Emily built the company Lilac Pack from the ground up - a true "moms helping moms" company, providing care packages to support women in their postpartum period (the first 6-8 weeks after childbirth), with their personal recovery and to help them get their best start nursing.

It's a time when the attention is so focused on their newborn that quite often a new mother doesn't get the attention that they need. While they're in the hospital, there may be fantastic support and tons of information, but it's hard to take it all in, especially if you're medicated or otherwise overwhelmed from childbirth.

Emily Lawrence, an engineer by trade, wanted to change this, so she brought her idea to an event called Give Back Hack.

"It was insane."

An introvert by nature, she gathered her wits and pitched her idea to a crowd of strangers, only to be surprised by such a supportive environment. Over a single weekend, she was able to form a team and flush out her project.

"They pushed you to get out into the community… as in to put on your shoes and get on the ground and talk to people face-to-face to get their input on your idea."

She was surprised at how much she accomplished over the weekend, but luckily her journey didn't end there. She went on to SEA Change - an accelerator for social enterprises, which provided her a 14-week deep dive into building her business model, connecting with experts, and further validating her idea.

For Emily, it also gave her the opportunity to push herself to develop the social impact side of her business. As she puts it, it's easy to put this off until later, but you'll never get around to it -- instead, start with your impact and it gives you direction and a standard to live up to.

So she built Lilac Pack as a social enterprise -- in addition to the core product, they are a living wage company that provides child care support. (Child daycare often creates a job barrier… the cost is too high for low wage jobs.) The third aspect to their social mission is resource matching -- they have a mommy map with locations of services for lactation consultants, doulas, and other similar services as an open directory of relevant services.

Now she's up and running, and growing her business - learning how to tackle online marketing, and how to develop a presence on social media. I was so thankful that she shared some of her insight on the podcast.

When asked what surprises she's had about starting a company, Emily responded:

"I thought it was going to be harder. It is hard, and just like being a mom, it is relentless. It does not let up, but if you have an idea, and if you are passionate about that idea people will get behind you."

Having Emily on the podcast is such a joy - we journeyed with her during SEA Change while we were building Wild Tiger Tees, our t-shirt screen printing social enterprise employing youth experiencing homelessness. She was one of the first to utilize our services to print t-shirts to helped us pilot our program - and she continues to openly share her business insight with us, magnifying the impact that she makes. I love what she’s doing with Lilac Pack, and if you know anyone about to give birth, her packages make for beautiful gifts - so go out and support her wonderful venture!

Resources

Lilac PackThe Mommy MapGive Back HackSEA Change

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In this episode we dive deep into investment insight, on how to save for your future.The People Helping People podcast is back after a long break.  Over the last year, I went to Give Back Hack up in Cleveland, and pitched an idea to start a t-shirt screen printing company to employ youth experiencing homelessness.  The idea was selected, a team was formed, and we launched Wild Tiger Tees. Working in partnership with the Star House, we're helping mentor and employ youth in the Columbus area.The youth that we work with are amazing - they're all quite different with each navigating their own challenging situation - and usually without family or mentors giving them feedback or direction.So, I was excited to recored a podcast with a long-time friend, and New Yorker, Alan Grodin, founder of Northern State Financial.  He has a career in financial services, but has been giving back by teaching youth about finance and saving... so I was curious what he does.Alan started his financial services right on the precipice of the tech bubble... and weathered the storm in 2008, when the average stock lost 40% of its value.  He speaks about good savings habits -- but what struck me is that his core message was to build the habit.  In your 20s and 30s, even if you can just save $50 a month - it’s giving you the mindset you need to be successful later on.  On the flip side, he warns to never be fooled by credit cards, and to learn how to use them as tool to only spend what you have... never to accumulate debt with them, because their interest rates are so high that it becomes a very ineffective method of managing your money.I didn’t know this, but when selecting a financial advisor, you can search on FINRA -- (I even checked out Alan) and advisors with more complaints, or those that move between jobs more often, should be treated with suspect. The podcast is packed full of investment advice, and is a great starting point if you have no idea about saving for your future, so tune in!

In this episode we dive deep into investment insight, on how to save for your future.

The People Helping People podcast is back after a long break.  Over the last year, I went to Give Back Hack up in Cleveland, and pitched an idea to start a t-shirt screen printing company to employ youth experiencing homelessness.  The idea was selected, a team was formed, and we launched Wild Tiger Tees. Working in partnership with the Star House, we're helping mentor and employ youth in the Columbus area.

The youth that we work with are amazing - they're all quite different with each navigating their own challenging situation - and usually without family or mentors giving them feedback or direction.

So, I was excited to recored a podcast with a long-time friend, and New Yorker, Alan Grodin, founder of Northern State Financial.  He has a career in financial services, but has been giving back by teaching youth about finance and saving... so I was curious what he does.

Alan started his financial services right on the precipice of the tech bubble... and weathered the storm in 2008, when the average stock lost 40% of its value.  He speaks about good savings habits -- but what struck me is that his core message was to build the habit.  In your 20s and 30s, even if you can just save $50 a month - it’s giving you the mindset you need to be successful later on.  On the flip side, he warns to never be fooled by credit cards, and to learn how to use them as tool to only spend what you have... never to accumulate debt with them, because their interest rates are so high that it becomes a very ineffective method of managing your money.

I didn’t know this, but when selecting a financial advisor, you can search on FINRA -- (I even checked out Alan) and advisors with more complaints, or those that move between jobs more often, should be treated with suspect.

The podcast is packed full of investment advice, and is a great starting point if you have no idea about saving for your future, so tune in!

Send us a text

In this episode, Jason Moore, founder, and principal of Fulcrum Creatives, explains what a Certified B Corporation is, how companies can qualify and what it means for not only businesses but communities.What is Fulcrum Creatives?Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Fulcrum Creatives is a design and creative studio with the goal of always working for clients that were doing something beyond profit. While a client doesn’t have to be a non-profit organization to work with the studio, there does need to be a mission that includes providing something to a greater good.What is a Certified B Corporation?A B Corp refers to a certification, designated by a non-profit organization called B Lab, that businesses can acquire based on certain criteria. More specifically from their website:“Certified B Corporations meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.”B Corps came into the scene 11 years ago, and one way you can organize as a B Corporation is to maintain a mission-based charter. While that isn’t an option in Ohio just yet, there are people making movements toward getting B Corp legislation passed. The hold-up is mainly attributed to the base of the Bar Association, which is mainly composed of corporate lawyers whom don’t necessarily think a B Corp would be something that people would want to invest in. The interesting point is that there are no tax breaks associated with the designation. Meaning:“There’s no reason not to have it. If you don’t want to invest in it, that doesn’t mean there’s no reason to not have it exist. Otherwise, to be a B Corporation, you would have to organize in another state and do business here.”As of now, there are somewhere between 32-34 states where there is a legal standing for organizing a B Corp this way.What’s the alternative? How did Fulcrum Creatives do it?Since becoming a B Corporation isn’t available in Ohio, Fulcrum Creatives is a Certified B Corp, which Jason explains:“There is an assessment where you have to go through and open up all your books, all your HR practices, everything about your company and supply chains—every single thing that you do receives scores. And you have to score enough points to be able to gain the certification.”In total, there are currently over 2,500 Certified B Corporations in more than 50 countries, according to the B Corp website.What components are looked at to become a Certified B Corp?Every two years, a company will have to go through an assessment. One thing this assessment does is show you areas where you can improve in your business, such as energy consumption. Anything from burning incandescent bulbs to low flow toilets can affect your score. In addition to what your business does, the assessment also looks at your supply chain vendors, which is a major point for a design company like Fulcrum Creatives.“One of the biggest areas that we could change is in print… There's not as much print as there used to be, but if you are going to do print, you can use post-industrial, recycled waste, paper-based products and other areas of the printing industry that can be a bit more green.”Other points considered in the assessment is a company’s client list (who are you working with, what impact are you having in communities, etc.) and transparency (equal employee pay, open books, etc.).If Fulcrum Creatives worked with BP, for example, their score would go down. As opposed to working with people doing economic development and companies working with low-income or at-risk populations.How does Fulcrum Creatives decide which clients to take on?Essentially, they look at what the client is doing. For instance, Fulcrum Creatives took on a for-profit publishing company because they were doing work for higher education, so that benefits the community.“We were approached b

In this episode, Jason Moore, founder, and principal of Fulcrum Creatives, explains what a Certified B Corporation is, how companies can qualify and what it means for not only businesses but communities.

What is Fulcrum Creatives?

Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Fulcrum Creatives is a design and creative studio with the goal of always working for clients that were doing something beyond profit. While a client doesn’t have to be a non-profit organization to work with the studio, there does need to be a mission that includes providing something to a greater good.

What is a Certified B Corporation?

A B Corp refers to a certification, designated by a non-profit organization called B Lab, that businesses can acquire based on certain criteria. More specifically from their website:

“Certified B Corporations meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.”

B Corps came into the scene 11 years ago, and one way you can organize as a B Corporation is to maintain a mission-based charter. While that isn’t an option in Ohio just yet, there are people making movements toward getting B Corp legislation passed. The hold-up is mainly attributed to the base of the Bar Association, which is mainly composed of corporate lawyers whom don’t necessarily think a B Corp would be something that people would want to invest in. The interesting point is that there are no tax breaks associated with the designation. Meaning:

“There’s no reason not to have it. If you don’t want to invest in it, that doesn’t mean there’s no reason to not have it exist. Otherwise, to be a B Corporation, you would have to organize in another state and do business here.”

As of now, there are somewhere between 32-34 states where there is a legal standing for organizing a B Corp this way.

What’s the alternative? How did Fulcrum Creatives do it?

Since becoming a B Corporation isn’t available in Ohio, Fulcrum Creatives is a Certified B Corp, which Jason explains:

“There is an assessment where you have to go through and open up all your books, all your HR practices, everything about your company and supply chains—every single thing that you do receives scores. And you have to score enough points to be able to gain the certification.”

In total, there are currently over 2,500 Certified B Corporations in more than 50 countries, according to the B Corp website.

What components are looked at to become a Certified B Corp?

Every two years, a company will have to go through an assessment. One thing this assessment does is show you areas where you can improve in your business, such as energy consumption. Anything from burning incandescent bulbs to low flow toilets can affect your score. In addition to what your business does, the assessment also looks at your supply chain vendors, which is a major point for a design company like Fulcrum Creatives.

“One of the biggest areas that we could change is in print… There's not as much print as there used to be, but if you are going to do print, you can use post-industrial, recycled waste, paper-based products and other areas of the printing industry that can be a bit more green.”

Other points considered in the assessment is a company’s client list (who are you working with, what impact are you having in communities, etc.) and transparency (equal employee pay, open books, etc.).

If Fulcrum Creatives worked with BP, for example, their score would go down.

Send us a text

SEA Change—The Social Enterprise Accelerator—is an organization that supports social entrepreneurs by helping them develop a sustainable business model, access funding and solidify their meaningful impact. In this episode, we talk with Lauren Edwards, the Columbus director of SEA Change and owner and principal of Next Step Business Consulting.What does Lauren do?With Next Step Business Consulting, Lauren helps organizations develop their next step, thus the name, for their social enterprise. This includes program development, streamlining processes and logistics, recognizing areas that may have duplicative efforts and so on. Essentially, she helps with anything where an enterprise can save time, money or both.What’s Lauren’s personal goal in this?Put simply, alleviating poverty.“It’s not just happenstance that [poverty] happened. We as a society made decisions that put people in places where they could not build generational wealth and they could not achieve growth in their careers,” Lauren states. “It’s something that’s so unfortunate and that needs to be undone and there are tools out there.”Supporting social enterprises is one tool in the toolbox for our society to use to help alleviate poverty. Poverty is something that is so ingrained in our society, that it affects a multitude of areas. This is the reason why Lauren does what she does because she can work with all different types of social enterprises and all of them play some sort of role in alleviating poverty.“Last time I checked, [Columbus] is the second most income-segregated community in the country,” she says. “There are some awesome charts put together by the Pew Research Center that show what the government sets as the poverty level and they show what one working parent would have to make or how many hours they’d have to work in order to make that. It’s unreasonable, and it has been for 80 years.”What can young social entrepreneurs do to get going, specifically in Columbus?Once you have an issue you’re passionate about, find other people who are working to solve that same issue. Whether you form a partnership or simply gain valuable insight, that’s a great first step.“You may think of someone as a competitor, but you should at least approach them about a partnership,” Lauren explains. “Ultimately, you’re in this social service sector because you want to help people.”The SEA Change Pitch Day, which showcases local social enterprises that went through the SEA Change programming, is a great place to find inspiration - and possibly an organization with whom you can share your expertise: Every entrepreneur needs help; that’s just part of the business. If you have a passion, find a way to get involved and use your talents.How did Lauren get involved in social entrepreneurship?While working with a Columbus nonprofit called Local Matters, Lauren helped educate individuals about healthful food choices on a budget. They’d have hands-on cooking and gardening classes that taught a range of people from children all the way up to senior citizens. More and more people kept asking her if she would teach these tips at corporate events, and that’s when she had her lightbulb moment. That evolved into a program called Wellness Matters, which not only is helping the companies that pay for it retain and engage their employees, but it’s increasing the health of their employees as well.How did SEA Change get started?The Business of Good Foundation, based in Northeast, Ohio, saw a gap in the ecosystem for social enterprise when it comes to education. They discovered that there was a program that was already running at Brown University called SE Greenhouse, which is a 12-module online curriculum. Brown University agreed to let The Good Business Foundation use the program and eventually they brought it to Columbus, where it was developed into what is now SEA Change.What exac

SEA Change—The Social Enterprise Accelerator—is an organization that supports social entrepreneurs by helping them develop a sustainable business model, access funding and solidify their meaningful impact. In this episode, we talk with Lauren Edwards, the Columbus director of SEA Change and owner and principal of Next Step Business Consulting.

What does Lauren do?

With Next Step Business Consulting, Lauren helps organizations develop their next step, thus the name, for their social enterprise. This includes program development, streamlining processes and logistics, recognizing areas that may have duplicative efforts and so on. Essentially, she helps with anything where an enterprise can save time, money or both.

What’s Lauren’s personal goal in this?

Put simply, alleviating poverty.

“It’s not just happenstance that [poverty] happened. We as a society made decisions that put people in places where they could not build generational wealth and they could not achieve growth in their careers,” Lauren states. “It’s something that’s so unfortunate and that needs to be undone and there are tools out there.”

Supporting social enterprises is one tool in the toolbox for our society to use to help alleviate poverty. Poverty is something that is so ingrained in our society, that it affects a multitude of areas. This is the reason why Lauren does what she does because she can work with all different types of social enterprises and all of them play some sort of role in alleviating poverty.

“Last time I checked, [Columbus] is the second most income-segregated community in the country,” she says. “There are some awesome charts put together by the Pew Research Center that show what the government sets as the poverty level and they show what one working parent would have to make or how many hours they’d have to work in order to make that. It’s unreasonable, and it has been for 80 years.”

What can young social entrepreneurs do to get going, specifically in Columbus?

Once you have an issue you’re passionate about, find other people who are working to solve that same issue. Whether you form a partnership or simply gain valuable insight, that’s a great first step.

“You may think of someone as a competitor, but you should at least approach them about a partnership,” Lauren explains. “Ultimately, you’re in this social service sector because you want to help people.”

The SEA Change Pitch Day, which showcases local social enterprises that went through the SEA Change programming, is a great place to find inspiration - and possibly an organization with whom you can share your expertise: Every entrepreneur needs help; that’s just part of the business. If you have a passion, find a way to get involved and use your talents.

How did Lauren get involved in social entrepreneurship?

While working with a Columbus nonprofit called Local Matters, Lauren helped educate individuals about healthful food choices on a budget. They’d have hands-on cooking and gardening classes that taught a range of people from children all the way up to senior citizens. More and more people kept asking her if she would teach these tips at corporate events, and that’s when she had her lightbulb moment. That evolved into a program called Wellness Matters, which not only is helping the companies that pay for it retain and engage their employees, but it’s increasing the health of their employees as well.

How did SEA Change get started?

The Business of Good Foundation, based in Northeast, Ohio, saw a gap in the ecosystem for social enterprise when it comes to education.

Send us a text

Eleventh Candle Co is a social enterprise that seeks to redeem, restore, empower and equip those vulnerable to human trafficking, abuse, exploitation, and addiction. It is a way to employ women and empower them through work.How did they get started?Amber's interest in human trafficking was born during a trip to Ethiopia, where she witnessed human trafficking in broad daylight. And she wasn’t okay with this. When she returned home to Columbus, Ohio, she was shocked to learn that human trafficking was just as prevalent in her hometown as it was in Ethiopia. So she set to work to figure out a way to make an impact.She googled what businesses she could start that would take the least amount of capital, and she came up with... candles.  She started over two years ago, mostly selling online and at festivals and events, and just recently opened their first store in the Madery, at the Co-Hatch in Worthington - a place where artisans make their socially minded, locally made, and finely crafted products right in front of your eyes.While reflecting on their journey, Amber remarked that she grew up through foster care and recognizes the statistics of what can happen... 50% of kids in foster care are trafficked or abused: she could easily have been one of those she works with today.What do survivors need?In this podcast, we talk about many forms of trafficking - whether it's drug addiction, forced dependency, kidnapping, labor trafficking - it has countless different forms.  Eleventh Candle Co is focusing on what survivors of human trafficking need:They need a safe place, safe people, and a purpose in their job. One of the most important things is teaching them how to dream.Quite often those who have been through extreme situations need extra guidance - especially working through the past trauma they have experienced. Everyone is unique, and this can range from basic life skills such as budgeting to healthy eating to rebuilding trust. One of the most useful ways to make a difference is through peer support, and Amber has worked hard to create an environment where you can’t tell the CEO from an employee, from someone who has been trafficked. Because, as she puts it:“One, we're not a petting zoo, and two we need to have the same level of respect, so my staff can freely call me out on if I'm doing something wrong, whether it’s how I’m making a candle to if I have a bad attitude... and the reason that we did that is to create a level playing ground. “Trust is a huge component as is creating a safe place where you're held accountable but it's still okay to fail.  Only when you are on an even playing ground can you really develop trust.What are the challenges of incarceration?For those who have been incarcerated, it's even more challenging getting back on your feet.The average woman leaves prison with about 29 dollars and the clothes that she came in with.The transition from prison is challenging, so Eleventh Candle Co has a different solution to working with formerly incarcerated women: they reach out and working with them in the prison system by getting to know them and paying them real wages so that they have a path after they are released.How do you affect change as a consumer?Eleventh Candle Co has a variety of beautifully scented candles.  Personally, I love beeswax candles, and since I attended the She Has a Name training on Human Trafficking, I light a candle from Eleventh Candle everytime I'm working on this podcast.  There is one burning right now.  For me, it is a symbol of the change I want to see happen in the world (plus, it's an awesome candle) -- but in the bigger picture, it is an example how we can effect change through the products you purchase as a consumer.Here is just a sample of companies built around a social mission like Eleventh Candle Co:The Noonday Collection - Jewelry & AccessoriesThe Madery in Worthing

Eleventh Candle Co is a social enterprise that seeks to redeem, restore, empower and equip those vulnerable to human trafficking, abuse, exploitation, and addiction. It is a way to employ women and empower them through work.

How did they get started?

Amber's interest in human trafficking was born during a trip to Ethiopia, where she witnessed human trafficking in broad daylight. And she wasn’t okay with this. When she returned home to Columbus, Ohio, she was shocked to learn that human trafficking was just as prevalent in her hometown as it was in Ethiopia. So she set to work to figure out a way to make an impact.

She googled what businesses she could start that would take the least amount of capital, and she came up with... candles.  She started over two years ago, mostly selling online and at festivals and events, and just recently opened their first store in the Madery, at the Co-Hatch in Worthington - a place where artisans make their socially minded, locally made, and finely crafted products right in front of your eyes.

While reflecting on their journey, Amber remarked that she grew up through foster care and recognizes the statistics of what can happen... 50% of kids in foster care are trafficked or abused: she could easily have been one of those she works with today.

What do survivors need?

In this podcast, we talk about many forms of trafficking - whether it's drug addiction, forced dependency, kidnapping, labor trafficking - it has countless different forms.  Eleventh Candle Co is focusing on what survivors of human trafficking need:

They need a safe place, safe people, and a purpose in their job. One of the most important things is teaching them how to dream.

Quite often those who have been through extreme situations need extra guidance - especially working through the past trauma they have experienced. Everyone is unique, and this can range from basic life skills such as budgeting to healthy eating to rebuilding trust. One of the most useful ways to make a difference is through peer support, and Amber has worked hard to create an environment where you can’t tell the CEO from an employee, from someone who has been trafficked. Because, as she puts it:

“One, we're not a petting zoo, and two we need to have the same level of respect, so my staff can freely call me out on if I'm doing something wrong, whether it’s how I’m making a candle to if I have a bad attitude... and the reason that we did that is to create a level playing ground. “

Trust is a huge component as is creating a safe place where you're held accountable but it's still okay to fail.  Only when you are on an even playing ground can you really develop trust.

What are the challenges of incarceration?

For those who have been incarcerated, it's even more challenging getting back on your feet.

The average woman leaves prison with about 29 dollars and the clothes that she came in with.

The transition from prison is challenging, so Eleventh Candle Co has a different solution to working with formerly incarcerated women: they reach out and working with them in the prison system by getting to know them and paying them real wages so that they have a path after they are released.

How do you affect change as a consumer?

Eleventh Candle Co has a variety of beautifully scented candles.  Personally, I love beeswax candles, and since I attended the She Has a Name training on Human Trafficking, I light a candle from Eleventh Candle everytime I'm working on this podcast.  There is one burning right now.  For me,

Send us a text

There are so many issues for us to collectively tackle - but perhaps above all is the environment, because if we destroy our home, where are we going to live?What is Zero Waste?Zero Waste started as an effort with the Nelsonville Music Festival, to transform how they manage waste at their festival. A festival generally generates tons of waste from the vendors and sheer mass of attendees that they support. Over the years, Zero Waste started by managing the trash -- adding in a conveyor belt to sort trash into recycling and compost -- right on the event grounds. Over time, they’ve worked closely with the vendors, to ensure they are using environmentally sound and compostable materials.When Tyler Bonner decided to join AmeriCorps, he found himself in the middle of this project.  Today, he is leading the social enterprise Zero Waste Event Productions - the leading recycling, composting, and waste management provider for indoor and outdoor live music events, sporting events, community gatherings, and conferences. They are literarily changing the approach to litter, impacting celebrations which often generate huge amounts of trash for the landfill.What is Zero Waste about?The company started as an AmeriCorp project within Rural Action - a non-profit in Athens, Ohio focusing on promoting social, economic, and environmental justice by training, organizing and supporting communities:Our work is about developing the region’s many assets in environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways. We do this by focusing on sectors identified as important by our members: food and agriculture, forestry, zero waste and recycling, environmental education, and watershed restoration. Emerging work in social enterprise development, local tourism, and energy are more recent parts of our portfolio.They continue to build new tools to help make the recycling and composting more efficient -- but the main attraction is their conveyor belt. At the events, they’ll have volunteers sorting through trash -- a fun bonding experience that brings back many return volunteers.Who knew sorting trash could be fun... but Tyler explained how you’re in the middle of the festival, doing something great, visible to attendees and able to educate them -- and the conveyor belt means you don’t have to touch anything you don’t want to.They’ve achieved Zero Waste at the Nelsonville Music Festival -- less than 10% of the trash ends up in the landfill... meaning 90% is either recycled or composted. Now, that’s transformative for the environment.Most of their events are in Ohio, but they do branch out to Pennsylvania and beyond - check out their facebook page to see how you can get involved!ResourcesZero Waste Event Productions: zerowastefest.comFacebook: fb.com/zerowasteeventproductionsRural Action - ruralaction.org