What does it take to walk away from a broken system and build something better?

In this episode, I talk to Toni Finnimore, founder of The Social Society, about her journey from “climbing a mountain of treacle” in the charity sector to creating a platform that actually helps people give back in more human, meaningful ways. We talk about founder life, compassion fatigue, and how to actually make a difference when you don’t know where to start.

🔗 Mentioned in this episode:

• Toni’s org: The Social Society

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• The Do Book Co

✉️ Stay in the loop:

• ⁠Toni on LinkedIn⁠
• Subscribe to the newsletter: imperfect.news
• The website: imperfect.club
• Instagram: @imperfect_creatives
• TikTok: @imperfect.creatives

Chapters:

(0:00) Intro

(01:22) What Is The Social Society?

(04:14) Toni’s Background

(08:33) Leaving the Sector vs. Building Something New

(11:07) The Reality of Starting From Scratch

(13:29) Volunteering That Actually Works: Skills, Not Guilt

(17:01) Micro-Volunteering and Making It Frictionless

(20:22) Founder Burnout and Setting Boundaries

(23:10) Gender Bias in the Founder Journey

(26:05) Growing Slow, Staying Rooted

(30:41) Balancing Strategy with Intuition

(35:18) Rebuilding Local Connection in a Remote World

(38:50) Holding Space Without Absorbing Everything

(41:55) Starting Small to Beat Overwhelm

(45:30) Why Good Events Aren’t About Glitter and Hay Bales

(48:00) Finding Purpose in the Chaos

(49:38) Final Thoughts and Book Recommendations