How to Bet on Yourself and Build a Business Around Freedom
Mission Driven Business
Building a business around freedom is more than a financial decision, it's a deeply personal one. In this episode, Brian Thompson sits down with Kyra Mitchell Lewis, a brand strategist, marketer, podcast host, and founder of and , to talk about what it truly means to bet on yourself. Kyra shares how more than 20 years in corporate marketing led her to a pivotal moment of liberation, how she built a thriving consulting business in under a year, and why keeping an open mind has been one of her greatest entrepreneurial assets. A Business Built Around Purpose Kyra defines a mission-driven...
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How to Prepare for Next Year's Taxes Without the Stress
Mission Driven Business
Tax season doesn't have to be a scramble, but for most business owners, it is. In this episode, Brian Thompson offers a simple, practical system for taking the stress and surprise out of taxes by shifting from a once-a-year reaction to a year-round strategy. If last episode left you wondering whether you missed something, this one is your action plan. Start With a Mindset Shift Before getting into tactics, Brian makes an important reframe: taxes are not a once-a-year event. They are a year-round strategy. This matters especially for mission-driven business owners who are growing...
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How to Optimize Your Tax Return for More Business Tax Savings
Mission Driven Business
In this episode, Brian Thompson discusses key insights from the recent tax season, highlighting trends, surprises, and strategic opportunities for business owners to optimize their tax planning and financial health. Your tax return is not something to file and forget. If you pay attention, your tax return gives you a roadmap for what to do better this coming year. Brian also gives real-life examples of two clients that stood out this tax season. Understanding Unexpected Tax Outcomes One of the most significant stress points during tax season is the unexpected tax outcome. Many business...
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S-Corps Explained: Tax Savings, Trade-Offs, and What No One Tells You
Mission Driven Business
The S-Corp question is one of the most common Brian hears from entrepreneurs, but the answer is almost never as simple as the internet makes it sound. In this episode, Brian Thompson breaks down what an S-Corp actually is, how the potential tax savings work, and the real-world trade-offs that often get left out of the conversation. Whether you're considering the election for the first time or revisiting the decision, this episode gives you the context you need to make an informed choice. What is an S-Corp? First, an important clarification: an S-Corporation is not a business structure,...
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Budgeting Series #3: A Guide to Building Your Financial Strategy
Mission Driven Business
Awareness and acceptance lay the groundwork, but nothing changes until you take action. In this final episode of the budgeting series, Brian Thompson brings the framework full circle by focusing on what to actually do with your numbers. Because understanding your finances and accepting where you are is only powerful if it leads somewhere. This episode is about making intentional, strategic decisions that move your mission-driven business forward. Start With Vision, Not Spreadsheets Before diving into tactics, Brian starts with something that might surprise you in a budgeting...
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Building a Profitable Practice with Authenticity and Heart
Mission Driven Business
Rooted in identity, community, and purpose is what it truly means to build a business with heart. Brian Thompson sits down with Kala Lacy, an EMDR-trained yoga psychotherapist and founder of , a holistic wellness practice centered on Black and queer people of color. Kala shares how she turned her own healing journey into a thriving private practice, why niching down with radical specificity was the key to her success, and what inspired her newest venture: , a mentorship community for Black, queer, and trans clinicians building aligned private practices. A Business With Heart Kala...
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Budgeting Series #2: A Guide to Money Mindset Shifts
Mission Driven Business
Money isn't just math and for most entrepreneurs, it never has been. In this episode, Brian Thompson continues the budgeting series with part two: acceptance. Building on , Brian explores the emotional side of budgeting and why looking at your numbers without shame or judgment is just as important as looking at them at all. Why Financial Acceptance Is the Missing Piece Once you have your numbers, you're naturally going to have feelings about them. Money is tied to your upbringing, your fears, your identity, and your sense of security. Brian sees it constantly in his client work: people...
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Budgeting Series #1: A Guide to Financial Awareness
Mission Driven Business
Budgeting doesn't have to be intimidating, but it does have to be intentional. In this episode, Brian Thompson kicks off a brand new solo series on budgeting for entrepreneurs, approaching the topic through three lenses: awareness, acceptance, and action. The episode is the first and most foundational step: Awareness. Whether you're a new business owner or a seasoned mission-driven entrepreneur, understanding where your money is actually going is the starting point for everything else. Why Financial Awareness Comes First Every January, Brian's inbox fills up with clients asking to...
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How Veterans Are Transforming Into Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs
Mission Driven Business
Julie Austin and Matthew Cain share their journey in leveraging their military backgrounds to assist veterans in transitioning to entrepreneurship through their podcast Dogtags to Ownership. We explore the definition of mission-driven businesses, the importance of community & networking, and the personal experiences that shaped their call to service. The discussion also touches on the significance of identity, the challenges faced during the Don't Ask, Don't Tell era and how their backgrounds influence their current endeavors. The episode concludes with insights on partnership dynamics and...
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Transform Your Business with an Annual Client Audit
Mission Driven Business
Understanding your client relationships is more crucial than ever in today's fast-paced business environment. The that can help you gain clarity on your client base, enhance your business relationships, and ultimately drive growth. In this episode, Brian Thompson focuses on how a thoughtful client audit can transform your business. He emphasizes that this process is not about hastily cutting ties with clients but rather about thoughtfully evaluating client relationships to enhance business growth and personal well-being with a simple three-step process. The Importance of a Client Audit...
info_outlineIt’s almost the New Year, which means it’s the perfect time to reflect on the first year of the Mission Driven Business podcast. In this special Year in Reflection episode, Brian re-lives some of the best moments from the first 21 episodes of the podcast.
You'll hear some of the insights, strengths, and hope shared by the diverse podcast guests on their respective episodes. Brian also shares some of his favorite nuggets of wisdom, and he recounts how each guests’ story ties into the larger podcast theme -- that you can make money and serve a purpose.
Episode Highlights
There is no one definition of mission-driven business.
If you’ve listened to the podcast, you know that the first thing Brian asks his guests is to describe what a mission-driven business means to them. That’s because mission-driven businesses are distinct, and everyone has a different answer.
One of Brian’s favorite answers came from Phuong Luong, who shared a quote she heard in grad school.
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs,” she said. “Instead, ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is for more people to come alive.”
Regardless of their definition, Brian makes sure listeners know that your business can make money and serve a purpose. It’s a point echoed by many of the guests on the podcast.
In the very first episode, Dawn Hancock summarized the principle by saying, “Profit does matter. It just doesn’t have to be the only thing.” But Brian Floriani may have said it most succinctly in episode 18: “No margin. No mission.”
Everyone has a different journey.
Every entrepreneur on the show has had a different path to their career. Brian highlighted how in episode two, Bill Bynum credited his childhood experiences as fundamental to him later running one of the largest community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in the U.S.
Other entrepreneurs had numerous twists on their paths running companies with purpose and profit. In episode 13, attorney Nici Kersey shared how running her own businesses wasn’t something she planned, but came after her company let her go because of a military move.
Nothing is perfect.
Unforeseen circumstances are a given with entrepreneurial life. In episode 11, Lauren Klafke opened up about how her work and home life adjusted when her business started booming at the same time she was caring for a newborn and overseeing a house remodel.
One way to navigate unforeseen circumstances is to know your values. Perhaps the best example yet of letting your values guide you is financial planner River Nice.
In episode 20, River shared how their values first guided them to leave the corporate world and try their hand at entrepreneurship, then again when defining their niche. The result is that River's day-to-day work is aligned with their strengths and values.
“I’m just so happy on a day-to-day basis,” River said. “Who knew life could be this good? It feels like bragging, but that’s the point, right? The point of this podcast is that life can be this good, and you can do it, too.”
Learn from the experts’ experiences.
While it’s nice to hear about purpose and values, podcast listeners have most enjoyed learning the strategies and tactics guests rely upon to run their home and work lives.
In episode 16, the owners of Columbus Running Company played up the importance of community, while in episode 3, Jacob Padrón praised the merits of asking for help. But Brian particularly appreciated the insights of Nici Kersey on how to let go of perfectionism: watch baseball.
“Watching baseball made me really focus more on the fact that you don’t have to be perfect,” Nici said. “These players are the best in the world at being a baseball player, and they mess up all the time, right?”
Self-care isn’t selfish.
Brian always ends the episode by asking each guest to share anything surprising they’ve learned on their journey. One of the most commented lines ever on the podcast came from Pamela Capalad’s answer to this very question.
“Running a business mostly sucks,” she said in episode 5.
While running a mission-driven can suck at times, all entrepreneurs on the podcast say the freedom and fulfillment are well worth pushing the uncertainty and overcoming the inevitable obstacles. But the grit needed to do that can be hard to learn, said Mark Suh in episode 21.
“That belief in yourself has to be strong enough that you don’t quit,” he said.
While the year has been filled with wisdom, Brian’s favorite piece of advice also came from the answer to this last question when Emlen praised the importance of self-care. In episode 10, Emlen explained how incorporating self-care into his regimented schedule has helped him ultimately have a more productive day.
“It was the aspect of tracking over time that made me realize, when I do this, I was a better husband, I was a better dad, I was more patient with the kids,” he said.
Resources + Links
- Brian’s Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
- Episode 1: Socially Conscious Design with Dawn Hancock
- Episode 2: Advancing Opportunity in the Deep South with Bill Bynum
- Episode 3: Values-Based Leadership with Jacob Padrón
- Episode 4: Taking the Entrepreneurship Leap with Phuong Luong
- Episode 5: Building Brunch & Budget with Pamela Capalad
- Episode 6: Eradicating Entrepreneurial Poverty with Ron Saharyan
- Episode 7: Being Profit First with Mike Michalowicz
- Episode 9: Launching a Family-Run Business with Chantel Valentene and Brian Mackin
- Episode 10: Systems and Self-Care with Emlen Miles-Mattingly
- Episode 11: Setting Boundaries with Lauren Klafke
- Episode 13: When the Entrepreneur Life Chooses You with Nici Kersey
- Episode 14: Living Your Passion with George Kinder
- Episode 15: Equitably Investing in Cannabis with Seke Ballard
- Episode 16: Running a Successful Retail Business with Columbus Running Company
- Episode 17: Success on the Second Try with Anna Murphy
- Episode 18: Social Enterprise for Literacy with Brian Floriani
- Episode 19: Humane Marketing with Sarah Santacroce
- Episode 20: Defining Your Niche with River Nice
- Episode 21: Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset with Mark Suh
About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast
Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.
On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.