Mission Driven Business

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 Mike Michalowicz Get Different: Marketing That Can't Be Ignored! More of Mike's books: Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan, Fix This Next, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, Surge Profit First Professionals https://mikemichalowicz.com Mike's Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeMichalowicz Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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: 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.

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 Everwell's website Mark's Instagram Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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 Be Intentional Financial website Mission Driven Business Episode with Pamela Capalad Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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 The One Page Marketing Plan Sarah's website Humane Marketing Podcast Marketing Like We're Human Sarah's Social Media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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: Twitter Freadom website and declaration page Bernie's Book Bank website Brian Thompson's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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 Murphy & Associates Consulting Girl, Let's Talk Money Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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: Website, Twitter, Instagram Matt's Social Media: Twitter Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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," Forbes Good Tree Capital Seke's Social Media: Instagram Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.

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 Kinder Institute of Life Planning George's books: The Seven Stages of Money Maturity: Understanding the Spirit and Value of Money in Your Life, Life Planning for You: How to Design & Deliver the Life of Your Dreams, Transforming Suffering into Wisdom:: Mindfulness and The Art of Inner Listening, A Golden Civilization and The Map of Mindfulness, Lighting the Torch: The Kinder Method(TM) of Life Planning, A Song for Hana & the Spirit of Leho'ula Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook 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.