Rachel Connors is the Co-Founder and CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of Yellow Leaf Hammocks, a social enterprise dedicated to defeating global poverty through sustainable artisan job creation. Yellow Leaf was born after Rachel’s husband met a group of women in a small village in Thailand making what he dubbed the world’s most comfortable hammocks. It then became their mission to share those hammocks with the world—and help those women and their families overcome poverty through artisan work. 

 

In this episode of the Building While Flying podcast, Rachel joins Katie Hankinson, SVP at The Sasha Group, to dive into what it means to be a social enterprise. Rachel says, “You can’t only be focused on doing good, because if you aren’t running a sustainable business, the opportunity goes away.” Rachel also talks about how microfinance organizations like Kiva.org are helping businesses like Yellow Leaf make a difference for women around the world.

 

In their conversation, Rachel and Katie discuss:

• Yellow Leaf’s origin story 
• Scaling an early-stage business
• Defining a “social enterprise”
• Balancing messaging in content 
• Product innovation at scale 
• Diversifying marketing channels
• Balancing strengths among leadership

 

Connect with Rachel and Yellow Leaf Hammocks:

Yellow Leaf Hammocks website: https://www.yellowleafhammocks.com/ 

Yellow Leaf on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yellowleafhammocks/ 

Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelconnors/