loader from loading.io

The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 80: Transforming Lives and AI with Wendy Gonzalez

Mission Driven Business

Release Date: 07/23/2024

The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 88: Reclaiming Your Time with Conrad Ruiz show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 88: Reclaiming Your Time with Conrad Ruiz

Mission Driven Business

Brian Thompson chats with Conrad Ruiz, the founder and CEO of Well Aware, a company dedicated to helping business owners reclaim their time. With a background in biomedical engineering and consulting, Conrad blends technical insight with an entrepreneurial spirit to help business owners simplify complex operations and master time management. He shares his personal journey into entrepreneurship, which started with a medical crisis, and offers practical advice on creating efficient systems and finding balance in business. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses start with why. For Conrad, a...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 87: Creating Purposeful Marketing with Lauren Tilden show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 87: Creating Purposeful Marketing with Lauren Tilden

Mission Driven Business

Brian Thompson chats with Lauren Tilden, host of the Making Good podcast and a marketing coach dedicated to helping creative small business owners who want to get out of their own way and start making an impact. After 8 years in corporate marketing, Lauren left her corporate career and began her winding journey to owning and supporting small businesses. She offers insights into defining one’s ideal customer, creating goal-oriented marketing plans, and staying consistent with your message. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses are motivated by more than money. Growing up, Lauren felt...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 86: Building Your Ideal Business with Adam Oh show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 86: Building Your Ideal Business with Adam Oh

Mission Driven Business

Brian Thompson chats with Adam Oh, founder of Adam Aligned, a business focused on helping people heal from emotional hardship, find direction, and realize their full potential. On the episode, Adam shares his journey from music artist and social media influencer to self-help entrepreneur. He emphasizes the importance of research and trial and error. He also discusses the significance of overcoming limiting beliefs and provides some actional tools to identify and address them. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses operate with core values. Adam defined a mission-driven business as one...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 85: Nursing Your Instagram Profile To Wealth with Jumer Adalin show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 85: Nursing Your Instagram Profile To Wealth with Jumer Adalin

Mission Driven Business

Brian Thompson chats with nurse-turned-entrepreneur, Jumer Adalin. As a social media expert, Jumer helps fellow nurse entrepreneurs grow their businesses through social media to create both impact and income. On the episode, Jumer shares his journey from ICU nurse to social media superstar. He also offers valuable tips for Instagram marketing and creating content to grow and nurture your own online audience. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses focus on solving problems. As a nurse-by-trade, Jumer likens a mission-driven business to a healthcare team whose common goal is to bring about...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 84: Improving Financial Security for the LGBTQ+ Community with Debt Free Guys David and John Auten-Schneider show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 84: Improving Financial Security for the LGBTQ+ Community with Debt Free Guys David and John Auten-Schneider

Mission Driven Business

Brian Thompson chats with Queer Money podcast hosts and Debt Free Guys founders David and John Auten-Schneider. David and John have more than a decade of experience helping the queer community thrive financially through their podcast, website, and emails. On the episode, they discuss the importance of being intentional with how you choose to grow and engage with your audience. They also open up about some setbacks they’ve experienced as entrepreneurs and tips they’ve learned in their decade-long entrepreneurial journey. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses have a purpose beyond...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 83: Braving Discomfort to Live Your Purpose with Channyn Lynne Parker show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 83: Braving Discomfort to Live Your Purpose with Channyn Lynne Parker

Mission Driven Business

Brian Thompson chats with human rights advocate and Brave Space Alliance CEO Channyn Lynne Parker. Channyn is a public speaker whose accolades include the inaugural Trans100 award, Henrietta Lacks award, and Equality Illinois Freedom Award. As CEO of Brave Space Alliance, Channyn shepherds the first Black-led, trans-led TLGBQ+ center on the south side of Chicago. On the episode, Channyn shares her journey to becoming the CEO of Brave Space Alliance and the significance of finding alignment in life. She also reveals why the nursery rhyme “Row, Row, Row  Your Boat” is deeper than you...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 82: Creating a Thriving Private Social Network with Shadé Akande show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 82: Creating a Thriving Private Social Network with Shadé Akande

Mission Driven Business

Brian Thompson chats with Shadé Akande, founder and CEO of ONE X LEAGUE, a private social league for Black and Afro-Latina women executives and founders. With more than 18 years of global HR experience at companies like Google and Walmart, Shadé shares her journey of creating a community during that pandemic that blossomed into ONE X LEAGUE. Tune in to hear how a series of brunches sparked the idea for a business all about building relationships and how the transformative power of feedback made ONE X LEAGUE the social network it is today. Episode Highlights  Mission-driven businesses...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 81: How To Use Instagram to Amplify Your Mission and Engage Your Audience show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 81: How To Use Instagram to Amplify Your Mission and Engage Your Audience

Mission Driven Business

Instagram is more than just a social media platform. It has evolved into a visual storytelling hub where businesses can connect deeply with their audience among the more than 1 billion monthly active users on the platform. On this special episode, Brian delves into the intricacies of marketing on Instagram. Whether you’re just starting out looking to enhance your online presence, this episode will equip you with the knowledge and strategies to leverage Instagram effectively. Episode Highlights Outline your engagement strategy. Instagram provides a unique platform for you to showcase your...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 80: Transforming Lives and AI with Wendy Gonzalez show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 80: Transforming Lives and AI with Wendy Gonzalez

Mission Driven Business

Brian chats with tech trailblazer and Sama CEO Wendy Gonzalez. Sama is a mission-driven Certified B Corp that seeks to raise the standards for both machine learning and global working conditions. The company’s innovative approach to ethically sourcing and training tech talent has lifted more than 68,000 people out of poverty since 2008. On the episode, Wendy dives deep into Sama’s unique for-profit business structure, including reserving a Board of Directors seat for its non-profit on its non-profit roots. She also touts the importance of conviction and self-awareness when building and...

info_outline
The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 79: Niching Down with Hugo E. Gomez show art The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 79: Niching Down with Hugo E. Gomez

Mission Driven Business

Brian chats with entrepreneur and Hispanic marketing leader Hugo E. Gomez. As the founder of HispanicMarketing.com, Hugo helps U.S. businesses connect with the Hispanic market. On the episode, Hugo discusses the importance of niching down for marketing and creating personal branding on social media. He also shares the lessons learned on his journey from an employee to self-employed, including embracing uncertainty and trusting himself to figure things out. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses seek win-wins. HispanicMarketing.com is composed of four sub-brands -- Abogados NOW, Doctores...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Brian chats with tech trailblazer and Sama CEO Wendy Gonzalez. Sama is a mission-driven Certified B Corp that seeks to raise the standards for both machine learning and global working conditions. The company’s innovative approach to ethically sourcing and training tech talent has lifted more than 68,000 people out of poverty since 2008.

On the episode, Wendy dives deep into Sama’s unique for-profit business structure, including reserving a Board of Directors seat for its non-profit on its non-profit roots. She also touts the importance of conviction and self-awareness when building and running a business.

Episode Highlights

Mission-driven businesses can have more than one mission.

Mission-driven businesses can have more than one mission, according to Wendy. For instance, Sama has a “triple bottom line” of bringing long-term value to people living in poverty, to the planet, and to the bottom line.

“We were really founded on this premise that talent is distributed equally but opportunity is not,” she said. “We started with the mission first, and the core mission is what we then built a business problem to solve for around.”

Hold earnings calls and learnings calls.

You’ve probably heard of a company's earnings calls when the executives share updates about the firm’s financial metrics. Sama applies the same concept to its mission by hosting “learning calls,” in which the company provides updates on its impact metrics.

“The idea from the very beginning is you have to track with rigor what our impact is,” Wendy said. “It’s no different than how you would track your financials.”

If you’re a big company, consider B Corp Certification.

Sama is a Certified B Corp, meaning it meets verified, high standards of social and environmental performance, has made a legal commitment to accountability, and transparently shares information. Wendy said the company pursued B Corp status once it transitioned from a non-profit financial structure to a for-profit structure because the B Corp Certification is the best and most recognized accreditation standard for impact-driven companies.

“We were big enough that we thought B Corp Certification is going to be important for us, so that nobody believes that our transition in financing means that anything has changed,” she said.

One downside to B Corp Certification is that it requires a lot of effort and expenses. If you’re a small company, you may not be able to afford the resources needed to comply with the reporting requirements, but if you’re an established impact-driven company, Wendy recommended looking into B Corp Certification. 

“If you’re a customer looking for a recognized seal of approval, that’s recognizable,” she said.

Fire yourself annually.

About once per year, Wendy does a mental exercise in which she fires herself as CEO and evaluates whether she’d rehire herself for the job. The exercise is an opportunity to reflect on the kind of leader her company needs and also where her energy and convictions lie.

“If you’re the CEO, you’ve got to be not only the CEO your company needs today, but the one your company needs tomorrow,” Wendy said.

Resources + Links

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.