Business for Good Podcast

Normally on Business for Good, we focus on companies using innovative commerce to solve serious social problems. In this episode though, we're focusing on a less traditional type of business: the life of a solo-preneuer. That's to say, the life of a business person who isn't trying to build a team and grow into a huge company, but rather someone who goes it alone and makes a business work essentially by themselves. If you're interested in the plant-based world, you likely know Colleen Patrick-Groudreau's name, since Colleen is essentially a brand unto herself, often known as the Joyful Vegan. In fact, The Joyful Vegan is the name of her latest (and 7th) book. A long-time advocate for pragmatic and friendly animal advocacy, Colleen has built her own empire of revenue streams that allow her to earn money by putting out her positive message of compassion and joy into the world. Many people who want to promote animal-friendly eating may go work for an animal charity or work for a company making alternative protein. Those are of course cool things to do. But Colleen has for decades now successfully charted a different path of advocacy, and has made a good business out of doing so. Whether it's earning revenue from her books on vegan eating, from sponsored vegan-friendly vacations, from online cooking classes, and more, Colleen has a truly diversified approach to ensuring her own living while urging the rest of us to adopt a live and let live mentality toward other animals. As you'll hear in this interview, Colleen really was an influencer long before there was social media. She was collecting small contributions from fans of her work long before there was Patreon. She was podcasting for animals long before most people knew what a podcast was. And she was writing plant-based cookbooks, of which she's sold more than a quarter million copies, long before there was an internet full of unlimited plant-based resources. In other words, Colleen really is an OG of plant-based advocacy. So enjoy listening to her story of how she got started and how she's made her business of advocating compassion for animals work for so long. Discussed in this episode Colleen's web site with all her resources, including books, videos, cooking classes, and more. Colleen's conversations with Paul on his podcasts Animology and Food for Thought. Books by Joseph Campbell Bond pet food, which is seeking to make clean meat pet food. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau Bio: Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's compassionate living philosophy is propelling plant-based eating into the mainstream and forever changing how we regard animals. A recognized expert and thought leader on the culinary, social, ethical, and practical aspects of living compassionately and healthfully, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is a speaker, cultural commentator, podcaster, and award-winning author of seven books, including the bestselling The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, Vegan's Daily Companion, On Being Vegan, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, and her newest book, The Joyful Vegan: How to Stay Vegan in a World That Wants You to Eat Meat, Dairy, and Eggs. She is an acclaimed speaker and beloved host of the inspiring podcast, "Food for Thought," which has been voted Favorite Podcast by VegNews magazine readers several years in a row. She launched a spin-off podcast called Animalogy in 2017. Along with fellow advocates, she recently formed a political action committee called East Bay Animal PAC to work with government officials on animal issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Colleen shares her message of compassion and wellness on national and regional TV and radio programs, including a regular segment on Good Day Sacramento and as a monthly contributor on National Public Radio (KQED). She has appeared on the Food Network, CBS, PBS, and FOX; interviews with her have been featured on NPR, Huffington Post, U.S. News, and World Report; her letters and editorials are published in publications such as The New York Times and The Atlantic Magazine, and her recipes have been featured on Epicurious.com and Oprah.com. Colleen lives in Oakland, CA with her husband David and two cats, Charlie and Michiko.

Maybe you own some things from Goodwill or at least have donated unwanted items to them. But when you think of Goodwill, what comes to your mind? Maybe you think it's just a chain of thrift stores selling used goods. Turns out, not true. Goodwill is actually a nonprofit organization focused on helping the homeless and others experiencing hard times. And it just turns out that the charity happens to fund its good work for the less fortunate via a chain of used goods stores at which you've probably shopped. In other words, the public-facing stores you see all the time are just the revenue-generating engine for this charity to do its good deeds. It's a fascinating business model, and on this episode we've got Goodwill exec Lori Dearwester to tell us how it all works. If you've ever wondered what happens when you donate a bag of goods to Goodwill, what happens to the things that don't sell, and what happens if you try to reclaim a donated item, this episode will answer all your questions. Discuss in this episode Goodwill's online store. Lori recommends Radical Candor by Kim Scott Past episodes with Wild Earth CEO Ryan Bethencourt, Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey, and TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. Eddie the Pittie's IG account!

Oftentimes when Westerners think of India, we tend to think of it as a land of vegetarians. It's true that India has given the world some pretty awesome vegetarian food, and it's also true that per person meat consumption is low in India relative to America. But the hard truth remains: the majority of Indians are not vegetarian and their per capita meat consumption has been skyrocketing in recent decades. So what can be done to satisfy the palates of the hundreds of millions of Indians who want to eat more meat? Well, just like in America, part of the solution is almost certainly going to be giving consumers the experience of meat that they want, but without having to raise so many animals. And that's exactly what Good Dot is doing. Four years ago, this company didn't exist. Today, Good Dot has nearly 200 employees and is producing a wide variety of plant-based meats for the Indian consumer. The company's even now opened up its own chain of all-plant-based fast food kiosks, too. And as you'll hear, unlike the plant-based start-ups in the US, Good Dot is already competing on cost with the animal products they're seeking to displace. In this interview, we hear from the company's CEO, Abhishek Sinha, a man who by his own description was an animal-loving government bureaucrat who decided he wanted to do more for animals with his career. And as a result, he claims he's happier and more fulfilled today than he's ever been before. You already know there's a plant-based meat revolution happening in the US, Europe, and China. Now get ready to hear about how it's unfolding on the Asian subcontinent too. Discussed in this episode: Hodo Foods, which made tofu cool again Global Food Partners, a firm helping food businesses implement farm animal welfare standards

There are few people with more credible voices on police reform than Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. As you'll hear in the interview, Adams talks about how his experience of being beaten by the police while in custody as a black teenager led to him become a police officer himself for two decades, and then ultimately to a life in politics. After serving in the police force, Adams was elected as a state senator in New York where he championed police reforms, including opposition to the then-stop-and-frisk policy, and he's now in his second term as the chief executive of New York City's most populous borough, Brooklyn. And while it's still early, Adams is already considered by many as a frontrunner in the November 2021 mayoral race in America's largest city. (Current New York City Mayor Bill di Blasio will be termed out of office.) In addition to discussing technologies from the private sector he believes could be helpful in preventing lethal use of force by police, we also discuss how Adams' adoption of a plant-based diet reversed his diabetes, gave him back his health, and what he thinks private businesses can do to advance public health. Discussed in this episode The 8 Can't Wait platform of police reforms backed by President Obama Bola Wrap technology to safely and painlessly detain people How Not to Die by Michael Greger, MD You Are the Placebo and other books by Joe Dispenza

Let's face it: even though we all know there's a huge problem with single-use plastic bottles, right or wrong, most Americans just don't trust tap water. Tens of thousands of plastic water bottles are thrown out every minute, with nearly none of them actually being recycled. In fact, thousands of years from now, our plastic waste may be some of the most obvious relics remaining of our civilization. But one serial entrepreneur, Rich "Raz" Razgaitis, is trying to make plastic-free tap water cool again, and wants you to think of single-use plastic water bottles as if they were as socially unacceptable as cigarettes. And so far he's raised $25 million in venture capital to wage his purified tap water crusade. Raz co-founded FloWater with the goal of placing his water purification machines in thousands of public places, making clean tap water available for free to anyone passing by. FloWater machines are already displacing water bottles in major offices like Red Bull, Microsoft, Airbnb, Google and Target, as well as more than 100 hotels and dozens of school districts and concert venues in all 50 states. Hear Raz's inspiring story in this episode, as the FloWater team continues seeking to transform our perceptions of tap water and put an end to single-use plastic water bottles. Discussed in this episode Raz's TEDx talk: Bottled Water is the New Cigarette Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins The Obstacle is the Way and Conspiracy, both by Ryan Holiday

If you're a regular listener of the show, you may recognize the name of this episode's guest since she's been mentioned on at least two past episodes. Isha Datar is a cofounder of both Perfect Day and Clara Foods, companies respectively growing real dairy and egg proteins from microbes and which were the subjects of Episodes 21 and 34. Yet Isha is perhaps best known not for her work cofounding for-profit start-ups seeking to build a more sustainable food system. Really she's better-known for her role as the executive director of New Harvest, a nonprofit organization advancing the field of "cellular agriculture"—a term, by the way, that Isha coined. You'll hear in this interview what role Isha thinks nonprofits like hers should play in a nascent industry whose start-ups are attracting hundreds of millions of dollars of venture capital. As well, Isha discusses the fact that many of the people now working at cell ag start-ups have come through New Harvest and its ecosystem. Also discussed in the episode are controversial topics like what to call meat grown from animal cells, when that meat may hit the market, and whether it will be more of an evolution or a revolution in the meat industry. Really, there's something in this interview for everyone! Discussed in the interview: Isha's 2010 academic paper that launched her career in cultured meat: "Possibilities for an in vitro meat production system" Isha's 2013 TEDx talk that helped her candidacy to run New Harvest: "Re-Thinking Meat" Our episode with Perfect Day discussing Isha's role cofounding the company Our episode with Clara Foods discussing Isha's role cofounding the company Clean Meat, Paul's book in which Isha is a central character The Generosity Network by Jennifer McCrea Mission Barns, a startup growing real animal fat without animals Modern Meadow, a company that fed both Isha and Paul cultured beef in 2014 Jason Matheny, founder of New Harvest

In many countries, walking down city streets vividly brings to life two serious problems: plastic pollution and poverty. While there are charities trying to address both of these concerns, serial entrepreneur David Katz in 2013 thought there was an opportunity to marry the two issues and build a profitable business out of it. The result: Plastic Bank. Today, there are tens of thousands of low-income people in countries from Haiti to Egypt who are collecting plastic refuse from waterways and other polluted areas, bringing it to a Plastic Bank collection center, and getting credit via a smartphone app that they can then go spend on their needs. Already, the company collects about 50,000 plastic bottles per 45 minutes. Rather than viewing those bottles as plastic "waste," David thinks of them as "social plastic," which he helps convert into materials that Plastic Bank then sells to major plastic users. Just how much can Plastic Bank get for all that social plastic? David says the company is projecting in 2020 annual revenue of $65 million. As David puts it in the interview, charities look at money and ask, "How do I deplete it as slowly as possible and make an impact?" Entrepreneurs look at money and ask, "How do I multiply it as quickly as possible and make an impact?" Discussed in this episode David's TED Talk: The Surprising Solution to Ocean Plastic Plastic Bank's Plastic Neutrality campaign Chris Jordan environmental photography

Some states are beginning to open their economies after weeks of shutting down to try to flatten the COVID curve. But there are some things that we really want to keep sheltered in place...and never come out. here are hundreds of thousands of pounds of nuclear waste largely stored by nuclear power plants around the world. And all of that extremely dangerous material—which will remain extremely dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years—has no permanent place to go. In the US, the government allows private companies to temporarily store nuclear waste, but it's illegal for private companies to actually dispose of it. That's the government's job, and it just hasn't happened. Enter environmentalist Elizabeth Muller. Her company Deep Isolation has pioneered what she says is a safe method of storing nuclear waste deep underground—really deep. Elizabeth argues that such storage, which would still allow for the material to be recovered if desired, would keep ground-dwelling earthlings like Homo sapiens and other living beings safe from our civilization's nuclear waste for perhaps a million years, and she's attracting venture capital from investors who've already pumped $14 million into her company. These social impact investors are betting that Elizabeth will be able to make a real impact by helping solve one of our society's most intractable problems: safe nuclear waste storage. Discussed in this episode NPR on Deep Isolation's work Radwaste Solutions magazine, Liz's favorite publication The World Without Us by Alan Weisman Berkeley Earth, the nonprofit environmental group Elizabeth co-founded and runs HBO's Chernobyl series which focuses on the infamous Soviet nuclear energy accident Netflix's Inside Bill's Brain series which discusses next-gen nuclear power

What do you get when you combine executives from Unilever and Nestle with alt-protein investors and $200 million? In 2020, it turns out you get a new company devoted to doing for plant-based chicken what Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have done for plant-based burgers. Already The LiveKindly Co. has announced the completion of a $200 million funding round, installed a former Unilever CEO as its own CEO, acquired two plant-based meat companies, and partnered with one of Europe's largest poultry companies. As you'll hear in this interview with company founder Roger Lienhard and CEO Kees Kruythoff (former CEO of Unilever North America), they intend to use their extensive food industry experience and massive capital to revolutionize the chicken industry. And it will all begin with a new, all-natural plant-based chicken that contains only four to six ingredients and, they say, will be cheaper than chicken within three years. Discussed in this episode LiveKindly Media, the news source run by Jodi Monelle acquired by The LiveKindly Co. LikeMeat, a German plant-based meat company acquired by The LiveKindly Co. Fry's Family Food, a South African plant-based meat company acquired by The LiveKindly Co. PHW Group, Germany's largest poultry company Blue Horizon Ventures, the VC founded by Roger Lienhard Unilever sustainability initiatives True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George Enactus, a global network for social entrepreneurship whose board chairman is Kees Kruythoff Episode 38: Making Plastic Disappear with Notpla's Seaweed Packaging

Today, everyone knows what plant-based meat is and chances are they've at least tried it. In many ways, those people have Seth Tibbott to thank. Seth, who in 1980 founded Turtle Island Foods (maker of the iconic Tofurky brand) and served as its CEO for more than three decades, is now releasing his autobiography: In Search of the Wild Tofurky: How a Business Misfit Pioneered Plant-Based Foods Before They Were Cool. Rest assured that if you're interested in entrepreneurialism to save the world, this is the perfect book to read while sheltering in place during a global pandemic. In the book, Seth tells the tale of how ill-prepared he, as a hippie-turned-entrepreneur, was to run a business when he started out. In fact, the company remained unprofitable for more than 15 years until finally turning out new products that helped to pave the way for the explosion of plant-based meat popularity we're experiencing today. So take a moment while social distancing and listen to Seth's inspirational story of repeated (and repeated) business failures, followed by enormous success, both financial and social. After listening to his tale here, you'll surely want to order his new book! Discussed in this episode Books: Diet for a Small Planet, Shoe Dog, Eating Animals, and Stephen Gaskin's works Philip Wollen speech on animals Wild Wild Country on Netflix The Guardian on Eddie the pitbull's foster-to-adoption story Paul Shapiro's column in Scientific American about pandemics and raising animals for food