Made On Purpose

It took a near-fatal accident for Joshua Ross to realise he needed to focus on a more purpose-led life. So, he left his job at a hedge fund to co-found Humanitix, an events booking agency where all of those annoying booking fees on tickets are donated to charity.

Shortly after launch, Humanitix won funding from the Atlassian Foundation and a $1 million prize in the Google Impact Challenge. Then, the pandemic hit – and seemingly every event in Australia was cancelled. In this episode, Josh reveals what happened next. 

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When the pandemic hit, Who Gives A Crap was one of the few companies that benefited: as Australians cleared supermarket shelves of toilet paper, orders went through the roof.

Co-founder and CEO Simon Griffiths steered the 120-strong social enterprise through one of its most demanding periods, and in the last financial year he and his co-founders were able to donate $5.85 million to charities providing clean water and sanitation in developing countries.

Here, he reveals the brand's rollercoaster journey – and his own. 

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Like many ideas, the concept for i=change came to Jeremy Meltzer in the middle of the night. In the cold light of day, it still held up – so Jeremy spent the next few months building a platform that enabled brands to donate a dollar for every online purchase.

So far, i=change has raised over $3.9 million, much of which has gone to NGOs focused on the protection of women and girls from family violence – a cause that remains very close to his heart. 

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Inspired by her daughter’s school project on the environment, Rebecca Pecarsky wrote down five ways that she, too, could make a positive difference. Top of the list? Sustainable packaging to replace the millions of single-use plastic mailers discarded every year.

And so, in 2018, Rebecca and her friend Kate Bezar founded The Better Packaging Company, which makes eco-friendly, compostable envelopes, mailers and more. So far they’ve sold 45 million units - that’s 45 million single-use plastic packages saved from landfill - and created a multi-million-dollar company. Not bad for two entrepreneurs who happily confess they knew nothing at all about packaging when they started. 

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When Christina Hobbs discovered that women retire with 37 percent less super than men, she was horrified – and inspired to do something about it. In 2018, she co-founded Verve Super, Australia's first ethical superannuation fund led by women, for women. 

But Christina didn't have a background in super - far from it. In the previous 10 years she'd worked for the UN in Nepal, Turkey and Iraq. What she learned at the frontline of some of the world's most dangerous conflicts fuelled her belief that the right financial support can have a transformative effect on women's lives. 

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Outland Denim is a fashion brand with a difference.

Not only does Outland create stylish jeans – worn by none other than Meghan Markle – but it exists to employ women who are affected by human trafficking. Since launching in 2011, Outland has also developed some of the most rigorous sustainability standards in fashion.

We spoke to James about what drives him, the long hours and sacrifices of launching a business with a social impact mission - and why purpose and profit shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. 

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In 2011, Kristy Chong set out to solve a problem that plenty of women experience but few talk about. That year, the former marketing executive came up with the idea to create leakproof pants that would offer a sustainable alternative to disposable products like pads and tampons.

Since then, the brand that Kristy built - Modibodi - has sold more than a million pairs of pants. But Kristy isn’t just on a mission to help the environment – a range of purpose-led initiatives are threaded through the brand. Modibodi’s ad campaigns feature inclusive, authentic images of real women and the brand is on track to donate 100,000 pairs of pants to women who need them this year.

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