Business With Purpose

I love pictures and taking pictures, but I really enjoy being in them if my loved ones are in them with me as well. I take so many pictures with my kids and family because photos capture time, memories, heart, and love. Pictures are powerful. My guest today realized she could use her gift of photography to give back and create memories for people in need. Kylee Maughn is the founder of Kylee Ann Studios and the Kylee Ann Passion Project, photographing people in need, pro bono. I’m so inspired by the work that Kylee does, and I think you will be too. Join me as I learn more about the legacy, impact, and priceless connections she’s making by providing visual memories to people who need them the most! 7:02 - The Kylee 101 Kylee started photography about eight and a half years ago. At that time, it was just a one woman show. Her fiancé (now husband) knew she wanted to become a photographer so one year for Valentine’s day, he sold his Xbox to buy Kylee her first professional camera (Aww)! Initially she just took

Wherever you are, you have an opportunity to serve. My “life verse” is 1 Peter 4:10: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” When we meet the calling on our life right where we are, powerful and life-changing waves are set in motion. My guest on the Business with Purpose Podcast today is Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado, and I can’t wait for you to hear how the waves of his experiences growing up in seven different countries and being an Olympic athlete lead to fulfilling a calling to serve the church and become the President and CEO of Compassion International. Compassion International is one of the oldest, largest, and most reputable Christian Humanitarian Aid Child Sponsorship organizations in the world. Their mission is dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty. If you’ve ever considered sponsoring a child through Compassion International, today is your day! Jimmy and I will talk more about sponso

Kids can change us just by being themselves. When we give them opportunities to find solutions to problems, their innovative imaginations are amazing. The results create a world-changing ripple effect. My guest this week is Alison Storm. Alison saw an opportunity to provide clean water to communities in India by partnering with the savviest business owners, kids. Alison founded Crowd Sourcing Kids to bring kids together to fully fund a well-drilling project in India, changing lives forever! When children join forces to help with Crowd Sourcing Kids, babies will live, girls will be educated, and people will stay healthy. I’m so excited to hear more from Allison, and I know you’re going to love it too! 4:08 - The Alison 101 After graduating from a Journalism program in college, Alison learned of a very unique contest in her hometown. She lived in a car with five other people for a chance to win the car. Shortly after the contest she became a local celebrity and started putting her Journalism training to work a

Studies show that 98% of domestic violence victims also experience financial abuse and stay in abusive relationships due to financial insecurity. Today’s guest is Joy McBrien and her ethical jewelry brand Fair Anita creates financial opportunities for women around the world. Their artisans partners carefully design and create every product by hand, and Fair Anita also gives them the resources for economic self-sufficiency. Along with that, Fair Anita also maintains strong ethical standards in the production chain, working conditions, living wages, and full transparency of business practices. Join me as I speak with Joy about the journey of Fair Anita, and the life-changing mission to help women feel safe, valued, and respected, no matter where they live.   3:58 - The Joy 101   Joy started Fair Anita when she was just 24-years-old to help combat the issues with sexual violence that she’d experienced in her own life. After a lot of research, it became clear to her that financial insecurity is the main reason w

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they dress or style something. Fashion is an art form of self-expression. But just because fashion is enjoyable doesn’t mean that we should allow it to harm others or our planet. My guest this week is Lela Orr. That’s right, Lela Orr from the most recent season of Project Runway! Join me to hear how Lela is making a positive impact with fashion through her eco-luxury clothing brand Farrah. You’ll also hear some behind the scenes about Project Runway and how Lela came to design something for the one, the only, Beyoncé! 2:29 – The Lela 101 Lela grew up in Dallas, Texas and Monroe, Louisiana. She is an ethically conscious vegetarian with a passion for zero waste.  Lela’s mom and grandmother were her muses for fashion. Not only was her grandmother’s style transformative in leading Lela to design, she also learned from both women about the value of reusing and repurposing old clothing. The roots of Lela’s brand, Ferrah, sprouted when Lela was in college and learned abo

Marianna Sachse is the founder of Jackalo, an industry-changing line of durable, organic children’s clothes. That in and of itself is awesome, but Marianna and Jackalo take their purpose one step further by accepting all of their used clothes back to be repaired and resold or responsibility recycled. Jackalo’s innovation is reducing the environmental impact of the children’s apparel sector and I can’t wait for you to hear Marianna’s story and how Jackalo came to be! 2:16 – The Marianna 101 Marianna founded Jackalo, a line of durable and sustainable playwear for kids ages 4 to 14. Before starting Jackalo in July of 2018, Marianna already had a career in public health as well as many years of experience working in social change. Originally from Washington D.C., four years she moved to The Netherlands for her husband’s job. She knew she wanted to get an idea of the ground at that time focusing on the durability of children’s clothes. When she noticed that her oldest son’s clothes weren’t lasting very long, she

Happy Birthday, Business with Purpose Podcast! You are three years old, and this one’s for you! It’s time to take a look back and celebrate over 160 episodes and all the fun we’ve had along the way! In this solo show, I’ll be reflecting on the incredible stories about people who are changing the world in both their personal lives and their careers. I never would have dreamed we’d still be here three years later telling these stories to inspire thousands of you all over the world to pursue a life of purpose and passion, impacting the world around you on a greater scale. I’ll be answering your questions, and even bringing my husband on for a segment! Sit back, relax, and enjoy as we celebrate three years of the Business with Purpose Podcast!  2:48 – Lessons from the Pros 1. Don’t Wait, Just Start! Every. single. guest. on my show has wishes they’d started sooner. Whatever it is you want to do, don’t wait for it to be perfect. Put in the hard work but start right where you are. 2. Don’t Quit Success happens t

Wen King is the founder of the Fair Trade brand, Rover + Kin. I first met Wen at the Fair Trade Federation Conference after stumbling upon her table at the expo. Her gorgeous fair trade clothing literally stopped me in my tracks. Wen has combined her incredible eye for design with a passion for supporting artisans and their stories. Join me as I hear from Wen about living in Northern India, building a Fair Trade small business from the ground up, and taking her business one step further to explore education, health care, microfinance, and more. 4:50 - The Wen 101 After college, Wen was faced with the question of whether to go to graduate school or find an entry level job. Instead, she decided to flip the script by moving to India. She started her first business and lived in India for more than eight years. Wen sourced local handmade goods for her café, and found herself drawn to both the traditional craft and artisan stories behind the products she sold.  When she and her husband moved back to the US, Wen kn

Successful entrepreneurs make running a business look smooth. It’s easy to see the success, but rare to see the behind the scenes of the hard work, failure, fatigue, baby steps it took to make it. Jennifer Allwood is a dynamic business coach and host of The Jennifer Allwood Show podcast. Jennifer helps creative women build their social media and turn their passions into lucrative online businesses. She fosters an online community of over half a million people and coaches over 2,000 women monthly on how to find their tribe and grow their business online. You’ll be encouraged by my chat with Jennifer as we discuss the time early on in business when you’re giving it all you’ve got for the sake of your dream.  5:08 - The Jennifer 101 Jennifer coaches creative entrepreneurs from makers to designers, bloggers, artists, bakers, and more how to grow and monetize their social media channels.  Twenty years ago, her life looked much different in a regimented business world of software development, but she would spend h

At a young age, brothers Bradford and Bryan Manning were diagnosed with an eye disease that causes blindness over time. They’ve used their circumstances to help work toward a cure for blindness through the sales of their ultra-soft designer clothing line. Their vigilance for details carries over into the quality of their products, and you’ll love hearing the coincidental story of how the idea for their brand came about. Join me as I learn more about the inspiring Bradford and Bryan Manning. 3:08 - The Brad and Bryan 101 Brad and Bryan were diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease when they were each seven years old. Stargardt’s is a genetic disease that typically destroys center vision.  The idea for the Two Blind Brothers business started to form after Brad and Bryan shopped in the same store now knowing until after they’d left that they’d purchased the same shirt based on how it felt to the touch. Touch is a sense that’s critical to those with vision impairments. Brad and Bryan started talking about focusing o

Are you an entrepreneur? While the startup, paperwork, and hustle is never easy, often the hardest part is asking to be paid what we’re worth. My guest this week is Brandi Riley, and she’s tackling this issue head on. Brandi is a blogger at Mama Knows It All and founder of Courage To Earn, an online community for creative female entrepreneurs. Brandi is a thought-leader and powerhouse in the content-creation industry. She is using her knowledge, skills, and passion to inspire women to pursue their creative purpose and get paid for it. Join me as I talk with Brandi about going after your worth in both business and life. 3:31 -  Brandi 101 Brandi started blogging when her daughter was almost a year old. She had no idea she could earn an income doing it, she was just looking for a way to get her feelings out. Once she joined a few Yahoo blog pages, she realized she could earn an income from blogging. After working for a number of years in social media, marketing, and freelance, the one thing that stood out in a

Sharon Hodde Miller is an author, speaker and church planter who is passionate about cultivating the gifts of women through ministry. In addition to leading Bright City Church in Durham, NC with her husband Ike, she has released two books: Why Life is Better When it’s Not about You (2017), and Nice: Why We Love to Be Liked and How God Calls Us to More (2019). Join me to hear Sharon’s wisdom about the power of our words, speaking with bold conviction, and how we can change our “nice” habits into substantive kindness. 4:30 - The Sharon 101 Sharon decided to pursue a doctoral degree in Educational Studies to find out what motivates women to go to seminary when so few women are in seminary. After working in ministry from some time, Sharon realized that women build platforms from their stories. Sharon felt that the best way to be a good steward of her platform was to pursue formal theology education and training. After finishing seminary at Duke Divinity School, where the gender breakdown was fairly even, she pur

Kisha Mays is a Successful Serial Entrepreneur, Visionary Global Business Development Strategist, Best Selling Author, Angel Investor, and Philanthropist. Her primary focus is on helping to develop 1,000,000 Fearless Female Entrepreneurs generating a minimum of $1,000,000+ in annual revenue. Turning them into unicorn global businesses through the Just Fearless Angel Fund which is a fund exclusively for female founded companies. She pays it forward by supporting non-profits worldwide that specifically support & empower women and girls. Kisha and her team are developing strategic partnerships for 2019 and beyond to take this international business and brand to an explosive level bringing Just Fearless from behind the scenes to the forefront. In 2019 they are launching HERstory Connections for Women in Business, Women in Creatives, and Women in Literary to help them increase their revenue and help us reach our 1,000,000 goal mentioned above. She and her team are excited for the abundance of opportunities, ex

Laughter is the best medicine, and Kevin Fredericks (KevOnStage) is here to talk about how humor can heal and bring us together. Kevin does it all. He has nearly 5 million followers and 140 million views on YouTube. He’s a fast-rising entertainer who’s already sold out a 50 city self-produced tour, written and produced several TV shows and movies, and grown All Def Digital from 300,000 fans to nearly 10 million fans. Join me in laughter for this fun show with KevOnStage. 3:45 - The Kev 101 Kev’s first comedy show was a church talent show while in high school, and during college, he and his brother transitioned to creating plays. After some local success, Tyler Perry’s booking agent came to see one of the plays. They thought it was their big break, until they realized it would still cost $300,000 for them to produce their own play. Kev’s kids were young at that time, so the family decided to quit doing plays and focus on raising their children. With the rising success of YouTube stars, Kev suggested they put

Have you ever had an idea so big that it feels impossible, too scary, too out of reach? If you have a calling that overwhelms you, join us to hear how Jeremy Cowart’s career has tackled all those questions and more. Jeremy has accomplished many wonderful callings including work as a humanitarian photographer, artist, author, and founder of The Purpose Hotel! We’ll discover the impact of Jeremy’s work and the mighty power behind the simple act of asking. 3:05 - The Jeremy 101 Jeremy Cowart is a man of many ideas and many callings. He’s an artist, photographer, humanitarian, fine art creator, public speaker, painter, and founder of Help Portrait and The Purpose Hotel. Knowing how much Jeremy has accomplished would make you think it’s always been that way, but school did not come easily to Jeremy. He struggled thinking he’d never amount to much and thought his grades reflected his value as a human being. In junior high, Jeremy fell in love with the arts and his parents encouraged him to pursue graphic design as

Today’s Purpose: You don’t have to be in the public sector or start your own charity to make a difference in the world. You can make a huge impact with business! It’s possible to be in both the corporate world and non-profit world and lead the way in social responsibility. Today’s guest is Kate Hayes, who oversees Echoing Green’s “Ecosystem Programming’ to find, fund and support early-stage global leaders who have incredible ideas to change the world. 2:24 - The Kate 101 During college, Kate studied neuroscience and was interested in knowing how change happens. While working in Boston, she stumbled upon a mobile healthcare clinic that was started by an Echoing Green fellow. Kate’s career made a sharp turn from medicine to the non-profit sector, digging deep into understanding nonprofits and the role of the private sector in supporting them.    In her first role with Echoing Green, Kate connected business leaders to their purpose and helped them understand their mission, connecting them to the social change e

We create so much waste. We don’t recycle enough, and we throw out tons of textile waste every year with no thought of the impact it has on our planet. In 2017, I visited the largest landfill in East Africa, the Dandora dump in Kenya. It was a horrifying and life-changing experience that made me think twice about my habits. We are to be good stewards of the Earth God gave us, so let’s explore little changes in our habits that can collectively make a massive difference. Here are 31 ways you can live more sustainability and reduce your negative impact on the environment by creating less waste: 1. Use reusable straws: You can find glass and metal reusable straws on Amazon. When asked if you want one at a restaurant, you can tell them know, and keep one handy at home, in the car, and in your bag 2. Bring a fork and knife with you to restaurants that use plastic cutlery. You can purchase ones for carrying while you’re traveling or just out to eat. 3. Switch to reusable water bottles, coffee mugs, and/or drink tumb

Do you realize how much power you have as a consumer? I’m serious. There’s that famous quote that I use all the time which is “You vote every single day by the way you spend your money.” and over the last couple of years, I’ve found that this is truer than ever… your beliefs drive how you purchase goods and services and companies that don’t adhere to your personal values or beliefs, more often than not, don’t get your money. And money talks. But… that doesn’t mean that you just buy a product SIMPLY because you believe in the values behind it… there’s a whole lot more to it and it’s something that my guest today has spent nearly 20 years working to study... 5:10 - The Llenay 101 Llenay’s Ferretti’s success as a fashion designer gave her a robust knowledge of international sourcing as well as access to iconic industry mentors. It also paved the way for her future in fair-trade. Fair-trade found Llenay after she met women basket weavers on a 2001 volunteer trip to Uganda with 10,000 Villages. Llenay’s skills in

You know very well by now my intense passion and heart for ending human trafficking. This is an issue that when I first REALLY learned about it in 2011, I could no longer sit back and ignore it… it’s an issue I quickly dove into learning as much as I could about it. It’s an issue that affects women, men, and children of all ages, races, socio-economic statuses, genders, religions, cultures… it happens in every state in the United States and every country around the world. It’s a massive issue… but when we let the fact that something like human trafficking is such a massive issue cloud our vision and keep us from DOING anything about it… that’s when we have to sit back and realize that we CAN do something… we have to start SOMEWHERE. 3:00 - The Bridget 101 Bridget and Don Brewster discovered, AIM, Agape International Missions while Bridget’s husband Don was the Executive Pastor of a church in Northern California. On a 10-day trip to Cambodia with AIM, it became obvious that the country was still suffering fro

In 1950, the world’s population of 2.5 billion produced just over 1.5 million tons of plastic. Today, with a global population of more than 7 billion people, we product over 320 million tons of plastic… and it’s estimated that this number is set to DOUBLE by the year 2034. And every single day, approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution finds its way into our oceans. 8. million. pieces. Every. Single. Day.  My guest today is doing her part to impact this issue in a big way... 1:57 – The Sarah 101 Growing up Adelaide, Australia, Sarah knew from a very young age that she wanted to work in tourism and travel the world. While in graduate school, she discovered a specific passion for sustainability and ecotourism. Sarah took a slight career detour for a few years as a digital marketer for the Tourism Industry. In 2012, she realized was no longer pursuing her dreams of working on sustainability and ecotourism. After searching out those dreams in Australia, she started to broaden her search to Southeast As