Lead With We

When it comes to social impact, Starbucks has been leading the pack for decades. In fact, it’s hard to keep track of all their initiatives, from local community grants to groundbreaking standards it created to source ingredients like coffee beans and cocoa.

In this episode of Lead With We I got the chance to chat with Virginia Tenpenny, Starbucks’ Chief Social Impact Officer, who shared how Starbucks brings purpose to life on a daily basis, the future of leadership, localizing large scale impact, and the importance of treating your employees like partners.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Virginia Tenpenny

Virginia Tenpenny is a global social impact leader with 20 years of U.S. and international experience involving philanthropy, civic engagement, hunger relief, women’s empowerment, opportunity creation for underserved communities, sustainability, and ethical sourcing. As the Chief Social Impact Officer at Starbucks, she leads complex enterprise-wide initiatives and scales social impact strategies that promote thriving communities and deliver positive business results.

Resources:

Connect with Virginia on LinkedIn

Learn more about social impact at Starbucks

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Lots of companies are talking about diversity, equity and inclusion these days, but what does it mean to actually move the needle in those areas? Each of us has a role to play in bringing about a better future, and business leaders are uniquely positioned to create lasting change. 

In this episode of Lead With We, I had the privilege of speaking with Michael Muñoz, Global Marketing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead at Google, and Performance Paradigm’s Reggie Butler about the lessons they’ve learned doing DE&I within today’s leading corporations. We spoke about re-centering our shared humanity in business, what needs to happen if we truly want things to be different, and more.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Michael Muñoz

Michael Muñoz is Google’s Global Marketing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Lead. He’s responsible for leading the efforts to build a more representative and inclusive team, whose work represents its users. He is tasked with developing and executing the DEI plan in service of accelerating progress on workforce representation and driving racial & social equity for the organization, including driving execution of Marketing’s DEI Commitments and Operational Plans. Prior to joining Google, Michael has been a part of the Diversity & Inclusion efforts at Aetna, MassMutual, EY and ESPN where he’s led several Women’s Leadership Development efforts, launched ERG’s, created D&I Scorecards, developed and delivered company-wide trainings and influenced Diversity Staffing efforts. Michael has also been active in facilitating the Anti-Defamation League’s ‘A World of Difference’ Training for the last 20+ years.

Reggie Butler

As the Founder and CEO of Performance Paradigm, Reggie Butler is a highly recognized corporate consultant, public speaker and training designer with over 28 years of experience in human capital performance management within the private sector through virtual and experiential learning solutions. As an educator, trainer and inclusion champion he has become a highly sought-after motivational speaker both domestically and abroad. 

Resources

Connect with Reggie on LinkedIn

Learn more about Performance Paradigm

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn

Learn more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Google

Learn more about the DEI training Michael and Reggie designed, Examined Human

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Our current food system is unsustainable. Luckily people like Tobias Peggs are re-engineering how food is grown and distributed in ways that are better for people and the planet. Tobias’ company, Square Roots, uses real time data and machine learning to create the right climate conditions for growing produce in refurbished shipping containers situated near local retailers, which drastically reduces waste and carbon emissions.  In this episode of Lead With We, Tobias and I chat about how his experience working within Walmart led to his idea for Square Roots, the incredible power of tech in agriculture, creating the next generation of farmers, his purpose-driven approach to business and more.

Whether we like it or not, our current food system is unsustainable. Luckily people like Tobias Peggs are re-engineering how food is grown and distributed in ways that are better for people and the planet. Using real time data and machine learning to create the right climate conditions for growing produce, Tobias’ company, Square Roots, uses refurbished shipping containers situated near local retailers which drastically reduces waste and carbon emissions. 

In this episode of Lead With We, Tobias and I chat about how his experience working within Walmart led to his idea for Square Roots, the incredible power of tech in agriculture, creating the next generation of farmers, his purpose-driven approach to business and more.

Tobias Peggs

Tobias is co-founder and CEO of Square Roots, a technology leader in urban indoor farming. With production farms in Brooklyn, NY, and Grand Rapids, MI (with more to come!) Square Roots has a mission to bring local, real food to people in cities across the world while empowering the next generation of leaders in our industry. 

Previously, Tobias was CEO at Aviary—a mobile photo editing company acquired by Adobe, as well as OneRiot—a social media analytics company acquired by Walmart. Tobias grew up in England and earned a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Cardiff University. He is currently a Techstars mentor, competitive triathlete, and snowboarder.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Resources:

Connect with Tobias on LinkedIn

Learn more about Square Roots

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

The modular flooring company Interface has one of the most forward-thinking sustainability visions in the building industry and the private sector in general. Interface’s late founder, Ray Anderson, pivoted the company to an aggressive sustainability path over 20 years ago, and it’s up to Chief Sustainability Officer Erin Meezan to continue and build upon his legacy.

In this episode of Lead With We, Erin and I spoke about going beyond the “do-no-harm” approach to sustainability and actually reinvigorating the planet by building a regenerative business model through partnerships, biomimicry, shared industry tools and more. When it comes to climate, the timelines we’re working against can be daunting, but listen to this episode and learn how there really is a better way.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Erin Meezan

As Chief Sustainability Officer at Interface, Erin ensures strategy and goals are in sync with the company’s aggressive sustainability vision established more than 20 years ago. Erin leads a global team providing technical assistance and support to all areas of business.

Erin also speaks regularly to senior management teams, universities and the growing green consumer sector at forums like Bioneers, Greenbuild, SXSW, and Conscious Capitalism. She also serves as guest faculty for Harvard’s Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership program and advises the Vermont Grossman School of Business’ Sustainable Entrepreneurship MBA (SEMBA).

Erin graduated magna cum laude from Vermont Law School, earning a Master’s Degree in Studies in Environmental Law and Juris Doctorate.

Resources

Connect with Erin on LinkedIn 

Learn more about Erin's sustainability work at Interface

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

I first met Sherry Turkle about ten years ago at a conference where we spent hours chatting about how rapidly advancing technology is changing our relationships to each other and ourselves, and how that affects all sectors of society. It’s something Sherry has spent her life studying as a psychologist and sociologist at MIT.

In this episode of Lead With We, I got the chance to reconnect with Sherry, who recently published a memoir called “The Empathy Diaries.” We spoke about how vulnerability is key to everything from great leadership to moving forward a society post-COVID, practicing empathy as an action, and so much more.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Sherry Turkle

Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT and the founding director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. A licensed clinical psychologist, she is the author of six books, including Alone Together and the New York Times bestseller Reclaiming Conversation, as well as the editor of three collections. A Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year, a TED speaker, and featured media commentator, Turkle is a recipient of Guggenheim and Rockefeller Humanities fellowships and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Resources:

Connect with Sherry on LinkedIn

Learn more about Sherry’s work at MIT 

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Check out Simon’s new book, Lead With We, now available for pre-order

Natasha Case started in architecture and landed in ice cream after one of her professors compared a project of hers to a layer cake. So she took her creative energy and co-founded the premium ice cream brand Coolhaus with her wife Freya Estreller in 2009. Since then Natasha has used the brand as a platform to inspire other LGBTQ+ millennial entrepreneurs. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Natasha, chatting about the importance of partnering with other brands that share your values, how business can be a vehicle for positive cultural change and some of her tips for succeeding in the early stages of building a brand. Pro-tip: Sometimes you just have to buy a broken-down ice cream truck, tow it to a music festival and see where things go!

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Natasha Case

Natasha Case is the Co-founder and CEO of Coolhaus, public speaker and former architect. After working at Walt Disney Imagineering, she and her partner Freya and I took a barely drivable postal van to Coachella Music Fest and sold our first architecturally-inspired ice cream sandwiches to an audience of 100,000 people. Since then, Coolhaus has become a business with a growth multiple of 2-3x per year.

Natasha was recognized by Zagat 30 Under 30 in 2012 and a Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2013, and she has been a guest judge on Food Network’s “Chopped” & “King of Cones,” a spokesperson for the California Milk Advisory Board in 2014, and an official panelist at SXSW & American Express. 

Resources

Connect with Natasha on LinkedIn

Learn more about Coolhaus

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Check out Simon’s new book, Lead With We, now available for pre-order

Jeff Dunn cut his teeth at Coca-Cola and gained even more experience in the food industry with the Campbell Soup Company. But where he found his passion was becoming CEO of Bolthouse Farms, a packaged foods company that grew out of a small Michigan farm in 1915. In fact, that passion led him to buy the company back from Campbell’s after selling it to them in 2012.

In this episode of Lead With We, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jeff about how differences in company culture led to the buy-back and taking an agile approach to consumer packaged goods. Plus, we discuss how the enormous demand for plant-based foods is reshaping our food system and how COVID opened up a conversation between Jeff and his leadership team about empathy. 

Jeff Dunn

Jeff Dunn is an Operating Partner at Butterfly and focuses primarily on the agriculture & aquaculture and food & beverage product sectors. Mr. Dunn is currently the Chairman and CEO of Bolthouse Farms and also serves on the board of directors of Orgain and Pacifico Aquaculture. He has over 30 years of experience in agriculture and packaged food, including senior leadership positions with Bolthouse Farms, Campbell Soup Company and The Coca-Cola Company, among others.

Prior to joining Butterfly, Mr. Dunn was the President of the Campbell Fresh division of Campbell Soup Company from 2015 to 2016, where he was in charge of building Campbell’s scale and accelerating its growth in the rapidly expanding packaged fresh segments and categories across the retail perimeter. Between 2008 and 2015, Mr. Dunn was President and CEO of Bolthouse Farms, which is a leading processor and marketer of fresh carrots in North America, as well as a leading provider of super-premium juice, smoothies and salad dressings. Mr. Dunn also led Madison Dearborn Partners’ $1.6 billion sale of the company to Campbell in 2012. Prior to joining Bolthouse, Mr. Dunn was President and CEO of Ubiquity Brands, a rollup of several regional snack food businesses. Previously, he spent 22 years in leadership positions with increasing responsibility at The Coca-Cola Company, culminating with his role as President of Coca-Cola North America and Latin America, the largest of the company’s strategic business units.

Mr. Dunn is also a co-founder of Acre Venture Partners, a Los Angeles-based venture capital fund that invests in the future of food. He currently serves as an advisor to Farmers’ Business Network, Spoiler Alert and Plenty and previously served on the board of directors of Herbalife and Juicero.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, or watch this episode on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Resources:

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn

Learn more about Bolthouse Farms

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Matthew Wadiak went from being a chef to founding Blue Apron, the first meal kit company to go public, and now he’s disrupting food yet again through Cooks Venture. In his newest endeavor, Matthew is pioneering regenerative systems that span the entire value chain of animal agriculture.

I learned so much during my conversation with Matthew. Listen to the episode to understand more about the flaws he’s addressing in our current food system, building brand awareness online to challenge the status quo, and so much more.

Matthew Wadiak

Matthew Wadiak is the founder and CEO of Cooks Venture, a vertically integrated AgTech and food company re-envisioning the future of agriculture. Matthew’s goal is nothing short of changing industrial animal agriculture and creating a regenerative system to combat climate change while providing consumers with food choices that are exceptional in quality and taste. Cooks Venture breeds and raises a proprietary slow-growth, heirloom chicken, taking into account the health of the animal and the health of the environment.  

Prior to Cooks Venture, Matthew founded and served as the COO of Blue Apron, the trail-blazing meal-kit company that reimagined the way food is produced, distributed and prepared for home cooks. Matthew developed and managed Blue Apron’s supply chain, led a team of over 5,000 manufacturing employees at six national centers and built a network of over 250 farmers, ranchers and agronomists.

Matthew serves on the board of Goodwill International, one of the largest NGO's in the world, which works to educate and develop better employment around the country through a diversity of workforce development and social programs.

Resources

Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn

Learn more about Cooks Venture

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Following the company’s 65th anniversary, VSP Global's Chief Marketing Officer Wendy Hauteman decided it was time to craft a new purpose statement. It wasn't a marketing initiative, but rather a way to set VSP up for future growth in an increasingly competitive industry.

Wendy and I worked together to bring purpose to life at VSP. Listen to our conversation to find out how she got buy-in from all levels of leadership and brought employees along during the process, how VSP has kept purpose alive through a network of internal ambassadors, and how purpose has come into play at VSP in terms of innovation, responding to COVID and more.

Wendy Hauteman

Wendy Hauteman is Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at VSP Global. She leads the organization’s global marketing strategy to deliver its products and services to a diverse set of stakeholders, including nearly 90 million VSP members.

 Wendy joined VSP Global in 2013 as Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Marketing. She has over 20 years of experience in the optical industry. Prior to joining VSP Global, Hauteman served in a variety of senior marketing leadership roles at Pearle Vision, ILORI, and EyeMed. She and her husband have two daughters and reside in El Dorado Hills, CA. She loves fitness and has run multiple marathons. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University and an MBA in marketing from Xavier University.

Resources

Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn

Learn more about VSP Global

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Lynne Twist is one of the most incredible people I know. She became an activist after she was inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s vision of a global society in which no one was left behind, and since then she’s gone on to write her revolutionary book, ‘The Soul of Money’, examining our cultural attitudes towards wealth. Today, Lynne runs the Pachamama Alliance, an organization that connects leaders in business to indigenous leaders that protect the Amazon rainforest to support personal and collective transformation. She brings with her pure positivity and a powerful message so enjoy our conversation on how business needs to change in order to meet the social and environmental challenges we face.

Lynn Twist

For more than 40 years, Lynne Twist has been a recognized global visionary committed to alleviating poverty, ending world hunger and supporting social justice and environmental sustainability.

From working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta to the refugee camps in Ethiopia and the threatened rainforests of the Amazon, as well as guiding the philanthropy of some of the world's wealthiest families, Lynne’s on-the-ground work has brought her a deep understanding of people’s relationship with money. Her breadth of knowledge and experience has led her to profound insights into the social tapestry of the world and the historical landscape of the times we are living in.

Her compelling stories and life experiences inspired Lynne to write her best-selling, award-winning book “The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life” (W.W. Norton, 2003) which has been translated into nine languages including Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Bulgarian and Portuguese.

Resources

Connect with Lynne on LinkedIn 

Learn more about The Pachamama Alliance

Discover The Soul of Money Institute

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com