027: Growing Culture and Consciousness Has No Finishline

This conversion of culture and conscious business was so fluid that you would have thought that Kindra and her two guests, Adam and Thomas, had known each other and talked for years.

This was the first time we have done a live stream where the guests could listen and post questions on the Culture Crush Business Podcast- and it was awesome! Thank you to all of the listeners that chimed in and posted questions in the chat. Thank you to Phoenix Business RadioX and Conscious Capitalism Arizona Chapter for sharing it out. They were great questions that we went over toward the end of the show.

This conversation dove into many stories and examples of the actions and importance for growing a conscious business- even if it seems a little backwards sometimes. For example, Adam discussed how Goodmans Interior Structures no longer requires their office staff to come into the office to work. This might seem a little backwards for a company that builds and sells office furniture. Instead, they are assessing and redesigning the office into a place where employees want to come into the office. They took into consideration what the employees said and wanted and are putting it into action. This conscious business move will help grow and support the needs of the employees, and therefore the overall culture of the company.

This conversation is a great one to listen to if you are a leader trying to improve your company culture and wanting to learn more about conscious capitalism and how it can help influence and support the change you are trying to make in your company. According to Thomas, “Consciousness has no finish line” which means we can always learn and add to our growth and our tool box.

When it comes to helping companies grow in conscious ways, Thomas is the man for the job. He has supported the growth of various Conscious Capitalism chapters as well as helped over 800 leaders in his program on developing their conscious journey. He gives away a few of these tips in the podcast conversation with Adam as well.

Thank you to our sponsor, the Conscious Capitalism Arizona Chapter, for seeing the value in this conversation of conscious capitalism, culture, and these two amazing gentlemen.

Conscious Capitalism Arizona Chapter (CCAZ) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose, in partnership with Conscious Capitalism Inc (CCI), is to build a movement of business leaders improving the practice and perception of capitalism to elevate humanity so that billions of people flourish, leading lives infused with passion, purpose, love and creativity; a world of freedom, harmony, prosperity, and compassion.

All in all that means CCAZ is elevating humanity through business.

CBJourney is a movement with the purpose to accelerate the upgrade or ofganizations towards a more conscious business ecosystem.

We have over 800 certified Conscious Capitalist Consultants in 21 countries, we celebrate our accomplishements though the podcast Capitalista Consciente and the books published, and we grouw our community with our programs for Consultants, leaders and Board of Directors.

Thomas Eckschmidt is the father of Gabriela, husband of Ana Maria and an enthusiast of conscious capitalism. This is the journey forward, but we can share from the “obituary” too:

Thomas is former farmer, engineer University of Sao Paulo who holds an Executive MBA in finance from Business School São Paulo / University of Toronto, Brazil. His corporate journey included work in twenty different countries before he launched a successful entrepreneurial career that includes 12 business awards, 4 patents filed, and 21 books published, Amazon best Seller and also one published by Harvard: Conscious Capitalism Field Guide – coauthored with Raj Sisodia.

A strong believer that business leaders and organizations can do well by doing good, Thomas has been promoting Conscious Capitalism since 2010. He launched a Conscious Capitalism chapter in Brazil and Peru and supported the launch of chapters in other countries.

Thomas teaches Conscious Capitalism classes in major business schools and in Corporate Governance programs. He also runs workshops that teaches the fundamentals of Conscious Capitalism and certifies consultants and Bard of Directors. TEDx Speaker with 400k views.

Thomas is the cofounder and CEO of CBJ Conscious Business Journey a global network with the purpose to accelerate the upgrade of organizations towards a more conscious business ecosystem. CBJ has certified 800+ Conscious Capitalist Consultants in 21 countries and is an international program based on the Conscious Capitalism Field Guide and Fundamentals of Conscious Capitalism. He also cofounded the first conscious capitalism consultant network (Conscious Business Network) to support organizations interested in upgrading themselves.

Thomas also works as a trusted adviser to help organizations implement conscious practices. He cofounded a few conscious businesses along the way, was a B-Corp certified entrepreneur and he also serves on the boards of several different companies.

Connect with Thomas on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Goodmans is a third-generation office furniture distributor in Arizona and New Mexico. Goodmans was the first benefit corporation in Arizona.

Adam Goodman, president and CEO of Goodmans Interior Structures, is the third generation to lead the family business.

Under Adam’s leadership, Goodmans has developed many innovative programs to give back to the community. These programs include Office Chair Hockey, Goodmans Eye for the Good Guy, AIM to Make a Difference, Rooted in Good, GoodInc, GoodART, GoodTHREADS and more. In 2009, Goodmans won the first-ever ACE Award for Community Impact and in 2011 Goodmans became the third certified B Corp in Arizona.

In 2012, Goodmans won the overall Impact Company of the Year Award from the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. In 2013, Goodmans was the Better Business Bureau’s Ethics Award winner for Arizona and then Goodmans was honored with the BBB’s International Torch Award for Ethics. In 2014 Goodmans was named to the Game Changers 500 list as one of the top 500 companies in the world using business as a force for social change.

In 2015 Goodmans became the first Benefit Corporation (B Corp) registered in the State of Arizona and in 2018 Goodmans was recognized as the Top Social Responsibility Company among the Arizona Republic’s Top Companies awardees. That same year, Adam was honored with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council’s Community Impact Award.

Adam has held leadership positions with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Phoenix, Phoenix Country Day School, Young Presidents Organization, Conscious Capitalism, Independent Newsmedia, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, the Jewish Federation, the Jewish Community Relations Council, Greater Phoenix Leadership, the Phoenix Symphony, CEO’s Against Cancer, Banner Health Foundation, University of Arizona Cancer Center, the State of Arizona Secretary of State’s Commerce Council, First Place AZ, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, ASU Herberger Institute Dean’s Creativity Council, WP Carey School of Business Economic Club of Phoenix, the National Dealer Alliance and the Herman Miller Certified Dealer Network.

Adam has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of Texas at Austin. He resides in Paradise Valley with his wife Stephanie and their three children.

Follow Goodmans on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Culture Crush

Culture is not just a tag word to be thrown around. It is not something you throw in job descriptions to draw people to applying for jobs within a company.

According to Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall in their book Nine Lies About Work, “Culture is the tenants of how we behave. It’s like a family creed. This is how we operate and treat each other in the family.”

As a growing company- Culture Crush Business Podcast is THE culture improvement resource that supports companies and leaders.  Our Mission is to improve company cultures so people WANT to go to work. Employees and leaders should like where they work and we think this is possible.

Within the company: Culture Crush has Vetted Resources and Partnerships with the right people and resources that can help improve your company culture.

On this podcast:  We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company.  We also find the companies that offer resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the show to share their tips and tricks for growing culture.

About the Host

Kindra Maples  is spartan racer, past animal trainer, previous magician’s assistant, and has a weakness for Oreo cookie shakes. Her journey working with people actually started working with animals as a teenager (don’t worry we won’t go that far back for her bio).

She worked for over 15 years in the zoo industry working with animals and the public. Her passion of working with animals shifted into working with people in education, operations and leadership roles. From there her passion of leadership and helping people develop has continued to grow.

Then came the opportunity for leading  the Culture Crush Business Podcast and she jumped on it. Leadership, growth, and strong company cultures are all areas that Kindra is interested in diving into further.