The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 63: Disrupting the Status Quo with Miki Agrawal

Brian chats with serial entrepreneur, social innovator, and author Miki Agrawal. As the founder of disruptive ventures Tushy, Thinx, and Wild, Miki is known for challenging the status quo and driving cultural change. She is also the author of best-selling books Do Cool Sh*t and Disrupt-Her.

On the episode, Miki dives deep into her experience building multiple 100-million-dollar businesses. She also shares the questions she asks before starting a new business and opens up about how some of her hardest times have led to growth.

Episode Highlights

Mission-driven businesses do well and good.

Miki defines a mission-driven business as a company that does good and well at the same time. As a member of a board on conscious capitalism, she’s witnessed how companies that create socially conscious business models perform better financially, too.

“It’s a company that looks at the stakeholders versus just the shareholders,” Miki said. “Having not just a revenue-focused target but also an impact target is important.”

Three questions to ask before starting a business.

Before she starts a new business, Miki asks herself three questions:

1. What sucks in my world?

2. Does it suck for a lot of people?

3. Can I be passionate about it for a really long time?

“There’s a saying that it takes 10 years to be an overnight success,” Miki said. “When I think about starting Tushy or Thinx or Wild, they are all things I could be really passionate about for a really long time.”

90% of success is action.

Miki likes the saying that 90% of working out is putting on your running shoes and walking out the door. She attributes a similar action-first mindset to success in business, too. If you’re inspired and take action, you may end up somewhere miraculous.

“If you have an idea in your head, take the first step,” she said. “Talk is cheap. Action speaks louder than words.”

Question everything.

Miki attributes her success to her desire to creatively solve problems to the best of her ability. She also credits her culturally diverse upbringing in French Canada, where she grew up with a Japanese mother and Indian father in a Hindu-Buddhist household.

“We got a chance to not conform,” she said. “When you don’t conform, you get to really question everything. And when you get to question everything, you invent new possibilities.”

Resources + Links

• Miki Agrawal: Website, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest

• Books: Disrupt-Her: A Manifesto for the Modern Woman, Do Cool Sh*t

• Tushy: Website, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Threads, YouTube 

• Thinx: Website, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter

• Wild: Website, Instagram, Facebook 

• Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast

• Follow Brian Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Forbes

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.