B The Change Georgia with Nathan Stuck

In today’s episode, host Nathan Stuck sits down with Amber Makupson, Founder and CEO of Meraki Hair Wellness and Executive Director of the Clean Beauty Coalition.

Amber is an entrepreneur, policy advocate, and media founder working at the intersection of beauty, public health, and business. As the leader of Meraki Hair Wellness, the Clean Beauty Coalition, and Makupson Media, she educates and advocates for ingredient transparency and safer consumer products. Her impactful work has been featured in more than 40 national and international publications—including Forbes, Harper's Bazaar, and Oprah Magazine—and she has testified in Congress in support of safer beauty justice legislation.

In her conversation with Nathan, Amber shares her profound journey from formulating clean products in her kitchen after surviving second-degree chemical burns to successfully navigating the rigorous path to B Corp certification. They dive deep into the alarming 75% toxicity rate found in products marketed to Black women, the tactical adjustments needed to manage founder burnout, and the power of state and federal legislation to drive industry transparency.

Listeners will walk away with an updated blueprint on how to operationalize their values on paper, build authentic stakeholder communities, and scale an impactful brand without losing their humanity.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Visit AmberMakupson.com
• Visit Meraki Hair Wellness: MerakiHairWellness.com
• Learn about the Clean Beauty Coalition: cleanbeautycoalition.org
• Follow Amber Makupson on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ambermakupson
• Learn about B Local Georgia: blocalgeorgia.com
• Learn about Profitable Purpose Consulting: profitablepurposeconsulting.com

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nathan sits down with Eve London, the host committee chair for Build Southeast 2026, Business Development Associate at Ecolytics, and a B Local Mid-Atlantic board member.

Eve has spent nearly half of her life in the B Corp movement and is now leading the charge to bring the regional B Corp conference to her hometown of Washington DC, this September 16th and 17th.

Eve and Nathan give you a preview of what you can expect in the nation's capital, including BLD Southeast’s shift away from passive panel presentations towards more action-oriented workshops, how we'll continue to drive hyper-local economic impact across our host city, and what it takes to build an unforgettable community gathering from the ground up.

Stay tuned to discover why you should join us this September in Washington, DC, and how you can help us grow the B Corp movement across our region.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Visit https://www.ecolytics.io/
• Follow Ecolytics on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecolytics 
• Learn more about BLD Southeast at https://bldsoutheast.com/
• Follow BLD Southeast on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/bld-southeast 
• Learn more about B Local Mid-Atlantic at https://blocalma.com/
• Follow B Local Mid-Atlantic on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/b-local-mid-atlantic 
• Learn about offsetting your AI footprint at https://www.offsetai.app/ 
• Follow Eve on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/eve-london-396897166

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s episode, Nathan Stuck sits down with Savannah Seydel to unpack what Better Earth is doing to eliminate petroleum-based plastics from our food systems and advance a truly circular economy. 

 

Savannah Seydel is Vice President of Sustainability at Better Earth, an Atlanta-based B Corp and compostable packaging provider, where she advances Better Earth's mission to realize regenerative circularity across the foodservice industry through product innovation, education and advocacy, and stakeholder engagement. She is also the founder of Sustaining Women, a network supporting and sustaining 800+ women across the environmental sector. With an expansive background that bridges creative writing, environmental public affairs, grassroots advocacy, and impact filmmaking, Savannah brings a distinct narrative lens to complex environmental and cross-functional corporate challenges.

 

In this conversation, Nathan and Savannah dive deep into her circuitous career journey—including the fateful ski lift encounter that redefined her professional path. They discuss the historical evolution of compostable packaging, why business leaders must champion a mindset of progress over perfection, and how her newly expanded national initiative, Sustaining Women, is building a resilient, intergenerational community designed to fight change-agent burnout.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Visit Better Earth www.becompostable.com 
• Follow Better Earth on social media at:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becompostable/ 
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/becompostable 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becompostable/ 
• Follow Sustaining Women on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustaining-women 
• Sign Up for the Atlanta Women in Sustainability Quarterly Newsletter https://lnkd.in/efKSE7ig 

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you scale your corporate impact without completely running yourself into the ground? In today’s episode, Nathan Stuck sits down with Elaine Dinos, Founder of Kindred Lane, to unpack how to help leaders move past the exhausting cycle of over-extension and step into a more sustainable, aligned way of leading.

 

Elaine is a newly certified B Corp founder and former partner at Korn Ferry with over a decade of experience guiding executive searches for legendary brands. After navigating her own "breakdown to breakthrough" career moment, she launched Kindred Lane to serve as a nature-backed sanctuary where leaders go to grow.

In this deeply candid conversation, Elaine breaks down the core elements of a truly regenerative corporate culture and shares how she helps leaders make business purpose human-centric. Listeners will walk away with a fresh blueprint for balancing intense growth with personal sustainability.

Upcoming Event: Kindred Lane is hosting a Regenerative Leadership Retreat in Serenbe, October 20-23! Check out their website for dates and registration details to focus on your personal and organizational impact.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Learn more about Kindred Lane at https://www.kindredlane.com 
• Connect with Elaine Dinos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-dinos-4179a73/ 
• Learn about B Local Georgia at https://blocalgeorgia.com/ 
• Learn about Profitable Purpose Consulting at https://www.profitablepurposeconsulting.com/ 

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Nathan Stuck sits down with Tara Jenkins, founder of Conscious Revolution, to discuss her 25-year journey through the "belly of the beast" in corporate HR.

Tara shares her transition from a high-stakes executive to a "recovering HR person" who now helps businesses build cultures of dignity and transparency. They explore the systemic issues of "supremacy culture," the vulnerability of leaving the corporate inner circle, and why the B Corp community is vital for leaders looking to reconnect the head and the heart of their business.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Learn about Consvious Revolution at https://www.consciousrevolution.com/ 
• Follow Conscious Revolution on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/conscious-revolution/ 
• Follow Tara on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-jenkins/
• Learn about B Local Georgia at https://blocalgeorgia.com/
• Learn about Profitable Purpose Consulting at https://www.profitablepurposeconsulting.com/ 

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s episode, Nathan Stuck sits down with his former professor, Dr. Sundar Bharadwaj, the Coca-Cola Chair of Marketing at UGA, to unpack how social impact can become a firm's most significant competitive advantage. Sundar shares his journey from working with Amul, an Indian dairy cooperative that revolutionized farmer cash flow, to researching how modern multinationals leverage purpose to disrupt stagnant categories.

Nathan and Sundar dive deep into the "Marketing-Finance Interface," discussing why marketing metrics often fail to reach the C-suite and how to reframe impact as a demand driver rather than a cost center. Sundar provides a framework for leaders to move beyond performative CSR and instead bake impact into the very core of their products.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Learn more about Sundar’s work via his Terry College of Business Profile https://www.terry.uga.edu/directory/sundar-bharadwaj/
• Order Sundar's book: Good Growth: How Brands Win with Social Impact https://www.amazon.com/Good-Growth-Brands-Social-Impact-ebook/dp/B0D2M3CRFZ
• Connect with Sundar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sundarbharadwajmarketingprof

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Nathan sits down with Seth Gunning, Founder of Sunpath Solar, Georgia’s only B Corp-certified solar installation company.

 

Seth shares his 20-year journey from community organizing and fighting coal initiatives to leading a business that specializes in making clean energy accessible to low-to-moderate-income homeowners and nonprofits. They discuss the "solar coaster" of shifting tax credits, the importance of "encoding values" into operations, and how Sunpath is using innovative financing models like "Solar Energy Procurement Agreements" to bypass the high upfront costs that often keep clean energy out of reach for those who need it most.

 

Listen in to discover how Seth is proving that business can be a powerful tool for environmental justice and learn why 'encoding' values into your standard operating procedures is the key to surviving any industry’s volatility.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Visit Sunpath Solar at https://sunpath.solar/
• Follow Sunpath Solar on social media at:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sunpath-solar/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551612671287 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunpath.solar
• And get in touch with Sunpath Solar at https://sunpath.solar/contact/

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 How do you transition from leading in high-stakes environments like the Pentagon and Chick-fil-A to building a movement for community unity?

In today’s episode, Nathan Stuck sits down with Rodney Bullard, CEO of The Same House, to unpack what he is doing to bridge social and economic divides in Atlanta and beyond. Rodney shares his journey from the Air Force Academy to the corporate world, illustrating how a legacy-driven mindset can transform organizations and communities.

Rodney is the author of the best-selling book Heroes Wanted and a recognized leader in corporate social responsibility. He brings a unique perspective on "significance versus success," rooted in the mentorship of civil rights giants and his own lived experience.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The fundamental difference between "success" (titles and wealth) and "significance" (helping people and creating lasting impact).

• Why "tyrannical" leadership doesn't scale and how authentic care builds a team that will "go through a wall" for the mission.

• The "Same House" philosophy: why we cannot sit comfortably in one room while our neighbor's room is on fire.

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Visit https://thesamehouse.org/

• Learn more about Rodney at https://www.rodneybullard.com/

• Follow Rodney Bullard on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodneybullardatl/

• Learn more about B Local Georgia at https://blocalgeorgia.com/

CREDITS

• Theme Music 🎵 ZakharValaha from Pixabay

• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a stable career in government turns into a sudden layoff in the middle of New York City? For Claire Angelle, it was the "oh sh*t" moment that birthed a thriving agency.

Claire Angelle is a former diplomat turned PR strategist with over 20 years of experience in communications, media relations, and international affairs. Before founding Elevia, Claire opened and led the City of Atlanta’s first Office of International Affairs, helping generate over $2.7 billion in economic impact and 10,000+ new jobs while raising more than $3 million in funding for global initiatives.

In this episode, Claire joins Nathan to discuss her transition from the French Foreign Service to founding Elevia. They dive deep into why mission-driven organizations often struggle to tell their stories, the critical balance between "the head and the heart" in data-driven narratives, and why ethical storytelling requires a new approach to consent.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Visit https://elevia.agency/
• Follow Claire on
• LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-collobert-angelle-5267b4a
• Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/clairecangelle/ 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s episode, Nathan Stuck sits down with J. Dontrese Brown, Founder and CEO of BROWNBAYLOR™, to unpack what he is doing to reimagine leadership through the lens of purpose, courage, and justice.

 

Dontrese is a creative strategist who "fell into" a deeper calling of community and civic leadership after realizing that corporate notoriety wasn't enough to satisfy his "Why." He is on a relentless pursuit to help others maximize their potential.

 

Nathan and Dontrese explore the concept of Audacious Confidence—the unshakable belief that every action we take creates a ripple effect for future generations. Dontrese also gives us a sneak peek into his upcoming book, Build for Justice, which serves as a call to action for leaders to lead with both their minds and their hearts.

 

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

• Visit https://www.brownbaylor.com/
• Visit https://www.hiddeninplainsite.org/ to explore hidden history and sites important to the experience of historically underrepresented groups
• Follow Dontrese on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdontresebrown/ 
• Learn more about B Local Georgia at https://blocalgeorgia.com/

 

CREDITS

• Theme Music🎵ZakharValaha from Pixabay
• Produced by ChatWithLeadersMedia.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.