Mission Driven Business

Diverse entrepreneurs share their experiences, strength, and hope to help mission-driven businesses thrive. In a series of intimate conversations, attorney and CFP Brian Thompson and his guests provide practical steps to create businesses with impact and profit.

How to Get Different with Mike Michalowicz 01/11/2022

How to Get Different with Mike Michalowicz Brian Thompson welcomes Mike Michalowicz back on the podcast. Mike is the mastermind behind Profit First Professionals and the author of books for entrepreneurs and small business owners. In episode seven, Mike talked about his Profit First system and his experience growing several multi-million dollar companies. Now Mike is back to talk about his latest book, Get Different: Marketing That Can’t Be Ignored! Mike shares the research and insights he learned when writing the book, and he offers his tips for creating an effective and radically different marketing system. Episode Highlights Small businesses have a responsibility to market. Mike researched the concepts behind Get Different for a decade. In that time, he learned that while small business owners provide products and services that are better than the competition, many are afraid to market themselves. “We have a responsibility to market,” Mike said. “If our prospects can’t find us, they’re going to find something that’s perhaps inferior. That’s their problem, but it’s our fault.” Mike recommends that small business owners speak to their community with integrity and honesty because their voices need to be heard. “We have to step up and become noticed,” he said. Use the DAD framework for effective marketing. Mike created a catchy acronym that gets down to the essence of effective marketing: DAD. The acronym stands for the following: Differentiate -- Reach your community by doing something unexpected Attract -- Create marketing that speaks to your audience Direct -- Give specific, safe, and reasonable instructions “Simply ask, does DAD approve?” Mike said. “It has a little bit of a creep factor, but that helps make it memorable.” Many small business owners already incorporate one or two of the DAD elements into their marketing but not all three. As a result, they think their marketing is a failure. “All three have to be present,” Mike said. “It’s like a checklist.” Launch many marketing experiments but few plans. Marketing plans are important, but many small business owners prematurely go into launching a plan. “We prematurely go into a plan, but we don’t know if it’s going to work,” Mike said. “So the plan is to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. That is a horrible plan.” Instead, a marketing plan should aim to amplify what already works. Mike recommended running many marketing experiments to figure out what works and what does not. “We should be constantly experimenting, but we should be very selectively and carefully planning,” Mike said. Target 100 prospective clients. No one can serve everybody, Mike said. That means it’s important for small business owners to find their target audience. Mike recommended doing this by identifying the clients who love you the most and finding out where their connection points are. Then, Mike suggested testing marketing with a sample size of at least 100 people in your target community. He chose that number after looking at the work of experts, including probability specialists. “While that may not be a perfect indicator, that will be far more adequate than a random sample of one or two,” Mike said. Resources + Links Episode seven: Being Profit First with More of Mike’s books: , , , , , Mike’s Twitter: Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/21724496

My Year in Reflection 12/28/2021

My Year in Reflection It’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: , , Episode 1: Socially Conscious Design with Episode 2: Advancing Opportunity in the Deep South with Episode 3: Values-Based Leadership with Episode 4: Taking the Entrepreneurship Leap with Episode 5: Building Brunch & Budget with Episode 6: Eradicating Entrepreneurial Poverty with Episode 7: Being Profit First with Episode 9: Launching a Family-Run Business with Episode 10: Systems and Self-Care with Episode 11: Setting Boundaries with Episode 13: When the Entrepreneur Life Chooses You with Episode 14: Living Your Passion with Episode 15: Equitably Investing in Cannabis with Episode 16: Running a Successful Retail Business with Episode 17: Success on the Second Try with Episode 18: Social Enterprise for Literacy with Episode 19: Humane Marketing with Episode 20: Defining Your Niche with Episode 21: Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset with 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/21613811

Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset with Mark Suh 12/14/2021

Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset with Mark Suh Brian chats with Mark Suh, a serial entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Everwell, an Orange County, CA-based wellness clinic. On the episode, Mark shares how a series of health trials led to a wellness journey that transformed his life and sparked his passion for Everwell, his first mission-driven venture. Mark also opens up about why mindset is the most challenging but essential aspect to develop as an entrepreneur. And he touts the importance of flexibility, a skill he used after opening the doors to Everwell just months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Episode Highlights Mission-driven entrepreneurs never work another day. Although it’s cliche, Mark believes that mission-driven entrepreneurs never have to work another day of their life. That’s because their passion underlies everything they do for the business. “I don’t really feel like I’m coming to work,” Mark said. “Mondays are exciting. Mondays are not a drag.” For Mark, that mission is to help people become the best version of themselves one client at a time. It’s a mission that’s personal to him because when he was in his 30s he went through a series of health challenges, including two back surgeries. He attributed the health trials to sacrificing his health to build prior businesses. “In my 20s and 30s, I thought all you gotta do is sacrifice your body to make ends meet and make money and that’s all that mattered. ... Then I found my passion,” Mark said. “I love being able to help and being able to have the solutions and answers, especially since I’ve lived through it.” Mindset is the hardest part. Mark believes that developing an entrepreneurial mindset is the hardest part of starting your own business and a key reason why more people don’t make that entrepreneurial leap. Being an entrepreneur means having a belief in yourself that is stronger than fear of instability, risk, and uncertainty. “That belief in yourself has to be strong enough so that you don’t quit,” Mark said. “Everything else you can figure out. … But the emotional part, it’s hard to teach. It’s very difficult.” Be able to pivot quickly. Mark advises mission-driven business owners to be fluid and be able to pivot quickly depending on the situation. That’s a skill he has employed after opening his clinic in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The business right now that we have is not the business that we set out to do,” Mark said. “We’ve had to add different products; we had to push different things; we had to shift our branding a little bit.” It’s also important to balance nimbleness with a long-term vision, Mark said. He’s always projecting where he wants his business to be in a few years and has an exit strategy in mind. “Climates change, and nothing lasts forever,” Mark said. “During the financial crisis … when I saw humongous corporations go under that have been around for decades, I came to the realization that nothing lasts forever, so we’ve got to have an exit strategy.” Resources + Links Mark’s Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/21477002

Defining Your Niche with River Nice 11/23/2021

Defining Your Niche with River Nice Brian chats with River Nice, the owner and financial planner of Be Intentional Financial. River’s company seeks to reduce the harm done by capitalism to transgender and queer individuals and families by providing education, tools, advice, and a place to talk about money. Known as the anticapitalist financial planner, River shares how they found their niche by playing to their strengths and reaching out to their community. They also discuss how running a mission-driven business can serve both your community and yourself. Episode Highlights Mission-Driven Businesses serve your community and yourself. River describes a mission-driven business as a company that can project the founder into success but isn’t ultimately about making money. River attributes the quick success of their own mission-driven business, Be Intentional Financial, to following their values and being honest. “It is both doing something that’s not just about making money but also trying to make money,” River said. “My mission is to serve primarily the trans community, and that includes me, so it’s serving my clients and my community. But it’s also making sure that I can have my best life.” Successful businesses play to your strengths. River started their career in the tech industry but felt disenchanted with the industry after the election of President Trump. At the same time, they had a partner who was in debt from her gender transition. River sat down with their partner to help her create a budget, understand her credit card interest rates, and put together a timeline, which gave her partner an immediate sense of relief. “She was like, ‘River, this is your thing. You need to help trans people with money,’” River said. River had never thought they could have inherent strengths that others do not have, so they told anybody who would listen: “I’m going to help trans people with their money.” River got their start in financial services at Ameriprise Financial. Then, in 2019, they quit their job, came out as transgender, and launched Be Intentional Financial. River said it’s been an amazing journey. “I am just so happy on a day-to-day basis. Who knew life could be this good?” River said. “It feels a little 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.” Define your niche. Then cater to it. Even with the intent to primarily serve the transgender community, River recognized that still included an incredibly diverse group of people. They knew they had to get even more specific to reach an audience tailored to their own skills and knowledge. River’s niche typically includes people in their 20s and 30s who have come into money for the first time, whether that’s having a job that provides an income more than what they need to just survive or getting an unexpected chunk of money through inheritance or divorce. Once River defined their niche, they adapted their services to meet their target client’s needs. One of those needs is making people in the transgender community feel empowered by their newfound financial prosperity, rather than “almost a survivor’s guilt,” River said. “For people who come from marginalized backgrounds to suddenly have more than they need to survive, they feel so bad that they are okay now even though the rest of the community is struggling,” River said. “So being able to just to talk about that and say, ‘Do not cut yourself off. Do not sabotage yourself.’” Resources + Links Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/21252425

Humane Marketing with Sarah Santacroce 11/09/2021

Humane Marketing with Sarah Santacroce Brian chats with Sarah Santacroce, a LinkedIn guru turned humane marketing revolutionary. Sarah opens up about the breakdowns and breakthroughs that led to her living her passion for bringing empathy and kindness to business and marketing. On the episode, Sarah discusses how to succeed in online marketing by finding your purpose and being your true, authentic self. She also shares the pitfalls of buzzy marketing phrases, and how using softer words can bring compassion to current and future clients. Episode Highlights Mission-driven entrepreneurs focus on their why. To Sarah, mission-driven business owners start by reflecting on what they care about before they jump in and execute on an idea. These savvy entrepreneurs think about their values and ideal clients just as much as their business opportunities. “What is your big question that you want to answer by helping others,” Sarah said on the episode. “Reflecting on the things that you made your why.” Marketing doesn’t have to be slimy. Online marketing can sometimes feel pushy, aggressive, and slimy, Sarah said. In fact, Sarah once contemplated leaving the industry because she felt she had too much empathy for modern marketing. Only after having a breakdown, did she have a breakthrough that humane marketing with an emphasis on human connection could work in the modern era, too. “Because we focused so much on the technology -- the scaling, the always bigger, always more -- we lost touch with the actual relationship that we have with other people that are humans,” Sarah said. Passion first. Clients later. One of Sarah’s seven humane marketing principles is that passion and purpose come first, and clients come later. This type of thinking reverses the conventional marketing paradigm of a scarcity mindset -- there are only so many clients. Instead, it emphasizes finding the right clients. “If you bring more of you to your marketing, that will resonate with the right clients,” Sarah said. One shred of evidence this is working in the real world is with the “Great Resignation,” a term coined as record numbers of American workers quit their jobs. Sarah says a similar trend is happening with customers, who are now willing to pay a little bit more to buy a service from a business or brand that aligns with their values. “That matters for entrepreneurs to say, ‘I have an opinion, and I have these values.’ They matter,” Sarah said. Resources + Links Sarah’s Social Media: , , Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/21055118

The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 18: Social Enterprise for Literacy with Brian Floriani 10/26/2021

The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 18: Social Enterprise for Literacy with Brian Floriani Brian chats with Brian Floriani, a golf professional turned literacy advocate and entrepreneur who has founded two companies dedicated to improving literacy in the U.S. Brian’s latest enterprise, Freadom, was founded in late 2020 as a purpose-driven lifestyle brand that uses 100% of its proceeds for literacy initiatives. On the episode, Brian Floriani talks about how he is using a social enterprise model to turn the traditional approach to social giving on its head. He also discusses how values can help Freadom’s direction and shares numerous adages to aid aspiring social entrepreneurs. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses strive for more than success. Brian Floriani differentiates between success and significance, noting success is about personal accomplishments and significance is about the accomplishments of other people. He sees a similar distinction when defining a mission-driven business versus an ordinary one. “A mission-driven business is driven mostly by purpose, and the purpose of something that’s greater than being successful in a business that’s usually driven by and measured by money,” he said. “It’s a business that is focused on significance, not success.” No margin. No mission. For Freadom, being a mission-driven business means scaling a business that will give 100% of its net profits to literacy programs. But to get there, Brian Floriani had to think outside of the box of what a charitable company can be. It’s something he learned while running his first business, a successful literary nonprofit called Bernie’s Book Bank. “When you’re running a nonprofit, you’re running a business where your productivity is directly related to revenue,” Brian Floriani said. “That’s a tough way to run a business.” Brian Floriani felt strongly that he needed a business where revenue can be scaled. He saw a social enterprise model, like one employed by Newman’s Own, as a viable solution. As he once heard a mentor say: ‘No margin. No mission.’ “Money is a reality,” Brian Floriani said. “And if you’re not profitable, especially for us, you’re not properly going to get it right.” Know and espouse your values. Freadom lists its values on a “We believe” page on its website. This declaration helps visitors get a clear understanding of what Freadom is and what motivates the team, but it also serves as guideposts for the company. “That’s important because you need guideposts to fall back on when you need to make important decisions,” Brian Floriani said. “Does it reflect what we believe?” Brian Floriani developed those values first as a stream of consciousness exercise that turned into a full brand narrative. He performed a similar routine two years into running Bernie’s Book Bank. “We operate like a business, and we think like a brand,” he said. Resources + Links Brian Floriani’s Social Media: Freadom and Bernie’s Book Bank Brian Thompson’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/20941106

Success on the Second Try with Anna Murphy 10/12/2021

Success on the Second Try with Anna Murphy Brian chats with Anna Murphy, a Latina entrepreneur and CEO of Murphy and Associates Consulting. Anna shares the wisdom that led her to build a multiple six-figure business in a year and a half. She also discusses the importance of surrounding yourself with people who believe in you, and why hitting rock bottom is worth talking about. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses have a purpose. Starting a business is challenging in and of itself, Anna said. But having a mission-driven business allows the founder to be able to overcome the inevitable challenges and keep moving forward. “There’s things that come up and if you don’t have a purpose everyday for why you’re doing something, then it becomes kind of empty,” Anna said. “Yeah, there’s money. But there has to be more than that, right?” For Anna, she sees this purpose come alive when she talks to clients and a lightbulb goes off in their heads. She knows they understand the financial information that will help them make better decisions moving forward. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. Like many guests on the podcast, Anna didn’t originally set out to be an entrepreneur. She described herself as a quiet, creative person who “fell into the financial industry.” Anna started her career as a graphic designer but pivoted to corporate finance after the economic crash in 2008. After completing her master’s degree, she realized corporate life just was not working for her. At the same time, she surrounded herself with other entrepreneurs. “I started seeing them building businesses and growing and doing different things, and I was like, ‘I can do this,” she said. “You start hanging around those people believing in you, and they motivate you, and they’re like, ‘Yes you can do it.’” Failure is worth talking about. Anna is open about the struggles she faced in her first year of entrepreneurship. When she left her full-time job, she expected that all the time and energy she could dedicate to her own business would automatically translate to growth. But that didn’t happen. “I completely failed,” she said. “Completely ran out of savings.” The experience humbled her, and she went back to work with a part-time job. After getting fired from that job a few years later, she took what she learned from her first attempt at entrepreneurship to make her second attempt successful. “Don’t look down. Focus. Just get to work,” she said. “That was in July 2019, and within a year and half, I hit multiple six figures.” While Anna used to be ashamed to share how she hit rock bottom, she’s since realized that it’s part of her story, and that by sharing her own experiences, she can also empower other business owners. “You’re going to empower someone else by actually saying that,” she said. “There’s someone right now who’s probably broke, completely ran out of money, and doesn’t even know what they’re going to do, right?” Resources + Links Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/20759804

Running a Successful Retail Business with Columbus Running Company 09/28/2021

Running a Successful Retail Business with Columbus Running Company Brian chats with Matt DeLeon and Eric Fruth, the founders of Columbus Running Company. As the first retail entrepreneurs on the show, Eric and Matt discuss how they turned their deep passion for running into a long-running mission-driven business. They also share why community is central to their work and how they have used kindness and determination to overcome obstacles and land major opportunities. Episode Highlights A mission-driven business is like planet Earth. Matt used a distinctive analogy to define a mission-driven business. “A mission-driven business is like the Earth,” he said on the episode. Like the core of the Earth, a mission-driven business starts with an inner layer of dense, fiery passion. In Matt and Eric’s case, that passion is a love for running and what running can bring to someone’s life. The fiery core then creates gravity and attracts things to it, Matt said. On Earth, that means the creation of mountains, deserts, and glaciers. For a mission-driven business, it means resources and people who are attracted to the passion. “It’s our job to take things that are attracted to that passion … and build with it,” Matt said. A mission-driven business relies on community. Eric was a little blunter in his definition of a mission-driven business. He said that, at least for Columbus Running Company, it all goes back to the community. “We tried to build a business that had, at its core, sort of this moral, ethical belief system that we’ve followed,” he said. “And at the end of the day, it’s all built on a community.” Columbus Running Company lives this mission by leading a youth running club, timing charity road races, and training people for their first 5K or marathon. Their work has made a real impact on the lives of their customers and the greater community. “At the end of the day, yes, it’s a profit-driven business. But our goal is to reach out to the community and find ways like that to just improve the world around us,” Eric said. Kill them with kindness. Columbus Running Company’s community focus is one of the reasons that Matt and Eric have succeeded for so long, including earning the accolade of the best running store in the U.S. Matt attributes their success to a culture of kindness, which he learned from Eric. “Eric would sit there and be on the phone and have a smile on his face with kindness,” Matt said. “That’s literally what he did.” While their kindness may not have always been rewarded immediately, it helped the company to build crucial relationships — some of which are just coming to fruition now. It also helped the duo build a loyal customer base in the competitive retail space. “If you can win over a difficult customer, you’ve got them for life because no one’s trying to win them over,” Eric said. “It’s all about relationship building and being part of the community.” Obstacles can be catalysts for growth. When Matt and Eric opened Columbus Running Company in 2004, they planned to run just one location as a “Mom and Pop” store. But as soon as they opened their doors, a national franchise came into the market that wouldn’t let Columbus Running Company buy their product. This became a problem when consumers came to their store and didn’t understand why certain products weren’t in stock. To show the public they were serious, Matt and Eric decided to open a second retail location. It proved to be a catalyst for growth, and Columbus Running Company now operates five locations throughout the Columbus area. “I actually wonder what would have happened if we didn’t have that initial obstacle,” Matt said. Matt and Eric also overcame obstacles by creating their own events, which is now a hallmark of their business. More recently, they’ve learned how to deliver products in 10 minutes to compete with Amazon. “At this point we have a fully evolved event management company with its own staff that’s separate from our retail operation,” Eric said. “It’s a wild evolution that the two of us in 2004 would have no idea how to operate the business that we have 17 years later.” Resources + Links Columbus Running Company: , , Matt’s Social Media: Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/20630837

Equitably Investing in Cannabis with Seke Ballard 09/14/2021

Equitably Investing in Cannabis with Seke Ballard Brian chats with Seke Ballard, the founder and CEO of Good Tree Capital, a financial services firm that uses a proprietary algorithm to balance available economic opportunities for people invested in cannabis companies. On the episode, Seke shares how removing biased data from the lending equation can make the playing field more equal. He also discusses his motivations for starting his firm, the company’s future plans, and why his ultimate dream is to create a banking model that works so well it puts the big, bad banks out of business. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses create wealth with purpose. All businesses are profit-seeking entities, but Seke said mission-driven businesses build on that by creating wealth for a purpose. Seke’s firm, Good Tree Capital, is no exception. The company uses a proprietary algorithm to create economic opportunities for people invested in the cannabis industry. “We want to build wealth with purpose,” he said. “And that purpose is very much around providing fair access to capital to capital to entrepreneurs who are trying to thrive in this emerging industry.” When faced with inequities, get creative. One of Seke’s motivations for starting Good Tree Capital was a conversation he had with his father. When he was younger, his father owned a successful logging company. He wanted to get a loan to expand to other states, but he was denied from every bank he applied to. “All things being equal -- if our balance sheet looks the exact same, if our credit risk profile is the exact same -- I have a harder time getting loans,” Seke said. “And if I succeed in getting them, they’re going to be more expensive for me.” His father’s experience helped motivate Seke to rally a team of data scientists and developers to create a lending algorithm that assesses credit risk without using factors that typically bias credit decisioning factors. The resulting algorithm can assess the risk of defaulting on a loan with 98.2% accuracy. But despite the algorithm’s success, Seke has also run into his own problems raising capital. “I’ve always thought to myself, I’ve got to be clear eyed about this,” he said. “The truth of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of venture capital -- the kind of capital that we’re seeking -- goes to white men. And so if I want to thrive, given that reality, then I have to figure out creative ways to remove that as a barrier for our ability to deploy the lending model.” Dream big. Even if it’s taking on Wells Fargo. One way Seke is getting creative and dreaming big is by building a bank around Good Tree Capital’s lending technology. His vision? To take on Wells Fargo, a company he described as the “archetype for everything that’s wrong with banking.” “It is a personal mission to create a better model,” Seke said. “And to use that model to drive them out of business.” Seke also encouraged other entrepreneurs to dream big. He advocated for finding your big idea and narrowing in on what really motivates you. “Once you find that, if you’re a hard working person with a lot of tenacity, then you’ll forge your way there,” he said. “It starts with having that vision that really motivates you.” Resources + Links “Meet The Man Revolutionizing Marijuana Investing,” Seke’s Social Media: Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/20466206

Living Your Passion with George Kinder 08/24/2021

Living Your Passion with George Kinder Brian chats with George Kinder, the father of the modern financial life planning movement. George is the founder of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning. He has more than 30 years of experience as a practicing financial planner and tax advisor and has trained more than 3,000 professionals in 30 countries. In the episode, George talks about the importance of passion, and how his passion for creating a strong training model fueled him to draft his famous three questions. He also discusses how his purpose continues to evolve as his life grows and changes. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses are driven to a higher purpose. George defines a mission-driven business as one that is driven toward a larger purpose. “It’s a business that is dedicated to a higher purpose, one way or another,” he said. But it’s not just the business itself that can be oriented toward a bigger cause, George said. The people who run the business, the community, the staff, and the consumers can all be part of that larger purpose. “If they are going to be mission-driven, businesses also have to be really personal and really connected with who we are,” George said. Passion comes before precision. George Kinder is perhaps best known for his three Kinder questions: Imagine you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. How would you live your life? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don't hold back on your dreams. Describe a life that is complete and richly yours. Now imagine that you visit your doctor, who tells you that you have only 5-10 years to live. You won't ever feel sick, but you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining? Will you change your life and how will you do it? (Note that this question does not assume unlimited funds.) Finally, imagine that your doctor shocks you with the news that you only have 24 hours to live. Notice what feelings arise as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself: What did you miss? Who did you not get to be? What did you not get to do? In the interview, George stressed that he didn’t arrive at those questions overnight. He established his passion for training and life planning well before the three questions were set in stone. “The precision of that model took a while,” he said. “You got the passion for it, and little things get tweaked.” Passion can fuel you to do great things. When developing the questions, George noticed what brought his clients alive during their meetings. It led to a central question: “What brings them into a passionate relationship with their life that they’re feeling like they can make a difference? That they can be who they want to be? And that they can make a real difference to the world around them?” For George, that passion was training life planners. Although he started his work as a financial planner and tax advisor as a way to earn money, his passion for helping clients craft a vision of their life -- and then ultimately step into that life -- fueled him to develop the three questions. “I became passionate about creating the strongest model for training that I could possibly imagine that would deliver advisors into being mission-driven advisors, having their own mission-driven businesses, and then delivering all of their clients into living mission-driven lives,” he said. One thing that still amazes both Brian and George is watching clients find their spark and come alive. Once clients find their passions -- and know someone believes in them -- they turn into problem solvers. “What astonished me was that when you lit somebody’s fire, when you got them passionable about their lives, they went at it,” George said. “Suddenly, they solved a lot of the obstacles that stood in their way.” Resources + Links George’s books: , , , , , Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/20241920

When the entrepreneur life chooses you with Nici Kersey 08/10/2021

When the entrepreneur life chooses you with Nici Kersey Brian chats with Nicole “Nici” Kersey, the founder of Kersey Immigration Compliance, a law firm specializing in employment-based immigration issues. Nici discusses how she created her firm out of necessity, then grew it into a company that provides opportunities for veterans and military families. She also opens up about how she uses expertise to her advantage and how becoming a baseball fan helped her let go of perfectionism. Episode Highlights It can take time to get comfortable being a business owner. Running her own business was not something that Nici planned to do. But when the military assigned her spouse to a new location out of state, the big law firm she worked for let her go. “I got the greatest push out the door of the airplane,” Nici said. “It’s scary to start your own business, but I was told we can’t employ you anymore.” While Nici could no longer work full-time for her former law firm, the company still wanted to hire her as a contractor because of her expertise in immigration law. So she set up her own business, and in the ensuing years, grew her client roster to include more law firms and other businesses. Still, it took her years to feel confident in her new role as a business owner. “It took seven years probably before I stopped thinking that I was being fired by my clients,” she said. “It took seven years for me to feel confident that it’s not failing.” Mission-driven businesses use profit to serve a purpose. At first, Nici didn’t believe her law firm was a mission-driven business. But conversations with Brian and listening to this podcast changed her definition of what a mission-driven business can be. “I would say that a mission-driven business is a business that makes a profit, but the profit serves a purpose,” she said. “So it’s not a business that’s only driven by profit.” Like other entrepreneurs on the podcast, Nici’s business purpose has evolved over time. Right now, her purpose is two-fold: (1) Making sure people get quality immigration advice and services and (2) providing opportunities for military spouses or people in similar situations. “When my business started, my mission was to not be unemployed. To pay my student loans and my mortgage,” she said. “It shifted in that I was able to help both military spouses and really focus on some smaller law firms.” Use expertise to your advantage. One of the things Nici has learned in her career is the benefit of expertise. While she didn’t set out to focus on a specific type of immigration law, her niche has allowed her to connect with clients and thrive as a business owner. That expertise comes with other perks, too. For instance, in 10 years, she went from attending a conference on immigration law to leading the event. “I still remember the first time I trained a client on I-9 stuff and how terrified I was,” Nici said. “Now I could do that in my sleep.” Want to let go of perfectionism? Watch baseball. When Nici moved to Florida, she moved into a house just three miles from the stadium where the Tampa Bay Rays play. Living so close to a Major League Baseball team has turned her into a fan -- and taught her important lessons about perfectionism. “Watching baseball made me really focus more on the fact that you don’t have to be perfect,” she said. “These players are the best in the world at being a baseball player, and they mess up all the time, right?” Nici takes those lessons from the baseball diamond to her work as a business owner. For instance, she strives for excellence rather than perfection. She also tries to accept mistakes and move forward. “When you make a mistake, you can learn from it if it’s something that you can learn from, but a lot of times, all you learn is don’t do that again,” she said. “Also, be graceful about your mistakes. Admit them, apologize for them, and fix them to the extent that you can.” Resources + Links Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/20041859

Guide for Your Midyear Business Review 07/27/2021

Guide for Your Midyear Business Review It’s hard to believe that 2021 is halfway over. Things have changed so much since the beginning of the year, and it’s the perfect time to take a step back and reflect. In this special episode, Brian provides insight and advice for conducting a midyear review for your business. You’ll learn steps to gain awareness, evaluate your business purpose, and take corrective action while there’s still time to change things. Episode Highlights: How to Conduct A MidYear Business Review 1. Have a personal check-in Paradoxically, the first action item is to take a break from the action, as Brian says in the episode. The midyear review is the perfect time to take a pause and check-in with yourself about your feelings, successes, challenges, and goals. Here are just a few questions to get you started: Are you living up to the company’s purpose and vision? Are you accomplishing your goals? Are you working the number of hours you want to work? Are you feeling overwhelmed or anxious about the future of your business? Do you feel satisfied and fulfilled in the work that you’re doing? “I’ve seen so many entrepreneurs use their passion and energy to accomplish things they never thought they could,” Brian said. “So don’t fight your emotions, let them drive you.” 2. Assess your cash flow Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business, and proper cash flow management requires systems. Brian advocates for putting your money into buckets like with the Profit First system, which he covered in and . 3. Review your tax payments Halfway through the year is a good time to think about taxes. By this point in time, you should have made two tax payments on April 15 and June 15. “Mid-year is an excellent point to check in with your accountant and see if you’re on track with your projections,” Brian said. An account or tax professionals can make sure you’re on track and help you correct your estimated tax payments if you’re behind. You can also review your payments with an online program, like Quickbooks, Brian said. 4. Conduct an expense analysis Now is also an excellent opportunity to review your expenses. To conduct an expense analysis, you need two things: Expenses for the past six months Recurring expenses (e.g. rent, subscriptions, training, classes, etc.) Brian recommends adding up the costs of your expenses and multiplying that number by 10%. Then, cut your costs by that number. One place to start is with items you’ve justified as a business expense for tax purposes. “Just because you get a tax deduction for an expense, you’re still losing money if you still purchase something you don’t use,” Brian said. 5. Write down 2 - 3 action steps for the second half of the year Now that you’ve reflected and reviewed, it’s essential to write down two or three action steps to get you started for the second half of the year, Brian said. Here are some questions to help you do that: What is it that I can do about the obstacle that I’m facing? How am I going to do it? When am I going to do it? Who can keep me accountable? How do I feel about it? After you’ve set action steps, give yourself some downtime to relax, so you can go into the second half of the year full of passion and energy. And remember: you don’t have to accomplish everything right at the start. “You’re more likely to find success taking several steps each day rather than trying to run several miles at once,” Brian said. Resources + Links Contact Brian: [email protected] Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/19942682

Setting Boundaries with Lauren Klafke 07/13/2021

Setting Boundaries with Lauren Klafke Brian chats with Lauren Klafke, a small business owner all about supporting other business owners. Lauren’s firm, Willow Creek Financial Services, provides a space for business owners to ask questions and learn more about their financials. On the episode, Lauren shares how Instagram Reels helps her build her business and conduct market research. She also opens up about how she implemented boundaries to grow her business on her own terms all while raising a newborn and overseeing a house renovation. Episode Highlights Your mission and your business’s mission don’t have to match. Lauren defines a mission-driven business as a business that exists for a specific purpose. But the purpose of your business doesn’t have to be the same as your personal reason for running a company. “What is your mission as the business owner? Is it to retire early? Is it to have more time with your family? Is it to serve everyone? Or is it all three?” Lauren said. “I just think about that.” That definition is especially true for Lauren, who started her business as a way to spend more time with her husband and son. Before she took the entrepreneurial leap, she worked in the corporate world and realized her career path was incompatible with her ideal lifestyle. “What powers me to continue to build my business is all the time I am going to have with my family,” Lauren said. Adjust until your business works for you. 2020 was a rollercoaster year for Lauren. The pandemic kickstarted a year of full-speed business growth -- at the same time she had a newborn and a house remodel. Suddenly, Lauren had to find ways to schedule calls around construction and newborn sleep times “Something was always happening at the same time,” Lauren said. “First world problems, but it was really a struggle.” In some ways, running a business would have been easier if she hadn’t been building her business from home. So Lauren made an adjustment -- hiring a nanny -- to give her the time and space to focus on her business. She then set work hours, so that she stops working with clients after the nanny leaves. “It came to this point where I had to realize you have to set boundaries with your clients,” Lauren said. “You can't always be available, or you're gonna drive yourself crazy.” Customer service is important. Lauren describes herself as a straightforward, type-A person. But her straight-to-the-point answers don’t always go over smoothly with clients and prospective clients. Over time, she realized she had to work on her customer service skills. “Customer service is such a huge, huge deal,” she said. “You could have the exact same services as somebody else and customer service would change anybody's mind.” Good customer service doesn’t mean saying yes to everything, Lauren said. Instead, it means optimizing how she talks to people on calls and consultations, how she sends emails, and how she engages with clients who text her at inopportune times. “People want the coddling, and they want the hand holding,” Lauren said. “So I’ve had to develop that in a way that doesn’t seem condescending.” Resources + Links Willow Creek Financial Services: , Lauren’s Social Media: Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/19785995

Systems and Self-Care with Emlen Miles-Mattingly 06/22/2021

Systems and Self-Care with Emlen Miles-Mattingly Brian chats with Emlen Miles-Mattingly, the founder and CEO of Gen Next Wealth, a financial planning firm focused on helping minorities grow and retain generational wealth. In the episode, Emlen talks about his 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including the challenges he overcame to pivot from banking to starting his own company. He also shares why small habits and daily systems help him to thrive in his business and personal life. Episode Highlights Clients can define your mission. Before starting his firm, Emlen worked for an insurance company. Despite helping people grow wealth, the job didn’t quite feel right, which was how he knew it wasn’t mission-driven. “It just didn’t sit right because I couldn’t do it the way I wanted to do it until I started my own business,” he said. Even after Emlen started Next Gen Wealth, it was the clients who ultimately defined his company’s mission. That’s because Emlen kept encountering similar clients and answering the same questions about fundamental financial topics. “People just kept coming to talk to me, and they were all the same,” Emlen said. “So that’s how I got my mission/vision/purpose based on the people who were coming to me.” Systems can give you freedom. There’s at least one thing that Emlen has in common with Tom Brady: They both love schedules. That’s because schedules allow them to block time in their day for the activities that are most important to them, Emlen said. “When I look at the time, at any given time, I know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing,” Emlen said. Emlen credits the systems and processes he deliberately created with providing him free time for his personal life and wellbeing. In fact, the freedom to be an active part of his children’s lives is one of the things he says he most enjoys about running his own business. “I’m the drop off, pick up guy,” Emlen said. “The reason I can do that is because we have a tight process.” Self-care isn’t selfish. Part of Emlen’s tight scheduling includes time for self-care — an act that he stresses is not selfish. In fact, when Emlen first started scheduling time for self-care, he found that blocking out time for exercise, meditation, and reading helped him to ultimately have a more productive day. “I could look through my planner, and I could see I was way more productive in terms of revenue,” he said. Since noticing that productivity uptick, Emlen has continued to track his daily self-care habits and tweak his routine using a Full Focus Planner. The result is a better business and home life. “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. “It did all these other things, and it freed up a ton of time.” Resources + Links by James Clear Emlen’s Social Media: , Brian’s Social Media: , , 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/19561748

Launching a Family-Run Business with Chantel Valentene and Brian Mackin 06/08/2021

Launching a Family-Run Business with Chantel Valentene and Brian Mackin Brian interviews entrepreneurial couple Chantel Valentene and Brian Mackin. Chantel made a name for herself building brands in the fashion industry and is now the managing director of a socially conscious design studio, while Brian founded an artist residency and a creative agency. Now, they’ve joined forces to launch Start Today OmniMedia. On the podcast, Chantel and Brian discuss how building their business has created choice and freedom in their lives. They also share how they use their family values to pick the right opportunities and clients. Episode Highlights The definition of mission-driven can be broad. For Brian, a mission-driven business is one where you commit to actualizing a vision without profit being the central motivator. He likes that definition because it’s a little broader, allowing entrepreneurs to define their mission beyond just social or environmental justice causes. “It’s really important to allow people to define what mission driven means for them individually,” he said. Chantel agreed with that definition, cautioning that some businesses may abuse the idea of being socially responsible without following through. She also said it can be helpful to think of a mission-driven business as a values-driven one -- something that she and Brian aspire to do with their own company. “As a family-run business, the mission that we have is maybe more internal,” she said. “Does this business serve who we are as a family? Does it serve our intentions? Does it serve our values in our life as we’re looking to move forward?” Not solely focusing on profit can give you freedom. Both Brian and Chantel describe some of their early entrepreneurial efforts as self-serving. But as their careers have grown, they’ve found passion and purpose in using their jobs to also make an impact. As a result, they have naturally evolved towards running mission-driven businesses that serve them and the greater good. “The purpose drives what the company is doing and what I’m doing,” Chantel said. “The profit is there to serve us, not for us to be enveloped in making money for no reason.” Brian expanded on that idea, saying that focusing on a mission has provided him and Chantel the freedom to bring to life the vision and ideas of other business owners they believe in. “If everything that we were focusing on was the bottom line, it would have been much harder to migrate and evolve into those spaces,” he said. You don’t always have to know the destination. Brian and Chantel didn’t intentionally set out to start Start Today OmniMedia. But when the pandemic hit, they saw an opportunity to use their complementary talents to meet interesting people and do interesting things. “It was a level of self awareness that we both have and open mindedness to what’s in front of you,” Brian said. Chantel agreed, adding, “You don’t always have to know the end of where you’re going.” That mindset ultimately led to the creation of the Start Today podcast, which in turn led to the joint business venture. It also contributed to the podcast’s tagline: The best things in life are on the other side of fear. “I think it’s obvious that we took that to heart,” Brian said. “How do we not live this? Because this opportunity is right in front of us, and we don’t know when it’s going to turn out to be.” Resources + Links Connect with Chantel Valentene: , Connect with Brian Mackin: Brian Thompson’s Twitter: 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. /episode/index/show/missiondrivenbusiness/id/19394354