It's giving, it's vulnerable." – Richard https://richardlui.com/ About Richard Lui: Veteran journalist Richard Lui has more than 30 years in television, film, technology and business. Currently at MSNBC and previously with CNN Worldwide, he is the first Asian American man to anchor a daily national cable news program, and a team Emmy and Peabody winner. In addition to journalism, Richard's 15-year business career involves a fintech patent and launching six tech brands over three business cycles. He has lived, worked, and volunteered on every continent. Richard is a Celebrity Champion for the Alzheimer's Association, Caregiving Champion for AARP and Caregiving Ambassador for BrightFocus Foundation. His first book, Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness, releases in March 2021. Thank you to our partner of the show: It's time for a SPRING CLEAN REFRESH! Let's get that home sparkling, the safe way with MamaSuds! Castile soap is the superhero of soaps, it really does it all- from the windows to the walls! It's truly the only soap you need. What can you do with MamaSuds Castile Soap? Clean the floors, scrub the counters, bathtubs and tile, clean the baseboards, the windows and the blinds, you can even use it to clean the carpets! Grab a gallon of MamaSuds Castile Soap and start tackling all of your Spring Cleaning to-do's at www.mamasuds.com and use code MOLLY for 15% off your order!

My guest this week is Richard Lui. As a veteran journalist, he has spent more than 30 years in television, film, technology and business. He previously worked with CNN Worldwide and is currently at MSNBC. He is the first Asian American man to anchor a daily national cable news program. He just released his first Book, "Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness." 5:17 – Richard 101 Richard says he has lived a life of zigging and zagging. He has worked in many different fields, including small business, technology, Fortune 500 and journalism. 7:16 – What led him to journalism? He says his family encouraged him to be open to life, which is why he has worked in several different jobs. 11:03 – Selfishness pandemic Richard's goal was to create an anti-self-help book. He says the idea that we are living through a selfish pandemic is real. He wanted to dig into the topic in an approachable way without being too heady. 16:42 – Generous people are happier and live longer Gratitude is the healthy cousin of selflessness. It's giving, it's vulnerable. When you send a gratitude letter to someone, you get a personal benefit by thinking of others. Studies show you'll live longer, look better, be happier. One chapter in Richard's book is called "Goodness is Gorgeous," because you look better when you are generous. 27:30 – Reminding himself about selflessness Even though he wrote a book about selflessness, Richard sometimes has to remind himself to practice what he writes about. 32:54 – Stories that stick with him In Ferguson, Mo., a man's store was looted every night, but he still opened every morning. Richard asked the man why he continued opening the store, and the man said he kept opening for his customers because they needed him. 36:05 – What's on the horizon? Richard wants to do a project about caregiving and look at organizational selflessness. 38:07 – Get to know Richard What child's movie scarred him? Christmas Story Something you would never guess about him? He has a bunny FEATURED QUOTES "Who knows what's next? … Anything's possible." – Richard "Our goal was to create an anti-self-help book." – Richard "Gratitude is the healthy cousin of selflessness. It's giving, it's vulnerable." – Richard https://richardlui.com/ About Richard Lui: Veteran journalist Richard Lui has more than 30 years in television, film, technology and business. Currently at MSNBC and previously with CNN Worldwide, he is the first Asian American man to anchor a daily national cable news program, and a team Emmy and Peabody winner. In addition to journalism, Richard's 15-year business career involves a fintech patent and launching six tech brands over three business cycles. He has lived, worked, and volunteered on every continent. Richard is a Celebrity Champion for the Alzheimer's Association, Caregiving Champion for AARP and Caregiving Ambassador for BrightFocus Foundation. His first book, Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness, releases in March 2021. Thank you to our partner of the show: It's time for a SPRING CLEAN REFRESH! Let's get that home sparkling, the safe way with MamaSuds! Castile soap is the superhero of soaps, it really does it all- from the windows to the walls! It's truly the only soap you need. What can you do with MamaSuds Castile Soap? Clean the floors, scrub the counters, bathtubs and tile, clean the baseboards, the windows and the blinds, you can even use it to clean the carpets! Grab a gallon of MamaSuds Castile Soap and start tackling all of your Spring Cleaning to-do's at www.mamasuds.com and use code MOLLY for 15% off your order!

Creating a Digital Heirloom | Business with Purpose Podcast EP 243: Ashley Kenny, Heirloom My guest this week is Ashley Kenny, the CEO and founder of Heirloom, a startup company founded in 2020 that allows you to send video cards to friends and loved ones. As a journalist, she spent 15 years traveling the world and making groundbreaking documentaries. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and two children. 4:06 – Ashley 101 She fell in love with long-form documentary making and worked for National Geographic and other outlets. Now she is the CEO and founder of Heirloom, which she launched with her brother. 9:09 – Tapping into her passion Ashley is a storyteller who has worked in different mediums. She loves asking questions and investigating. 17:12 – A need for community and connection Ashley called her grandma last spring and noticed she seemed down and not like her usual happy self. She was in lockdown during Covid and missing her family. She mailed her grandmother a video of her children to cheer her up, and she wanted to do the same for other people, especially seniors who don't have access to computers or phones. Ashley's brother helped her with the technology. 29:03 – Different kinds of videos people send People have sent many different kinds of videos – graduations, birth announcements, ultrasounds, gender reveals, birthday tributes 36:52 – A powerful message Send videos to people who have impacted your life, and let them know how much you care. It could be a really powerful opportunity to send a message to somebody in your life that has really had an impact on you, and maybe you haven't really told them. 38:12 – Get to know you First thing she does when she gets home from a long trip? She gets a cup of fresh water from her tap. Favorite food? Fried rice FEATURED QUOTES "I've always been super curious about people's backgrounds, about what makes somebody who they are, about where they're from." – Ashley "I was a huge snoop growing up as a child … I had to see everything." – Ashley "This is a way to connect people when they can't be together." – Ashley "We're hoping this is an heirloom, a keepsake, something people will hold onto for years to come." – Ashley TRY HEIRLOOM - use code MOLLY10 for $10 off! https://sendheirloom.com/

My guest this week is Jenny Nuccio. She's a dear friend of mine and founder and CEO of Imani Collective, a social enterprise and holistic women's empowerment program in Kenya, committed to breaking generational poverty. 9:44 – Jenny 101 Most people know her as the founder of Imani Collective. She is married and has three children. Jenny has some cool projects coming up, but she can't share what they are just yet. She hasn't even told her parents about the projects yet. She has been in Kenya for the last decade of her life and plans to stay there. 14:14 – Swahili She speaks Swahili, but she's much better at understanding it. 19:23 – What led her to Kenya She saw a church bulletin about going to Kenya. There was a peace that resonated in her soul, and she realized she needed to be on that trip. She kept coming back to Kenya and doing what she calls "radically listening." 27:50 – Doing it all Jenny says she gets asked all the time how she does so much, but she says no one is doing it all. She believes God is using her as a vessel to help others. 38:14 – Pivoting her business Jenny does a lot of custom orders and creates beautiful products, but she has made some changes to her business during the pandemic. She wanted to be an e-commerce business, so she started leaning into it. She also wanted to diversify her line more. 44:39 – Getting her EdD She's getting her doctorate. She partially wants it for credibility, because she wants to be taken more seriously. She felt annoyed after meeting with mostly white men at investment meetings and being treated like a little girl. 51:58 – Get to know you Favorite TV show when she was younger? Friends Something people would never guess about her? She didn't travel outside the country until she was 18 FEATURED QUOTES "I have some really exciting projects happening this year that I can't even share with you guys. Just be looking out for that … Not even my parents know. That's how behind-the-scenes it is." – Jenny "There was just this peace that resonated in my soul, and it was like, 'You need to be on this trip (to Kenya).'" – Jenny "I did go on a mission trip, but not with the mentality or intention of like, 'I'm coming to serve and I'm coming to make things better.' It came of like, 'I'm coming to learn and grow and see what else is out there in these beautiful cultures.'" – Jenny "I've always just said, 'God used me as a vessel. I'm just a vessel for this.'" – Jenny CONNECT: https://imanicollective.com/ About Jenny Nuccio: Jenny is the Founder and CEO of Imani Collective — a social enterprise + holistic women's empowerment program in Mombasa, Kenya committed to breaking the generational poverty. Having lived as an integral part of her Kenyan community since 2013, she is committed to the collaborative advancement of equitable opportunity for the friends she works with every day, as well as for marginalized populations world-wide. She also is the Co-Founder of the School of Ethical Impact and brings a unique intersection of both classroom + real-world social entrepreneurship expertise. But this is only part of her identity: Most days you can find her laughing with her kiddos, wondering the streets of Mombasa, or simply enjoying a great cup of Kenyan coffee. She wears many hats, but some of her favorites are being a wife and mother of three who is passionate about spreading joy and helping inspire women from all walks of life to pursue their dreams and step into their true potential. Thank you to our partner of the show: It's time for a SPRING CLEAN REFRESH! Let's get that home sparkling, the safe way with MamaSuds! Castile soap is the superhero of soaps, it really does it all- from the windows to the walls! It's truly the only soap you need. What can you do with MamaSuds Castile Soap? Clean the floors, scrub the counters, bathtubs and tile, clean the baseboards, the windows and the blinds, you can even use it to clean the carpets! Grab a gallon of MamaSuds Castile Soap and start tackling all of your Spring Cleaning to-do's at www.mamasuds.com and use code MOLLY for 15% off your order!

My guest this week is Adisyn Pyles, co-founder and CEO of Freeleaf, an international social enterprise making beautiful products while providing employment and holistic care to at-risk, abused and exploited women. 2:29 – Adisyn 101 She moved to China in 2011 and started Freeleaf in 2016. She knew she was passionate about women's empowerment and poverty alleviation. 6:30 – Starting Freeleaf Adisyn didn't want to start a business and she had no business experience, but she knew she wanted to serve vulnerable women. She wanted to highlight traditional art and design as part of her business. 10:11 – How her products have evolved She started with home décor and wanted to create something unique, brighter and statement pieces. 13:11 – What has surprised Adisyn There have been so many surprises along the way, including how difficult the job is at times and how tough it is to develop a product. She's also surprised by the community they've development at the company. 15:53 – What she loves about China Although she's an introvert, she loves the pace, energy and opportunity in China. There's such fast movement. 17:25 – Leaving China Adisyn and her family decided to leave China when Covid hit last year. They expected to be in the U.S. for a couple weeks until the pandemic was over, but it has taken longer. 26:23 – The core of her business During Covid, Adisyn has had to focus on the core of her business and the core of her family and let go of larger expectations, hopes and pressures. 29:42 – Her staff in China Adisyn has kept in touch with her staff in China, but it has been challenging. They have faced a lot of the same problems working women in the U.S. face, including finding childcare during a pandemic. 34:08 – On the horizon Adisyn wants to develop new products, but the process has been taking a long time. She wants to create more home décor products. 37:30 – Get to know you Child's movie that scarred her for life? Bambi, The Lion King Favorite Chinese dish? Spicy shrimp FEATURED QUOTES "I knew I was passionate about women's empowerment and poverty alleviation." – Adisyn LINKS: https://www.freeleafltd.com/ https://www.instagram.com/_adisyn/ https://www.instagram.com/freeleafltd/ About Adisyn Pyles: Adisyn Pyles is the co-founder & CEO of Freeleaf, an international social enterprise making beautiful products while providing employment and holistic care to at-risk, abused, and exploited women. Combining her passions for women's rights, collective freedom, and finding beauty amidst chaos, Adisyn co-founded Freeleaf alongside JiaYi Lan in 2016. With an MA in International Community Development, a tenacity for excellence, and a commitment to sustainability, Adisyn has led the Freeleaf brand through considerable growth—employing over 20 women in the last few years, being recognized by the Kerring Foundation as one of the top 5 social enterprises in China, and being highlighted as a female founder by the Spanx Red Backpack Brigade. Adisyn and her family have had a wild year, being displaced from their home in China by COVID since January and welcoming their second son in October. They are currently living in Austin, TX waiting out the pandemic and eagerly looking forward to returning to their lives and work in Asia.

Happy Episode 240, everyone! Normally, each week I interview a nonprofit director, community leader or person who is trying to make an impact. But it is time for a solo episode, so my special guest this week is my husband, John. 2:21 – One of my most popular episodes My last solo show, episode 230, was one of my most popular episodes. I told the story about us buying a farm. I got an influx of questions from people wanting to know more. 4:10 – Did we always want a farm? John always wanted land. He grew up on a large piece of property and was frustrated as a kid that his family couldn't have chickens because of the neighborhood HOA. John has been pretty tight with money most of his life, but he believes it prepared him for our big move to the farm. 8:54 – The transition from land to farm We decided to turn our land into a farm because we wanted to be more self-sufficient and self-sustainable. 10:30 – Animals and things we'll grow We'll start with chickens. Maybe turkeys later this year and bees. Next year, goats and maybe a pig. I want a horse, but John is not interested in them because it sounds like a money pit. We've talked about donkeys. 13:42 – What we want to grow Corn, okra, tomatoes, cantaloupe, cucumbers, watermelons and fruit trees – nothing too exotic. We have a ton of walnut trees. If you have walnut recipes, send them our way. 16:55 – Will farming be our new job? No, it will not be our main job. Part of the goal is to reduce our expenses and create some independence and sustainability. We want to have some revenue associated with the farm. That is a goal we are working towards. We also want to bless people with the food we grow. 18:55 – Do we have a name for the farm? We don't have any farm names yet. Send us suggestions – [email protected] 19:42 – John's vision for the farm John enjoys doing physical work and wants our kids to enjoy being outdoors and living sustainably. FEATURED QUOTES "We officially moved into the farm last week, and it still honestly feels really surreal." – Molly "I've been pretty tight with money most of my life." – John "My house is worth 75 times my car value, and it's not cause it's a million-dollar house. It's because I have a 2007 Tundra that I bought 11 years ago." – John "We want God to just use this place to bless others however He sees fit." – Molly Thank you to our partner of the show: It's time for a SPRING CLEAN REFRESH! Let's get that home sparkling, the safe way with MamaSuds! Castile soap is the superhero of soaps, it really does it all- from the windows to the walls! It's truly the only soap you need. What can you do with MamaSuds Castile Soap? Clean the floors, scrub the counters, bathtubs and tile, clean the baseboards, the windows and the blinds, you can even use it to clean the carpets! Grab a gallon of MamaSuds Castile Soap and start tackling all of your Spring Cleaning to-do's at www.mamasuds.com and use code MOLLY for 15% off your order!

My guest today is Veronica Villanueva, who discovered her "why" in life after being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2016. Through her work as a wellness expert, she aims to inspire others through a holistic lifestyle built on a commitment to self-growth and good nutrition. She is a trained chef and health coach based in Los Angeles and the co-founder of Alive Well Thrive, a cannabis line aimed at creating the highest quality cannabis products to help others live their healthiest lives. This is an area I don't know much about, but I want this to be a place where we can be curious and ask questions. 2:24 – Veronica 101 "I'm very excited to say I am alive despite doctors telling me I had less than 6 months to live in September 2016," said Veronica. She was told she wouldn't make it to 50 years old. She's now 53 and credits her survival to studying integrative medicine. 4:45 – What her life was like before cancer Before her cancer diagnosis, people would have assumed Veronica had a perfect life. She was a super mom with three beautiful, smart children. She protected her kids from reality and sheltered them with a bubble of perfection. But on the inside she was an anxious mother. She was raised to believe that she should stay home with her children, which she did, but she wanted more in her life. 8:42 – What led to her lung cancer diagnosis? Veronica was going through a divorce, but she and her husband agreed to wait until their kids were in college. The divorce became ugly, and it was a shock to her system. She didn't eat, didn't sleep and ate tootsie rolls and drank coffee. She started having back pain, and that was the first sign of lung cancer. 14:18 – Loving herself Veronica knew she would beat the cancer and live. The diagnosis opened her eyes to how she was living. She finally felt like she mattered, and she decided to prioritize herself. "I live a life right now where I come first all the time, and that's not being narcissistic. That's not being egotistical. It's honoring myself. I'm rarely depleted. I'm always replenished," said Veronica. 18:16 – Detoxing her body Veronica detoxed her body with good food and her environment by choosing which people she wanted to be around, what she read, etc. "I really cleaned my life from the inside out," said Veronica. "There's not bad fat in my life." 20:21 – Her businesses She has VeronicaVillanueva.com, which is where she coaches people and helps them become healthy. She also has Alive Well Thrive, which has medicinal cannabis for people with cancer. 25:00 – Why cannabis? Veronica's company uses cannabis for medicinal purposes, not for vaping. It helps shrink and eradicate tumors, especially at high doses. It can also help with nausea and loss of appetite. 35:30 – Her faith Veronica's faith has played a huge role in her recovery. She doesn't believe she got cancer because she did something bad, and she doesn't believe in karma. 41:25 – Get to know you Her favorite meal – Carrot ginger soup and lentil soup People think she's an extrovert, but she prefers to be home Cooking and music make her happy FEATURED QUOTES "I'm very excited to say I am alive despite doctors telling me I had less than 6 months to live." – Veronica "I learned to love myself and to give myself all the care and love that I am so amazing at for other people." – Veronica "I live a life right now where I come first all the time, and that's not being narcissistic. That's not being egotistical. It's honoring myself. I'm rarely depleted. I'm always replenished." – Veronica "I really cleaned my life from the inside out." – Veronica http://veronicavillanueva.com/ https://alivewellthrive.com/ About Veronica: Veronica Villanueva discovered her "why" after being diagnosed with stage IV cancer in 2016. Through her work as a wellness expert, Veronica aims to inspire others to embrace a holistic lifestyle built on a commitment to self-growth and good nutrition. Veronica is a trained Le Cordon Bleu chef and a Health Coach with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and she has a degree in International Relations from UC Berkeley. Veronica is currently based in Los Angeles, CA and is the Co-Founder of Alive Well Thrive, a cannabis line aimed at creating the highest quality cannabis products around to help other live their fullest and healthiest lives yet. Thank you to our partner of the show: It's time for a SPRING CLEAN REFRESH! Let's get that home sparkling, the safe way with MamaSuds! Castile soap is the superhero of soaps, it really does it all- from the windows to the walls! It's truly the only soap you need. What can you do with MamaSuds Castile Soap? Clean the floors, scrub the counters, bathtubs and tile, clean the baseboards, the windows and the blinds, you can even use it to clean the carpets! Grab a gallon of MamaSuds Castile Soap and start tackling all of your Spring Cleaning to-do's at www.mamasuds.com and use code MOLLY for 15% off your order!

We are going to face tragedy in our lives. It's a guarantee. It seems unfair and we have questions about why bad things happen. But as a person of faith, I know what Jesus said – in this world we will have trouble, but take heart because he has overcome the world. We don't have to let tragedy define us. My guest today took an unimaginable, world-shattering tragedy and used it for good. Amy Downs is the CEO of Allegiance Credit Union, formerly known as the Federal Employees Credit Union, which lost more than half of its employees in the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995. In the years since the bombing, Amy became a mother, lost more than 200 pounds, competed in an Ironman Triathlon, got her MBA and became CEO of the same credit union that was bombed. 4:17 – Amy Downs 101 Amy is 53 years old. She has a side hustle as a book writer and speaker. She loves riding her bike and adventure. Surviving the Oklahoma City Bombing changed her life in a lot of ways. 6:20 – Big hair and lack of purpose In 1989, Amy had big, amazing hair. She says it was the only thing she had going for her at the time. She dropped out of college and was floundering, not knowing what to do with her life. She took a job as a teller at the credit union in Oklahoma City. 9:35 – April 19, 1995 On April 19, 1995, Amy was sitting at her desk on the third floor when the bomb went off. She was screaming "Jesus help me!" but she didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. She fell three floors and was buried under 10 feet of rubble. Then, all the noise stopped. She was lying there, not knowing if she was dead or alive. 14:40 – Buried alive "I'm buried alive," said Amy. "All I can do is think about, I'm getting ready to die at 28 years old, and I'm realizing, I've actually never lived. I've never lived with purpose." She was buried for more than 6 hours. 19:57 – Desperate to live Amy's rescuers talked about whether they needed to amputate her leg to get her out of the rubble. She told them to do what they needed to do to get her out. She was desperate to live. She remembers looking up at the sky, taking a breath of fresh air after being rescued. 25:15 – Changing her life She wanted to be a different person, but she had so much physical and emotional trauma that she didn't know what to do. But she didn't let go of that belief. First, she began praying every day. 34:19 – Hope is a Verb Amy wrote a book, "Hope is a Verb." It was a 10-year project. She wanted to figure out how to help people. 41:43 – Coping with PTSD Amy still struggles with PTSD. She gets nervous if she's in a crowded space with a lot of people. She also struggles when April comes around each year. 50:20 – Get to know you What kids' movie scarred her? Wizard of Oz monkeys Something you'd never guess about her? She was a DJ on a radio station FEATURED QUOTES "It was like I had this incredible come to Jesus meeting that I haven't been able to shake for the rest of my life." – Amy "There is a purpose for you. I don't care what it is, what business it is that you're doing. There is a purpose for you." – Amy "All of a sudden, everything went dark. I could hear people screaming all around me." – Amy "I'm buried alive … All I can do is think about, I'm getting ready to die at 28 years old, and I'm realizing, I've actually never lived. I've never lived with purpose." – Amy CONNECT: https://amydowns.org/ https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Verb-Journey-Impossible-Transformation/dp/1734645407 Thank you to our partner of the show: It's time for a SPRING CLEAN REFRESH! Let's get that home sparkling, the safe way with MamaSuds! Castile soap is the superhero of soaps, it really does it all- from the windows to the walls! It's truly the only soap you need. What can you do with MamaSuds Castile Soap? Clean the floors, scrub the counters, bathtubs and tile, clean the baseboards, the windows and the blinds, you can even use it to clean the carpets! Grab a gallon of MamaSuds Castile Soap and start tackling all of your Spring Cleaning to-do's at www.mamasuds.com and use code MOLLY for 15% off your order!

One of my favorite verses of scripture is 1 Peter 4:10, which says: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." I really believe that we were all given a gift to use to help, serve and bless others. I think serving, teaching and nurturing children is one of the best gifts. It takes a special person to be able to work in the life of a child, especially with children who are neurodivergent or neurodiverse. My guest today is Brittni Winslow, a dear friend of mine who lives in Durham, N.C. She is an occupational therapist and executive director of Emerge Pediatric Therapy in North Carolina. She helps create confident kids through customized therapy. 6:46 – Brittni 101 Brittni is married and has three daughters. She is an occupational therapist and always wanted to open her own business. 8:17 – How is occupational therapy different from physical therapy? Brittni works on functional skills for kids, such as play, caring for themselves, sitting at the dinner table, etc. Physical therapy is working on strengthening or rehabilitating. 9:17 – What makes Emerge so different? Brittni wants Emerge to be different from other occupational therapy providers. A big part of that is working with the kids and educating the parents, teachers and community partners. "We want to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone is educated on how to best work with this child," said Brittni. "I truly believe that no kid is intentionally trying to be bad. There are some ways that their system might be wired that makes it really hard for them," said Brittni. 14:07 – Generational changes in helping children Brittni says she'll often hear parents say, "I dealt with this [issue] as a kid." Kids are sometimes misjudged as being lazy, disinterested or having behavioral problems. But really, there are some underlying issues that could easily be addressed. 16:48 – Removing the stigma "It's not that how these kids are wired is wrong. It's just a different wiring," said Brittni. You need to uncover what will work best for kids. 20:51 – Has Brittni's job affected how she parents her own kids? She's always taking one hat off and putting another hat on. She tries to use her tools to help her own children. Even though Brittni has helped hundreds of kids, it can be hard to help her own children. But, having kids has helped her be a better OT and help other parents. 26:35 – How Covid has impacted her business Brittni has worked on compassion fatigue with her therapists to make sure they are OK. 31:10 – Sensory night at the Durham Bulls They partnered with the Durham Bulls baseball team and did a sensory night for kids. Some parents said it was the first baseball game they ever took their child to. 36:20 – Get to know you Song she has to sing? Any song from the Trolls soundtrack Who has influenced her the most? Her grandfather Favorite meal? Angus Barn steak and salad FEATURED QUOTES "We want to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone is educated on how to best work with this child." – Brittni "I truly believe that no kid is intentionally trying to be bad. There are some ways that their system might be wired that makes it really hard for them." – Brittni "It's not that how these kids are wired is wrong. It's just a different wiring." – Brittni https://www.emergepediatrictherapy.com/

Think back to when you were a kid. Do you remember your flip-flops falling off and scraping your feet along the concrete? Guess what? Kids still have this problem. My guest today took his own footwear problem and decided to actually do something about it. Carter Waugh, 11, is the founder of Critts, a customizable flip-flop clog hybrid designed for running, jumping and climbing. His dad, Ryan, also joins us for the interview. 2:53 – Carter 101 He loves lacrosse, skateboarding, golf, tennis, sometimes basketball, and, of course, designing shoes. Carter was on a family vacation in the Caribbean. He wasn't happy with his flip-flops or Crocs and asked his dad, Ryan, if he could design his own shoe, called a Flip Critt. His dad told him to create a business plan. 5:30 – Ryan's reaction Ryan was amazed by his son's business plan and drawing and his emotional intelligence 9:50 – How Carter designed the Flip Critt Carter didn't realize how time consuming and difficult it would be to design a shoe He met with a Los Angeles shoe consultant, who helped with the process, and then met with manufacturing consultants in China 19:02 – What Carter has learned At first, Carter thought, "Wham, bam, I'm done." But the shoe-making process took longer than he realized. "At first I was just like, 'It's a cool idea. I might not be able to do it. I mean, I'm like 8. Who makes a shoe when they're 8?' But once I got into it, I started liking shoes. I started liking them a lot." Besides learning a lot about shoes, he has also learned a lot about doing interviews and talking with adults. 23:18 – What Carter's parents have learned Ryan said he has learned more from his son than his son has learned from him. He says his son is a special human who sees the good in everybody and everything around him. Carter's initial mission statement was: "To spread happiness, safety and security to all critters." 26:22 – Carter's methods Carter's approach to life is refreshing and fascinating, according to his dad. He wants the business to be simple so people can enjoy his shoes. 32:02 – Critts Cares Carter has created Critts Cares. Every time someone buys a pair of Critts shoes, $2 goes back to his old elementary school. 33:45 – Get to know Carter What song hypes him up? Lil Nas X, Holiday What actor should play him? Someone with orange hair, obviously FEATURED QUOTES "This was a real life thing, organically, that came out of the mind of an 8-year-old that was like, 'Wow!'" – Ryan "After a while, like two years, I finally perfected it to what I have today. And now I'm selling it and hearing tons of feedback on it … and a lot of people love it." – Carter "At first I was just like, 'It's a cool idea. I might not be able to do it. I mean, I'm like 8. Who makes a shoe when they're 8?' But once I got into it, I started liking shoes. I started liking them a lot." – Carter LINKS: https://critts.com/ ABOUT CARTER: Founder, visionary and overall goofball is a talented 11 year old named Carter "Critt" Waugh. He is a very active leader with an active imagination. He loves sports and is a talented lacrosse attackman. He loves his friends, his family and basically he loves anything that gets him dirty and sweaty. He has been the perfect test subject for his creation.

Every parent knows one of the scariest times is when your child gets sick. But when a child is hospitalized or diagnosed with a rare or serious illness, it affects everything. It can be really scary for children who are struggling. My guest today is taking her personal pain with her own child's sickness and bringing joy to sick kids all around the country. Shalini Samtani is the founder of Open The Joy and the Spread the Joy Foundation. 4:29 – Shalini 101 Spread the Joy Foundation delivers activity kits to children at their hospital bedside. She started making the kits on her kitchen table with her mother three years ago. Last year, she sent 5,000 to 6,000 kits to more than 100 hospitals across the country. Open the Joy is a for-profit company that makes toys focused on well-being and emotional intelligence in kids, such as a love and forgiveness box, anger management box, etc. Shalini got the idea after being in a hospital room with her daughter and trying to Google ways to entertain her and keep her positive. 6:42 – Difficult news Shalini's daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease that caused her body to react differently to sickness. 10:15 – Finding her purpose Shalini never imagined she would design kids' toys. She describes the experience as finding her purpose. Giving back to sick kids is what drives her. 16:38 – How to buy the toys Toys are sold on Open the Joy's website and Amazon. They have launched a new emotional intelligence line of toys, including a love and forgiveness box, anger management box and a kindness mission box. 19:24 – "You heal by healing others." "While the world is focusing on making kids smarter, our focus is to make them kinder," said Shalini 25:35 – Spreading like wildfire Shalini has been amazed at how quickly her business grew. She says it has spread like wildfire. 27:22 – How her kids view the hospital now Her daughter doesn't have any memories of being in the hospital. She now associates the hospital as a place where you get a joy box, because of Shalini's business. Her daughter and son think the hospital is a place where you do nice things for people. 38:05 – Get to know Shalini What brings her joy? Snuggles What song she loves to sing? Yellow by Coldplay FEATURED QUOTES "I never believed in my wildest dream that's what I was going to do – to design a toy collection." – Shalini "I've always been kind of like one of those souls, finding my purpose." – Shalini "The give back – that's what drives me more than anything." – Shalini "We want it to be fun and engaging, but we also want it to be nutritional for their souls and for the development of their minds." – Shalini "While the world is focusing on making kids smarter, our focus is to make them kinder." – Shalini "You heal by healing others." – Shalini "I never really understood why this little project grew like wildfire … I feel like I watch miracles." – Shalini ADDITIONAL RESOURCES https://www.openthejoy.com/ https://www.spreadthejoy.org/ Shalini Samtani has a diverse background in Law, Real Estate and Design. However, her true passion lies in brining joy to sick kids. She is the founder of Open The Joy® a truly unique toy company that focuses on building emotional intelligence in kids; and the Spread The Joy Foundation® a registered non-profit that delivers free activity kits to hospitalized children at their bedside. Since its launch in 2019, Open the Joy has won several industry awards including Best New Products for Kids 2019 at NY Now, New Kids on the Block award at Toy Fair 2020, and Best New Manufacturers award at Toy Fest West 2020. Shalini Samtani's leadership and the truly unique nature of her business has been awarded recognition by the Tory Burch Foundation 2020, as one of the top 50 female entrepreneurs selected nationwide.

Did you know there are more than 400,000 children in the U.S. who are in the foster care system? The average age of a child in foster care is 8 years old, and there are more boys than girls. There are so many kids who need a home, support and love. My guest today is Allie Roth, president and founder of With Love, which aims to help foster families change the lives of children ages 0-6 by providing resources that nurture dignity, hope and community. 2:42 – Allie Roth 101 Allie is married with two children and has always loved kids. She was a teacher and learned about some of the needs in the community. She doesn't say "foster kids." She says "kids in foster care." She created her nonprofit in the Portland area. 7:18 – Misconceptions about foster care In Oregon, about 1 in 100 kids are in foster care, which is double the national average. It is not normal. On any given day, there are around 7,000 kids. Part of the reason is the opiate crisis and housing instability 13:28 – Misconceptions about kids in foster care No kid goes into foster care through a fault of their own. Kids need a loving place to land while their parents are in rehab or have other issues. 60% of the kids in foster care come from neglect. 17:15 – Fulfilling needs They have volunteers who shop for the kids so the kids feel seen and known. They gather car seats, bottles, shoes and other basics. After 90 days, foster parents can reach out and ask for more supplies. 21:53 – How did Allie begin With Love? Beginning a nonprofit is really hard. Allie talked with other nonprofits to find out how they did it. She focused on volunteering, and found a lot of retired people who wanted to help. 27:27 – Connecting with other organizations Allie gets calls and emails all the time about working with other organizations. She is very active on social media and has met a lot of people through that. Eventually, she wants to do replication seminars so people can learn about foster care 101. 36:17 – Ways people can support Allie's work Intentionality is key. Instead of just dropping your stuff off at a donation center, ask yourself, "Who can I bless with what I have?" Allie believes in transparency and shares how her organization is doing in an annual report and on social media. 43:11 – How her kids have adapted to being foster family Having kids is a huge asset. For Allie's family, she brings in kids who are younger than her children. They don't have a placement all the time, so her kids get excited when a new child comes to stay. 46:27 – Get to know Allie Her guilty pleasure? People Magazine Song she has to sing? Panic at the Disco's "Hey Look Ma, I Made It" FEATURED QUOTES "In Oregon, there are about 1 in 100 kids in foster care. That number is double the national average, so that is not normal." – Allie "On any given day [in Oregon], there are around 7,000 kids in foster care, ages o to 18." – Allie "Volunteers are the heartbeat of what we do." – Allie "Who can I really bless with what I have? That's being intentional." – Allie CONNECT: https://www.withloveoregon.org/ https://www.withloveoregon.org/allie-roth About Allie Roth: Allie Roth is the President and Founder of With Love, which is a non-profit organization working to support foster families in Portland, Oregon. For Allie, With Love is more than an organization with a cause, it's a must-have movement. Since 2013, she has brought love and dignity to the forefront of foster care, changing the lives of thousands of families and kids in the community.

I'm an avid reader, and one of my favorite things to do with my kids is to read to them. A few years ago, I realized it was easy to find books where my kids could see themselves in the story. But I began to take that for granted and wanted to include more diverse literature. My guest today is Sailaja Joshi, CEO of Mango and Marigold Press. She has built a company dedicated to this very idea, that books need more diversity. 3:56 – Sailaja 101 Mango and Marigold Press is an independent publishing house that shares sweet and savory stories of the south Asian experience. Sailaja is a mom, wife, passionate runner and excited about disrupting the publishing space. 7:05 – Her personal experience The idea of Mango and Marigold started during Sailaja's first pregnancy. She wanted a library themed baby shower. She was looking for books that represented her culture, history and heritage. What she found was really disappointing. Some of the books she found were culturally inaccurate or insensitive. She decided to do something about it. She had an entrepreneurial spirit but knew nothing about publishing. 11:39 – How she started her business She tried writing books, and it didn't work. So she asked a friend with a background in children's literature for help. "I think it's really important for children to be able to see themselves and children to see others having these great moments of joy, and that's what our books do," said Sailaja 16:41 – What she's learned after publishing 20 books A big piece she learned is how the books are healing, not for children, but for parents "I think for so many parents, these books are things that they were just dying for in their youth and didn't have," said Sailaja 19:55 – Feedback The books resonate because they are great stories and are empowering. Sailaja says it's a wonderful feeling. 27:03 – Her favorite book Each book has a special meaning and a deep place in her heart. "I love stories that just celebrate black and brown joy. Those need to take up all the space on the bookshelf," said Sailaja. 33:32 – Get to know Sailaja Her favorite song to sing – Destiny's Child Bootylicious Her favorite meal – pizza Favorite TV show – 80s and 90s children's shows FEATURED QUOTES "I'm really excited about bridging the accessibility gap in children's literature and beyond." – Sailaja "I was looking for books that represented my culture, my history, my heritage, and what I found was really disappointing." – Sailaja "I think it's really important for children to be able to see themselves and children to see others having these great moments of joy, and that's what our books do." – Sailaja "I think for so many parents, these books are things that they were just dying for in their youth and didn't have." – Sailaja ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OR LINKS https://mangoandmarigoldpress.com/ https://mangoandmarigoldpress.com/pages/sailaja-joshi About Sailaja Joshi: Sailaja N. Joshi is a design thinker, intersectional feminist, mother to two, a bibliophile, an entrepreneur, lover of bold, modern design, diversity activist, and an aspiring dog owner. A Massachusetts native, Sailaja grew up a voracious reader. From Leo the Lop to Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Amelia Bedelia, she loved every book she read. If you were to ask her today what her favorite book is, she'd likely say either the Harry Potter series OR The Tao of Pooh. It really depends on the day. She has always been interested in exploring multicultural generations and loves using those skills in new and exciting ways as the CEO and founder of Mango & Marigold Press. Mango & Marigold Press is an award-winning independent publishing house that shares the sweet and savory stories of the South Asian experience. Founded in 2014, the company has produced fourteen books across four different product categories and been featured on The Today Show, Us Weekly, People Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post and so much more. In 2019, the company unveiled its #1001DiverseBooks initiative. With this program, Sailaja has committed to raising the funds to donate 1001 new, diverse books to literacy nonprofits bridging the accessibility gap within literature for children and teams. Community members can sponsor books for just $10 and through this program ensure that everyone has access to high quality, diverse literature. The company launched the initiative with its 14th book Finding Om and reached their goal of raising funds for 1001 books in just five short days. The company's mission has expanded to not only bridge the diversity gap in literature for children and teens but also improve the accessibility of diverse books in underserved communities. Her ambition is to have Mango & Marigold Press be an active participant in the field of multicultural literature, moving forward with the belief that we need diverse literature for all in a diverse world. The company recently expanded its collection to include both young adult and middle grade books (to be publ

If you went to public school or played sports growing up in the U.S., you remember fundraisers – the wrapping paper, popcorn, catalogues, etc. We all have these memories. Fundraisers are important to help organizations raise money, but what if we changed the way that we fundraise? What if we made an impact not only for the organizations that we're raising money for but also the people making the things we are selling? My guest today is Carol Fassino who created Fair Trade Caravans, which provides transparent information about products' origins, stories behind the artisans and farmers and how the products are priced. 3:14 – Meet Carol Fassino Carol came from a structured world, including public schools and working in the electronics industry. She worked in the corporate world until a few years ago. She never wanted to climb the corporate ladder and had a lucky opportunity to reevaluate what she wanted to do with the second half of her career. She wanted to make a difference. She decided fair trade fundraising was the way to go. 11:15 – How Carol started her company She explored how to start the company online instead of visiting schools one by one. "It is so hard to get past the initial 10 people that love your idea, that are related to you, that are friends with you. You go out there, and you think everyone is going to embrace that idea, and they don't," said Carol. 16:14 – Response and feedback The feedback and response to Carol's business have been great, and her business has grown. 23:25 – A lasting impact It starts with us as adults to teach children how products are made and teach them about fair trade. "We're trying to make fair trade a global mission through empowering a caring community of doers," said Carol. 25:17 – How do the fundraisers work? People can set up their fundraiser online with all the products they want, including their logo and how much they want to raise. Carol sends the school a check for 25% of the product sale. The challenge we've had is getting the word out and promoting the fundraisers. 27:55 – A diverse product line Carol has a diverse product line, including home decor, jewelry, coffee, tea, etc. Carol sells products between $15 and $40. 31:37 – Get to know Carol Carol is a big reader and reads the newspaper every morning. She also likes lighter fiction and historical fiction. Her favorite song – Total Eclipse of the Heart Her favorite meal – something with a lot of flavor FEATURED QUOTES "It is so hard to get past the initial 10 people that love your idea, that are related to you, that are friends with you. You go out there, and you think everyone is going to embrace that idea, and they don't." – Carol "We're trying to make fair trade a global mission through empowering a caring community of doers." – Carol https://www.fairtradecaravans.com/

We all know that coffee is one of the most popular beverages. I fully admit I am in the minority for not being a coffee drinker. But I can't deny how much coffee culture has an influence on our communities, our country and our world. There are so many people involved in the supply chain. My guests today are Brian Holland and Britt Mooney of Phoenix Roasters in Atlanta. They wanted to take their passion for coffee and for people and make a difference. They are two of the most incredible people. 3:50 – "You haven't had our coffee" I don't like coffee, but Brian and Britt say they can convert me. "We convert the 70% of people who want to love coffee into coffee lovers," said Brian. 8:08 – Britt and Brian 101 Brian is founding pastor of Phoenix Community, a church planning network. He was a church youth pastor for 20 years. In 2008 they started Phoenix Roasters because they ran out of money as a church. Britt grew up in the church. He was drawn to teach overseas with his wife, and they were missionaries. When God called him back to the U.S., he wanted to live as a missionary in his own country. He wanted to work with Brian and describes the coffee business as living the dream. 13:35 – Say Yes. How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight Britt wrote a book, Say Yes. How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight. It tells their story and asks readers: What has God called you to do? People always want to know where they are going and how they are going to get there. But you need to trust God. 18:30 – Say yes and be blessed We're told if we say yes, we'll be blessed. In their business, they try to help the kinds of people that Jesus would have helped. 23:16 – Figuring out the next steps A guy on their leadership team kept saying, "What if we're a marketplace church?" It's an international model. They wanted to do coffee shops. Brian asked God what He wanted him to do. He heard God say, "It's not in the shop. It's in the bean." 28:43 – The roaster story They realized there's no money in repackaging somebody else's coffee beans. "We realized we needed a better business model, and we're going to have to learn to roast our own coffee," said Brian. "But none of us knew how to roast." 35:02 – Coffee that matters Mother Theresa once asked a man, "What do you do that matters?" You want to have purpose and meaning in your life. God led them into ways for their coffee to matter. 46:00 – What is on the horizon? They have plans to be aggressive, and they want to help the micro farmers who are getting swallowed up by big corporations. 53:10 – Get to know you Strangest pet peeve – Brian can't stand hard swallowers Something we would never guess – Britt used to have long hair and was in a heavy metal Christian band FEATURED QUOTES "We always say around here, we're blessed and highly caffeinated." - Brian "We convert the 70% of people who want to love coffee into coffee lovers." – Brian "In 2008 we started Phoenix Roasters because we ran out of money as a church." – Brian "We realized we needed a better business model, and we're going to have to learn to roast our own coffee. But none of us knew how to roast." – Brian LINKS https://phoenixroasters.coffee/ https://www.amazon.com/Say-Yes-God-Sized-Dreams-Flight/dp/156309410X Thank you to our partner of the show, MamaSuds! How much time do you spend reading labels? A lot right? MamaSuds would like to help you take the stress of research out of your life with their truly safe, non-toxic household cleaning collection. They have everything you need to keep your family and your home clean and safe. If you've seen my Instagram Stories, you know I love their laundry soap! The best part is that they use plants and minerals to make their products- NOTHING SYNTHETIC. The head mama at MamaSuds is Michelle Smith and she has spent a crazy amount of time tracking down exceptional ingredients so they are not only safe for you and your family but sustainable for the planet. MamaSuds wants to inspire you to live a smart, healthy and sustainable life that brings you joy and peace of mind. Try them out at www.mamasuds.com and use code MOLLY for 15% off your order!

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend, and I realized I've been doing this podcast for 4½ years. A couple years ago, around episode 100, I introduced solo shows every 10 episodes. So, here we are – episode 230. Today's episode is about something personal to me. 0:39 – We bought a farm! If you follow me on Instagram or read my blog, Still Being Molly, you know that my family and I recently bought a farm. I know that for a lot of people, people are probably thinking, "What? This is random!" It's something we've been dreaming and praying about for a really long time. Today, I'm going to tell you the story about how it all happened. 4:11 – The lowest point in my life In fall 2010 I was at arguably the lowest point of my life. I was tens of thousands in credit card debt. I didn't know many people where I lived and worked a bunch of jobs. I didn't know the Lord. I was struggling with broken relationships. In late 2010, I started dating my now husband, John, started attending church with him and was saved. 6:06 – Talking about hopes and dreams John and I began talking about our dream of owning a farm. When we got engaged, we dreamed about what our life would look like. One of the things we talked about regularly was buying land, building a house and being more self-sustainable. I was working hard to pay off my debt. 8:37 – Serious conversations about money As a young married couple, John and I had a lot of conversations about money. John didn't struggle with money, but I did, so we wanted to have clear communication. We have a joint budget and track every dollar that comes in and goes out. We started to put money away for a big expense down the road like land or a house. 11:00 – Our little garden We started with a garden in our backyard, and it started with one little garden bed, and it was a giant fail. I had this dream of having this massive garden. The only food we were able to grow was cucumbers, and they took over and grew through the fence. As the years went on, we got better at gardening. After five years, we had a truly, truly successful garden. 13:32 – Getting aggressive about savings About two to three years ago, we really started being very aggressive in our savings towards land. We hustled and we worked really hard. At the end of 2019, we began to realize this could become a reality sooner rather than later. We began looking at land and had many contracts fall through. 18:20 – Pursuing houses on land We finally decided to pursue houses on land instead of building a house. We looked at upwards of 15 houses and put in offers but kept getting rejected or outbid. John came home one night frustrated about the home-buying process. We had been praying. Later that night, three hours later, a house came on the market. We both looked at it, we looked at each other and said, "I think this is it." We went to see the house that weekend and finally got the house. 21:52 – A dream come true We aren't living there yet. We are doing renovations, but we are just so, so thankful. It is a dream come true. In a lot of ways I still feel like I'm dreaming. I share this whole story because, for nearly a decade, this was something that John and I had talked about and dreamed about and prayed about and saved for. I want to encourage you, if you have a dream, make little steps each day. We want to be able to serve others with this home. FEATURED QUOTES "My family and I recently bought a farm … People are probably thinking, 'What? This is random!' … It's something that we have been dreaming about and praying about for a really long time." "A house came on the market … We both looked at it, we looked at each other and I said, 'I think this is it.'" "We are just so, so thankful. It is a dream come true." "I share this whole story because, for nearly a decade, this was something that John and I had talked about and dreamed about and prayed about and saved for." "We want to be able to serve others with this home."

I think we can all agree that education is important. My guest today is passionate about making higher education accessible and giving opportunities to incredibly bright students in Africa for development and education around the world. 1:13 – Dr. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire's background Dr. Bosire is the founder and CEO of 8B Education Investments, a financial and education technology platform specialized in lending to African students to attend world-class global universities. 5:48 – Meet Dr. Bosire The "B" in 8B stands for billion. They want to find out what Africa needs to do in order to compete, innovate and thrive in a world of 8 billion people. 8:51 – What led Dr. Bosire to do this work She was born in western Kenya and went to United World Colleges. She found that international spaces in business and other sectors were not inclusive, and she wanted to see more people like her in those spaces. 14:40 – Breaking down barriers and expanding opportunities Dr, Bosire realized she needed more people like herself in power to help others. Her sole purpose is to address the key bottleneck, which is the financing. If financing was as available for African students as it is available to a Chinese student or Indian student or a Singaporean student, a lot more African students would be in universities. 24:41 – Narrative matters Our words matter. How we tell stories matter. Because those things begin to get imprinted in our minds, in our culture, in our society. 32:10 – Charity vs. education investment It doesn't have to be either or. It doesn't have to be charity or education investment. It can be both. "You're saying to somebody, 'I see this potential in you. I see this talent in you, and I'm investing in your education for a greater purpose." – Molly 37:45 – Not enough innovation in nonprofit There's not enough innovation in the nonprofit space. Business can be used for good, like a nonprofit. Overall, most nonprofits don't innovate because they just don't have to. But businesses have to innovate. 48:03 – Get to know you questions Who has influenced Dr. Bosire the most? Oprah What song she has to sing along with? Frozen ballads Favorite dinner – Kale and avocado First thing she does when she gets home? Hug those close to her FEATURED QUOTES "That's the business that I am in now, of making opportunity." – Dr. Bosire "If we had financing as available for African students as it is available to a Chinese student or Indian student or a Singaporean student, we would have a lot more African students in universities." – Dr. Bosire ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OR LINKS https://africaglobaleducation.com/ https://twitter.com/8B_AfricaEdu About Dr. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire Dr. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire is the Founder and CEO of 8B Education Investments, a financial and education technology platform specialized in lending to African students to attend world-class global universities and supporting them to succeed. 8B is on a mission to strengthen Africa's human capital by equipping the continent's future leaders and ecosystem builders to innovate, compete, and thrive in the knowledge economy of the 21st century. A Kenyan national, Lydiah brings to the field of innovative finance her personal experience, and over eighteen years working on issues of international politics, development, and human rights. Prior to founding 8B, Lydiah worked at the United Nations, the World Bank, and leading global NGOs. Most recently, she served as lead for the UN-World Bank Partnership at the Department of Political Affairs of the UN Secretariat. While completing her studies at the University of Oxford, Lydiah co-founded Oxford Transitional Justice Research. Lydiah was a pioneer of the global youth movement around HIV/AIDS. She co-founded the YouthForce advocacy platform used at all international HIV/AIDS conferences since, and served as a founding board member of the non-profit Keep a Child Alive. Lydiah currently serves on the board at WorldQuant University, and is a member of the UWC Atlantic College Advisory Council. She publishes and speaks on a wide range of topics, including on the role of innovative finance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN and the World Bank in conflict-affected states, and the role of world-class human capital in African development. Lydiah completed her doctorate (D.Phil) in Politics at the University of Oxford. She also holds a Master of Science from Oxford, where she attended as a Clarendon Scholar. She received an undergraduate degree with honors in Government and a Master of Public Administration at Cornell University. Thank you to our partners of the show: Ammas Umma Did you know I have an ethical brand directory? That's what Chelsea used to start finding products for her boutique almost four years ago! Now, Amma's Umma carries over 50 intentionally sourced brands and is the perfect one stop shop for all your gift giving needs. As a thank you to the Still Being Molly community, she is offering 20% off with code

I remember my journey of becoming debt free. I read so many books about how to take control of your money and how to budget. There are a lot of financial resources out there, but there's not much about why you handle money the way you do. My guest today is Rachel Cruze, and she is trying to tackle that very issue. Rachel is a two-time No. 1 best-selling author, financial expert and host of The Rachel Cruze Show. Her new book is Know Yourself, Know Your Money: Discover WHY you handle money the way you do, and WHAT to do about it! 3:42 – Rachel Cruze 101 Rachel is an author and speaker and loves talking about anything involving money and personal finance. She is the daughter of financial expert Dave Ramsey. She became interested in public speaking when she was 15 and realized it was a gift she wanted to share. 6:16 – Being Dave Ramsey's kid Rachel jokes that people think she had mutual fund birthday parties and summer budget camps growing up. But her mom and dad taught her a lot about money. They filed for bankruptcy the year she was born. She learned how to handle money emotionally, spiritually and tactically. But the conversations with her parents were never obsessive or legalistic. Her parents let her make mistakes so she and her siblings could learn to handle money. 9:38 – What she learned from her parents Rachel watched her parents become successful with money and be outrageous givers. She has been impressed with the private ways they are generous, without any fanfare. 11:20 – My childhood and financial past When times get tough, some turn to alcohol or drugs. As I explain to Rachel, I turned to spending money and used it as a coping mechanism. I was $36,000 in credit card debt in 2008 and became debt free in 2012. 15:28 – Know Yourself, Know Your Money Money is so emotional. There is so much guilt and shame around this topic. Your net worth starts to become your self worth, and you start to believe: "This is who I am." Breaking that cycle is so powerful. 18:46 – The psychology behind money To understand why you handle money the way you do, you have to go back to the way you grew up. There are four money classrooms people fall into: anxious, unstable, unaware and secure 25:17 – How to begin changing bad money habits You have to have an element of hope. Getting out of debt requires a lot of sacrifice, so you have to know why you're doing it. 27:12 – Adapting to change Doing a budget is not fun, but once it becomes a part of your life you can't imagine not having it there. It takes a shock to the system to change. 29:41 – Get to know Rachel What does Rachel do when she wants to treat herself? She doesn't need a designer bag. She loves spa days, pedicures and pampering. Her favorite song to jam out to? "I'm Proud to Be an American" Her favorite meal? Pepperoni and banana pepper pizza FEATURED QUOTES "Your net worth starts to become your self worth, and you start to believe: 'This is who I am.' To break that cycle is so powerful." - Rachel "To understand how you handle money today, you have to go back to your childhood." - Rachel ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: https://www.rachelcruze.com/ https://www.rachelcruze.com/store/product/know-yourself-know-your-money-book

Here we are, it's the end of 2020, and this year has been bananas. There have been beautiful things but also a lot of really difficult things, and I wanted to end the year in kind of a unique way. I have shared openly on this show over the last few years about how my faith is the foundation of all that I am and how it has influenced my life and changed me in so many ways. In the last few years, I have read through the Bible in one year. In 2020, I finished my third reading of the bible in a year, cover to cover, chronologically. It's been formative and life changing. If you've never read the Bible, please don't click away. I'm sharing this episode from my heart about something I really believe is life changing. My guest this week is Tara-Leigh Cobble. She is the creator and host of the Bible Recap Podcast and the author of the book, The Bible Recap. She founded D-Group, an international network of weekly discipleship and accountability groups, and she hosts a daily radio show called The God Shot. She hails from Dallas, TX by way of Eastern TN, and I've had the privilege of hearing her voice every day as I read the Bible throughout the year. The Bible Recap has greatly impacted my life and I wanted to learn more about Tara and her the work behind The Bible Recap. 6:00 - The Tara-Leigh 101 Tara-Leigh wasn't always someone who read the Bible. She might have told you she loved it, but she hadn't read it. She knew it was true, but she didn't know what it said. Cleary, that has all changed and along with writing The Bible Recap and hosting Bible Recap Podcast, she also founded D-Group, which stands for Discipleship Group. it is a weekly Bible study and discipleship group that meets in homes and churches and online and does deep dives into books of the Bible and topics of theology. She started D-Group the same year she started reading through the Bible because she needed and wanted to talk to people about what she was reading. She started learning about so much she never knew growing up in the church and wanted to talk about it. Tara-Leigh was working in ministry and not even reading through the Bible yet. She spent her days talking to people about and singing about the God of the Bible but had not read all of his word. One day, a friend asked if she's ready the whole Bible. She'd been a student of the word, but still hadn't read the Bible in its entirety. Her friend recommended she read the whole thing (even the genealogies). She was told it would take 12 minutes a day to read it in a year. Surprisingly, the commitment was not the hard part. It was what she was seeing when she was reading it. She had not yet encountered a lot of these things about the Lord and realized she'd taken things out of context, was not understanding things rightly, and was reading it as if looking into a mirror looking back at herself instead of holding a lens to see the living God and who He is. Tara-Leigh's friend encouraged her to stick with reading through the Bible and challenged her to look for God and His character. It was a huge awakening for her to read through the Bible chronologically the first time, but even more so the second time when she started looking for God instead of how he could make all her dreams come true. 15:38 – Through the Bible in a Year Tara-Leigh has read through the Bible 14 times now. Even on read 14, she's learning new things and seeing some things for the first time. She recently recorded a podcast episode on God's intervening in our lives. A few days later while she was praying, she felt like God was telling her, "I don't intervene." She measured it against scripture to see if it was really from the Lord. She looked through Hebrews to see if the word intervene shows up anywhere. It doesn't. She looked through the Greek and Aramaic translations and the word "intervene" is nowhere in the Bible. She looked up the word in the dictionary. To intervene, you have to be outside of a situation and insert yourself into it, and God is not outside of any situation. Tara-Leigh had to go back and edit that podcast episode. 😉 Some resources that have been the most impactful for Tara-Leigh in her study and The Bible Recap have been sermons by pastors who teach exegetically (line by line, word by word), and John Piper's database with all scripture he's taught. You can look up specific topics and verses. It's especially great if you're an auditory learner. It helped Tara learn how to study scripture and understand it ways she never had before. John Piper also has a tool called "Look at the Book" that Tara-Leigh recommends. Once she learned how to study the Bible, the Faith Life Study Bible (free online resource) and a Greek/Hebrew lexicon have been helpful tools as well. 23:25 – Living, Breathing Love Letter Tara-Leigh has been able to maintain her passion for reading the Bible even when working on The Bible Recap for work. As she began, she realized she wasn't interested in separating what she was doing for work from h

The word for 2020 has been PIVOT. Especially when it comes to sustaining a business during an economy in the middle of a global pandemic. My guest today is living this idea of pivoting out. Her story about launching a business at the beginning of a pandemic and them completely pivoting is incredibly inspiring and you are going to love this conversation. Marissa Goldstein is a proud mother of two sets of twins. Yes, you heard that right – two sets of twins. She's also the CEO of the leading sustainable travel accessory brand Rafi Nova. As an avid traveler, Marissa founded Rafi Nova to encourage families to travel while creating meaningful connections with global communities. While the pandemic shifted her company's production to face masks, it expanded the company's ability to connect and protect communities and support social causes committed to inclusivity. Under Marissa's leadership, Rafi Nova will have donated more than 150,000 masks to organizations in need and workers on the front lines by the end of the year. This was such an incredible conversation and Marissa is such a leader in this area. Grab a warm, cozy, festive drink and Join me as I chat with Marissa. 4:42 - The Marissa 101 Marissa is the co-founder and CEO of Rafi Nova. Rafi Nova is a social enterprise on a mission to create great products that meet the ever-changing needs of families and communities, and serves to connect, inspire, and encourage others to get out there and go. She and her husband are parents to TWO sets of twins. Marissa's family lives life on the go (or certainly before the pandemic). For the last 3-4 years, they spent half the year living in Vietnam, and the other half living right outside of Boston, MA. After Marissa finished her MBA in 2015, she joined her husband working at his manufacturing business helping consumer products companies in the US make products overseas in Vietnam. They've always had a wanderlust, and quickly fell in love with Southeast Asia on an around the world trip. They settled in Vietnam, creating their own supply chain and amazing community of friends. Their niche was bags, backpacks, duffel bags, luggage, etc. Every weekend they traveled to other Southeast Asia countries to meet with different ethnic women and tribes. In Northern Vietnam four years ago, they met women trying to sell their trinkets with a colorful textile wrapped around then. They discovered the women's stories as well as the story behind the artform that has been passed down from generation to generation. It started to disappear because of technology and younger generations choosing different career paths in cities. Marissa and her husband wanted to find a way to use that textile traditional art form and put them on meaningful products in the US while also supporting the women, telling their stories, and preserving the art form. They started their own brand, Rafi Nova, which is named after their two sets of twins. They goal was to create useful products and accessories that people can wear when they're on the go. All of the Rafi Nova products use upcycled textiles that have a story. Marissa and her husband spent a year building the company in Vietnam and came back to Boston to officially start the company. It was right as Covid-19 started spreading in the US, before anyone knew what was coming. They launched the day after the product arrived on February 16th and two weeks later received their town's stay-at-home orders before Rafi Nova even had a shot at thriving. They knew they needed to put their factory to good use to help during the pandemic as well as keep their factory opening as product orders began plummeting. It was actually their four-year-old who suggested they start making masks. In Vietnam, people wear masks every day because of the air pollution, which gave Marissa and her family a unique perspective on masks that most Americans don't have. They know what it takes to make a comfortable, safe, and effective mask. They called up their factory and decided they were going to make 10,000 makes to donate to front-line workers. Word caught on quickly and people were asking if Rafi Nova would sell the masks for their own personal use. It was in March, when there was a lot of dialogue about masks but nowhere to buy them. They put the masks on their website, and 24 hours later they'd done over $25,000 in sales with a gratitude for the opportunity and the need for a plan to fulfill the orders! Since that day, Rafi Nova has sold over 2 million masks, and donated over 125,000 masks and have more than 30 employees in a 7500 sq ft fulfillment center. Marissa credits her experience as a mom of two twins for preparing her for this endeavor. 19:22 – Empowering Artisans Through Partnership After discovering the traditional handicrafts in Northern Vietnam, Rafi Nova wanted to find a way to connect with local communities and communities around the world. They would stay in the communities in a very different environment than what they we

Marriage is beautiful. It's hard, but it's beautiful. Work can be beautiful. Hard, but beautiful. When you combine marriage and work, those things can be beautiful, but they can also be really, really hard. My guests today recently completed the largest research study on working married couples in the US, and spent the last few years interviewing couples who want to stay in love, change the world, and raise a happy family. Jeff and Andrew Shinabarger. Jeff is the co-author of Love or Work: Is it Possible to Change the World, Stay in Love, and Raise a Family. He's also the founder of Plywood People, a nonprofit in Atlanta leading a community of startups doing good. His work has been featured in Forbes Inc., CNN, USA Weekend, and Huffington Post. He's mentored over 600 startups and created the largest social entrepreneurship event in the South called "Plywood Presents." His wife, Andre Shinabarger is an adventurer who loves seeing the world. She was born in Boliva, and she has a deep passion for building community with marginalized people groups. She works at Grady Memorial Hospital as a physician's assistant and is an adjunct professor for Emory University as well as an advisor to Plywood People, host of the Love or Work Podcast, and coauthor of the Love or Work book along with her husband, Jeff. These two are incredible and I've long admired their work through Plywood People and Plywood Presents. It was such a joy to have them on the show. You're going to get so much out of this conversation whether you're married or single. This episode is for everyone. 6:41 – The Jeff and Andre 101 Andre was born in Bolivia and Spanish is her first language. She is a physician's assistant at Grady Health System where she and her colleagues take care of underserved communities. She and Jeff met in college, have been married for 18 years, and have two children who are 10 and 8 years-old. Jeff leads an organization called Plywood People, a nonprofit that leads a community of startups doing good. He loves getting involved in these projects to help pass on his wisdom, lessons from mistakes, and help people grow their dream projects. Early on, Jeff and Andre stared a project called "Gift Card Giver." They would collect unused gift cards and give them to people in need. People started sending their gift cards from all over the nation. Because of that, people started connecting Jeff with other people with ideas. They gave away a few hundred thousand dollars in gift cards, and people started recognizing Jeff and asking him how to help them get their ideas off the ground. The name Plywood People came after Jeff and Andrew traveled extensively doing various relief work. He always saw Plywood as a short-term fix to a long-term problem, and people giving their lives to continue raising up a place and making it better. 11:48 – Love or Work? The Book Love or Work came out of a long personal journey of working with people who are starting their own business. Unfortunately, they often also saw a lot of relationships falling apart because of those startup businesses efforts. It's hard to maintain and nurture relationships when so much of an entrepreneur's time is taken up by stress and trying to get a new project off the ground. Often business mentoring sessions would also turn into therapy sessions with clients emotional over their stressed relationships or lack of free time to spend with their partners. They saw such a big need in the community that they started to research how many people were feeling that struggle. They wanted to know if it was really possible to do it all or is that just an idealistic notion? Jeff and Andrew started interviewing people and asking more questions. The book is especially timely during this pandemic we're experiencing in 2020. With many couples now working at home and in close proximity, many are struggling to adjust to this adjustment in their increased time together at home. Virtual school, kids, and general stress adds even more pressure on relationships. 14:54 – Podcasts and Pandemics Jeff and Andre also have a Love or Work Podcast in addition to the book. They help couples focus on their marriage with resources that help people have not only a great marriage, but also a great career and family, all at the same time. It is possible! They hosted over 100 couples on their podcast and did a research project where they surveyed 1500 working couples! They wanted a broad perspective backed up by data. Andre personally didn't think she wanted kids because she didn't think she could move up in a career if she had kids too. 83% of couples say that working has made them better parents. The proof is in the data. We really don't have to choose. We can both work and be good parents. Women and men feel guilt being away from their kids while they are working, but you can let go a of a lot of that guilt. Jeff cares a lot about Andre's purpose and while it is not perfect, many couples reported that they desire that su

There's a lot of talk about what kindness really looks like these days. Don't get me wrong, I am someone who is deeply passionate about kindness. True kindness. One of my most important goals as a parent is to raise kind and compassionate kids because it matters. Kindness can also be fleeting. When we take it for granted, the kindness that we think we are spreading around is just very surface-level or even in some cases, harmful. What does real, true, deep kindness really look like? My guest today is on a mission to call all of us to action to exhibit deep kindness. Houston Kraft is a speaker, author, and kindness advocate who has spoken at over 600 schools or events internationally. In 2016, he co-founded Character Strong, curriculum and trainings that help teach social and emotional skills. To date, they've worked with over 2500 schools globally, serving over 2 million students. In 2019, his face was actually featured of Lays BBQ chip bags as someone who helps spread smiles. This year, his first book, Deep Kindess was released. Deep Kindness is a call to action beckoning us to a deeper understanding of kindness. It calls readers to move past that surface-level "confetti" kindness marked by cutsie phrases and empty gestures. Instead, Kraft reveals that deep kindness is an ever-growing skillset, rooted in empathy, perspective, courage, and forgiveness. Featuring a 30-act starter plan, journal prompts, and practical exercises, Deep Kindness dives into the types of kindness the world needs most today, taking an honest look at the gap between our belief in kindness and our ability to practice it well. Houston's hero is his mom, and his best life lesson is to "hug like you mean it" (adjusted safely for Covid-19 of course)! I had the best conversation with Houston. He is really funny and has incredible insights about what kindness looks like today. 6:02 - The Houston 101 Houston is blessed with having parents who have always supported any idea he's wanted to pursue. He was really passionate about soccer growing up but broke his ankle his freshman year of high school. In lieu of playing soccer, he was invited to participate in his high school's production of the musical "Once Upon A Mattress." While honored, Houston has to inform his theatre teacher that he couldn't sing! They found place for Houston in the musical as the character of a mute king. He fell in love with the story-telling and collaborative process of theatre. Houston continued with theatre all the way through college and took a year off to determine whether he wanted to pursue acting or some form of leadership. He got connected with a speaker who spoke about leadership, compassion, and kindness in schools. He realized it was what he wanted to do too and started speaking at events after college. He absolutely loved being on stage and sharing stories. So much of his own personal story was shaped by stories shared with him in high school around leadership, paradigm shifts, and what it meant to show up for the world in meaningful ways. Houston spoke for 7 years at 600 schools or organizations all over the country. In 2016, he met with a hero of his named John Narlen. Houston wanted to see what John thought about replicating their speaking services for administrators and educational systems to teach empathy, compassion, and social and emotional skills that indicate success and fulfilment in life. The program now works with over 2500 schools and reaches about 25 million kids! Houston also just published his first book that came on in September of 2020 called Deep Kindness. It includes all Houston has learned about kindness and compassion over the past decade. 11:11 – Impacting the Next Generation with Deep Kindness Houston founded Character Strong and works to equip kids with the skills to think of others before themselves, and it's an important skill to start teaching early to instill people with lifelong empathy and compassion that inspires others around them as well. Houston has found that kids are really impacted by what they think their leaders and culture think about them. We are too focused on achievement over kindness and happiness, and our kids are aware of it. We are missing the mark. What we measure matters. What we ask young people to show us proof of matters. We are not allocating enough time toward selflessness and compassion. Anxiety and narcissism have increased, and the biggest barriers to empathy are fear, anxiety, and narcissism. Dr. Ross Green tells us that kids do well when they can. Kids want to please the adults in the world around them. The only reason they wouldn't is lagging skills and unsolved problems. We need to recognize that they need tools to handle the issues in front of them. There may also be things in their life out of their control that they don't know how to deal with that cause big feelings to be taken out in other areas of their life. It's been a tough year, and the pandemic and the political season have made it eve

I know I've said this before, but it's worth repeating: I am so excited about the next generation of young people who are coming up in the world and how they are so motivated and determined to make the world a better place. They seem to be starting at a younger and younger age. Just this year, I've had quite a few teenagers on the show who are just doing absolutely incredible things in the world. Today's guest is not different, and she's going to knock your socks off. My guest this week is Isha Uppalapati, the founder of A Girl's Frontier, a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on helping young girls find and harness their leadership potential while providing them with the opportunities to do so. She is also the author of Her Toolbox: Learning to Be A Female Leader with Advice from Women in Power, a compilation of advice from women leaders. Isha is a high school senior (can you believe that?!) in Marietta, GA. She is doing more by the age of 18, than I think I've done in 35 years of life! Isha is incredibly motivating and encouraging, and you are going to love this conversation. 5:19 - The Isha 101 Isha is the founder of A Girl's Frontier, a nonprofit that helps young girls fulfil their aspirations and helps them with their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. She's also the author of Her Toolbox: Learning to Be A Female Leader with Advice from Women in Power. This was all before she became a senior in high school! The idea for A Girl's Frontier started with some of Isha's hobbies. She's always loved making things or putting things together. She's always had the support of her parents, and would put together doll houses with her dad, or write her own little books and even make her own binding for them. Her family and friends who gave her so much love and support gave her the confidence from a very young age that she could be whatever she wants to be and do whatever she wants to do. Even when she told her support system that she wanted to be a race car driver, they believed she would do it if she said she wanted to. Isha created A Girl's Frontier to provide the same opportunities she had to girls everywhere. The organization helps fund education for girls around the world, including Honduras and India, connecting them to mentors who can help guide them to be who they want to be. They've been holding broken iPad drives. It provides books to young girls in the local community as well as iPads, which has been especially crucial during the pandemic with so many schools having to convert to virtual classrooms. When visiting India, Isha met a young girl who shared her dreams of becoming a doctor with Isha. The girl's family was extremely poor, and Isha was moved by the girl's lofty goals and determination. Her parents were not able to afford secondary education, and the realization that this young girl did not have the same opportunity to go to any college she chose, like Isha did, was both a jarring and life-altering moment. Isha knew there were so many brilliant, passionate people in the world who just have doors shut in their faces because of money and lack of opportunity. That moment fueled Isha to do what she's doing now: ensuring more young girls have equal opportunities to pursue their talents and gifts. 11:39 – A Book and Nonprofit Before the Age of 18 Isha also credits her strong support system with helping her start A Girl's Frontier. She started researching how to start a 501c3 and started working on her business filing and making the nonprofit official. In Honduras, A Girl's Frontier works with a group of girls who've been rescued from human trafficking and other traumatic situations. Isha simply just started asking people for financial support and material donations, and both started flooding in. So many women are enthusiastic to share with A Girl's Frontier, understanding their own privileges and opportunities, and desiring to pull other young women up alongside them. Isha has also learned a lot from these incredible women leaders while writing, researching, and interviewing for her book, Her Toolbox: Learning to Be A Female Leader with Advice from Women in Power. Every single women she met emphasized the importance of mentors. Isha knew they were important but really began to understand their impact while writing her book. Mentors not only help you with your struggles, but share their own to help you learn from their failures. She also learned that it's important to learn how to fail. It's especially difficult for high schoolers like Isha, trying to pass tests and get good grades to get into college! 17:21 – Women in the Driver's Seat Isha wants young girls to know that they have the power to be in control of their dreams, lives, and futures. That can look like asking for help, advocating and/or standing up for yourself, and digging in and working hard and continuing to try even when things are difficult, instead of making excuses. Sign up for online seminars, talk to college admissions counselors, ask

I think we can all agree that creating a culture of integrity in our workplaces in important. We want to be able to trust the people we work for and work with. We want to know that the company we are representing as an employee or as an owner is one that people can trust; that the brand has a certain amount of ethics behind it. That doesn't just have to be regarding just manufacturing, but the fact that a company strives to have integrity on the whole. My guest today is creating and leading a revolution of ethical companies that hold integrity as a top priority. Rob Chesnut if the former Chief Ethics Officer for Air B&B, and the author of the new book, Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead An Ethical Revolution. Rob is a graduate of Harvard Law School and The University of Virginia. He worked for 14 years with the US Justice Department, where he prosecuted bank robberies, kidnapping, murder, and espionage cases. He joined eBay in 1999 as the company's third lawyer where he led eBay's North American legal team and later founded its Trust and Safety Team. Rob subsequently spent six years as the general counsel and first attorney and digital education leader, Chegg, where he helped take the company public in 2013. He joined Air B&B as general counsel in 2016, where he grew the legal team from 30 to over 150 legal professionals in 20 offices around the world. His team led initiatives to promote home sharing and address regulatory issues with local governments and landlords around the world. As Chief Ethics Officer, Rob developed a popular interactive employee program, Integrity Belongs Here, to help drive ethics throughout the company. He lives in San Francisco, and his website is intentionalintegrity.com. I will tell you that this was a fansicnating conversation. Rob has so much experience and knowledge and is the type of person I'd love to sit down with for dinner and ask 7 million questions. I asked him about half of those here today. 😉 You are going to absolutely love this conversation with Rob Chesnut! 5:58 - The Rob 101 Rob is an author, tech general counsel, and has been a federal prosecutor. He enjoys the idea of variety and being tough to label! He started his career as a lawyer in Virginia. After some time in that role, he felt like he was presiding over a lot of negativity. He started to feel pulled to do something positive and uplifting. He believes business has the power to transform the world in a positive way, even more than government, which is often pulled apart by partisan politics. Rob started looking for companies doing good things in the world. While working as a prosecutor in northern Virginia, he received calls from other prosecutors wanting records about a company called America Online (AOL). (This is when you still received a disk and needed dial up for the internet). 😉 It struck Rob that the internet may have staying power, and he started using a few sights like eBay. Most companies at that time did not need (or didn't think they needed) a federal prosecutor, but Rob contacted eBay regarding the potential problems they might run into with illegal items, fraud, regulations, and more. eBay called Rob back the next day. He was asked to start eBay's "Trust and Safety" department and Rob grew the team to more than 2,000 employees who helped maintain order and prevented fraud on the site. Later in his career Rob moved onto Chegg and then Air B&B. Air B&B is in the Trust business. There need to be rules and order so that people can connect over their common interests. That has been a theme throughout Rob's career. 9:00 - Intentional Integrity While Rob was the general counsel at Air B&B, it really struck him that the world was changing. Everywhere he turned, Rob saw companies in trouble and being called out for bad behavior. At that time, the level of feedback and public criticism was really something new. People want leaders and companies to step up. Rob sat down with Air B&B founder, Brian Chesky to talk about how to drive integrity into the culture of a company. They had no idea how to start, but both agreed they needed to try it. They started developing a program that encouraged Air B&B employees to treat each other with integrity, and the employees truly embraced the program. Rob's wife, who works in publishing started (strongly) encouraging him to write a book about it. No one else was doing it at the time and she knew it was important for the world. Rob, however, was not at all interested in writing a book. Rob's wife convinced him by offering to find a co-writer and a major publisher. Rob thought he had all the knowledge on the subject, but the more he engaged with the writing process, the more he realized he still had a lot to learn. Rob discovered the writing was really a journey of knowledge. The book is called Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead An Ethical Revolution. It includes a wide range of perspectives from well-known artists and industry prof

Welcome to the 2020 Business with Purpose Podcast Holiday Gift Guide Extravaganza! I'm so happy to have my cohost Em Sexton from The Flourish Market with me today! This is our 5th year doing this, and when we recorded at this time last year, I don't think any of us could have predicted what was in store for us for 2020. We hope this year's Gift Guide brings you some energy and joy for a calm and simple Holiday season. We'll feature some fun and unique gifts for you to shop. Be sure to go to stillbeingmolly.com/blog where you can find this episode's show notes with all of the Gift Guide details, links, and coupon codes, as well as The Business with Purpose Instagram page (Instagram.com/stillbeingmolly)). I'll have an entire highlight dedicated to the Gift Guide so you can referenced everything in one location. For now, sit back, relax, grab a cup of your favorite cozy beverage, and enjoy with us! We'll be answering your questions, bringing back the trivia game (you can do it, Em!), and shopping together with purpose! The Business With Purpose Podcast would not have been able to make it through 2020 without our amazing partners of the show: The Lemonade Boutique, Simple Switch, GOEX Apparel, and Ammas Uma. 5:53 – Question #1 from Molly to Em: If 2020 were a Christmas ornament, what would that Christmas ornament be? Em: First we have to acknowledge that we hold the heavy, hard, unimaginable situation we've experienced worldwide because of the level of this pandemic. We have grieved as a team at The Flourish Market for the people behind our products. At the same time, joy, laughter, and rest are signs of resistance against horrible things happening in the world. I have two ideas for ornaments for 2020. One would have all the new things we sell at The Flourish Market in 2020 like masks, branded toilet paper, and cross stitch kits! The second would be the PIVOT COUCH from Friends! The word of the year for business owners has been pivot. Shoutout to all you pivoting in 2020! 8:50 – First Feature: GOEX Apparel! GOEX Apparel is an incredible company that cuts and sews their items in Haiti and screen print them in Kansas City. They have an eco-friendly, low carbon footprint, and even provide custom tees like the Business with Purpose podcast "Do Something Good with Purpose on Purpose" tee! Ladies Red Cardigan – Comes in 5 colors and is your perfect basic, everyday, long cardigan with pockets! Holiday Deer Sweatshirt – Comes in adult and youth sizes! Business With Purpose Podcast listeners gets 20% off with the code "podcast20"! You can also check out goexapparel.com/mollystillman to see my curated collection of my favorite items from GOEX! 11:39 – Question #2 for Molly from Em: What is a new holiday tradition? Molly's family has been doing a Sunday night family movie night. They watch movies that they have not seen together. The first weekend in November, they started watching holiday movies. Molly's kids just saw HOME ALONE FOR THE FIRST TIME! They loved it and laughed so much! 😊 This year maybe it's ok to go ahead and put up your Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. Rules are out the window and we encourage you to go ahead and get festive if you want to! 13:55 – Our next feature is from Freeleaf: This company provides employment, wholistic care, and sustainability to at risk, exploited, and abused women. Their tagline is "For a world where women are knot for sale." All of their products have knots in them somewhere to remind us that women are not for sale. We are also featuring two of their items: Infinity and Pippa Wall Hangings: They are perfect for putting on a gallery wall with framed prints and for those who love home décor, especially since many of us are home more often these days! Harmony Tassel Hoop Earrings: These rose gold hoops with deep purple knotted tassels are the perfect stocking stuffers! We have another coupon code for you! Use "purpose15" for 15% off at Free Leaf! 17:32 – Here's our first TRIVIA QUESTION for Em! In the song Frosty the Snowman, what made Frosty come to life? 18:53 – A trivia question for Molly: What is your worst decoration or decorating story? 21:37: Our next company is Simple Switch Simple Switch is your ethical version of Amazon. Right off the bat, we have a 20% off coupon code good for ANYTHING ON THE SITE! Use code "purchasewithpurpose" Simple Switch is also offering free shipping for orders over $200.00! There are a few very unique items here that you might normally go to Amazon to find, but can find ethically-sourced instead here on Simple Switch like fully engravable wood items at all different price points: Money clips, customized items, an engravable flash, all made from genuine cherry and beautiful. Ethical wine and chocolate! There is a variety pack you can customize for yourself and they come in CANS! You can pair that with Molly's favorite chocolate, Alter Eco Chocolate. They are great gifts to drop off your friend's porches, order in bulk, and/or stick in so

One of the reasons I started this podcast was to provide a medium to share stories that matter around topics that matter, and to hopefully bring on guests that challenge you, encourage you, inspire you; Maybe to make you think of things in a way you haven't previously. 2020 has been an exceptionally difficult year between a pandemic, elections, and everything surrounding the topic of race. I am so excited about today's guest because he is someone who has had an impact on me. I pray our conversation is one that impacts you too. This conversation is challenging, encouraging, funny, and heart-wrenching. I know you are going to walk away feeling inspired. My guest this week is Corey Paul Davis, more widely known as Corey Paul. Corey is a Houston-based rapper, creator, and entrepreneur. Throughout his life, he as overcome several incredible adversities including drug addiction in his family and witnessing his mother shot by his father at the age of seven years old. Eventually he completed high school and served his community as a firefighter, where he won the Ann Sullivan award for heart and courage. He has a heart for kids who grew up in similar situations to him and started a nonprofit program for youth in the juvenile detention centers of Houston in hopes of providing them mentorship and resources. They successfully graduated over 100 teens from their Hope program and built foundational relationships with the youth in their community. Music has always been a passion of his and an outlet for his pain and thoughts. Corey started his first media company in 2011, and eventually became a full-time creative entrepreneur. Through music, he was able to amass more than 6 million streams, performed international shows, and built a strong social media presence. He has released three studio albums, two of which made it on the Billboard charts! As a young business owner, Corey quickly learned how little he knew about money management due to his lack of exposure growing up in the marginalized, low-income community. That experience started his financial literacy quest, which would ultimately lead to his desire to start The Literacy Kings Podcast. For over 10 years, he has worked to build his platform as a trusted voice for creatives, entrepreneurs, social justice, and faith. He still believes that this is only the beginning. He is married to his high school sweetheart and they have a beautiful two-year-old daughter. Join me as I sit down to hear more from Corey about the ways God has woven his path so far, and Corey believes God has in store! 12:37 - The Corey 101 Corey was born in Houston, TX in a low-income neighborhood called South Park. Unfortunately, the neighborhood has a 30% high school drop out rate. Corey's mother kept the family together. His father became a drug addict, and over time it got worse and worse. Corey started witnessing verbal and physical abuse. His father could not overcome his addiction and passed away when Corey was just 9 years old. Corey tried to find his way and became immersed in street culture and rapper. When he was just 12, he knew he wanted to rap. He started experimenting with codeine and soda. All he and his friends wanted to do was party. When Corey was 16, he met a Christian girl and at the same time, one of his best friends got saved and started talking to Corey about church. When he was 17, Corey became saved and started changing his rapping to contextualize the gospel with Hip Hop. Corey started putting out albums that made it to Billboard and started touring. Music was the seed for Corey's other passions and ministries. Corey was also served as a Houston firefighter! He met a firefighter when he was 16, and that firefighter told Corey he loved his job. It struck Corey that someone said they loved their job when so many people talk about hating their jobs. Corey always admired firefighters because they he saw them as very community-oriented, which is something his community very much needed growing up: mentors, rays of light, people to look up to. When he was younger, Corey was more focused on rapping and partying. As Corey started to fall in love, he realized he needed to make money to take care of his spouse, so he applied to be a firefighter. At the same time, Corey's music was doing well and started to take off. The firefighter schedule allowed him flexibility in his schedule to keep going with his music career at the same time. God granted Corey so many amazing experiences with both passions, and as a firefighter, he literally witnessed people coming back to life. 22:00 – A Change in the Rap Game When Corey started changing his rapping to match his faith, many people were encouraged by it. Some were not convinced; those who'd been along before and after he became a Christian. Corey had always been in search of a way to help his people. He was inspired by a line in a rap song, Big Picture that says "this been goin' on too long to get even" speaking about systematic oppression. W

Sex trafficking is a $99 billion industry, and human trafficking in its total is a $150 billion industry. The statistics around human trafficking can feel incredibly overwhelming and at times it can feel like there is just no way that we could ever make a real change in this industry. A denim company is striving to make a dent and a real difference in fighting human trafficking. My guest this week is the incredible James Bartle, founder and CEO of Outland Denim. Outland Denim started as a means to provide stable employment and income opportunity to women who would otherwise be vulnerable to human trafficking. But James didn't stop there. He innovated on industry standards to create an incredible line of jeans with a minimal footprint. This was an absolutely phenomenal conversation. James has been a highly requested guest this year, and I was really honored to have him on the show. We touch on some important topics and you'll see what I mean when I say that I could have talked to him for hours! 4:32 - The James 101 James is the CEO and founder of Outland Denim, which has been in the marketplace for about four years now. They've spent the last six years developing their business model to impact people around the world and right environmental and social injustices. James knew in order to truly accomplish this, he needed to be impacted first. James was first introduced to what human trafficking is while seeing the movie Taken. The film mentioned in text that human trafficking happens in the real world, and it really affected James. Over the next few years, James and his wife started researching more about the issue. James had a chance to travel with a rescue agency through Southeast Asia and witnessed a life-changing and heart-breaking situation where someone was selling a young girl. James thought of his young nieces and now his own daughters. He was horrified that any human has to be sold for their own survival, family's survival or are stolen and held captive. They knew it was an economic problem and if they wanted to solve it, they needed to come up with something that addressed the economic system and/or situation that was making them vulnerable. It is important to recognized that human trafficking is very nuanced and complex. It can't be summarized in one movie. For James it was a very gradual learning experience. He wished he could go fix the problem immediately but realized it would be much more complicated than that. James realized that it wasn't until they could address the roots of the problem and systemic issues that they could really start to help people out of trafficking. They knew they needed to equip people to make their own decisions to change on their own through education and opportunity. 12:19 - Change Can Come from Us Sometimes there is a disconnect approaching Human Trafficking from a business standpoint when a portion of profits go toward a cause. James and Outland Denim began early-on by melding with another industry: the ethical fashion industry. At the root of the fashion industry is trafficking. James chose to merge the two things by fighting trafficking while building a sustainable fashion brand. James learned early on in his education about trafficking that nearly 80% of people that come through rescue programs often end up in a worse position later down the road because there's no way for them to move forward with a plan or new life. Before Outland Denim, James never gave the health of the environment a second thought, but once he was able to link environmental degradation to social injustice. He realized that his worldview as a Christian should also include a responsibility to protect the planet and that doing so also helps protect marginalized people groups. 16:10 - The People and the Planet Outland Denim understands that you can't care for people without the planet or the planet without the people: they are very much connected. They decided to try to use industry to challenge the environmental degradation of the planet by the fashion industry while also impacting not only the lives of marginalized people groups all over the world, but even the sales associate and the brand's stakeholders. James sees denim as the ultimate product for changing the world. It's one of the most unsustainable and damaging fabrics in fashion. The chemicals, water, and energy used is massive. Denim can also hold a nostalgic comfort in our psyches. James compares it to music. It can conjure memories and emotions. Everyone has their favorite pair of jeans that they never want to throw out that can transport them to another time or distant memory. The goal is to remove the environmental damage and keep the positive impact. Outland Denim even prints messages of thanks in the jean pockets from the women makers who made that pair of jeans. If ethical brands are not thinking about making a product that customers want, it's just a "pity purchase." It doesn't empower the artisan who made the product. When a pro

Our words matter. Especially as a business owner, an entrepreneur, as a creative. Our words really matter. Words are often how we can fundamentally ensure the success or even failure of a business. How we use words to market our businesses or communicate our message often becomes an afterthought and can cause unintended harm when it comes to how our business comes across to our customers or potential customers. My guest today is using her gift of words to help businesses have the biggest impact. Kaitlin Senter is a social media manager turned conversion copywriter and brand strategist who is obsessed with pairing social impact and targeted messaging to create industry-changing content. She's made it her mission to teach all that she knows about cause-marketing and sales-messaging to help businesses create deeply rooted impact that drives results with connective content. I was fascinated by this conversation with Kaitlin. I was a creative writing major in college and I naturally love words. It was so impactful to hear from Kaitlin about how we use words to market our business. 4:56 - The Kaitlin 101 Kaitlin's journey to where she is today as a conversion copywriter and brand strategist began on an untraditional path. Kaitlin started as a virtual assistant, and more in more during that time, people started asking her for help with social media. Kaitlin became a social media manager but realized the actual issue most people were having using social media centered around their messaging. At the time, Kaitlin wasn't even aware of what copywriting was! She dove into education and became a copywriter! Once she homed in on those skills, Kaitlin started learning about cost-marketing and the unique niche it has become. Social entrepreneurship is on the rise and people are starting to realize how much power they have as consumers. They want to spend their money with brands who are doing things the right way. Often there are brands that provide beautiful products at the right price point, but their message is not getting to those who would most want to know about it. That's where conversion copyeditors like Kaitlin come in. There is a delicate balance for ethical brands in communicating their mission and still making a profit. Kaitlin works with brands to lead with that mission without compromising sales. Since so many ethical brands are great at focusing on their mission, Kaitlin often starts her focus working with them on business strategies. Kaitlin helps brands determine why people want to shop with them outside of the mission. What are the problems that a brand is solving for people outside of the mission? 9:50 – Products Pique Interest, Words Make Sales Often there are brands who look like they are super successful because the aesthetic of their brand is beautiful. Many people think that if they have something beautiful, it will sell itself, but it's not true. The beauty of a product primes people and pique their interest, but the words behind them are what makes sales. Kaitlin realized she had a gift for turning words into an experience for people when working as a social media manager when critiquing her client's social media marketing. She thought about what she would want to read and examples of when she'd seen it done well. What feelings do the words bring up, what thoughts do they bring up, what is the world going to look if everyone could shop this way? One of the brands that does this well is called Known Supply. When Kaitlin buys a t-shirt from them, instead of feeling guilt for making a purchase, she feels good knowing it goes toward providing a good job to an artisan and that she is not making a fast fashion purchase. It's not about giving out information, it's taking a shopper on a journey. It's important that messages are genuine as well. People know when a brand is being disingenuous. Every business can be a cause-based business. Producing a great product that connects followers to the maker of the product or a story behind it creates brand loyalty with referrals and high quality, loyal brand ambassadors. 21:12 – Social Media Hiatus Would you believe that Kaitlin recently took 6 months off of social media?! As someone who runs an online business, it was certainly a revolutionary act! It helped her get clear about what kind of messaging people want to see that makes them feel refreshed instead of tired or uninterested. Without outside thoughts, opinions, and noise, Kaitlin was able to find clarity in what she wants for her own unique message. It's so easy for us to get caught up in the world of social marketing as small business owners. If there is a feeling of anxiety around it, it's time to take a break. There is a way to find a health balance between being connected and taking time for ourselves offline. It's about creating real, meaningful connection online, rather than feeling pressure and/or anxiety to keep up with everything happening online. 25:27 – Help with Writing! If you are feeling overw

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

One of the things that really sets fair-trade businesses apart is how they are often led by the artisans themselves. Fair trade in many ways can really turn a traditional business model on its head. This time and time again prove to be an incredibly transformative process in the lives of everyone that the business is impacting. My guests this week are Christi Whitekettle, Tom McGregor, and Jeannine Umutoniwase, the founders of Azizi Life, a fair-trade organization dedicated to partnering with skilled Rwandan artisans in their vision to lift their families from poverty. Since 2008, they have cultivated partnerships with more than 500 artisans. Azizi Life serves as a bridge linking artisans, designers, and global customers to offer high-quality, ethically sourced goods for life and gifting. As a not-for-profit organization, Azizi Life is dedicated to the well-being of their artisan partners and their families. In addition to opening economic opportunity through fair trade, Azizi Life invests in a range of community impact projects. Their Rwandan-led team facilitates adult literacy classes and offers other resources for personal, spiritual, and economic growth. I was so thankful for the gift of technology to be able to connect with Christi, Tom, and Jeannine in Rwanda. They are an incredible team. I loved learning more about their story and the inspiring impact they are having on communities. 5:12 - The Azizi 101 Azizi Life was started under the auspices of a different nonprofit known as Food for the Hungry that supported education, health, and small business support. Through those relationships, the founders of Azizi life made connections with artisan cooperatives and noticed that artisan's neighbors were buying their products but were only ready to pay a fraction of what the product might be worth in other markets. Artisans were scraping by with some income from farming, but still not enough to cover their basic needs like healthcare, clothing and shoes, and school fees for their children. Cooperatives were organized with leadership and skills to make things. Azizi Life realized they could be a bridge across the gap to give artisans a fair wage and become connected to people who would love and pay for their products. Artisans could work toward their own vision toward a better future for their families through their crafts. Azizi Life aimed to register as an independent business, separate from the Food for the Hungry nonprofit. They wanted the work of Azizi Life in Rwanda to be handed over to the local community. It was their vision to begin the business with that intent. They came in with a development background, looking to eventually put themselves out of work and be able to hand over easily. Christi Whitekettle, Tom McGregor, and Jeannine Umutoniwase joined us for this episode about Azizi Life. Jeannine is the Azizi Life Chief Executive Officer, and lives in Rwanda. She joined Azizi Life in 2008 after working as a housekeeper for the Food for the Hungry guest house. That is when she met Christi and helped with Christi's accommodations and helped Christi as a translator. She was also teaching Tom Kinyarwanda at the time. When the social enterprise of Azizi Life started, the team thought Jeannine would be a great fit to join the team and help foster relationships between the enterprise and local communities. 14:51 – Azizi Life Beginnings Azizi Life is incredibly special to Tom, but he was sure to let us know that Jeannine is very humble about her role and title as CEO! Tom's background is as a commercial insurance broker. He became a successful account executive doing commercial insurance for relatively large businesses. He was about to turn 30 and had that feeling that many of us have experienced or can relate to of, "There has to be more than life, this can't be my purpose." Tom started looking for different opportunities. He knew he wanted to look for work overseas after an experience working with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) through Mercy Ships when he was 18. He started in Togo and sailed to South Africa. When he turned 30 and started having a crisis about what he wanted to do next, he took his business acumen and love for Africa and started researching and praying. Tom found a position with Food for the Hungry, Rwanda to work with a team of Rwandans doing small business training in the rural communities on basic accounting, marketing, etc. Oh, and it was an unpaid position. Tom did some fundraising in January and was on a plan to Rwanda by August. Once in Rwanda, the job was not quite what Tom had read about, mostly because Tom's new boss did not think there was enough money in the rural community so support a non-agricultural business. Tom's boss asked him to go around to all the people who had tried to start a business to see how they were doing. A few were ok, but many people had been trained in arts and crafts with the belief that they could farm in the morning, make baskets in the afternoon, ship

The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world. It actually makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions, drying up water sources, polluting rivers, streams, and oceans. More than 85% of all textiles go into the dump each year. There are many incredible fashion brands that are tackling this issue head on by creating fashionable, sustainable, and zero waste products that are making a big impact. My guest this week is Paola Masperi, the founder of Mayamiko, an ethical, sustainable, and zero-waste fashion and lifestyle brand on a mission to champion a more responsible approach to shopping. Using slow and traditional craftsmanship techniques, Mayamiko works with global artisans from Malawi to Milan to create trans-seasonal women's clothing, accessories, and homeware collections. With a zero-waste policy, the brand utilizes pre-consumer waste and reclaims materials where possible, including cotton deadstock from reclaimed silk alongside locally sourced artisanal fabric from Malawi, geo-TS certified organic cotton and linen. Paolo is also the founder of the Mayamiko Trust, which helps Mayamikan get up and running with training schemes and microfinance projects which provide funding and teach basic financial and business planning skills. The trust then connects the trainees to fantastic ethical and sustainable fashion brands and designers. This creates links to markets where they can trade their products as high-value items according to fair-trade principles. I loved this conversation with Paola and I learned so much from her! 5:48 - The Paola 101 Paola was born in Milan, Italy and grew up there in a big family with strong, independent women and men who supported them. She moved to England to finish her studies and early in her career, traveled to Germany and then a number of African countries for work in the early 2000s. Through her work in Africa, the seeds of Mayamiko were planted and began to grow. Her worked in Africa focused on using digital innovation to support education across developing countries. Through that work, she became very passionate about the potential of the places and people she met, and the friendships she developed through her work. Paola grew up seeing two sides of her family working day jobs while also working on social engagement projects. Her dad opened the first cinema in the town which became a safe place for the youth of the town who may have otherwise been affected by the growing drug problem in the community. It became a place to learn about culture and diversity while also creating a safe community gathering space. Growing up with family who worked hard on both their careers and passions influenced Paola with confidence that she could work a day job while also pursuing passion projects and traveling the world. In the late 80s and 90s, there was not a lot of diversity in Milan, but when Paola moved to London, she worked for an educational company working on software to teach language. Each year on the project, Paola wanted to do a little more to bring education to more places and more people. She made a suggestion to the company's leadership to see if they could apply language solutions to a broader global context. The company started working with governments across African countries to see if their technology could support bringing primary education to those countries as well. Paola spent the majority of her time working in Malawi and Uganda. It was a formative experience that taught her how much she had to learn from what was going on around her, even if just by listening. Whenever Paola lands in an African airport, it feels like home to her. 14:42 – Mayamiko The heart of Mayamiko came from a friendship with a woman Paola worked with on one of her language projects. The two started thinking about what else they could do to help empower women. They understood more than anything else that women needed choices. They agreed access to choices came from access to education and finance. In 2008, they started the Mayamiko Trust to provide those choices to women through vocational training and access to fair wages, both which would continue to open women to more and more opportunities and choices. The Mayamiko Trust allows women to make their own choices about what skills they want and need, letting them make choices about what they are trained on and what to do with those skills after training. They can either stay with Mayamiko in an apprenticeship and go on to be employed by Mayamiko, or take out a microfinance grant to set up their own business. Some of the women went out on their own and others set up group co-ops together. Mayamiko is now 12 years old, and nothing has changed in that approach to give women those choices. Mayamiko also wanted to offer sustainable income opportunities to women, so they started the Mayamiko label, setting up their own brand to create a long-lasting employment opportunity and to not be dependent on donations. Now they have a self-susta

Every business owner will tell you that entrepreneurship is hard and it takes time. Rarely do you find a "silver bullet" or the thing that leads to your "overnight success." Most overnight successes are really 5, 10, 30, 50 years in the making. Nothing happens overnight, especially in the fashion industry. My guest today has spent the last 15 years growing an incredible ethical fashion brand that is changing lives, and changing trends. Belinda Kazanci is the founder of Bel Kazan, and ethical women's wear brand made with modern women in mind: Empowered, adventurous, independent spirits. Belinda started Bel Kazan after a life-changing journey to Bali, Indonesia. From the delicate flower offerings that lined the streets to their vibrant textiles and joyful spirits, she felt an unparalleled sense of inspiration among the people of Bali. It was then that Belinda decided to uproot her life in Los Angeles, determined to make her vision of a socially and environmentally responsible apparel line real. I can't wait to share Belinda with the Business with Purpose listeners! 3:52 - The Belinda 101 Belinda Kazanci is the owner and designer of the brand Bel Kazan, that specializes in women's clothing made from original prints in Bali and uses sustainable and environmental practices. The goal is that the Bel Kazan garments have minimal impact on the environment. Belinda and Bel Kazan have been in business for 15 + years now! They built their own factory in Bali from the ground up and have been training women and men from villages in skilled training like sewing, quality control, and more. They've been slowly growing their business through this skills training program. Belinda has been a singer and songwriter all of her life. She has always been doing music, and she felt like her only other creative outlet was through fashion. Her family comes from the textile business in Istanbul, which is also where Belinda was born. Much like music, she's been around textiles her whole life. Textiles and creative expression through clothing has always been an interest of Belinda's, but she never thought it would take off into a career. In 2005, she took a course with the Landmark Forum where she met a woman who spoke about her business in Bali. She and Belinda connected after the talk and that's how Belinda was introduced to the manager she has now. After their initial conversation, Belinda booked trip to Bali within two weeks! She fell in love with the people, the culture, the textiles, and she started sewing her own designs with help from local women along the way. Slowly, it turned into an independent business with its own factory! And before all of this, Belinda was already a singer-songwriter who grew up playing jazz flute, singing in choirs, and was even in a band called The Echo Cell, and played all over Los Angeles for many years! She's also written and created albums as well as worked on a few TV show and written songs for film. All of Belinda's grandparents were in the textile business. They sold and purchased textiles, and both of her grandmothers were also seamstresses who made beautiful clothes for her and her mom growing up. Her parents own a dry cleaning and alterations business. It taught Belinda about how style, how care for fabric as well as production and purchasing. 11:18 – It's Going to Be Successful The timing of the Landmark Course aligned with where Belinda was in her life, and she left feeling like anything was possible. She was ready for a change, and she fell in love with Bali. She was like a sponge, learning about the culture and getting to know people around her. She really felt a warm welcome from the people there. She also started falling in love with culture, textile, and colors. Belinda wanted to find a way to bring two worlds together while modernizing the textiles but also keeping their cultural feel. The plan was never an intentional move toward big production. Everything started very small scale, and even with their own factory now, is still relatively small. Belinda uses what she calls a "lean production model" which means each order is "cut to order." When an order is placed, the garment is then cut, sewn, made, and shipped. Having their own factory allows Bel Kazan the luxury of not having to meet minimum order requirements. Reducing waste has always been a value of Bel Kazan, but they also now look at what fabrics are sustainable, garment wearability, their impact on the environment, and more. All garment cuttings are upcycled and donated to villages that need baby and kids clothing. 22:33 – 15 Years, Humble Beginnings, Calculated Risk There's a statistic that most business fail within the first 18 months. Belinda is now 15 years in with Bel Kazan. I mentioned that things start small with Bel Kazan, but go all the way back to the beginning and it started even more humbly with no investments and $1,500 that was borrowed, and run in a garage while Belinda continued working full time. Slow strategic

When you were a kid, did you ever think about being an entrepreneur? For the women listening, what about you? Do you remember seeing examples of women in the workplace or starting and running large companies? My guest today realized there was a market for reaching, teaching and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs: young girls. Brian Weisfeld has helped build a number of well known, billion dollar companies like IMAX and Coupons.com. He is also the founder and chief squad officer of The StartUp Squad, an initiative dedicated to helping girls reach their potential and follow their dreams, whatever their passion is. Brian lives in Silicon Valley with his wife and two daughters, and you can find out more information about him at BrianWeisfeld.com and https://www.thestartupsquad.com/ 4:26 - The Brian 101 Brian started and co-authored The Startup Squad to inspire girls to start their first businesses and start to think like an entrepreneur, with the thought that girls with an entrepreneurial mindset will be more successful in life, regardless of the path they choose. Brian grew up on Long Island, and spent four years in Ann Arbor, Michigan for undergrad, and lived and worked in New York City for most of his career, helping entrepreneurs and founders scale their businesses. In the early 1990s, the was part of a three-person team that bought IMAX when it was just being played in museums for educational purposes. His team realized that people were walking out of those theatres blown away by the experience. They saw beyond museums and thought about what might happen if comic book characters and action-packed movies were shown in IMAX. About 13 years ago, Brian moved from New York City to Silicon Valley to work at this chief operating officer of Coupons.com. After helping grow and scale that business, he wondered what company he might grow and scale next. At the time, Brian's oldest daughter was 8-years-old, and he watched her sell Girl Scout Cookies and charity bake sales with enthusiasm, but no knowledge of how to successfully market and sell a product (something as simple as telling them that the proceeds from the sales would go to charity). One Sunday morning while reading with his daughters, Brian was troubled by the marketing geared toward girls. It all talked down to girls, instead of lifting them up. In that moment, he decided to create a novel series to encourage girls to interest in entrepreneurship. Brian spent four years learning how to write and literally bought "Writing Children's Books for Dummies." It was four years of a crash course in writing with classes, self-educating, and hiring editors. He was eventually able to sign a three-book deal with Macmillan. The first two books in The Startup Squad series has been released, and the third will be released in May of 2021. 8:59 – A Pivot Brian has always been interested in business and how things work. It's safe to say entrepreneurship has been in his background, too. He was always interested in learning and he was fascinated by the success stories of people who built businesses from nothing. In undergrad, he studied business and had plans for law school. It was just what everyone did. He realized while it would have been a good education on how to think, it wouldn't give him the same knowledge that working for lawyers, accountants, and people in business would. After working for some time, he realized he wanted to build a company, which is what led him to the IMAX team. The first book is about four girls in 6th grade and their class is going on a field trip and needing to raise money for the trip. Each team must run a lemonade stand, and whichever team raises the most money gets special VIP perks on the trip. The girls have to figure out how to work together, and the narrative is light on business, and heavy on the social side, which appeals to girls in that age range. Each book gives lessons on business in the back of the book. There is a nonfiction section that refers to the story narrative with definitions of business terms and practical startup business tips. The back of each book also features an interview with a real-life girl entrepreneur. There is a contest each summer giving girls the opportunity to possibly be featured. 14:25 – The Startup Squad Brian new he wanted his books to be fiction, even though nonfiction would have been much easier to write! The thinking was never that every girl should grow up to be an entrepreneur, but that girls become comfortable with risk and failure and seeing them as opportunities instead of problems. Brian knew a girl who picked up a nonfiction book about starting a business already had the "business bug," but he wanted to do fiction to appeal to a wider audience. He knew a "story first" approach would get through more than a nonfiction educational book. The Startup Squad is "girl targeted but boy inclusive." The book is for boys too! It's just as important for boys to read about girls being entreprene

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

How to Get Started Shopping Ethically | Business with Purpose Podcast EP 210 [spp-player url=https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/businesswithpurpose/209_-_MOLLY_STILLMAN_-_ERYN_EDDY.mp3] Click a timestamp below to be taken to the exact spot in the episode... One of the most common questions I get asked on a regular basis is "How do I get started shopping ethically?" It is easily the most common question I get asked. Today I wanted to answer that question. Normally each week I interview someone like an entrepreneur, CEO, non-profit director, community leader, or just an incredible person who is trying to make a positive impact, not only with their personal life, but also with their career. My goal is to show you that no matter what you do for a living, you can make an impact wherever you are. But this week is episode 210 which means it's time for another solo episode, and I have some questions that many of you submitted that I will be answering today! 2:52 - Why is it important to shop ethically? We're not just talking about shopping ethically because it's cool or trendy, it's because it really does make a difference. Not only are you providing actual wages, skills, and safe options to real people, you're telling other companies that these things matter, that money talks. 4:44 – Do I need to get rid of all my stuff? No! Don't feel like you have to get rid of everything you've bought previously that isn't ethical. If you want to "Marie Kondo" your stuff, I have talked about ways you can ethically dispose of the things that may no longer "spark joy" for you. You can find that information on Episode 130 5:27 – Which category is "most effective?" Is there a particular item that has a better or bigger impact than others? For example, should I start with ethical denim vs. ethical jewelry? There are a few ways to look at this. At the end of the day, it's more about intentional, little by little choices and understanding what your morals or your values add up to. If you're somebody who wants to shop ethically and you're also environmentally conscious, ethical denim may be a great place for you to start. When I started shopping ethical brands, it was also important for me to look for companies making a difference in the area of human trafficking. I started with companies working directly to combat human trafficking by supporting human trafficking overcomers. You have to figure out what is an area that you really care about, or a topic you want to really tackle. Another place to start is taking a look at what products you already purchase in greater quantities. Start with that product. If you love shoes, you can start by changing out which types of shoes you buy and the companies you by shoes from. It could be beauty, or skincare, or jewelry, not only for the environment, but for clean ingredients as well. 8:20 – Shopping Ethically on a budget I have another podcast episode on this exact topic, Episode 120, which is all about tips for shopping ethically on a budget. The short answer is YES! You can shop ethically on a budget. Shopping second-hand is arguably the most ethical way to shop and it's really affordable. Check out Episode 120 for a more in-depth look at this and 6 tips for shopping ethically on a budget. 8:59 – How do I know that a brand is really ethical? How do I know they're not just "greenwashing?" Would you believe I have another episode about that? Episode 110 also goes into this topic of how to tell if a brand is truly ethical. When in doubt, always contact the company. Reach out and ask specific questions like whether or not they have a 3rd party auditor, where they manufacture, what kinds of auditing they do of their factories, whether they work with certified organic material, if they monitor where they source their materials from, how they check their supply chains, etc. There are very specific questions you can ask companies. If they can't give you a definitive answer, there may be reasons for a little bit of a red flag. There are brands that green wash and lie about these things, but you can do your due diligence to not shop with them. We will make mistakes along the way, but this is about progress, not perfection. Little by little, these choices really do add up. 10:39 – How do I get my family or husband on board? This question came up a lot! My husband and I have talked about this on the podcast. I have so many conversations with him about shopping ethically that he understands that I am passionate about it, though he may not be as passionate about is as I am. He also has very different buying habits than I do and only shops for himself once, maybe twice a year at the most. He buys something and wears it until it is hanging on by a thread. That's an ethical way to shop too. There are areas he's also changing his own buying habits. He'll check with me when he needs to purchase something. Just recently he needed some new gym socks and asked me if I knew of an ethical company where he could purchas

All of us have something in our lives that we might feel embarrassed by, or something that has happened to us that gives us a feeling of shame or something in our past that is holding us back. There are times where these negative thoughts come into our head and we feel like we're not worthy enough or capable; maybe that we're not even worth loving. My guest today is an incredible woman of faith who is trying to change that narrative to let women know that they are so worth loving. My guest this week is Eryn Eddy, the founder of So Worth Loving, a lifestyle clothing brand bridging the gap between not talking about self-worth and talking about it. Eryn began her clothing brand as a refuge. She needed to be present with other people's stories before she could be truly present with her own. "Divorce broke me" said Eryn. "My heart had to be shattered in order to see the hole that God wanted to fill all along. I resisted accepting or believing that God could love me so recklessly and beautifully. The enemy watches our vulnerabilities and uses his findings against us, but God always brings beauty back in." Eryn is releasing her debut book in January 2021, and she is the cohost of the new podcast, God Hears Her, which launched back in May. The podcast is for Christian women seeking friends to come alongside them in the hurts, joys, and struggles of the everyday. This conversation was so refreshing. There is an air and spirit about Eryn that is just filled with joy and peace, and I felt in so many ways that it was for me, but I know it was for so many of you listening too. 4:34 - The Eryn 101 Eryn comes from a line of self-starting entrepreneurs. Her parents manufactured furniture for 45 years, and Eryn now owns a clothing company and lifestyle brand called So Worth Loving. So Worth Loving bridges the gap between not talking about struggles of identity and self-worth and talking about it. Eryn started So Worth Loving a little over 9 years ago with no intention of starting a company. Eryn did not go to college and had no idea what she wanted to do with her career. She started working in ministry for an organization called Orange working her way up from no experience. While at Orange, the owner asked Eryn what she wanted to do with her life. Eryn thought she'd found her path working at Orange but when asked again about what she wanted to do, she couldn't come up with an answer. Eryn realized that for a lot of her life she'd just been reactionary and never thought too far beyond whatever her circumstances were at any given time. After considering her boss' question some more, Eryn thought he wanted to pursue music and dove in headfirst. Jumping full speed ahead into a passion you're excited about often makes us vulnerable to other people questioning your ability to do it. Eryn saw a good amount of success with her music finding its way to commercials and TV shows. Everything happened quickly. In that time, Eryn wanted to create something to support the people who supported her music. Eryn felt that the people who loved her music were more like friends than family. They were not admiring her art from the outside, but they were actually making it happen. Eryn decided to create t-shirts for free and get this – they included her HOME ADDRESS! Luckily no one showed up at Eryn's house, but they did sent her their t-shirts to her to spray paint and send back to them. Many included letters with stories of why they struggled with self-worth and wrestle with believing they are worth of love. It was then that Eryn realized this was about so much more than just her music. 10:10 – An Important Conversation We all struggle with self-worth at one time or another, but our society is not well-equipped to face and discuss it. Part of Eryn's story includes her divorce while she was building and growing So Worth Loving. When Eryn started So Worth Loving and began hearing other people's stories, she noticed after her divorce that she had not been paying attention to her own story. She was carrying the weight of what other people had been going through and was not as present in her own life. As So Worth Loving grew, the company was shipping to all 50 states and did everything in- house, and Eryn started experiencing burnout. It wasn't until her divorce that she started to realize she'd been trying to find her self-worth in the wrong places. The hardships of shame and the divisions that can come with divorce left Eryn questioning whether she was enough and if she was worth to be loved again. At that time, Eryn decided to take about a year and a half off from So Worth Loving so spend time on herself and work for another organization. Historically, the church has not been great with responding to divorce or people who experience divorce. Divorce has a stigma and we're uncomfortable with it because we don't talk about it and don't know how to talk about it. Stigmas are divisive. Eryn experienced a lot of divisive questions from people in the ch

There's a lot of debate these days around the topic of masks…no, I'm not talking about Covid masks right now, I'm talking about the proverbial masks that a lot of us put on. Maybe we are putting on a mask that says that we think we're perfect or our life hasn't been hard, or maybe we're hiding things in our past. Those masks can be so dangerous, but when we begin to remove those masks to reveal the deep layers of truth within us, that's when we really come alive. My guest this week is Ashley Abercrombie, a writer, speaker, and author of the book Rise of the Truth Teller: Own Your Story, Tell It Like It Is, and Live with Holy Gumption. She's also the cohost of the hilarious and helpful podcast, Why, Tho? and can be found basically wherever there is a coffee or a cheese board. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons. I had the absolute best conversation with Ashley. When I met her, I knew she was my kind of person. With no further ado, join me to hear more about Ashley and her mission. 6:00 – The Ashley Abercrombie 101 Ashley is an author, speaker, and podcaster. When she was 21, she moved from the small town of Eden, North Carolina to Los Angeles where she met her husband and they had their first baby. Four years ago, they moved to Manhattan and had their second baby. Not long after, they realized how much they missed their home in California and decided it was time to move back to their beloved community there. Ashley has been writing since she was her little girl. Her best-selling author and chart-topping podcast were not overnight successes. Ashley has been writing since she was a little girl; hers has been a journey of 20 + years spent writing on lunch breaks, early in the morning, and late at night because she simply loves expressing herself through the written word. Writing has been a way for Ashley to process her own pain and serve the community around her. In her early 20s she became distracted from that calling and experienced a lot of pain, but was able to process it, recover, find her voice, and pursue writing and speaking full time. It took a long time for Ashley to understand how to put on her own oxygen mask first but take off her "performance" and "strong" mask to realize she couldn't be strong all the time, every day. Especially in the Christian sphere, we can act like we need to show up with everything clean and tidy and that we can't have messy stories, which is obviously a lie from the pit of hell. 11:36 – A Deep Wound, A Lifeline Growing up, Ashley and her brother spent a lot of time with their grandparents and great aunt while their parents worked. Ashley went to church with her great aunt every Sunday morning and brought flowers for the alter and opened the library for the pastor and church members. For Ashley, it represented a place where she could find respite and quiet from the noise of school and the hustle and bustle of trying to figure out everyday family life. When she was 16, Ashley decided to walk away from the faith community because as a teenager, she was struggling to relate to an older church crowd. At 21, while living in Los Angeles, Ashley came back to the church in one of her most broken moments. She found a community where she was loved and not judged. So many people grow up in the church but walk away from it at a young age, wrestling with their faith and what church looks like as an adult. We can absolutely be constantly wrestling with God and asking hard questions. There is so much shame around difficult conversations. Often the church makes judgements or avoids these conversations all together. The silence of shame became unbearable for Ashley and becoming more an more isolated worry what people would think about her but knowing she couldn't tackle her struggles on her own. She started asking God where He was. One day she took a drive around Raleigh, NC and it started to storm. She started shouting at God and as she did, she felt flooded by the love the Holy Spirit had for her. She'd never experienced anything like it before, especially since she thought she had to have everything right before she could be loved by God. It was the first time she admitted to herself that she couldn't hold things together, and certainly not on her own. It's when she started to take the mask off and stopped caring what people thought about her. 21:30 – Leading with Story Recover communities lead with stories. The first thing you hear when you go to a meeting is other people's stories. They also helped Ashley realize the things from her childhood that affected her as an adult. Ashley leads with stories in her book, the way she learned in recovery. It's connective and teaches us that we're not perfect. We don't have to wear masks all the time, performing for each other. For the first time in her life, Ashley started to read the Bible and listen to sermons. She realized in the church she was fed a "victory narrative," but when she took time to examine the lives of people in

How the Enneagram is a Tool with Purpose | Business with Purpose Podcast EP 207: Ian Morgan Cron Ever since I was a little kid, I remember being fascinated by personality quizzes. I remember being in elementary school and taking my first Myers Briggs test, and just learning how my friends scored so differently on so many things. It was really a point where I learned that we are all so different with how we view the world and interact with the world. A few years ago, I discovered the Enneagram, I just loved the way that this particular personality tool really helped ignite a better understanding within myself of how I view the world and how my friends and family view the world. Well get ready ya'll, because today, I've got THE Enneagram guy on the show. Ian Morgan Cron is a best-selling author, psychotherapist, Enneagram teacher, Episcopal priest, and the host of the popular podcast, TYPOLOGY. His books include the novel, Chasing Francis, the spiritual memoir, Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me, and the Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery. Know for his transparency, humor, and depth of insight into the inner workings of the human heart and mind, Ian uses the Enneagram personality typing system as a tool to help leaders cultivate self-awareness and emotional wisdom. He is a sought-after speaker, thinker, and advisor to a growing roster of clients such as The Discovery Channel, Ramsey Solutions, Michael Hyatt Company, Warner Bros., among others. He and his wife Ann have three kids and live in Nashville, TN. I was so honored to have Ian on the show! I'm a huge Enneagram nerd, and have followed his work for quite some time. You're going to love this conversation! Join me to hear more about Ian and his journey of cultivating self-knowledge that is equipping so many people with the tools to understand themselves and interact well with the world and the people in it. 5:04 – The Ian 101 Ian has been married to Ann for 31 years and they have three adult children and he's also dad to two of the most perfect dogs in the world, Percy and Pipp. 😊 When people ask Ian what he does, he says he has a portfolio life. He does a little bit of everything as a writer, speaker, trained psychotherapist, trained spiritual director, Episcopal priest, and a double award-winning songwriter! When Ian really started giving into his career he had such a variety of interests and thought he was vocationally confused because he wanted to do so many things. He realized all of his interests led back to one ultimate goal of helping people better understand themselves, their spirituality, the world, and the people around them. So many of us can relate to Ian's feelings of questioning our purpose, our careers, our interests, our relationships, and how they all intertwine and interact. Ian first came across the Enneagram in 1992 while on a Catholic retreat monastery in Colorado and came across the monastery's library where he found a book by Richard Roar on the Enneagram. At the time he was getting a master's in psychology. He sat down and started reading where in the world this book had been in all his studies. It was practical psychology mixed with spirituality, and Ian thought it was a great tool. At the time Ian was busy with school and a young family, but the Enneagram was always in the back of his mind as something he wanted to pursue further. About 8 years ago, Ian decided he really wanted to throw himself into it and try to figure it out, especially because people were starting to talk about it more. He knew it could really help people since there are not a lot of books on the Enneagram that are not 500-pages long and overwhelming with information. 9:23 - Door to the Enneagram Ian wanted to find a way to bring the Enneagram to people in a way that would help them, but not overwhelm them. Ian now has so many tools to help bring the Enneagram to a wider audience through many platforms like his podcast, TYPOLOGY and his book, Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery. Even as someone who has delved into the Enneagram, Ian can see that there is much more to life than the Enneagram and other sources of self-knowledge. Many people in their excitement to learn more about themselves nearly become obsessed with the Enneagram. Ian understands it as just one of many helpful tools to obtaining better self-awareness. It's important that when studying the Enneagram, that we realize that within each of the 9 types, there is an infinite variety of expressions of that type. No two people with the same type look identical. That may be part of the reason so many people are drawn to the Ennegram: it doesn't put people in boxes with a set "type." 13:54 – Enneagram in Business The Enneagram is gaining steam in the business world. Many corporations and non-profits are using it in their management and the way they are leading their teams. In the professional and workplace environment, Ian helps teams learn their types. They can

I want you to think back to a time early on in your life when you were a child or teenager. Think about an adult in your life who made an impact on you then, who spoke into your life and encouraged you. It could be a parent, coach, teacher, or guidance counselor. Who is an adult in your life that made a positive impact on you; the person you know helped make you who you are today? The reality is that there are children who grow up in our country and around the world who don't have an adult who speaks into their life like that. My guest today had someone like that in his life, and his in now changing the lives of thousands of young people by paying it forward. Michael Arterberry is the executive director of Youth Voices Center, Inc. and the creator of The Power of Peace program. Michael began his tenure working with youth by obtaining a bachelor's degree in Social Work from Iona College. In founding YVC in 2008, Michael drew heavily on his own understanding and empathy for the pressures and difficulties of the teenager years and his own experiences growing up in poverty. Michael has worked with thousands of teens in a range of settings over the past 24 years as a social worker and counselor. As a teenager, Michael himself was fortunate to receive guidance from positive adult role models who helped him over come adversities and set high expectations for his future. Michael recently released his book, "Be Encouraged!!!: 250 Days of Motivation and Encouragement and this time it's FREE! He's also launched his new course called "The Shake the Dirt Experience." You can find the free book, along with the Shake the Dirt experience course information at shakethedirtexperience.com. I have to tell you: I loved my time with Michael. I was in awe of his story, his relatability, and his encouragement. You may want to listen to this one more than once. With no further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Michael! 3:36 - The Michael 101 To introduce people to his story, Michael often tells a story about a farmer and a donkey that correlates to who he is and what he does. The donkey is one of the farmer's favorite farm animals because after working all day, he lets the donkey come back to the house to play with the farmer's kids and then releases him back onto the farm for the night. This is the normal routine they have each night. One night after the farmer brings releases the donkey back out onto the farm after playing with the kids, the donkey wanders around at night and falls into an empty water well. The donkey is stuck and cries for help. When the farmer calls for the donkey the next morning, but he never appears, the farmer starts looking for the donkey. He finally hears the donkey's calls and finds him in the well. The farmer brings 6 friends to help get the donkey out of the well. One of his friends suggests pulling the donkey out with a rope. They miss the donkey over and over until they throw the rope on the donkey's hind legs and start pulling the donkey up the well. Halfway up, they realize the donkey is too heavy, so they lower him back to the bottom of the well. The farmer has to make a grim decision because he can't feed him the food his family eats, but he's like a pet, so he certainly can't starve him. One of the farmer's hot-headed friends suggests the farmer shoot the donkey. Of course, the farmer can't do that. A more reasonable friend says "You don't want your kids to fall into the well, so we're going to have to bury him." The farmer realized he'd have to sacrifice the donkey to make sure his kids were safe. The farmer and his friends all get shovels and start shoveling the dirt. Every time the dirt hit the donkey, the donkey would scream and cause the farmer distress. This continued: dirt was shoveled, the donkey would scream. Dirt was shoveled, the donkey would scream…until the screaming stopped. The next think you know, you can see half the donkey's body, then you can see the entire donkey, then the donkey walks right out of the well. Every time the dirt would hit the donkey's back, the donkey would shake it off and step on it. He took every scoop of dirt that was meant to kill him to to save his life. Michael is the donkey and he describes these things in his life as the "dirt": He grew up in a home with a raging, alcoholic father. It created an environment where Michael never had a day of peace. Michael's parents both worked full time, but his father's money went to drinking, and his mother's housekeeping salary went to taking care of her kids. There was a lot of love, but not much financial stability. His home was dysfunctional, but so were most of the homes in his neighborhood. Michael describes his peers raising each other, but with false systems of dysfunction instead of trying to move forward and get out of it. On top of all, there was also a lot of crime in his community. Michael was able to grow up in that environment, yet not allow any of those negative things to seep in. He refused to l

What to do you when your life gets hard? Where do you turn? What's your immediate reaction when pain, suffering, or challenge comes your way? Think honestly about what your answers to those questions might be. Everyone's answers are likely to be different, especially if you're approaching suffering, pain, or grief from the worldview of a Christian or not. If you're listening right now and don't personally identify as a believer, please don't stop listening. Today's episode might just be for you. My guest this week is Daniel Grothe, the teaching pastor at the influential New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO, and the author of Chasing Wisdom: The Lifelong Pursuit of Living Well. Daniel's book draws upon his 10-year apprenticeship with Eugene Peterson, who translated The Message translation of the Bible. Daniel and his wife Lisa live on a small hobby farm outside of Colorado Springs with their three children, Lillian, Wilson, and Wakely. You're going to love my chat with Daniel. This episode will go down as one of my top favorites, so jump right in and join me as Daniel shares about his life and the early challenges he went through early in his career at New Life Church. 6:59 - The Daniel 101 Daniel is originally from Tulsa Oklahoma, the son of two pastors, he grew up in church and has traveled the world as a musician recording on albums with bands like Gungor. He was in church all the time, and Daniel knew early on he was meant to work in the church too. Shortly after college, he married Lisa, and 12 days later they drove to Colorado Springs to start work at New Life Church. Daniels parents never made him feel that church was the "family business" that he had to be a part of. They invited their children into their lives, teaching them their interests and bringing them along on adventures. Many pastor's kids resent the church because they sense that their parents were disinterested in their lives or that God is ripping their parents away from them. Daniel's parents did do that and Daniel encourages parents to consider whether they may be giving their kids a reason to stay away from Jesus and the church. 12:09 – A Hard Ministerial Road Daniel has been with New Life Church for 15 years, but the road hasn't always been easy there. The church was prospering when Daniel and Lisa arrived. The senior pastor was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and New Life was essentially the talking head for the evangelical church. Two years after Daniel's journey at New Life Church began, the bottom fell out. The senior pastor of the church was caught in a scandal, and the church went from riding high to scandal and also discovering the church was $26 million in debt as the US economy was tanking. The church had to fire 44 people overnight and had to look for a new pastor. As things finally started to turn for the better and the staff started trusting a new pastor, the church was attacked on a Sunday morning by a gunman firing an assault rifle through the children's area of the church. Two teenagers were killed in the parking lot of the church and the shooter committed suicide. 15:29 – The Message Daniel was only 25, and he and his wife had just had their first child. On his day off, Daniel went shopping in a local Goodwill, and found a book on the shelf called "The Contemplative Pastor" by Eugene H. Peterson. Daniel recognized Eugene as the person who translated The Message translation of the Bible. Daniel read the book in one day. It grabbed his imagination and Daniel decided to write to Eugene to ask if he could spend a day with him. Eugene responded! He told Daniel that he'd be willing to spend a day with him…after Daniel writes a three-page paper on "what is church and a three page paper on what is pastor to see if we even have enough common ground to begin a conversation. Eugene put Daniel through the gauntlet in response to the papers Daniel wrote as requested. At the end of that letter response, Eugene said, "If you think we have enough common ground after these letters, then I'd be happy to have you. I just don't want to be a touristy visit." That started a 10-year long back and forth with Eugene and Daniel. Eugene challenged Daniel, made him read and write, asked questions, listened, and pastored. Daniel told Eugene in one of his last visits that Eugene changed his life with three words: Not so fast. Eugene knew what he was building in Daniel by making Daniel work for it and fight for it. Eugene was not famous until well after completing The Message translation. He faithfully served the same congregation of 300 people for 30 years. As soon as he translates a bible, celebrities started calling. Had that happened when Eugene was younger, it would have crushed him, but the Lord knew that after decades of obscurity, he could trust Eugene with becoming available to the world. The people we stand to learn the most from are the ones that will never make it on the front page of a newspaper. Daniel des

A few months ago, I heard about this show called The Chosen. It depicts the life of Jesus and the disciples in a unique way, taking a look at Jesus' life, and how the disciples became disciples. When I first heard about it, I was skeptical, but I gave it a try. After the second episode, I was hooked! Not only have I watched the entire season once, I've actually watched it though three times now. When I fell in love with the show, I started to do more research on it. Not only is it a unique show in and of itself, it's also the first series that is the #1 crowd-funded media project in history. It even has its own app! As I began to dive deeper, I learned more about the company producing the show, VidAngel. The show is directed by Dallas Jenkins, the son of Jerry Jenkins, who wrote the Left Behind series. I wanted to know more about VidAngel and why this platform wanted to produce a show about Jesus in such a unique way. My guest this week is Neal Harmon. Neal is the CEO and cofounder of VidAngel, a streaming service that allows parents to skip objectionable content in entertainment using groundbreaking technology. VidAngel has been highly profiled for The Chosen, and its other incredible family-based content like Dry Bar Comedy. VidAngel recently made headlines by offer all of its streaming content for free during the Covid-19 pandemic, provided that people agree to social distancing of course. My conversation with Neal was incredible and refreshing He was very transparent about the story of VidAngel as it experiences growing pains and lessons many young companies experience. You're going to love this conversation with Neal, so let's dive in! 4:30 - The Neal 101 Neal grew up in Idaho working on dairy farms and even tried to start his own cattle business at one point, but as he got older and learned more about the world, he started working with web businesses. After experiencing a spectacular failure right out of college, he started a company called OraBrush, a tongue cleaner that got rid of bad breath. OraBrush went from zero sales to global distribution in just a few years, thanks to YouTube marketing. Later a company reached out to Neal and his brother, cofounders of OraBrush, to help them market Poo~Pourri! The Poo~Pourri ad campaign was so successful that it turned Neal and his brother into an ad agency. Shortly after that, they started VidAngel, which is something Neal and his three brothers wanted to create for their own families. Neal's favorite movie is Cinderella Man. The movie portrays people having character, even in their darkest moments, but the movie has a coach who has a foul mouth. Neal wanted his young kids to be able to see the story, but didn't want them hearing or repeating those words in their home. VidAngel allows you to take popular movies and TV shows, and skip over content you don't find appropriate for your own home. It's like a pre-programmed remote. Neal and his brothers had a bigger vision for VidAngel, too. They wanted to have a bigger impact on media and on the world. They knew that if they found the people who valued protecting their families by using technology to skip over specific content, that they would also have a group of people they could also distribute content in a manner that would be a better fit than what Hollywood provides. 10:53 - A Broken Feedback Loop The creators in Hollywood love to see who wins the awards each year, but it seems they are essentially making movies for each other. About three fourths of the revenue in the box office comes from the family friendly movie, but half the titles coming out of Hollywood are rated R. VidAngel is bridging the gap to give creators a feedback loop. If audiences are skipping over certain scenes, creators can learn how to adjust the content that is affecting their market. It allows them to listen to their market, rather than their peers. When there is immediate feedback, there is acknowledgement of an issue and something productive can be done with that information. Since big studios own the distribution channels, they can also fill those with what they chose. VidAngel's feedback loop helps create a voice for those without access to big distribution channels. 14:10 – Resistance, Controversy, Transparency, Growth During the summer of 2016, VidAngel faced a lawsuit with The Walt Disney Company. It was a shock to VidAngel because before they started their service, they actually wrote The Walt Disney Company in good faith and transparency, telling them about the service, giving them information on the users they'd tested it with, and asked for their feedback. They shared their own reasoning for why they thought what they were doing was ok, but also gave The Walt Disney Company an opportunity to let them know if they thought anything being done was unlawful. VidAngel heard no response from The Walt Disney Company until a year later when families were already enjoying what VidAngel was providing. VidAngel asked their customers i

As a mom, I can't help but look at my kids and think about the kind of world that they are growing up in. I feel an immense sense of responsibility to teach them to be good humans and citizens who are kind, generous, and thoughtful justice-seekers. There are times when we the world feels crazy and when I see amazing young people working to improve it, it gives me hope. My guests today are going to inspire you to feel like the next generation is changing the world. This week on the podcast I'm talking to the incredible all girl, pop rock band, Girl Pow-R. The group consists of incredibly talented girls ages 11-17 years-old who create and sing original music, play cover songs, and dance. They have six original songs and debuted their first album last summer. The group is based in Toronto, but its members are all across Ontario from Windsor to Niagara Falls to Collingwood to Oshhawa. Girl Pow-R's sound is rooted in pop rock with the goal of inspiring others to be their best through their music and lyrics. All too often, young people are influenced by the thoughts and life experiences of singers and musicians who are in their late teens and twenties. Girl Pow-R believes it's time to give young people alternatives to these messages. In addition to their passion for music, each girl also has a social cause that they represent like advocating for better education for girls around the world, ending youth homelessness, Give Peace a Chance, mental health support and awareness, and all of us taking better care of ourselves through the food that we eat. Girl Pow-R is Juno nominated (like the Canadian Grammy's) for album of the year in the children's category, making them the first ever group of young people to be nominated in the children's category gor album of the year. I loved having these amazing girls on the show! Be sure to stay until the end of the show because I will be including their hit songs, This Is Us, and Never Let Go. Girl Pow-R 101 Girl Pow-R is based in the Greater Toronto area (like Drake😉). They play their own instruments, sing, and perform at local events. The group started over three years ago when their now manager, Dawn Van Dam, set out to start a girl band that would inspire the world. Dawn found the first band members through an online audition where each girl sang a song they liked. From there, Dawn selected members based on who would best represent the name Girl Pow-R. Today on the podcast we have members Aashika, Prajeet, Chloe Rae, Kalista, and Chloe. Each has a unique contribution to the group. Aashika is 12 and comes up with a lot of group ideas and sings lower harmonies. Rajesh is 13, and her unique contribution is her sense of humor and electric guitar playing. Chloe Rae is 12 and she also sings with a lower voice. She's one of the newer members, having joined in the last few months! Emma is 14 and has been singing from a very young age. Her unique contribution is playing piano chords and her knowledge of technology. (She helps Dawn with that too)! Kalista is 16 and has been in the group since it started. She has learned how to play three instruments since joining the band. She loves helping new members learn songs and choreography. Chloe is 12 and has been in the group for two years and has learned a lot of new dances and vocal skills. She can also hit very low notes like Ashika and Kalista! 14:05 – Empowering Songs That Are Fun to Listen to Girl Pow-R songs have positive messages about empowerment for all types of people. Their hope to inspire others. Their song This is Us highlights each of their social causes. The group uses their music videos and social media to further amplify awareness and support around the causes they care about. Each girl has her own cause that she focuses on. 16:20 – Tune in to hear more about each girl's social cause. 21:00 – Original Songwriting Girl Pow-R covers songs when they perform but they also write their own original songs. They break into smaller groups to determine what subjects they want to cover in their songs and start brainstorming with sticky notes in their dance studio. The mirrors are usually covered with ideas. Girl Pow-R songwriting in a collaborative effort where each girl has a chance to speak about something that is important to her. Then their producer gives them a beat to work from and a guide melody to get the timing and order of the song just right. Everyone has a chance to add their own input within the group. The girls have found that their mutual love of music and like-minded hopes to help change the world helps them work well together. 23:12 – Touring Fun! Girl Pow-R joined the Boys of Summer Tour in Washington, Boston, and New York. One of the craziest memories they have is going to the wrong hotel that was an hour away from the hotel they were supposed to be in! During another Summer tour, they group was in a rural area in Ontario. In the middle of their set, there was a huge rainstorm with thunder and lightning. The girls

There's something to be said for getting out and experiencing the world - going and visiting different countries and learning more about other cultures and communities. The more that we can expand our horizons, the more we can learn to appreciate the beauty of this world we live in and see other people through God's eyes. Today's guest shares how her experience of living in six different countries has shaped who she is today and why she started her business. Deanna Cook is a global change maker and development professional with extensive international experience in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Her latest project, LIYA Collective, is a sustainable accessory brand of minimalist pieces ethically made around the world. She loves yoga, travel, spending time outdoors with her puppies, and all things conscious living. My conversation with Deanna was such a breath of fresh air. She encouraged and inspired me in so many ways, and I know you're going to love learning more about how her life and business. 2:11 - The Deanna 101 Deanna has always been interested in the world around her and learning about other countries and languages. When she was a kid, she told people she wanted to be a lawyer for the United Nations because she wanted to help people all around the world. When she went to university, she studied international business in an interdisciplinary program where she also learned French and Spanish as well as studying aboard in Spain. After she graduated, she interned with a small nonprofit in Canada that helped woman artisan groups around the world learn about entrepreneurship. When the internship was over, Deanna moved to Taiwan and taught English for a few years. She even learned Mandarin, but knew she wanted to get back into the nonprofit space. She moved to Tanzania and worked as a marketing and fundraising coordinator for a small grassroots nonprofit that worked in the local community to support children and families affected by HIV/AIDs and poverty. Deanna also worked with small, sustainable businesses in the community including a school program with the nonprofit and some larger-scale environmental initiatives. At the same time, she also experienced transformation in her personal life that caused her to examine her purchasing habits and consumption and how that all ties into a bigger global picture. Her experiences in Tanzania shaped the way Deanna wanted to live and the brands she wanted to support. After working for so long with nonprofits and schools, she started exploring how business could be used to affect change in the world. Around that time, Deanna was offered an amazing opportunity to work on an international development project in Thailand. At the end of 2018, she left Tanzania and moved to Bangkok to work with USAID on a project on education and employability in STEM fields. In her free time, she also learned about traditional Thai handicrafts and textiles. This was the beginning of connecting the pieces that had shaped her life so far: sustainable business, ethical products, and global supply chains. She started to meet with production partners to co-create products she wanted to see in her own life. When her USAID contract finished in mid-2019, Deanna moved to Costa Rica with her partner who'd started a teaching job there. Deanna continued working on the business that would later become LIYA Collective. In April 2020, preorders for LIYA Collective were launched for their first collection, sustainably made, minimalist Thai silk scarves. 8:54 – Shaped by Your Surroundings Living aboard in many different places has helped Deanna recognize the effects of the second-hand supply chain industry. Our rapid consumption in America greatly impacts small businesses owners in other places. Deanna tries to look at things in more of a global context now. There are many conversations around waste and fast fashion, but many people don't consciously realize where things go when they are thrown away. It's easy to forget this when waste is very out of sight, out of mind in our country. Deanna's experiences traveling and living abroad have framed the way she takes care of what she already owns and how she disposes of things that may no longer serve her. She considers whether she can hold on to things to reuse them, repurpose, or re-wear them. She tries to buy locally from small businesses where she is rather than ordering from Amazon and having it sent to her. Conscious consumerism doesn't mean you shouldn't buy things. It's saying to be aware of how you buy and the way you dispose of things. 18:22 – Launching LIYA Collective Deanna carefully considered whether to launch during Covid-19. The biggest reason for deciding to continue forward with the launch was based on the fact that their production partners in Thailand were counting on the order that had been in preparation for an entire year. Deanna knew postponing or canceling the launch would have left the partners in the supply chain without a

There is nothing more encouraging to me than seeing young people making a difference and pursing entrepreneurship; being the change-makers. They push me to do more and be better. My guest today is an incredibly inspiring young leader named Miracle Olatunji. Miracle is an entrepreneur, international speaker, and the author of the book, "Purpose: How to Live and Lead with Impact." In high school (yes, high school), she founded OpportuniMe, an education startup that connects high school youth to summer experiential-learning opportunities for passion, career, and self-discovery. Miracle is absolutely that. She is an incredibly inspiring young leader and you're going to love my conversation with her today! 2:27 - The Miracle 101 Miracle's story starts before she was born. The fact that Miracle is alive today is exactly why she got her name. When Miracle's mother was pregnant, she started having premature contractions and doctors told her that the changes of her baby surviving prematurely were pretty much non-existent. Despite that grim statement, Miracle was born full-term and healthy. Her path to entrepreneurship started in a program called The Diamond Challenge, a entrepreneurship contest for high school students. Miracle decided to try it out and pitched an idea with her friends. That experience gave her the confidence to never limit herself based on her age, gender, or anything else. Through the Diamond Challenge, Miracle started her first organization, OpportuniMe. OpportuniMe helps people realize and reach their full potential through connection to opportunities and resources to explore different career paths and connect with other young people. Miracle's first book "Purpose" was published in the summer of 2019. 4:25 – The Diamond Challenge The Diamond Challenge that Miracle participated in is a competition run through the University of Delaware but is specifically for high school students. The program gives students access to video courses about entrepreneurship and the process of turning an idea into reality. There are two tracks to the competition, the business side and the social enterprise side. Various colleges, high schools, and churches all over the world host "pitch sites." Students can also pitch their ideas virtually. Miracle participated in the follow up event after the Diamond Challenge. While in her first year at the follow-up event, she was inspired by the closing keynote speaker who said that one of the key parts of entrepreneurship is solving problems. When she returned to school in the fall and talked about her experience with the Diamond Challenge, she realized how many of her peers didn't know about the opportunities out there for them or that these programs existed. Miracle learned that your passion must be cultivated. It doesn't fall from the sky and into your lap. She knew her peers simply didn't have the same access to opportunities that open the doors to interests and passions. 9:05 – OpportuniMe Miracle started OpportuniMe when she was just 17 years old. Since then the biggest lesson she's learned is the power of her mindset. She didn't know a lot in the beginning. She had to work on herself push through the fear of rejection when starting things she'd never done before. She realized that if you don't ask for anything, you don't even have the opportunity for a "yes", "no", or "not right now." Miracle is realizing now in college, that many college students are experiencing the same feelings of trying to discover what they are passionate about and that they are also trying to find purpose. She has extended the mission beyond high school students to also include people who are going to be entering the workforce soon, are entering it now, or have been in it for a few years. 15:37 – Purpose: How to Live and Lead with Impact At the start of the new year in 2018, Miracle made a vision board. She researched about visualizations and how things become more real in our minds when we are able to see a picture of it first. One of the things on Miracle's vision board was a quote, "Write a book, change the world." She had always had the desire to write a book, but it seemed overwhelming and she didn't think it was possible. She decided to stay dedicated to achieving it anyway. In a community called "NextGen Summit", Miracle joined a webinar about writing a book. She sent the instructor an email introducing herself and talking about her goal to write a book. The next week they spoke on the phone and Miracle enrolled in the program and stared writing her book! The program is based around a community of aspiring book authors supporting other aspiring book authors. Each cohort releases their books on the same day. Miracle was inspired to write her book based on her own personal experiences and aspiring leaders from all different walks of life. Purpose seems very abstract, but Miracle wanted to break that down to help people realize that it can be simplified to personal reflection on your values and

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

Over the last couple years, I've been on a slow but steady journey of becoming somebody who is less wasteful. I may not get to the point of being able to fit all my trash from the month into a mason jar, but I have been making slow, intentional choices to reduce and use less waste. Along this journey, there have been certain items that have made me wonder, "Could there be a zero waste option for this?" Especially for bathroom products like Q tips and tissues. There have not been many options on the market…until today! My guest this week is Isabel Aagaard, founder of Last Object, a Danish design trio who have chosen to tackle some of the least sexy objects out there like cotton swabs and disposable tissues. They are addressing the problem of single-use items and looking past the highly visible culprits like plastic bottles and straws. Last Swab is the reusable alternative to cotton swabs, which replace the need for the 1.5 billion single-use Q tips produced daily, only to be thrown out after one use. Last Tissue saves 2 liters of water per tissue and has become wildly popular on Kickstarter. Prior to founding Last Object, Isabel designed the first reusable chemotherapy bag to reduce waste in the medical industry, and it is now being used all over Denmark. I was fascinated with this conversation with Isabel and know you're going to love learning about these unique designs that's changing the world! 4:22 - The Isabel 101 Isabel was born and raised in the beautiful city of Copenhagen, Denmark. She has an IT background and obtained a master's degree in collaborative design. That background brought her to where she is today, along with her passion for the environment and startups. All of Isabel's focus combines sustainability with collaborative design efforts. She loves exploring how to create and make things that are usable in collaboration with the people who will be using them. Isabel's worlds meet at the intersection of anthropology and collaboration and is referred to as Co-design. It's a field that's grown in the last few years and has started to spread through other countries. As an example, when working for hospitals, instead of looking at patients and creating a design solution for them, Isabel creates tools to help patients design their own solutions. It takes people, interactions, and their abilities into account, instead of being a designer who decides what they think is best for the design. 8:29 – Last Object Last Object's mission is to create an alternative to single-use items. They started with Last Swab and Last Tissue as the first two products. There are three designers (one of whom is Isabel's brother). When Isabel was working in design for hospitals, the idea for starting a sustainable design business started over lunch one day with her brother and a designer named Cole. In doing various research on the contributing facts to pollution with single-use items, they found that Q tips were one of the 10 biggest contributors to waste on the planet. They also knew they wanted to tackle issues that have not been tackled already (like alternatives to plastic straws). They also wanted to look at single-use items that are frequently used, so that cutting down of those products would make a huge impact. Last Object starts the design process by thinking of the simplest way to recreate a reusable product. It has to be something you would know how to use just by looking at the design. There are many iterations that happen before a final product comes to fruition. The team continues prototyping, using different forms, scaling up, scaling down, and testing with 3D printing, and experimenting with paint palettes. Last Object debuted in April 2019. The initial reactions in the marketplace started about 50/50 on social media. Some loved it, others thought it was gross, but the most important thing that happened was people were talking about it. 16:40 - Speaking of Questions, "How Does it Work?" Last Swab is made of a durable core plastic, and the ends are made of TPE, which is a plastic that has a similar feeling to silicon. The tips are melded together to be sure they don't come apart. Each swab also comes with its own carrying case that keeps it hygienic to carry with you or store in your bathroom. One swab is a version for cleaning your ears with a textured surface to help clean. Another version if for makeup application with a soft, pointed end to use for detail or removing excess makeup. Both swabs can be washed easily with soap and water. Last Tissue is sort of like a modern-day handkerchief. It's six small handkerchiefs in a hypoallergenic box. Isabel describes it as if a handkerchief and a tissue box had a baby. That way you can keep your handkerchief in a hygienic place instead of stuffing it into your pocket. Environmentally, the swab and tissues help cut down on waste. 21:17 – Collaborative Design for the Future Last Object is looking at some more complicated design processes for future products that re

As a business owner, often one of our biggest pain points are taxes and accounting. My guest today is especially passionate about helping social entrepreneurs tackle this aspect of their business in a purposeful way. Jessica Mah is the founder and CEO of inDinero and loves helping entrepreneurs run better businesses. She has grown the company from zero to over 250 employees and has been featured in the Forbes & Inc "30 Under 30 list." Jessica left high school at age 15 to attend Bard College at Simon's Rock, studied computer science at UC Berkeley, went through Y Combinator, and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). I loved talking with Jessica! She is brilliant and can take concepts like taxes and accounting, do them with passion and purpose, and even make others excited about them! Join me for this inspiring conversation with Jessica Mah. 2:17 - The Jess 101 Jess Mah is the founder and CEO of a company called inDinero. inDinero does accounting and taxes for small businesses with the idea that there's a better way to deliver a more delightful accounting experience for business owners through technology and automation. Jess found a way to create sustainable and ethical finance for businesses working on social issues. B Corps are certified purpose-driven organizations, but it is an extremely difficult process to be certified. It can take years to prepare for, and Jess and her team help their customers who have purpose-driven businesses make a greater impact right away rather than getting bogged down in years of certification processes. 6:07 – Purpose-Driven Organizations in a Time of Crisis. During this unprecedented time of a global pandemic, the work of inDinero can help businesses tackle the difficult questions that may initially arise like "How will we pay our rent", or "How do we deal with payroll when our employees are not working?" Once that painful part has been addressed and tackled, the next steps are finding ways to recalibrate and innovate for a "new normal." It can be hard to see the other side of the hard times or the breakthrough that can come from a challenging season in our businesses or personal lives. Jess is using that mission-driven motivation from both her personal and professional life to rally with other organizations (like c19coalition.org) and raise working capital to provide PPE for hospitals and other businesses. 13:39 – Prioritizing Profit, People, and Planet Jess had an epiphany while attending a CEO summit series. She initially got into accounting because she believed it could be turned around from something that's typically boring to something that's sexy. She wanted to help companies feel like they're doing something impactful for business and the world at large. While speaking with a very successful global business owner at the summit series, Jess told him that she loves her business and would like for it to be more helpful and impactful. The conversation helped Jess consider how doubling or tripling a company's bottom line, helping them manage their giving program, and lending to other non-profit organizations could allow them to do more good overall. 17:15 – Purpose Along the Way Jess' first goal was to make an entrepreneur's life better because accounting and financial management is so painful for entrepreneurs. What she found over the years was that it didn't feel as impactful as she thought it could and knew she could help business impact scale up to 80-90%. So many entrepreneurs are or have been in Jess' shoes where they start making a profit and realize they want to be able to do good as well. That process is challenging because once they've started growing profit, they don't have as strong of a cultural pull to make a difference. The products being sold may not be directly tied to impact. Jess started being more candid and open conversations with other businesses wanting to make impact, which helped create a more powerful change through collaboration. In the next 10 years, Jess thinks there will be an even greater shift to a triple-bottom line of planet, people, and profit. Not only does she think it's possible, she thinks it will actually be front and center of most organizations. Collaborating with various leaders and businesses on the C19 Coalition has created so much opportunity for a more collective community. Working together has multiplied the amount of good. Accounting may not directly change the world, but inDinero can help their customers utilize their assets for greater impact. 27:41 – Getting to Know Our Guest Find out Jess is learning about herself during Covid-19, what her guilty pleasure is, what she would do differently if she knew no one was judging her, what she's reading right now, and of course, what it means to Jess to run a business with purpose! CONNECT WITH JESS AND INDINERO: If you would like to connect with Jess and her team to talk about the good work you're trying to do, you can email [email protected] https://www.indinero

I am so excited to welcome Keenya Kelly to the show this week. Keenya is an incredible, powerhouse entrepreneur. We connected a few months ago and I knew I wanted to have her on the show. We had such an incredible conversation and I know you're going to be encouraged and inspired! ABOUT KEENYA KELLY: As an accomplished business executive, teacher and inspirational speaker, Keenya Kelly found her voice by writing & speaking about understanding your God-given purpose and living up to your fullest potential. She captures her audiences by conveying powerful lessons of overcoming fear, self-doubt, & divorce to creating successful six-figure businesses. Keenya believes that when you identify with who you are at the core of your being, begin a journey of overcoming obstacles and self-doubt, you can achieve absolute greatness. Keenya Kelly leaves audiences with a sense of empowerment and a call to action that encourages them to reach their full potential. She believes that everyone is equipped; people can do and become anything they put their minds to despite their starting points. Keenya has helped countless individuals and entrepreneurs realize how to finish strong. Her proven strategies will show you how you can be NEXT! BOOK: Before you quit your job With the rise of social media entrepreneurship at an all-time high, the rise of making irrational life-changing decisions such as quitting your job is as well. We believe that there comes a time in your career where you have to choose the next stage for you, however, that change can be calculated, full of wisdom and not irrational spontaneity. Before You Quit Your Job is a step by step guide for individuals that desire to build businesses while working full-time on their jobs. It teaches you all of the ways to train yourself, your mind and those around you, how to adjust to the new life you are embarking upon, while building a sustainable, profitable business. Keenya's Podcast: Life and Business with Keenya Kelly Facebook Show: The Keenya Kelly Morning Show Connect with Keenya: https://www.instagram.com/keenya_kelly/ https://www.facebook.com/keenyakelly https://twitter.com/keenyakelly https://www.keenyakelly.com/ https://www.youtube.com/keenyakelly