Our special encore guest today is Jody Steinhauer. Jody is the Founder, President and CBO (Chief Bargain Officer) of the Bargains Group — an award-winning discount wholesale and promotional products company. She is also the founder of Engage and Change — a national charity focusing on “good people working together for the good of people.” — and Kits for a Cause, a social enterprise that helps companies make a positive impact in their communities. Now…you may remember Jody and the wisdom she shared during Episodes 20 and 364. If you haven’t listened to, studied, and applied all she shared during her two previous interviews…I highly encourage you to add Episodes 20 and 364 to your list of vital priorities.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• The rise of social enterprise, or finding out how businesses can help fix problems in society while also being business – a concept that Jody’s company has been practicing for 30 years
• How businesses can help society in specific ways without being a charity and constantly asking for things, like money and volunteers
• Why social enterprise needs to be a part of your marketing strategy, both for your company’s benefit and for organizational purposes
• Why jumping into social enterprise also requires careful planning for budgeting and picking the right cause, as it aligns with the company’s mission statement and interests
• How Jody’s new project has quickly spread from Toronto in the past year and how she has been contact by major companies in other countries that want to take part in specific projects or copy successful events
• Why — if you want to do more charity or volunteer work — you need to find a company that has had many years of experience and done many events
• Why flexibility is important in social enterprise – for example, Jody always contacts the end-user organizations when building kits, and often finds that some components just aren’t needed, so things need to be changed
• The nuts and bolts of how an organization like Jody’s partners with a more traditional company for a big social enterprise event, including first meetings, plans, and getting volunteers
• How to leverage materials like photos and video for marketing purposes and where to send them to let clients know your work in social enterprise
• The power of spotting problems in social enterprise and nonprofit work, and targeting those problems with specific solutions to create truly effective social enterprise profits

Ways to contact Jody:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jodysteinhauer
• Website: www.bargainsgroup.org/about-jody-steinhauer
• Website: jodysteinhauer.com
• Website: www.kitsforacause.com