For Love & Money

EP 26: Nik Robinson, Founder of Good Citizens Eyewear on

My guest for today’s episode of the FLAM Podcast has had many careers; radio broadcaster, creative director, donut maker and lecturer. 

 

Nik Robinson is passionate about using his creative skills to solve problems and make a positive difference, so in 2018, he set up his company, Good Citizens with his young kids to take on the world’s plastic issue.

 

It would take 752 days and thousands of failed attempts to finally launch Good Citizens Eyewear in April 2020. Good Citizens has one mission - to untrash the planet™ by turning trash into good. 

 

Good Citizens turns single-use plastic bottles into sunglasses frames. The frames are 100% recycled and made in Australia. Within just a few months of launching, Good Citizens was awarded two prestigious 2020 Good Design Awards and The Design Files Sustainable Idea of 2020 plus Selfridges in London gave the brand an entire window.

 

Nik has become a leader in working with recycled materials; designing and manufacturing in-demand, on-trend consumer products made from waste materials. He has spoken at the United Nations and he lectures at numerous Australian universities to inspire the next generation to think cleverly about using recycled materials.

 

This episode is such a human feel-good one, I can’t wait for you to listen to it.

 

Here are just some of the themes we touch on:

 

• How love of family and love of and care for the planet has driven the emotional energy that has inspired a business fighting against plastic waste
• We talk about the role of failure in building a purpose-led business; and how our failures become our stories
• Nik shares his belief in the need for businesses to show vulnerability. This opens a conversation around Greenwashing: businesses not being transparent (and vulnerable) and over-marketing their sustainability credentials  
• What “radical transparency” – one of Good Citizen’s first values – looks like for them  
• The origin story of the business (so much to love about this story), which included a

business plan with 4 principles that the family developed around the kitchen table

• The post-it note approach Nik used to working through starting a new business in a category where they had no experience and how much each phase cost
• How a bottle, a prototype and (another) post-it note formed the basis of Nik’s pitch to Selfridges in the UK which resulted in Good Citizens being given an amazing window display which you can see here
• We speak about Greenwashing and the impact it has on trust
• How Nik’s two young sons and his wife have inspired his tenacity to keep going in the face of multiple “failures”
• Repair – Nik shares the hilarious story of one Good Citizen who needed a new arm for a broken pair of sunnies (broken due to alcohol related beach ball antics) – and how Good Citizen’s approach to repair amplified the love that customer has for the brand
• On turning down investment opportunities and what ROI for Nik’s family looks like for them
• Good Citizen’s 8 billion people ambition
• On creating the world’s most beautiful eyewear (beauty = well made, great looking, that will last from generation to generation; and sustainable)
• The influence that Good Citizens are having on other businesses, inspiring solutions to the environmental crisis

 

If you’re enjoying the podcast please leave us a rating on your listening platform. It really helps us to get the podcast found by new listeners.

 

 

Contact

goodcitizens.com.au

goodcitizens_official

Code: FRIEND20 for $20 off

Ep 25: Carolyn Butler-Madden Chief Purpose Activist at The Cause Effect On “People Like Us”

Welcome to Episode 25 of the FLAM podcast.

 

For regular listeners of this podcast, you may remember an earlier episode (Episode 14) where I read a chapter from my book “FOR LOVE & MONEY How to profit with purpose and grow a business with love”

 

We had some great feedback on that episode so we thought we would do it again!

 

I’ve selected a chapter that covers a subject I speak a lot about. It is also the starting point for any work we do with clients when helping them uncover the higher purpose of their business.

 

We don’t start with WHY. Much as I love and respect the work of Simon Sinek and much as I value his approach to purpose using the golden circle… today, understanding your unique organisational identity is essential to finding your way to a meaningful why; a social purpose. This is why we start with WHO.  

 

Acknowledgement to Seth Godin whose phrase “People Like Us” I use to describe this part of the process.  It is such a perfect way to frame the part of our WHO that really matters when it comes to building a purpose-led business and brand.

 

Some of the themes we cover in this episode:

 

• Who are we but the stories we tell ourselves?
• “People like us” believe things like this
• Why it’s important to get clear on your “people like us”
• Defining your “people like us” – I share examples from some purpose-led businesses

 

I hope you enjoy the reading of this chapter. If you do and you’d like to buy the FOR LOVE & MONEY book,  it’s available at all the major online book stores and some retail book stores in Australia.

EP 24: Sally Hill, Founder of Purpose Conference On making the purpose sector the place that people want to be

The Purpose Conference was first staged in Sydney, Australia in 2015. Today, Purpose is a stand-alone company and community. After a 4-year hiatus, 2022 marks the fourth Purpose event, coming at a time when the movement for social purpose-led business is growing with intensity. It’s a movement driven by employees, customers, consumers, investors; people realising that we need to accelerate the pace of change and business is the means in which to do this most directly.

 

In this episode, our guest is Sally Hill, founder of Purpose and a long-time advocate of responsible and sustainable business. She is a a leader, thinker and doer in the world of purpose-driven business. 

 

Sally founded Wildwon, one of Australia's first B Corps and established the Purpose Conference in 2015. Sally curates the Purpose program and is the connector of Purpose’s partners, community and team.

 

Immediately prior to rebooting Purpose in 2022, Sally worked with Climate 200, bringing business on board to support the historic 2022 ‘climate election’ result.

 

You can get a taste of our interview here:

 

• Sally shares her journey from GetUp campaign co-ordinator, through various CSR and sustainability roles, to WWF, to launching her own experiential agency, Wildwon and launching Purpose Conference. Her journey continues taking her to a number of roles including NSW Circular and Climate 200, before returning to Purpose to where she is today.
• She shares some of her learnings from these various roles and how they have contributed to her thinking and approach today 
• Sally explains that while government is driving change, the pace is slow. This influences her belief that while business is the cause of many of society’s problems,  harnessing business and capitalism to solve the issues is the best opportunity we have to do it at an accelerated pace and at scale
• She shares some stats from recent BUPA research about Gen Z workers attitudes to businesses demonstrating strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments
• We talk about the lack of employee engagement in workplaces in Australia and New Zealand and the impact this is having on businesses, workplaces and the economy
• Sally highlights some of the speakers that will be at Purpose and the innovations they are creating in service of solving big societal issues
• She shares her hopes and aspirations for what the Purpose Conference can achieve 
• We talk about the link between the business world and government policy and the innovation opportunities this opens up

Ep 23: Jules Brooke, Founder of She’s the Boss on normalising the idea of women in powerful business positions

Only 2% of VC funding goes to women-owned businesses in Australia. 

Women over 50 feature in less than 4% of media globally. 

 

I’ll just let that sit with you for a moment before you dive into my interview with Jules Brook – founder of She’s The Boss and Handle Your Own PR.

 

Those two statistics, alongside others that should make you feel distinctly confused/uncomfortable/angry (pick your choice) is what inspired Jules to launch She’s The Boss at the start of the pandemic in 2020. Since then, it has grown into a thriving community. There are online zoom lunches and Learning Table events with female founders, real life networking events, two podcasts, She’s The Boss Chats and She’s The Boss Leaders. She’s The Boss also has a YouTube channel and all the media features interviews with wildly successful women in business from Australia and around the world.

 

Jules is also the founder of Handle Your Own PR, a DIY PR service for business owners. Using her online PR Accelerator program and PR SaaS platform, Jules’ students have been on TV, radio, magazines and newspapers nationally. Many have gone on to huge success in their business.

 

Jules is passionate about making female founders and women doing extraordinary things in business more visible. You’ll feel that passion right through this interview. IMHO Jules is one of those women doing extraordinary things, even if she doesn’t realise it herself!

 

To get a shot of Jules’ passion and energy that’s driving her purpose and her commitment to it, tune into this episode. I know you’ll enjoy it; not just for the love of Jules, but also for some of the rich insights that come out of our conversation.

 

Some of the highlights:

 

• Jules’ take on the importance of love in business: Not just loving what you do but loving the people you work with – your customers and teams
• The origin journey of She’s The Boss: from Ticker TV guest to show host; to what happened as a result of Covid, as Melbourne went through one of the world’s harshest lockdowns; She’s The Boss became a beacon of solidarity and support for female business founders in Jules’ community
• Jules shares her Big Hairy Audacious Goal, to start a TV network for women in business and what this looks like; and what it will take.
• Her absolute clarity on who her target audience are and why (a stunning example of what clear targeting looks like)
• Jules shares her view about the isolation and loneliness of women who have succeeded and got to the top of the corporate ladder; and the need to provide them with the support of other women
• She references a Forbes article: The Power of the Pack which talks about the need for women to support women in business and how important it is: men who succeed are supported by men; women generally only succeed if they are supported by other women
• We talk about the need for feminisation of business to balance the dominant masculine traits 
• Jules shares her mission – get ready for the sheer clarity of this one!
• I ask Jules her thoughts on the key characteristics of female purposeful leaders
• We have a great discussion on the money side of FOR LOVE & MONEY – Jules shares how she’s trying to monetise her venture, which opens up insights into the funding gap for female owned businesses and finally the statistics which galvanised Jules herself into action
• Finally, Jules shares some fabulous advice for women in business

Connect with Jules

Shesthebossgroup.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/julesbrooke/

EP 22: TOM DAWKINS, Co-founder Start Some Good on accelerating innovation for change

Our guest on this episode of the FOR LOVE & MONEY PODCAST works at the very heart of social impact and business. Tom Dawkins (he/him) is the Co-Founder and CEO of the social impact crowdfunding platform and innovation agency Start Some Good. Start Some Good began in 2010,  and aims to help emerging entrepreneurs to design, launch, and grow their prospective social impact projects. 

 

A leading advocate for social enterprise, Tom was previously the founder of youth non-profit Vibewire, the first Digital Communications Director for Ashoka in Washington DC, and co-founder of the Australian Changemakers Festival. Tom is also a founding Director of The Social Enterprise Council of NSW and the ACT, as well as currently operating as Non-Executive Director of the Centre for Social Impact since 2019.

 

On top of this, Tom has also received awards and fellowships from the World Summit Youth Awards, The International Youth Foundation, Nexus Summit, and the Social Enterprise Awards, while also being a global speaker on social innovation and entrepreneurship, teaching workshops, and speaking at events around the globe, from The Social Enterprise World Forum to The World Summit on the Information Society.

 

Start Some Good is a B Corp Certified Enterprise and, in addition to helping in the development of social impact projects, also runs the Good Hustle social enterprise design course, StartSomeGood.com crowdfunding platform, and impact accelerators and entrepreneur education programs for partners including Optus, ING, the United Nations Development Program and the City of Sydney.

 

Here are just some of the highlights from our conversation with Tom as he passionately shares his journey of accelerating innovation and helping social impact projects prosper:

 

• Tom shares his origins as a serial starter-upper and social activist to social entrepreneur
• Tom’s experiences overcoming challenges and learning from observing while on his journey to fund innovation projects and making a social changemaker world 
• Tom’s discussion on calculating social impact and the need for greater financial commitment in overcoming societal challenges through business
• Tom discusses the “Will it work?” lens versus the “Could it work?” lens that is impacting the deal flow of prospective social projects
• How Kickstarter and its role in helping creative entrepreneurs inspired the vision behind Start Some Good and its approach to angel financing
• Start Some Good’s evolution from a crowdfunding platform to an interconnected ecosystem using core principles of entrepreneurship to help entrepreneurs turn an idea into a business plan
• Capacity-building programs delivered through partnerships, such as the Good Hustle Social Enterprise Design Course, that focus on specific beneficiary communities
• Tom discussing Lend For Good, a crowdlending platform for growth-ready social enterprises directly designed in addressing “the missing middle”
• Tom’s advice on the core building blocks necessary before initiating your crowdfunding campaign
• Tom on what it takes to become “investable” and “launch ready” as a social impact entrepreneur
• How Tom’s personal mission to build a better democracy and create change together has inspired and shaped his crowdfunding journey
• Tom shares some examples of the social enterprises the SSG ecosystem has supported and helped to start on their road to scaleable impact

 

Connect with Tom

Linkedin linkedin.com/in/tomdawkins    

Website https://www.startsomegood.com/

EP 21: Dr Kyle Turner on using business to improve oral health around the globe

Dr Kyle Turner is our guest on this episode of the FOR LOVE & MONEY PODCAST. Kyle, a Wiradjuri man (he/him) from central New South Wales, is the CEO and Founder of Pearlii, a for-profit social enterprise using artificial intelligence to bring free dental check-ups and free oral health education to the world.  

 

Dr Turner holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Oxford and he has published widely on the burden of chronic diseases, with a heavy focus on prevention, together with a passion for improving health outcomes for First Nation Peoples.

 

Pearlii is an investor-backed, social enterprise which started in 2019. It’s such an interesting business model, designed to both prevent and treat oral health; an area of need that has such wide-ranging health impacts. I particularly love the way they’re leveraging technology to drive accessibility.

 

In our interview, Kyle shares his journey with Pearlii and his vision for the future. Some of the highlights of our conversation include:

 

• Kyle’s journey from epidemiologist to social enterprise techpreneur
• How growing up with bad teeth made him painfully aware of the impact that can have on someone’s confidence 
• We talk about the problem of poor oral hygiene and the impact that it has on general physical health, as well as mental health
• How he found investors who were attracted to Pearlii’s mission and learned to perfect his “pitch” in the process
• Kyle shares the 2 parts to the business model: prevention and treatment and how Pearlii targets both of these (Pearlii’s is a really interesting model tackling a problem that has wide-ranging impacts)
• The business that inspires him the most 
• His vision for the future and how it includes non-Dental practitioners helping with oral health
• Kyle shares some savvy advice for other social entrepreneurs starting their journey

Connect with Kyle

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-turner1111/

Website https://www.pearlii.com

EP 20: MIKE SMITH, Used Pouch Salesman (& Founder), Zero Co On giving single-use plastic the flick

Mike Smith is an entrepreneur, adventurer and not-for-profit founder. Over the past fifteen years he’s founded three startups in the surfing, wine and sustainability arenas and built two schools in Myanmar.

He’s travelled to some of the most remote corners of the planet, including North Korea, Tajikistan and Nagorno-Karabakh to name just a few.

Mike Smith's most recent venture - Zero Co - aims to solve the global plastic problem through large scale ocean clean-ups and a closed-loop solution for personal-care and home-cleaning products.

Mike is infectiously passionate about having a positive impact on the planet and inspiring others to dare greatly. You can’t fail to feel this passion as he shares Zero Co’s story. Enjoy!

 

Here are some of the interview highlights:

 

• Zero Co’s origins started with a trip Mike and his girlfriend (now wife) took travelling to some of the most far-flung places in the world
• Mike shares “the mission-driven brief” of the business they set themselves, highlighting that he was agnostic about the industry they went into. 
• He talks about what he calls “mission-driven 2.0 businesses”, where the mission and the product are the same thing, not an afterthought
• He explains how Zero Co works – basically disrupting the household and personal care products category – and inviting the consumer to change their behaviour to become part of the solution
• While talking about the complexities of this business, Mike acknowledges that he frequently thinks about how crazy this idea is, but they are driven by their big mission: to scale the business model profitably and become such a pain in the ass for the big guys, that they have to copy them!
• Mike shares the experience of their latest equity crowdfunding campaign which has set the Australian record
• We talk about their brand and its lighthearted tone that came from the core values Zero Co was established on
• Their values are truly inspiring and you’ll really want to hear the stories that Mike shares that inspire those values (gave me goosebumps)!

 

Connect with Mike

 

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-smith-62aa383a/

Zero Co website https://www.zeroco.com.au

EP 19: David Laity CEO of Goodwill Wine on building a better world through wine

On the 9th of February 2009, our guest on this episode lost most of what he owned in the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia. Grateful to be alive and overwhelmed by the support he received, David Laity decided to begin a wine business that gave back. And so began Goodwill Wine, Australia's only certified social enterprise wine company. 

 

Since its inception, Goodwill Wine has donated close to half a million dollars to Australian charities by empowering its customers to choose which charity they would like to receive half of the profits from their case of wine.

 

In 2019 Goodwill Wine took on its first round of angel investment, allowing it to undergo a rebrand, extend its range of wine offerings and embark upon a substantial growth phase. Since then, the business has seen a 500 per cent increase in the amount it has been able to donate to charity.

 

In an intensely competitive market, David has managed to cut through all the noise simply by embedding purpose into the very heart of his business's DNA.

 

If you haven’t heard of Goodwill Wine yet, you’ll want to listen to this episode. There is everything to love about them. Their wines are fabulous. And they donate 50 per cent of their profits to charity. But at its essence, the story of Goodwill Wine is a story of David’s recovery from the trauma of the bushfires and his resulting PTSD. 

 

Here are just some of the highlights of this beautiful and personal interview with David:

 

• He shares his journey from filmmaker to wine merchant and how an idea about advertising on pool balls turned into Goodwill Wine
• The origin story of Goodwill Wine demonstrates the impact human kindness can have on people and what it can inspire them to create
• David shares his motivation in building Goodwill Wine was to reward the supporters of great causes, with quality wine they could enjoy
• If you assume these wines aren’t high quality because they’re not a “known label”, you’ll want to listen to how Goodwill Wine sources the wines 
• He talks about the extraordinary amount of love that customers have for the business: the love of the wine itself, the love of the charity they support and the love of an ethical business
• Handwritten notes from David to his customers are a feature of Goodwill Wine’s customer experience and David shares how he has clocked over 50,000 personalised notes!
• He also shares the incredible ‘why’ behind the handwritten notes. They were never a marketing strategy, but a way for him to connect with people as he recovered from PTSD 
• Learn about some of the tangible impacts Goodwill Wine customers have been able to create through over 300 charity partners
• Sharing his deep appreciation for the people around him, David talks about what he’s most proud of and his pride in leaving a legacy for his daughter

Connect with David and Goodwill Wine

 

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-laity-b652aa41/

Website https://goodwillwine.com.au

EP 18: PAUL DUNN, co-founder B1G1 on impactful business

Today’s guest is Paul Dunn, a 4-time TEDx speaker, master storyteller and one of the most well-read people I know!

 

He is a Senior Fellow in one of the World’s Leading Think Tanks and consults to and mentors leading-edge businesses around the world.

 

He was honoured as a Social Innovation Fellow in his new home of Singapore; something he shares with film-star and philanthropist Jet Li and Walmart Chairman, Rob Walton.

 

He was one of the first 10 people in Hewlett Packard in Australia. He then created one of Australia’s first computer companies and then The Results Corporation where he helped develop and grow 23,000 small and medium scale business enterprises. 

 

His programs are used by an estimated 226,000 companies around the world and he continues to push the boundaries. He featured in Forbes Magazine alongside Sir Richard Branson in a global piece on ‘disrupters’ in business.

 

He is the co-founder of B1G1: Business for Good, the history-making Global Giving Initiative that’s already enabled businesses to create over 281 Million giving impacts globally.

 

• Paul shares an incredible story about something that happened involving him after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It precipitated his meeting with Masami Sato that led to them co-founding B1G1, but it profoundly shifted his thinking on what he believed was the secret to success in business.
• He then tells the story of Masami Sato, who he was mentoring, sharing the idea that directly led to B1G1 starting, which has now led to a global movement that has created over 281 million impacts (as at May 2022).
• We talk about the idea of “possibilities” and Paul shares an insight from the book, Teeming, by Dr Woolley-Barker.  One of the major learning points is that we need to understand that nature does not solve problems. Nature always looks for potential. An idea that perhaps humans can learn from.
• He shares his thinking on the two types of companies that exist: standard companies and standout companies, through the lens of legacy
• Another book he references is Cult Status by Tim Duggan and the idea that of seven things leaders can work on to gain cult status, number 1 is to define the impact you want to have. And define it in terms of the number of lives that you will touch.
• Paul shares a rousing quote from Steve Jobs about how powerful the storyteller is. It’s a quote that makes you really think about the potency of storytelling for generations to come.
• For those who don’t know B1G1, Paul explains how it works and the profound impact it creates for everyone involved.

 

Get in touch with Paul...

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulb1g1/

https://b1g1.com

EP 17 : Anna Sheppard, founder and CEO Bambuddha Group on the power of kind leadership

Anna Sheppard, Founder and CEO of Bambuddha Group strongly believes the power of Kindness is world changing. With a deep commitment for creating equality based on her lived experience, Anna began Bambuddha Group to empower corporate leaders and their teams how to ‘work kinder’. The team at Bambuddha developed an evidence-informed kindness curriculum which minimises risk and improves outcomes across all organisational areas. Bambuddha Group is a multi-award winning social enterprise that provides leadership coaching and corporate kindness programs. 

Anna has added value to thousands of companies and inspirational leaders by showing them how to ‘work kinder’ and is also the founder of several other major initiatives, including The Corporate Kindness Awards, Working Kind Collective (the world’s first kind business centre), the Impact Studios and The Corporate Kindness Project, which is an Australian-based research study focusing on the business benefits of working kind. The first white paper was released in 2019 and is now an upbeat, honest and feel-good podcast show called ‘Project Good Boss.’

Anna Sheppard and Bambuddha Group have won multiple awards for work in this space, including being recognised as one of the ‘Top 10 Leadership Development Training and Coaching Companies 2021 in APAC’, ‘Top 50 leading light for APAC’, ‘Top 50 most impactful LinkedIn Influencers’, a 2021 NSW Business Awards finalist and currently, a finalist for 2022 Telstra Best of Business Awards.

Anna believes in a future where every leader and organisation is committed to creating a sustainable world of equality and opportunity for everyone.

In this interview Anna shares how she is using Bambuddha to contribute to that future by building a movement of like minded people and leaders who prioritise kindness.

She shares with us her incredibly colourful background and how it inspired her passion for diversity and inclusion and her commitment to building a movement of kind leaders. The sense of belonging Anna talks about early in the interview weaves its way through the rest of the interview as a constant theme. The interview also includes a great discussion on the need for kind leadership today, more than ever.

(Excuse the couple of barks towards the end of the interview – introducing Monty our beautiful mini-Groodle. Oh the joys of working from home!)

Here are some of the highlights of this interview:

• Anna talks about her early years, including finding her “gang of others” and how it was able to give her a sense of belonging.
• She highlights how her travels around the world opened her eyes to the massive disparity of opportunity that some people get in life vs others – which she found difficult to understand and which spurred her to create Bambuddha.
• Anna shares with listeners how Bambuddha is empowering leaders with knowledge through a 12-month academy with masterclasses and support. She also shares some of the other ways that Bambuddha Group is delivering on their mission, including:
  • The Bambuddha pay-it-forward model which funds a Gamechanger Program – a scholarship program for diverse and under-represented business owners and leaders.
  • The world’s first kind business centre in Stanmore; a space where people can come together to collaborate
  • The 5 key pillars of a wholesome Kindness Curriculum that they have built
  • The Corporate Kindness Index that is in development to track how leaders are improving in each of those areas
  • The Corporate Kindness Annual Conference and Awards –showcasing leaders who are leading the way in kindness
• I ask Anna to share a leader who inspires her and why; and she highlights three very different people: Nelson Mandela, his prison guard Christo Brand and Pamela Bishop, the COO of Blooms The Chemist (and the recipient of the Corporate Kindness Awards – the Gamechanger Award, the highest honour of the annual awards).
• Why ‘kindness’ is so important and what it means to be a kind leader.
• We talk about the importance of empathy and how a leader might be able to operate with kindness even if there is a lack of capacity for empathy.
• Why the answer to more meaningful work doesn’t necessarily mean going to work for a non-profit organisation.
• The importance of support from others and building a community of like-minded people to support you on your leadership journey.
• She zeroes in on the results of kind leadership: brand trust, happy workforces, staff retention, community engagement, investment, well leaders and reconciliation.

 

Connect with Anna

https://www.linkedin.com/in/annasheppard2021/

https://www.bambuddhagroup.com

https://www.facebook.com/bambuddhagroup