What happens when the company you built to change the world starts drifting away from the very values it was founded on?

In Part 1 of this conversation, co-hosts Phil White and Heidi Schoeneck are joined by Jeffrey Hollender — co-founder of Seventh Generation, professor at New York University Stern School of Business, social entrepreneur, and author of Built for a Better World — to unpack the uncomfortable realities behind building a purpose-driven business inside systems that are designed to reward the opposite.

Jeffrey reflects candidly on the rise of Seventh Generation, the mistakes he made while scaling the business, and the painful realization that purpose alone isn’t enough to protect a mission.

But this episode goes beyond one company’s story.

It explores the deeper structural tension sitting at the heart of responsible business today:

Why do so many businesses want to do the right thing… yet still struggle to do the right things?

From investor misalignment and growth addiction to systems thinking, leadership consciousness, and the growing fear around speaking publicly about sustainability, this conversation unpacks why purpose-driven business can feel so difficult — even for the pioneers who helped define it.

Key Takeaways:

- What Jeffrey Hollender learned after being fired from Seventh Generation

- Why mission-driven businesses often break when values collide with growth pressure

- How investor misalignment can slowly erode a company’s purpose

Why “doing the right thing” doesn’t always translate into “doing the right things”

- The role systems thinking plays in sustainability leadership

-Why businesses need cultures built around consciousness, not just compliance

- How political and cultural pressure is fueling sustainability silence and green-hushing

- Why community is essential for sustaining purpose-driven leadership

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction: building purpose-driven brands inside broken systems

01:00 – Jeffrey Hollender’s journey as a lifelong social entrepreneur

02:32 – The painful reality of getting fired from the company you built

05:10 – Being “ahead” without bringing people along

07:37– Why hiring and cultural alignment matter more than strategy

10:05 – Why business systems often reward unethical behavior

12:45 – Sustainability as an endless hurdle race

14:28 – Why business isn't stepping up 

16:40 – The gap between doing the right thing vs. the right things

17:14 – Why not all sustainability actions are created equal

About the Show:

It Shouldn’t Be This Hard is the podcast for leaders, founders, and change-makers navigating the messy intersection of purpose and performance — exploring why doing the right thing in business can feel far harder than it should. 

Additional Resources:

🤖 Meet Gaia, Grounded’s sustainability AI:

https://grounded.world/gaia

🌍 Get Grounded:

 https://grounded.world/

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