Advertise on podcast: Taking Care in Business

Calling all CSR bookworms! The Sustainable Entrepreneur is the next book you need on your shelf. This episode features Kumar Vijayendra, a thought leader in small business transformation and author of The Sustainable Entrepreneur. He and Vicki discuss how small businesses can set themselves up for success when they factor in sustainability as one of their key business strategies. You can learn more about Kumar and find his book at iamkumarv.com.

The most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and nonprofits alone—it requires a collective effort. This episode’s guest is Jenny Morgan of Tradewater, a carbon offset company that targets the most potent greenhouse gases and destroys them before they ever reach the atmosphere. Learn more about Jenny’s passion for changing the way we view business and industry to both be profitable and purposeful.

It seems like there’s a service for everything nowadays! In this episode, Vicki chats with Bryan Clayton, a true lawn care aficionado and founder of GreenPal. GreenPal offers an all-in-one place to find, schedule, and pay the best fit lawn pro for your yard. Bryan’s platform is also taking some interesting steps towards reducing their environmental impact using closed loop systems to ensure they are taking care in business.

You’re in for a treat this episode! Vicki speaks with Cindy Carter and Carmela Toler of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream, a business powered by amazing ice cream served by amazing people. At Howdy’s, they do things a little differently. They’re on a mission to create jobs for those with developmental and intellectual disabilities through the power of smiles and amazing ice cream.

Over the past four decades, the price of a college education has increased by over 900%—and that didn’t sit well with Hope College. Enter: Hope Forward, an initiative to provide fully-funded tuition for every Hope College student by leveraging the generosity and gratitude of a pay-it-forward approach. In this episode, Vicki chats with Nicole Dunteman, Program Manager at Hope College (and Vicki’s niece!), about how this funding model based on generosity and giving could change everything.

There’s a new player in the game when it comes to surgical healthcare. Vicki speaks with serial entrepreneur Jeff Williams, who co-founded Wellbridge Surgical, a surgery center that offers transparent, up-front pricing and eliminates the need for an insurance-based middleman. Jeff’s goal with Wellbridge is to give everyone a fairly-priced alternative to the “way it’s always been done.”

Navigating the world of cryptocurrencies doesn’t have to be challenging. In this episode, Vicki speaks with Octavio Gallego of Global Investment Crypto Exchange (GIE), a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange platform. GIE donates a percentage of monthly revenue to their nonprofit partners; and these contributions only go to verified mission-driven local and global charities, particularly those that offset the crypto industry’s carbon footprint.

On this week’s episode, Vicki sits down with Mariel Greenlee, founder and creator of Indy Dance Council, ahead of their upcoming 2023 Indy Dance Festival to talk about dance as a vehicle for community and how to take big ideas and execute them.

This week we’re turning things around to show how much we appreciate our audience! Meet the show’s producer, Morgan Hartman, as she joins Vicki with questions sent in from our listeners.

Join Vicki as she has an intimate conversation with Lance Kawaguchi, CEO Magazine’s 2022 Not-for-Profit Executive of the Year. A very successful, international ex-banker, Lance has turned an underperforming organization into a global leader for cancer. Hear how his bold and imaginative leadership might just cure brain cancer.

Alexis Goldsmith is an energetic grassroots organizer, media producer and journalist and environmental advocate who grew up in Indiana. She co-founded the Hudson Mohawk Environmental Action Network, a grassroots consortium fighting for environmental justice and Indigenous rights along the Hudson River. In this episode Vicki talks with Alexis about these things, but mostly focuses on her role as the National Organizing Director of Beyond Plastics. The mission is simple: end plastic pollution.

Want to learn how your business can become carbon neutral? Our guest this week, Mike Smith with Aclymate, talks through how you can shift into carbon neutrality.