Can I Laugh On Your Shoulder?

I am honored to welcome to the show Marissa Williams, Shiquita Hyman, and Tiffany Moon - all amazing content creators and also founders of "Our Shades of Influence." Our Shades of Influence is a group of three diverse women within the influencer community. Their goal as influencers is to inspire, educate, and empower people of all shades, shapes, and sizes. They strive to improve the visible shortage of partnerships between businesses and influencers/bloggers of color. As women of color, they will partner with businesses to represent their brands with integrity while helping to tap into the buying power of the minority market, because there is beauty in color.

One of the things I love about hosting this podcast, Business with Purpose, is the fact that I get the privilege of having the opportunity to have important conversations that will challenge, encourage, convict, and inspire you. I want to have conversations that educate you (and me!) to know better and to do better.

I've had a lot of important conversations on this podcast about racism, but honestly, probably none more important than this conversation we had right here.

This episode is a bonus episode that is outside of my normal weekly content for the show... but I pray that you take the time to sit and really LISTEN to this week's episode and my conversation with Marissa, Shiquita, and Tiffany. I pray that this conversation would be one that would give you space to learn and grow in your anti-racism journey... and equip you with steps to move forward to take ACTION. Because I believe when we are living lives of purpose, that includes taking action where it's needed most.

Contact Shiquita Hyman:

• Ig: https://instagram.com/unconventionalsouthernbelle
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/unconventionalsouthernbelle/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/ShiquitaHyman
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Unconventional_Southern_Belle/

Contact Marissa Williams:

• https://www.shabbychiccheap.com/
• https://twitter.com/ShabbyChicCheap
• https://www.instagram.com/shabbychiccheap
• https://www.facebook.com/shabbychiccheap
• https://www.pinterest.com/shabbychiccheap

Contact Tiffany Moon:

• http://thenorthernbelleofthesouth.com/
• https://twitter.com/tiffturnermoon
• https://instagram.com/thenorthernbelleofthesouth
• https://pinterest.com/thenorthernbelleofthesouth
• https://www.snapchat.com/add/redlipredbottom

When people ask me where I want to be when I'm 80-years-old, one of the first answers I always give is something to the effect of, "Holding hands and still madly in love with my husband, John." I am so passionate about marriage and the amazing gift that it is. Today's episode is for both married and single people. There really is something for everyone in this episode. I understand that marriage can be a sensitive topic for some who've maybe been divorced, in harmful marriages, grew up as a child of divorced parents, or maybe you long to be married. I want you to know that you are loved, and I hope this episode is encouraging to you. My guest today has spent the majority of his life using his ministry to bless and encourage couples and families. Dr. Randy Schroder is a licensed marriage therapist, pastor, and retired professor of pastoral counseling who has a lifetime of expertise in marriage both professionally and personally. For three decades he has helped well over 1,000 couples establish the simple habits that are essential for developing a fulfilling and gratifying marriage. I actually just finished reading Dr. Schroder's book, Simple Habits for Marital Happiness. We had such a great conversation and I hope you enjoy this episode and are blessed by it!

7:58 - The Randy 101

• Randy and his wife have been married for 45 years. They have two married sons and six grandchildren. Randy has helped individuals, couples, and marriage have satisfying lives with over 60,000 hours of counseling. Randy plans on continuing helping people until he's 90!
• Randy's wife encouraged him to write a book to give couples skills and tools to work on their marriages together. His book is called Simple Habits for Marital Happiness.
• His counseling practiced opened in 1990, and as he helped more and more people, he also started to learn from couples what skills, behaviors, words and tools make for a happy marriage.
• The divorce rate is roughly 50% and Randy says that of couples who are married, about 70% are not happy. Randy was discouraged by those odds and that was another reason he decided to write a book to give couples the simple knowledge needed to work on marriage.

14:28 – Intentionality

• Intention is the first step to healthy, happy relationship. A lot of couples don't recognize the importance of never taking your spouse or your marriage for granted. The number one goal is to overcome complacency.
• Motivation alone is not sufficient; couples have to be equipped with knowledge. This means understanding how to communicate, apologize, forgive, manage finances, staying in love after the honeymoon, guarding your relationship, disagreeing, and more.
• You can't change your spouse, but you can change how you react and handle situations. It's impossible to change someone else but continuing to grow and adapt together will lead to more understanding.
• It's important to work on your marriage as a couple, but it's equally important that each individual in the marriage continues to work on their own growth as well. Complacency is the biggest threat to any marriage.
• It's ok to communicate with your spouse about what you need! If it's comfort you seek from your spouse, figure out for yourself how you want to be comforted, and then ask for that directly from your partner.

26:22 – Grieving Together, Differently

• It's important to talk about times when you're grieving and how to communicate that and walk through it together, even when it may be happening in different ways.
• Expectations affect everything in a marriage. Making our expectations known clearly and directly can bond couples together in powerful ways.
• Your spouse cannot read your mind, but it's a very common expectation that people have of their spouses!

30:27 – The Success Stories

• In his former work as a pastor and now a counselor, Randy's greatest joy is hearing the success stories of the people he's helped. There have been couples on the brink of divorce who come back and work to find a happy marriage after being equipped with knowledge.
• Simple Habits for Marital Happiness helps people have direction on how to have a satisfying relationship. If someone asks you to drive without your GPS or without a map, you may get there but it may take weeks or months for you to get there because you don't know where you're going.
• It's not hard to give up when you're frustrated instead of equipped. Specific skills are needed for all areas of marriage, and for that matter, all areas of dealing with life in general.
• Many couples will come to see Randy before there is trouble because they want to be equipped so that down the road, their marriage is stronger and ready to handle anything they might go through in the future of the relationship.

38:24 – Struggle During the Coronavirus

• The number of people filing for divorce has gone up over the past few months since the start of stay-at-home ordinances around the country. Couples can focus on improving their relationship by 1% per week, work on having healthy disagreements.
• Randy says to go slow and to do things in the home now to help. Lighten the mood by watching comedy at home together, schedule phone counseling sessions, and alternate doing fun activities like games, going for walks together, and having an at-home date nights.
• John and I had a putt putt date night where John set up a course in our house with a frisbee as the putting hole and obstacles just like a real putt putt course!

43:00 – We Need to Talk

• Conflict and difficult discussions are never fun or easy. Randy reminds us not to approach the start to a conversation "We need to talk", but instead with "I need your help." This humbles the other person and eases the tension and wall that goes up with "We need to talk."
• It's important for every couple to realize that happy marriages have disagreements, what they don't have are arguments, fights, and conflicts. We don't want to go to war in our marriages, but we do want to respect each other's differing opinion and find a solution to that differing opinion.
• Randy has "terrific twos" that help save marriages. When you stay inside the "9s", you have healthy discussions after 9:00 in the morning, or before 9:00 at night. We need to have energy to find the solution to differing opinions. The second "terrific two" is to always sit down when you talk. Standing is an intimidating posture, and it's easier to escalate into yelling when you're standing.

52:57 - Getting to Know Our Guest

• Find out what Randy is learning about himself and his marriage during Covid-19, what his ideal date night with his wife would be, and after 45 years of marriage, what his favorite thing is about marriage, and which of his pet peeves in the strangest. Stay tuned to hear what is means to Randy to run a business with purpose.

Memorable Quotes:

Everyone wants a happy marriage. No marriage is going to be happy 100% of the time, but the goal is to have a consistently happy marriage.

It's important for every couple to realize that happy marriages have disagreements, what they don't have are arguments, fights, and conflicts. We don't want to go to war in our marriages, but we do want to respect each other's differing opinion and find a solution to that differing opinion.

CONNECT WITH RANDY

• https://www.drrandyschroeder.com/
• Simple Habits for Marital Happiness Book
• https://twitter.com/Dr_Randy_S

ABOUT DR. RANDY SCHROEDER

Dr. Randy Schroeder was born and raised in Austin, Texas. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Concordia University Chicago, and received a Master's of Education in Administration from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He also earned a Master of Divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana and holds a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from The Chicago Theological Seminary.

For the first eight years of his professional career, he was a Lutheran high school teacher, an assistant principal, athletic director, and varsity football and basketball coach winning two conference football championships. After eight successful years as an educator, he felt called to serve the Lord as a Pastor and left teaching to prepare for the pastoral ministry at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.

After graduating in 1986, the seminary administration asked him to become a Professor of Pastoral Counseling, Vice President of Student Personnel Services, and Dean of Students. As a Professor of Pastoral Counseling, it was an absolute joy for Dr. Schroeder to teach pastors how to counsel individuals, marriages, and families in their future churches. For 25 years he taught a number of classes in marriage counseling, premarital counseling, family counseling, crisis counseling, and general pastoral care classes.

In 2010, he retired as Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Concordia Theological Seminary. After being an educator for 33 years, he strongly desired to serve God and others as a full-time Christian counselor in order to help individuals, marriages, and families with the practical Simple Habits that can make a profound difference in relationships and achieving a rewarding life.

Dr. Schroeder has committed his life to encouraging and motivating others to have fulfilling lives and healthy relationships. He firmly believes that an absence of knowledge, not a lack of desire, is what holds people back from accomplishing their personal and relationship goals. He is fervently devoted to sharing with others the practical wisdom and Simple Habits that produce meaningful relationships.

He is a marriage expert, parenting specialist, pastor, speaker, author, and retired professor. Dr. Schroeder has spoken to numerous church groups, conferences, and businesses, providing practical tips and inspiration on marriage, parenting, and various life challenges.

He wrote a FAMILY COUNSELOR column for the Lutheran Witness magazine for 15 years; spoke to the Indiana Section of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on the Simple Habits for Marital Happiness; addressed thousands of couples on how to have a happy marriage; and made presentations to thousands of parents providing skills and tools for effective parenting.

Dr. Schroeder continues to write, speak, and have a successful counseling practice because he is passionate about helping individuals, couples, and families enjoy satisfying personal lives and rewarding relationships. He is a well-known relationship speaker and very popular presenter on the topic of marriage, parenting, communication, and more. Audiences enjoy his influential style of encouraging and guiding individuals, couples, and parents to have a fulfilling life. He still has numerous life goals, including two future books, Simple Habits for Effective Parenting and Simple Habits for a Satisfying Life.

Dr. Schroeder and his wife, Ginny, have been happily married for forty-five years and have two married sons, along with six grandchildren. Randy and Ginny love nurturing their grandchildren and moved from Fort Wayne to the Indianapolis area to accomplish that goal. Traveling is something they really enjoy because they like meeting new people and experiencing different cultures.

If we want to have a productive and honest conversation about what it's going to take to end human trafficking, we've got to start thinking about what to do on the front end. How do we keep people from falling into the trap of human trafficking in the first place? One of the biggest factors in that prevention means providing jobs, education, and sustainable economic opportunities. This is how we end human trafficking. My guest today started a social enterprise that is caring for women escaping human trafficking and exploitation in East Asia. Jenny McGee is the founder and director of Starfish Project. Jenny started her work by visiting brothels every week and building relationships with the women and girls who worked there. She found that many of them had either been tricked into working in these places, or they came from incredibly desperate circumstances. Most had very little education, and many could not read and write. Jenny started Starfish project to provide alternative employment and educational opportunities for these women and girls. Starfish project started with five women working around a kitchen table and has grown to employ over 150 women! Today, Starfish Project has two women's' and children's' shelters and reaches thousands of women every year through their outreach programs. One hundred percent of their profits are reinvested in their social mission to restore hope to exploited women and girls. Without further ado, join me for this great conversation with Jenny.

4:03 - The Jenny 101

• Eighteen years ago, Jenny moved to Asia after studying abroad there and falling in love with East Asia, specifically.
• She started learning the language and building a life there with her husband and three children. She started to notice a lot of young women working on the streets and brothels. One of Jenny's friends wanted to start reaching out to the women and girls and reached out to Jenny for help translating.
• As Jenny started to get to know the women and girls better, she was surprised that many were coming in from poor villages in the countryside and looking for work in the city. A lot of them were sending money back to their village for their brothers to be able to go to school. Most were there for economic reasons and didn't want to be there doing that kind of work.
• Building those connections and relationships was the foundation for Starfish Project. It allowed Jenny to begin to find educational and safe employment opportunities for the women. They started with just five women working around a kitchen table and it grew from there.
• Starfish Project is a social enterprise jewelry company that cares for women who are escaping human trafficking and gives them opportunities to experience freedom, establish independence, and develop careers. There are teams that go into the brothels each week to visit the women working in the shops there.

7:40 – Experience Freedom, Establish Independence, and Develop Careers.

• Starfish Project builds relationships in person and even through social media apps. They offer the option of a way out through employment and women and children's shelters. They also provide benefits, retirement, and career development. They try to employ women coming out of human trafficking and exploitation throughout all levels of the company from graphic designers, artisans, photographers, accountants, and more.
• If the women want to continue working at Starfish Project they can, but they can also take the skills they've developed to new opportunities in self-employment or jobs with other companies.
• Working at Starfish also gives women a chance to be a part of a team and build community. Those first coming into the program can see the potential for their future in women who've worked there a little longer and developed their skills.
• Starfish Project is one of the few organizations in the area that has very few women going back to work in the brothels. Part of that is that because newer women in program, even if they're just starting with very simple skills, can see someone with their same background who's made it as a photographer, accountant, graphic designer, etc.

13:48 - Indiana to East Asia

• Jenny initially came to East Asia as a part of a semester abroad program with Bethel College in Indiana. She fell in love with East Asia (a very different city than it is today). She's not exactly sure what it is that made her love it so much, and she truly feels that being there was a calling on her heart.
• Jenny and her family live in a migrant village so that they can share life with the people they felt were their community. Jenny's kids go to an international school with kids from all over the world as well. They experience life in a mix of cultures.

19:03 -Adapting and Innovating During a Global Pandemic

• Since they're in Asia, Starfish Project dealt with Covid-19 early on and in a sense, are now in round two of the pandemic. The women in the program went home during the Spring festival time (imagine it being like going home at Christmas time). They were spread out all over the country and when it was time to return, it was hard for many of them to travel back to the city.
• Starfish Project also had to turn away orders because they couldn't get raw materials for a while and couldn't fill orders for about two months. As soon as they started to see the light at the end of the tunnel, Covid-19 hit the United States hard. Now they are seeing the sales side more impacted.
• Day to day life in East Asia during Covid-10 started with a lot of strict regulations. Jenny had to do a full 14-day quarantine, complete with a sign placed on her door stating the household could not go outside for 14 days. All the neighborhoods are blocked off and getting into your own neighborhood requires a card. That affects Starfish Project's outreach, as they can't go into other neighborhoods where women are working in the brothels.
• There are even small brothels in Jenny's neighborhood, so they've been trying to deliver care packages to the women there. Some of the women locked themselves in with bike locks to try and stay safe. Their bosses cut off their electricity and heat to save money.
• Unfortunately, even brothels being shutdown leaves women vulnerable because they have no income and it's harder to communicate with the outside world and places like Starfish Project that can them begin to find a way out.

25:26 Faith and Hope in Uncertain Times and Through to the Future

• Jenny's faith and the faith of her team has brought togetherness and hope. It's really opened everyone's eyes to how little control they have over things.
• Spending time studying God's Word and focusing on things that bring hope has helped Jenny and the teams during this difficult season.
• As Starfish Project looks toward both the immediate future and further down the road, they've focused on growing their business and sales to be able to help more people. They want to grow the business side to create as many job opportunities and escapes from the brothels as possible.
• To accomplish that growth, they're looking at business partnerships that will get products in front of more people and take the business side as far as it can go.

28:22 - Getting to Know Our Guest

• Find out what Jenny has learned about herself during Covid-19, what her hype song would be, what she thinks people will be nostalgic for in forty years, and of course, what it means to Jenny to run a business with purpose.

Memorable Quotes

10:10 - It's always hard to see people you've poured into move on, but I think it's also about opening space and opening doors for other women then to learn new skills as well.

13:11 – I think from day one, even if they start on a production line doing very simple tasks in the beginning, they can see the potential for their future. I think that also does a lot to bring them hope as well.

About Jenny McGee:

Jenny McGee is the Founder and Director of Starfish Project, a social enterprise that cares for women escaping human trafficking and exploitation in East Asia. Jenny started her work by visiting brothels every week and building relationships with the women and girls who worked there. She found that many of them had either been tricked into working in these places or they came from incredibly desperate circumstances. Most had very little education and many could not read and write. So Jenny began Starfish Project to provide alternative employment and educational opportunities for these women and girls. Starfish Project began with five women working around a kitchen table and has grown to employ over 150 women since its beginnings. Today Starfish Project has two women and children's shelters and reaches thousands of women every year through their outreach programs. 100% of their profits are reinvested into their social mission to restore hope to exploited women and girls. Jenny moved to East Asia over 18 years ago and continues to live there today with her husband and three children.

Connect with Starfish Project:

• https://starfishproject.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/StarfishProjAsia/
• https://www.instagram.com/starfish_project/
• https://twitter.com/starfishproj
• https://www.pinterest.com/starfishproject
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/starfish-project
• https://www.youtube.com/user/starfishprojectinc

Have you ever thought about the story you are telling with the things you bring into your home? Have you ever thought about what your décor style says about you? I love seeing how different people's home décor or personal style says so much about their personality, culture, history, where they've traveled, and what they hold near and dear to them. My guest today has combined her passion for travel, culture, and fair trade into a thriving business that is helping others tell their stories in a beautiful way. Latoya Tucciarone is the founder and owner of Sustainable Home Goods. Latoya started Sustainable Home Goods in 2017 because she truly believes that one of the best ways to end world poverty is through trade, not aid. Prior to starting Sustainable, she worked for fair-trade jewelry company, Noonday Collection (which is no stranger to this podcast)! During her time with Noonday, Latoya noticed a rise in ethical shopping for jewelry and clothing, but very few fair-trade options for the home. She saw a niche and she wanted to fill it. Sustainable Home Goods can be found online and at Ponce City Market in Atlanta, GA. Latoya graduated from Elon University (just down the road from me!), started a successful photography business, and has traveled all over the world. She's also raising four amazing kids with her husband Andrew. I loved this conversation with Latoya. We could have talked all day. Sit back, relax, and join me for this great conversation!

3:52 - The Latoya 101

• Latoya and her husband are beautifully busy in Atlanta, GA with their four children, ages 4, 7, 10, and 11. Latoya grew up in southern California, which fostered her love of being connected to people from all different cultures.
• In college Latoya had a chance to study abroad and live in South Africa for a month. That's when she first fell in love with people groups and really realized her love for the world and for traveling. Between Latoya's travel and her husband Andrew's travel for his production company, the two have seen more than 50 countries!
• Her experiences traveling also grew her heart for recognizing the need to engage vulnerable communities through fair trade in a sustainable way. That means collaborating with them through trade, not just charity.
• Latoya's family facilitated cultural experiences without leaving the house, whether through music available for the kids to listen to, or art prominently displayed throughout the house.

8:30 – Trade Not Aid

• Populations that are already vulnerable are even more so during a crisis like the one we're in now with the global Coronavirus pandemic. There are so many systemic issues that still have to change to protect vulnerable communities when things are good!
• Latoya and Andrew took their kids to Guatemala last July so that they could meet the artisans and understand the process, love, and tradition that goes into handmade items. The kids don't think of the artisans as receiving charity, they see them as talented partners.

Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. -Leila Janah

• Latoya's focus is to find talented people and partner with them so that there is an opportunity for their unique, handcrafted work to be seen, celebrated, and purchased! Sustainable Home Goods works hard to create a story-driven experience to show people how each piece was made.
• Pieces can be even more treasured knowing that people have the honor of bringing a unique, special item into their home.

21:56 - Between Two Tensions

• Latoya credits her experience with Noonday Collection as the first time she really understood how business can be used for good.
• She loved working with jewelry and Noonday Collection, but she was drawn to home décor and creating a warm and inviting space and filling homes for stories. When she surveyed the retail landscape, she noticed there weren't as many options for purchasing ethically for the home like there were for purchasing ethical fashion.
• Latoya knew she wanted to create a space for people to shop safely, knowing there was no exploitation behind the pieces they purchased. She started slowly with basic e-commerce for a year and a half, followed by a few pop ups shops and markets. Seeing people pick up products in their hands and connect with a story made Latoya quickly realize that it was time to open a brick and mortar.
• She knew there was only one place she wanted to be. She called the Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Georgia. The location in "the Hollywood of the South" allows Sustainable Home Goods to foster even more meaningful conversations with regular people, celebrities, and scientists about breaking poverty and violence cycles with jobs, sustainable income, and trade.
• When people visit the store from other countries, they comment about feeling right at home. Latoya is well on her way toward a goal of Sustainable Home Goods becoming "the Whole foods of ethical shopping."
• Sustainable Home Goods is very mindful about what they bring into the store, and everything is carefully hand-picked and curated. Latoya wants to create a special place for people to shop for modern items while still honoring traditional techniques.

36:23 – The Experience of a Black Woman in Fair Trade

• In the past year or two, Latoya has seen more black women engaging in the fair-trade industry. Latoya has had strangers at conferences comment on her looks or even touch her hair!
• People also go out of their way to acknowledge her presence. It stands out to Latoya that there are so few black women in the industry that when they arrive, everyone notices. It can feel a bit uncomfortable and lonely to say the least.
• Knowingly or unknowingly, the industry treads a fine line of perpetuating the image of the white savior and white people centering themselves.
• When traveling, it's also hard to witness people in other cultures acknowledging a purchase from a white person as having "made it", equating that metric to success. It's not the measure of their worth, and it can be a heartbreaking to see.
• Latoya and Noonday Collections worked on ways to shift the narrative to use ethnic models and do photoshoots on location where artisans live. It's important for artisans to see their own people wearing and using their creations.
• Seeing people reconnecting to their own heritage through the artisan items is very encouraging and special, especially knowing that connection can also support the artisans around the world who share that same heritage.
• The more businesses that follow ethical business practices, the more people are seeing that it's just a good way to do business, no matter your race. As the industry grows, Latoya's hope is that we will organically see diversity in the industry grow as well.
• You can have good intentions, but if your impact is negative, it's important to recognize it and change. When we know better, we do better (Maya Angelo).
• It's most important to be in real relationship with people different from us. That's the best way to learn how to be mindful about how we treat each other, rather than coming in with preconceived notions from something we've read in a book.
• Being in close relationship is disarming. Being open with each other is the way we were created to live.

56:11 – Getting to Know Our Guest

• Find out what Latoya is learning about herself during Covid-19 (oooh, it's good stuff), her most unusual talents, who she would choose to play her in a movie about her life, what makes her feel most alive, and of course, what it means to her to run a business with purpose.

#carbsandgrace

Memorable Quotes

18:00 - There are brilliant artists coming out of Africa and telling their story. You just never hear about modern art coming out of Africa. So how do we change that narrative?

22:52 - You're kind of left with those two tensions ... This is a way to live in that love of culture while also being able to engage in ending the poverty and suffering that you're seeing.

42:20 - We can be connected to our heritage and our people through fair trade and purchasing items that are helping our brothers and sisters all over the world…That's the narrative that I'm working on: be connected to who you are and your heritage.

50:45 - Be mindful of being culturally respectful, but in the context of relationship. I think sometimes people want to skip over the relational part and just be able to say what they want to say and do what they think is best. There's some work to be done. Just love someone who's different than you.

51:27 - Relationships are just so, so important. Before you get on twitter and start spouting about something, or get on Facebook and spouting about something, or putting a sign in your yard, just stop and say, 'Am I loving and am I in relationship with people who are different than me?' And if not, then that's your first step. Go and love and be with people who are different.

ABOUT LATOYA TUCCIARONE:

LaToya Tucciarone is the Founder and Owner of SustainAble Home Goods. She started SustainAble in 2017 because She truly believes that one of the best ways to end world poverty is through trade not aid.

Previous to starting SustainAble, She worked for fair trade jewelry company Noonday Collection. Getting to work with that amazing company really set her on this journey. During her time time with Noonday, she noticed a rise in ethical shopping for jewelry and clothing but very few fair trade options for the home. She saw a niche and wanted to fill it. SustainAble Home Goods can be found at Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Georgia.

LaToya is a graduate of Elon University, started a successful photography business, has traveled all over the world and somewhere along the line is raising 4 absolutely amazing kids with her husband Andrew.

Connect with SustainAble Home Goods:

• https://yoursustainablehome.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/sustainablehomegoods/
• https://www.instagram.com/sustainablehomegoods/

Thank you to our sponsor of this week's episode: Hope*writers

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Anyone who has ever started a business knows that entrepreneurship is hard. Starting a business takes courage. Starting a business takes conviction, perseverance, grit and tenacity. It is not for the faint of heart and often the occasion arises where you may need to change something to keep your business going. In our current time right now, pivoting is what a lot of businesses are finding themselves in a position to do. My guest today is an entrepreneur who has a lot of experience with exactly that. Lauren Peterson is the founder and CEO of Travel Patterns, a travel-inspired social impact brand that envisions a world where every woman understands her unique value, is connected to her own story, and is empowered to boldly pursue her daring life adventure while enabling others to do the same. I had so much fun having Lauren on the show and she's actually the first guest I've interviewed from home during Covid-19. Lauren has so many wise insights regarding how businesses can adapt and pivot during this time. Join me for this encouraging conversation with Lauren!

3:35 – The Lauren Peterson 101

• Lauren is the founder of Travel Patterns, an ethically made travel and home accessory brand that partners with weaving cooperatives in different countries to provide products through a sustainable marketplace.
• Lauren studied interior design and practiced the profession for a decade before jumping full time into working on Travel Patterns. She even had a unique job working with the Army Corps of Engineers as an interior designer!
• Her entrepreneurial journey started in college when she knew she wanted to start her own company. After graduating, she knew God was calling her to a career in interior design, but He was not calling her to a TYPICAL career in interior design.
• When she graduated in 2008 as the economy crashed, Lauren realized very quickly that her career options would be limited. She was living in Chicago at the time and decided she would need to move home to continue to pursue career opportunities, though there were none.
• She never would have moved home or taken a government job working with the Army Corps of Engineers if not for the economic circumstances at the time. She felt God calling her to something she never expected for herself.
• Lauren worked with the Army Corps of Engineers for 10 years in Alabama and left her job there a year and a half ago. Halfway through her work with the Army she was able to further foster her love of global textiles with global travel for her job.
• All of her projects were outside of the US, and it fostered an understanding for how business could positively impact other communities. When she traveled, she learned more about communities with their own unique textiles and crafts. She would bring handmade products home that everyone wanted to learn more about.
• Over time, the lightbulb went off that she could build a business that supported the artisan groups she was able to interact with and provide a sustainable livelihood through business partnership. In 2014, Lauren started her company and rebranded it to become Travel Patterns in 2016.

16:23 – Pivoting in 2020

• So many different business entities whether small businesses, large corporations, fair-trade businesses, restaurants, and ethical businesses are having to pivot and problem solve during this global pandemic.
• Lauren is no stranger to pivoting. She built her business while working full time. At the time she was just purchasing products from different artisan groups overseas and reselling the products. It was a sustainable relationship, but she quickly realized it wasn't scalable. The inventory was always hit or miss.
• Lauren knew that in order to have true, sustainable partnership for her cooperatives, they needed to be designing their own products. She rebranded the company for a fresh start and refocused on one cooperative in Guatemala, designing their first original collection. Soon they launched with a small product line of travel accessories like pouches, zip bags, and laundry bags.
• From 2017-2018, Lauren and her husband started planning for her to leave her full-time job to focus solely on Travel Patterns. During that time, they looked at adding future product lines and adding new partnerships. She is now in the middle of adding a home goods line (in the middle of a global crisis).
• Lauren has learned a lot from her cooperatives about moving forward in a time of crisis. Many of their communities are accustomed to adversity on a basis level and are equipped to work through overcoming these kinds of situations.
• Most of the raw materials for the products made for the cooperatives are made in people's homes and later taken to a workshop to be made into a finished product. The difficulty during a pandemic is not getting the parts and pieces for handmade goods, but finishing the product to send it.
• Now Travel Patterns is brainstorming what can be handstitched together rather than relying on the larger equipment in the workshops. They are focusing more on simpler products and brainstorming a whole new line of products that are easier to make.
• Lauren has turned to her partners for ideas on how to continue working safely, understanding how their needs have changed, and helping the already vulnerable communities they live in.

30:04 – Pause for Clarity

• Lauren felt behind in responding to the crisis, but truly what was needed was time to reach out to her partners and understand their creative options. It took a few weeks to gauge the impact on a broad scale.
• We are talking about pivoting, but especially right at the beginning of the crisis, Travel Patterns had to stop in their tracks altogether. They had inventory coming in for a launch that isn't happening now, so working and communicating closely with their partners was the most important thing as the world changed rapidly.
• Taking the time to calibrate in the beginning has set the company and its partners up with strong plans for the new normal of the planet. The new plan may not include a new collection launch, and instead requires taking things day by day and asking what is most important for the partners.
• God's timing is not our own, and this time of waiting can be a very rich growing experience where we can learn even more to trust God when our plans seemingly go off the rails.

35:03 - Travel Patterns

• For any sale on Guatemalan collections, 50% of the profits will be donated to get vital food and supplies into the Guatemalan communities in remote areas where people are not able to take public transport into town to buy the food and supplies they need.
• The Travel Patterns Philippines Collection is available on pre-order, and products will ship mid-May to end of May with discounted pricing. The collection includes two pillows, clutches, and weekender bags. Those funds will of course go back into the Philippines partnership.

• Find Travel Patterns on:
  • Instagram - @shoptravelpatterns
  • Web: www.shoptravelpattners.com

38:10 - Getting to Know Our Guest

• Find out what Lauren is learning about herself during Covid-19, what part of a kid's movie scarred her, what she would do differently if no one was watching her, and of course, what it means to Lauren to run her business with purpose.

Memorable Quotes

7:00 – "Even though I question and kick and scream a lot in my selfish ways about my own plans for my life, I am able to recognize the path He's put before me and I'm thankful for that, even though I love to control other situations."

"Many of the more impoverished communities and the cooperatives that a lot of ethically made companies are partnered with are so used to adversity on a basic level of having to really work through a crisis. Many of these cooperatives live this every single day. They've been built on crisis and trying to overcome these situations, so for me, I'm actually looking more to my cooperatives to say, 'What are good ways to move forward?' "

How often do you hear the term superfoods these days? I hear health and fitness gurus talking about it all the time and my local grocery store even has a dedicated aisle just for superfoods! My guest today was really intrigued by this Superfood phenomenon. She wanted to know how these superfoods affect our bodies and how the growing of the foods affects farmers. Ann Shin is an award-winning director and producer known for beautiful, compelling documentary films, series, and innovative, interactive projects. Hers films and series have aired all over numerous networks including HBO, ABC, HGTV, and Discovery, just to name a few. Her latest documentary, The Superfood Chain, follows Ann as she meets farming families in Bolivia, Ethiopia, Philippines, and more who are affected by the Superfood industry. This was a fascinating conversation and I know you're going to enjoy learning from Ann too.

The Ann 101

• Ann is a writer and documentary film maker who made her start at CBC radio. She has loved both writing and stories all her life and started her career doing radio documentaries.
• Ann loved working in the studio using clips to create stories with soundscapes. It wasn't long before she realized she wanted to work on long form documentaries.
• Growing up on a mushroom farm in Langley, BC, Ann learned a lot about vegetable gardening. She lives in Toronto now and having a smaller patch of land got her curious about where we are getting our foods these days. It started her journey toward making The Superfood Chain, a documentary about superfoods from around the world.
• Ann's experience with documentary subjects is vast. She has also covered stories about two war vets from the Iran, Iraq War called My Enemy, My Brother that was nominated for an Emmy and short-listed for an Oscar! She has also covered North Korean defectors escaping North Korea through China in a piece called The Defector.
• Ann has always loved expression through visual arts and made the transition from radio producer to TV producer, gradually pitching her own stories.
• At that time Ann also started working for production companies on documentary series. She directed a documentary for the National Film Board called Western Eyes about cosmetic surgery among Asian populations.
• Soon Ann was also directing as a freelancer on a range of lifestyle and documentary series. Many in the industry find the lifestyle series a grind because it's so repetitive, but it helped Ann gain a lot of the directing experience she would need to go out on her on in the future.

8:45 – The Superfood Chain

• Like many of us, Ann enjoys shopping for healthy and whole foods, especially after learning more about where our food comes and growing a small garden with her daughter.
• When out shopping, she started to notice that every month there was a new superfood and marketing to go along with it. She started to wonder why suddenly superfoods were being introduced and promoted. She also wanted to understand the impact it had on farmers growing superfoods.
• Most superfoods are age-old crops grown on a small scale, and Ann questioned how the growth footprint may have changed as superfoods seemed to be exploding on a much larger (and popular) scale.
• When she served her children a dinner made with a superfood, they would ask where it's from. Ann realized she couldn't tell her kids the cultural significance of the food and only that they were eating it because it's healthy. She started researching superfoods grown in other countries and how they get to our dinner plates.
• In popular culture, superfoods are known as healthy foods that help combat diseases and are super rich with nutrients and antioxidants to help us stay healthy.
• In many cases, Ann learned that these descriptors were just a big marketing tactic. As she researched more, she realized it was leading consumers to believe that superfoods are somehow better than the other nutrient-rich foods they have always had access to. We don't necessarily need extra nutrients in North America where we have easy access to all the nutrients we need already.
• The hype around superfoods can lead people to think that they need to buy superfoods to be healthy when in fact there are tons of (non-superfood) foods around us that are very nutritional.

16:46 - A Shift

• We've seen a huge shift in the food industry in the last 10-15 years toward more organic, whole, and non-GMO food, and people are questioning where their food comes from more.
• Ann and her daughters took a trip to Boliva to learn how quinoa is grown. They learned that as demand for quinoa skyrocketed in North America, farmers in Boliva initially became wealthy, but quinoa soon became too expensive for local Bolivians to purchase.
• There was a big disruption in the sustainability of quinoa. When larger farms in Boliva and other parts of the world became successful, the quinoa prices dropped and the farmers who were initially successful started turning their farms back to grow potatoes because they made more money growing potatoes than quinoa.
• Global production caused farms that were initially successful to struggle to stay in business once quinoa prices fell.

21:13 – Our Buying Power

• There is a ripple effect with our buying decisions. It's worth buying a fair-trade food products that you've researched because legitimate fair-trade organizations can lobby for land rights and help farmers get the equipment they need to keep their businesses going.
• We can also support the farmers near us. There are a lot of great nutritional options around us, and the closer the food is to us, the lower the footprint and the more meaningful the purchase.
• We can be mindful about how we shop in the grocery store and doing so can positively impact farmers that are near us and far away too.

You can find The Superfood Chain HERE. It's also available on Amazon Prime, Google Play, Voodoo, and Tubi. Fathomfilm.ca has more of Ann's documentaries streaming as well!

30:45 - Getting to Know Our Guest

Find out Ann's strangest pet peeve, what she thinks we will be nostalgic for in forty years, and of course the question I ask all my guests! Stay tuned to hear Ann's answer to what it means to her to run a business with purpose!

Memorable Quotes:

~5:42 - "When something just sticks when me and I come back to it again and again, I find I want to delve into it further and I start to develop and research a documentary around it."

~11:10 – "I realized I was really divorced from one, where the food was coming from, but also how it's prepared. There was no cultural significance to the food that I was feeding the kids."

14:53 - "The hype around superfoods can be a bit misleading. People might think they need to buy the superfood to be healthy but in fact, no. There are extra nutrients in these foods, but there's tons of foods around us that are very nutritional."

About Ann Shin:

Ann is an award-winning Director and Producer known for beautiful, compelling documentary films, series and innovative interactive projects. Her films and series have aired on CBC, TVO, HBO, ABC, CBC The Documentary Channel, Discovery Channel, HGTV, History Channel, SLICE. Her latest film, My Enemy, My Brother won Grand Jury Prize at SDAIFF , the short version was shortlisted for a 2016 Academy Award, and nominated for an Emmy.

Connect with Ann Shin:

• https://thesuperfoodchain.com/
• https://tubitv.com/movies/500408/the_superfood_chain
• https://www.facebook.com/thesuperfoodchain/
• https://twitter.com/FathomFilm
• https://www.instagram.com/thesuperfoodchain/

My guest this week is Eric Erdman, the founder of the Give a Child a Voice Foundation. When Eric learned he had advanced brain cancer in July of 2016 at the age of 16, he had no idea all the ways his life would change. He faced medical procedures including both brain surgery and eye surgery, and lost hearing as well as sight in one of his eyes. Yet the fear and grueling procedures are not what Eric remembers most about the months after he was diagnosed with Anaplastic Grade III Ependymoma. He remembers the voluntary kindness friends, families, neighbors, and even strangers who helped him find his voice, to share his story and speak out. The coming together of so many different people, all with the same goal of showing support, transformed his perspective on life and inspired him to pay it forward. Today, after four brain surgeries, three rounds of radiation, a round of chemo, and complications, Eric is more excited than ever to continue to help other struggling kids find their voice through his foundation, Give a Child a Voice. While some children battle critical pediatric illness, others face challenges such as bullying and abuse in their schools and homes. In addition to the immediate harm it causes, these difficult experiences can cause long-term emotional suffering. Eric dreams that other kids who experience difficult situations receive the same kindness he received at one of the most vulnerable times of his life. He started Give a Child a Voice to engage the community and get children the help they need so positive change is possible. His dream and movement have become a reality thanks to the work being done through his foundation. I was so beyond inspired by my conversation with Eric. This young man is making the most of his time to inspire and encourage kids who've experienced bullying and so much more. I know you are going to be encouraged by him too, so without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Eric!

3:32 - The Eric 101

• Eric started Give a Child a Voice after he was diagnosed with cancer. His foundation helps children who have dealt with or are dealing with bullying, abuse, and life-threatening illness. Give a Child a Voice strives to emphasize the importance of children being able to speak up about their experiences.
• For many years, Eric did not speak up about being physically and mentally abused and bullied. It took him three years before he felt safe enough to talk about it to just his mom. He told her when he was 16 years old, at the same time as his diagnosis.
• He was diagnosed with stage three anaplastic ependymoma brain tumor. It is a very rare brain cancer and only 200 kids and about 52 adolescents are diagnosed each year. Eric is now stage four and has been through four brain surgeries, three rounds of radiation (61 sessions) at the highest dose.
• In August of 2019, he was given six months to live. Eric says he knows his body and how it reacts to so many surgeries and treatments. He's been accustomed to medical procedures his whole life and says cancer has given him the ability to help others.
• Eric says he wouldn't change anything because his experience is helping kids through similar experiences. Often people receive bleak diagnoses and prognoses by feeling sorry for themselves and being negative. Eric chose the opposite. He intentionally decided to take the positive, happy route to help his family and to focus to live in the moments he has now.

14:55 – A Strong Advocate

• Eric has always been happy, but his diagnosis brought out his personality. He is much more extroverted now and he has become such a strong advocate for children who are victims of abuse, having been bullied himself.
• Eric realized through his own experience with bullying that confronting a bully isn't always straightforward. Kids who are bullies may be getting abused at home because of their home environment.
• Eric encourages those who've been bullied to speak up about what they're going through at that moment, not only to protect themselves but also to help the kid that is doing the bullying. Speaking up is the first step. Once you speak up, something can be done to help everyone in the situation. It helps so many kids, not just the kid who is speaking up.

23:40 - Empowering Others

• Eric knows he would not have started a foundation to help others if not for his cancer. He wanted to take all the negative things he had been through and turn it around to use it for something good for other kids and teens. We can use our own life experiences to amplify the voice of others.
• If you would like to learn more about Give a Child a Voice, you can find more on the website and on Facebook. You can find a video about Eric's story that was filmed at St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
• When Give a Child a Voice is also looking at ways for people to get involved in volunteer opportunities.
• Reach out to Eric if you'd like to become involved with Give a Child A Voice. He would love to hear from you directly, and the contact form goes directly to his personal email address.

29:24: Getting to Know Our Guest

• You'll love hearing Eric's fun and light-hearted answers to what his hype song would be, what his most unusual talent is, what makes him feel the most alive, and who he'd choose to play him in a movie about his life. Be sure to stay tuned to hear Eric's heartfelt answer to what it means to him to run a business with purpose.

CONNECT WITH ERIC ERDMAN:

• https://www.giveachildavoice.us/
• http://www.facebook.com/giveachildavoice
• https://twitter.com/giveachildavoic
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/giveachildavoice/
• https://www.instagram.com/giveachildavoice/

Memorable Quotes:

"I wouldn't change anything because I know now what I went through to help a kid in their own shoes if they have the same problems."

"My mom hates me saying this but to me it's true. I have to thank cancer because by far it's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I am fine with dying because the thing is, I've found something I love. I'm at my happiest, I have a foundation, I have an amazing family. I came to terms with it because I'm at peace with everything."

About Eric Erdman

When 16-year-old Eric Erdman learned he had advanced brain cancer in July 2016, he had no idea all the ways his life would change. He faced medical procedures, including both brain surgery and eye surgery, he lost hearing as well as sight in one of his eyes. However, the fear and grueling procedures aren't what Eric remembers most about the months after he was diagnosed with Anaplastic Grade III Ependymoma.​

He remembers the voluntary kindness of friends, families, neighbors, and even strangers showed him and how it helped him find his voice, to share his story and speak out. The coming together of so many different people, all with the same goal of showing support, transformed his perspective on life, and inspired him to pay it forward.

​Today, after four brain surgeries, three rounds of radiation, and one round of chemo, as Eric battles complications, he's more excited than ever to continue to help other struggling kids find their voice through his foundation - Give a Child a Voice.

While some children battle critical pediatric illness, others face challenges such as bullying and abuse in their schools and homes. In addition to the immediate harm it causes, these difficult experiences can cause long-term emotional suffering. Eric dreams that other kids who experience difficult situations receive the same kindness he received at one of the most vulnerable times of his life. He started his foundation, "Give a Child a Voice," to engage the community and get children and teens the help they need, so positive change is possible. His dream and movement have become a reality, thanks to work being done through his foundation.

It's Episode 190, which means it's time for another solo episode! When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for this episode, I was talking to my husband about how surreal this time is that we're in right now while we're social distancing all over the world. I've been taking social media Sabbaths on the weekends from Friday night until Monday morning, and it has been so good for my soul. Limiting my news intake has been life-giving for my mental health and my family's mental health. I realize that there is a privilege to be able to do that, and it may not be the reality for so many people, so I want to be very intentional about using it to bring glory God and to uplift others. While I realize we could have whole podcast series about to support people during this time, I am in a unique position to speak to you about the specific challenges these brands are facing and highlighting ways to collectively support them. While I will be speaking on topics that require a certain amount of monetary investment, I also realize that money is tight for a lot of people right now, and I've also included ways to support that are completely free.

5:01 -

It might feel like you can wait to support these small businesses when things get back to normal. But truly, right now is the time to support these businesses so that they are still here and thriving when we make it through this season. Just a few of the things that they're facing right now are that all conferences, expos, markets, and speaking engagements have been canceled or postponed. That means these ethical businesses are experiencing less exposure and fewer sales. Small shops are closed, so wholesale has come to a halt, and trips to visit artisan partners have been canceled, which means there are no new products to offer or promote. Additionally, artisan partners have had to cut back on production, but the businesses here are still trying to pay them so that they can continue to eat and provide for their families.

6:25 -

There's such a hard balance for feeling guilty for trying to sale products, but that's exactly what they rely on in order to continue supporting their artisan partners. The entire country of India, and many don't have money in savings or credit cards to continue buying food and supplies for their most basic needs. It's a life or death situation for so many people, completely unrelated to the fear of catching the virus.

7:42 -

There is hope, especially when we come together to support each other and continue to make big change happen to help these businesses not only continue in this season, but continue to thrive in this season.

7:56 - I'm going to start by sharing six ways you can support ethical, fair trade, and small businesses during COVID-19 that are completely free:

1. Follow them on social media
2. Engage with their content. Every engagement is the opportunity to get more eyes on their products that are changing the world:
   1. Sign up for their newsletter
   2. Like their posts
   3. Comment on their posts
   4. Share their posts
3. If you already own products from a small, fair trade, or ethical business that you love, post pictures of yourself using or wearing those products and tag them online. Think of a friend who might also like that product and might have the funds to buy it right now.
4. Recommend small businesses, ethical, or fair-trade businesses to friends when they're looking for suggestions for certain things.
5. Get involved with Fashion Revolution Week (happening this week)! Fashion Revolution Week 2020 is from April 20th – April 26th. You can go to http://fashionrevolution.org/to learn more. You'll hear conversations from people all over the world about who makes our clothes, how to help the ethical fashion industry, how to stop things like fast fashion, environmental sustainability and more. You can also get involved with Fashion Revolution throughout the year!
6. Be patient. Patience is key, as is grace. There's a lot that's delayed with backorder delays, shipping delays, and shipping pauses. Everyone is experiencing these challenges, so please give businesses some grace and understanding, they're doing their best to fulfill orders and there is so much that is out of their control.

11:32 - If you have the means to purchase products to support ethical fashion, fair trade, and small businesses, be thoughtful about it.

• Is this item that you want or need something you can buy from a small or ethical business right now? Even Amazon is behind, so being able to wait a few more days for something from a small, ethical business makes a huge difference.

As an example, do you need shampoo? Instead of going to Target, Walmart, or Ulta, try getting it from Missio Hair, Be Pure Beauty, or Plane Products.

What about household products or toilet paper? You can check out a hilariously named company called Who Gives A Crap, or talk to Rachel at Simple Switch who was on the podcast just a few weeks ago!

Need some new shoes or a handbag? There's The Root Collective, Malia Deigns, Seeko Designs, or ABLE!

If you need gifts, The Flourish Market has fantastic $30 gift bundles for anyone you need a gift for: kids, Mother's Day, teachers, friends, etc.

13:11 –

You can also reach out to some of your favorite brands to see what they have in stock. Buying what's already in stock helps them sell current inventory.

13:30 – Gift Cards:

If it's a company you know you love to buy from, but they may not have something that you want right now, buy a gift cards. Not all businesses are receiving small business loans or stimulus packages.

14:17 -

Shop small and local as much as you can during this season because every single sale means the world to them. Even if it's just $10.00. It could mean a day's wage for an artisan overseas or an hour for a worker in the US. Your purchases really do make an impact.

15:13 -

As a small business owner, there are ways I'd appreciate your free support as well! You can share this podcast, rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, is a free way to support me at this time. Since I'm a Sseko Fellow, you can also shop with me at Sseko Designs! Every email, comment, review, likes, shares are each so special to me. Your support and this community mean more than I could ever put in words.

16:22 -

Please reach out if there is something specifically that I can be in prayer about for you. If you're a business or organization that has a specific need, I'd love to help connect you with so many communities that would love to rally around you at this time. Please don't hesitate to reach out. I want to love and support you at this time too.

17:13 -

I know each week I usually sign off by saying, "Go do something good with purpose on purpose", and I still want you to do that, but I'm going to borrow a line from my sweet friend Chidimma Ozor who has been signing off her social media posts with the following: "Stay well, wash your hands, and may we take care of ourselves and one another."

Memorable Quotes

5:21 - "Right now is the time, if you're able to, to support these businesses."

7:42 - "There is hope, especially when we come together to support each other and continue to make big change happen to help these businesses not only continue in this season, but continue to thrive in this season."

6:30 - "There's this extremely difficult balance between feeling guilty for trying to sell products, but also recognizing that it's important that they do their best to continue supporting their artisans partners during this time."

My conversation this week could not have come at a better time. I want to continue to bring encouraging and inspiring content to you during these unprecedented times. We are meant to live in community, and while we are social distancing right now, it can feel strange as many of us are wondering how we will communicate with our friends, family, and coworkers in new ways. If you're married, your marriage could feel strained because you and your spouse are in closer proximity with each other all the time. It's important to be focusing on those relationships and what matters most while we're navigating this new and uncharted way of staying connected. My guest this week is Nicole Zasowski, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, writer, and speaker. She lives in a small town just outside New York City with her husband Jimmy and her two sons. With the vulnerability of your closest friends, and the wisdom of your most trusted resource, Nicole reveals her own story of how challenges such as unwanted transition, multiple miscarriages, and crippling anxiety gave her empty hands to receive everything she had been looking for in the presence and person of Jesus Christ. She's also the author of the new book, From Lost to Found: Giving Up What You Think You Want for What Will Set You Free. I loved this conversation and listening back to it over the last week or so has really ministered to my heart, and I know it will to you too.

5:36 - The Nicole 101

• Nicole is a Marriage and Family Therapist who has a private practice in Connecticut, and is also on staff with an organization called The Hideaway Experience, a marriage intensive that works with four to five couples for four days.
• Nicole just published her first book, From Lost to Found, that weaves her personal story with her professional therapy experience and faith journey. It wasn't until she started writing the book that she realized she'd been missing out on the freedom she helped her clients find.
• Nicole specializes in working with couples and sees individual clients of all ages. She is careful to hear their stories in the context of the family people grew up in or the systems they're a part of currently.
• She studied abroad her entire sophomore year of college, living with 50 other college students and a faculty family from her school in one house. The experience fostered many unique conversations with young people asking, "Who am I?", and "What is my purpose in life?"
• Nicole has always enjoyed one-on-one, deep conversations with people and her classmates turned to her as "the house therapist." She became someone whom many classmates trusted with their struggles.
• The faculty member who went with the students happened to be the head of the psychology department at Nicole's college. She took Nicole out for coffee at the end of the year and asked Nicole "Are you sure you don't want to be a therapist?" It became clear to Nicole right away that it was exactly what she wanted to do.
• After that, Nicole changed all her courses and went straight into a graduate program in Marriage and Family Therapy after completing her undergraduate degree.
• Nicole admits that therapy is a challenging fit for her personality type. She struggles with performance and wants to know that she can conquer a given task. But often therapy is messy, often with no clear-cut answers. That's what tethers her to the hope of Christ and His strength.

12:03 – Counseling, Transitions, and Maintenance

• Nicole and her husband experienced a big transition when they moved from California to Connecticut, where Nicole built a successful private practice.
• For her own marriage, Nicole's attitude is that everyone is learning and growing. While she's learned a lot in school and through her clients, it's an entirely different thing to apply those lessons to her own relationships. She recognizes that as soon as she loses touch with the fact that she needs to learn and grow too is when she's in trouble.
• Nicole's husband is familiar with the model of therapy she uses, called Restoration Therapy, and they work on their relationship together; they use the same model Nicole uses for her clients.
• Many people view therapy as something to start when things are hard. The more we can de-stigmatize counseling and marriage counseling, the more people will realize that grief is much more manageable when it's something we add to our lives as a regular habit.
• For many, starting counseling feels like admitting that there's a problem, but that doesn't have to be the case. It helps anyone in any type of relationship navigate communication so that you're not suddenly blindsided by a problem in your most important relationships or in your own personal growth.

22:51 – The Tapestry from Loss

• In her book, Nicole shares about a season of life where she experienced much change and loss, including having five miscarriages. She believes wholeheartedly that God is not the author of our suffering but loves us too much to waste our suffering.
• Nicole was left empty-handed from her experience, and it took idols away that she'd relied on for too long to feel safe and secure. It was very painful, losing five precious babies, being unsure of where her identity came from and what would make her feel safe. She learned that "only empty hands are open."
• Nicole's open hands were ready to receive a totally different picture of who God really is. It allowed for a deeper intimacy between Nicole and God that has transformed loss and change into different and new blessings. It isn't calling tragedy good. The Bible makes a clear distinction between something good and something being worked for good.
• God does not want to punish us with suffering. Our world is broken, and God's word says we will have trouble. He also says He's overcome that trouble. Our hope is not in what God can do for us but in us; that he will not waste any of it, but use it to bring us closer to Him.
• We have a choice to run away from God or draw close to Him. We all have different ways of running, and Nicole's was to perform for God. She thought she could show Him that she'd learned her lesson, but that is exactly what kept her from being honest with God and asking Him what He had for her in her pain.
• God wants us to invite Him into our feelings and the places we've been taught to keep closed off. Through our pain, we can get to know God's character. The Bible lets us see the ways Jesus grieved during his time on Earth, even when He knew the reason for it, or that the outcome would eventually be victorious.
• God came into our full human experience and gave us the gift of being allowed to grieve. We see in Jesus' moments of grief that He turns to God. Even when Jesus knew he'd bring Lazarus back from death, He still paused to grieve the pain of loss.
• The way of empathy for others is not bearing the responsibility of fixing their grief, but rather sitting with them while they experience it.

43:25 - Getting to Know Our Guest

• Learn some funny and interesting things about Nicole like what part of a kid's movie has completely scarred her, what one thing she'd do differently if she knew no one would judge her, and something we'd never guess about her. Stay tuned to hear what it means to Nicole to run a business with purpose.

You can order Nicole's new book from her website and on Amazon! Connect with Nicole here:

• https://www.nicolezasowski.com/
• http://www.instagram.com/nicolezasowski
• http://www.instagram.com/nicolezasowski

Memorable Quotes:

6:51 - "I did not realize that I was personally missing out on the freedom that I was so passionate about helping my clients find for many years, and it wasn't until I confronted my own painful season that I realized that I actually had not been practicing any of the things that I encourage my clients to practice."

19:52 - "I'm more human than therapist. I'm not sitting here with perfection and nothing to work on myself. We are all in this journey together, and if I can use what I've learned through my training and my work with couples to help you along, just know that I need that too in my own life."

24:26 – "What He did through a season of a log of change and a lot of loss in my life, was took my hands off of false securities that were promising way more than they could deliver but had always 'worked' for me in terms of feeling valued and safe."

25:45 - "Would I have preferred to carry on with my comfortable way of living in my false and small idea of who God was and with the relationship I had with Him at the time? I thought was really good, but what I know now is so much more of His character, and there's such a deeper intimacy between the two of us, and that has been the biggest gift to me."

If you are brand new in your journey of shopping ethically, or if you've been shopping ethically for a while, one of the most common frustrations I hear from people is that there's not one central place to find all the things they need to buy. They don't want to have to scour the internet and go to ten different websites to find all of their ethically made products. My guest today is trying to solve that exact problem. Rachel Kois is the founder and CEO of Simple Switch. Three years ago, Rachel was a business consultant for entrepreneurs in the poorest parts of South Africa. She was so impressed by what they created and learned so much from them. Rachel also understood the privilege she held, and when she came back from her trip, she knew she wanted to use her everyday choices to empower those with fewer resources. She found it was actually a very difficult thing to do. The hours it took to research company ethics, labor laws, and environmentally sustainable impact did not fit into her busy life and schedule. She wanted to make a positive impact, but she felt exhausted every step of the way. This gave Rachel the idea to start Simple Switch to help people like her, people like you, and people like me find easier ways to spend our money on products that help us vote for the kind of world we want to live in. The companies that Simple Switch has partnered with have committed to improving livelihoods, protecting the beautiful Earth that we live on, and empowering people to change their future; our future. Rachel firmly believes that even if one person uses Simple Switch, it would be worth the work of creating and sustaining the company. Simple Switch really is a one stop shop for finding ethically made, simple products that you use in your everyday life. I loved my chat with Rachel, and I know you're going to be inspired by her too!

3:25 - The Rachel 101

• Rachel is a young entrepreneur living between Denver and Boulder, Colorado. She grew up in Colorado with the mountains as her playground, and the outdoors are a big part of her life. She majored in both Business and Theatre Performance. Her theatre background has helped her take care of herself, express herself, and connect with people while starting Simple Switch.
• Rachel loves traveling and just finished visiting her 28th country! Her travels have been both personal trips, mission trips, and now, business trips to meet with Simple Switch partners.
• Rachel has had a heart for learning about other cultures from a young age. She learned a lot about both entrepreneurship and the world outside of the US from her parents who owned a real estate company and were friends with pastors in Nigeria.
• When Rachel graduated, she thought she wanted to go into counseling but choose business instead as a safeguard. She was surprised with how much she fell in love with business, specifically, business as an opportunity to do good in the world.
• She had a chance to intern in South Africa and do business consulting there. When she came home, she wanted to use her everyday choices to help support people like the clients she'd worked with in Africa. She recognized that they were incredible businesspeople but didn't have the same access to market as we do here in the US. This is where Rachel's idea for Simple Switch took root.

5:58 - Simple Switch

• Simple Switch is an online marketplace for "positive impact purchasing." They carry over 3,000 products from home goods to jewelry, and even toilet paper! The company started out of the desire to help people make simple changes in their purchasing decisions in order to support ethical businesses.
• Rachel saw that Amazon had such convenient ways to purchase with their "One-Click" buy feature, but ethical companies were so much harder to find, requiring hours or research, difficult payment, and long shipping times. Simple Switch was started to create an easier, more convenient place for people to find ethically made products without so much hassle.
• The biggest challenge for Simple Switch has been changing customer perception. Often this kind of shopping is still viewed as a niche for things you don't need every day and will only money on if your motivation is making a positive impact. Rachel realized there are so many day-to-day items out there that are sustainably made.
• In our society, we've had it drilled into our brains that these story brands for the "feed good" factor. Simple Switch is trying to change the narrative that people can switch to ethically made brands for typical shopping needs.
• Owners of big brands don't have personal relationships with the people who make their products. It really makes us all more interconnected when we can say who made our clothes and know a little bit about that person's life and story. Consumer stories are just as powerful too. Simple Switch is always hearing about how someone's entire perspective can change when they realize how their small decisions can have a huge global impact.
• Connections between consumers and impact partners create empowerment for artisans because they know that consumers value what they make, and it grows their confidence in both their skills and the quality of their handiwork.
• When impact partners create safer, environmentally friendly products that are not contributing harm to people or communities, our society can start to value those products as more highly desired than wasteful, fast fashion or environmentally harmful company practices.

15:24 – Launching an Ethically Led Business in 2020

• Would you believe that Simple Switch officially launched in 2020? Rachel had the idea for Simple Switch five years ago, and spent a year abroad doing World Race , which allowed her to visit 11 countries in 11 months and absorb cultural context behind some of the companies Simple Switch is working with now. Traveling with younger people also gave Rachel a way to plug into a focus group of consumers.
• When she returned home during the Fall of 2017, Rachel thought she needed to find a technical cofounder, thinking she couldn't do it herself. Although the learning curve has been steep, Rachel has found her way through the technical side of the business.
• 2017 was a year of realizing that this is a company Rachel can run. She spent time bringing on partners and testing their infrastructure and making sure it was secure before launching to the public in 2018.
• Now that they've had a year under their belt, Simple Switch has had some big growth with partnerships that have helped spread the word about the company and get more ads to a wider audience.
• All partners hold their inventory and orders come to Simple Switch. They then send the orders to their partners, and orders are shipped from there. Warehouses can have issues with ethical treatments of workers and environmentally wasteful practices, so the drop-ship model also helps Simple Switch with their ethical mission.

23:22 - On the Horizon

• Rachel's biggest goal right now is to get Simple Switch's name out there. She doesn't want anyone else to feel the way she did as a conscious consumer when she was looking for ethical brands for hours. She wants people to be able to find these brands in one place, quickly.
• Four trillion dollars will be spent on online shopping in 2020. Rachel's motivation for getting word out about Simple Switch is to get just one tenth of a percent of that ($4 billion) spent on ethical business. That would go toward Simple Switch projects like reforesting and carbon sequestration in rural Africa or helping women coming out of sexual trafficking.
• Ethical business terms are more mainstream now than they were even just five years ago. Now that we're hearing the terms, people are still a little confused about what it means. Rachel thinks we have a great opportunity right now to take advantage of people's awareness as they discover their desire to make better ethical and environmental decisions, and that it's actually achievable.

26:52- Getting to Know Our Guest

• Learn a few fun facts about Rachel like what her guilty pleasures are, what she's reading right now, the longest flight she's ever been on in all her travels and who'd she'd want to be sitting next to on that flight, and of course, what it means to her to run a business with purpose.

Memorable Quotes

6:59: "I really believe that every dollar you spend is a vote for the future you want. I think actual voting is very important, and second to that, I think that the way we spend our money is extremely important in creating that future."

10:34 – "That's why we're called Simple Switch. We really don't want to encourage you to buy more things, that's not the goal. It's things that you're already going to be buying, we want you to switch that to these impactful companies."

12:41 – "For me it's really exciting that it also makes people really interconnected, so it's not just about the economic empowerment, but if someone just knows who made their clothes or home goods, it's a fun way to feel connected to someone either around the world or here in the United States."

15:52 – "I was able to just try to be a good listener and hear what kind of impact needed to be made there. It shifted my perspective on what Simple Switch needed to be."

24:20 – "Four trillion dollars is going to be spent on online shopping in 2020, just in the US. If we put one tenth of a percent of that toward ethical shopping, it would be $4 billion dollars. And I think about my incredible partners and the work they're doing. That would go toward projects like reforestation and carbon sequestration in rural Africa where it really is affecting people's livelihoods that the soil has been so depleted. Things like women who are coming out of sexual trafficking, and we have women both in Nepal and Bolivia who are working on products for Simple Switch. Really big systemic changes that four billion dollars put towards those projects, that's very real change. My motivation behind getting our word out is that kind of thing where if we're able to make this shift, it's a game changer."

ABOUT RACHEL:

Rachel Kois is the Founder and CEO of Simple Switch (simpleswitch.org) an online marketplace for ethical and impactful shopping. She believes fiercely that our everyday shopping can change the world, so she started Simple Switch to make sure there is a solid option for conscious consumers that matches the convenience of modern online shopping. She's made friends in 28 countries and grew up with the beautiful Colorado mountains as her playground, so taking care of our planet and the people on it are very important to her.

Connect with Rachel:

• https://www.simpleswitch.org/
• https://www.facebook.com/simpleswitch.org/
• https://www.instagram.com/simple.switch/
• https://www.pinterest.com/simpleswitch/
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-lvWd2qux1-H-5gVEZSVVQ