Find More Meaning in March

My friend Alice Barry  (www.entertainingtheidea.com) calls March the Month of More Meaning.  Throughout the month of March she’ll be focusing on  and exploring the many ways we can contribute to the world in meaningful ways through our businesses.  As you know, the mission of “Inspired Livelihood” is to  support, inspire and encourage artists, musicians, authors and aspiring entrepreneurs to make a living while making a difference in their community or the world.

As Barbara Winter, author of  ”Making a Living Without a Job” said in her recent Joyfully Jobless newsletter the “search for meaningful work that makes a positive impact in the world is a huge motivator” of the successfully self employed. If you are ready to activate your inner activist and add the meaning/purpose piece to your bottom line, the “Inspired Livelihood Workshop” is for you. .

Join Alice, Barbara and me f in Sedona, Arizona on April 16 & 17. With this exquisite community as our backdrop, we’ll explore what it means to create a business that is both profitable and meaningful. Read about this exciting event HERE

Creating More Meaning in Your Work

The late Anita Roddick knew “if you can create an honorable livelihood, where you take your skills and use them to earn a living, it gives you a sense of freedom and allows you to balance your life the way you want. ” As founder of The Body Shop, she created a business that was  wildly profitable while remaining socially responsible.

There are many ways to make a difference and they don’t have to be limited to volunteer or non-profits. If you’re like many of us, you dream of doing something more meaningful and making an impact but you do still need to earn a living.

As  social media specialist Jeff Korhan noted in his lawnandlandscape.com post yesterday,  “Social entrepreneurship isn’t philanthropy. It is augmenting your business model to include social needs alongside traditional profit needs.” Contrary to the beliefs of so many aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s not only OK to make a solid income from a socially responsible business, but your business is more likely to make an long term impact if your company is profitable. If you are continually worrying about adequate charitable donations to drive change, you aren’t going to be able to focus on the greater good.

If you’re searching for a way to create more meaning in your work, check out  the upcoming Inspired Livelihood workshop in beautiful Sedona, Arizona with Barbara Winter and Alice Barry, where you’ll learn how you can make a living and make a change in society.

From Wall Street to Social Entrepreneur

An article in the New York Daily News today featured several young Wall Street “casualties” who’ve taken advantage of the recession to begin new socially conscious businesses. Stephen Chen and Iris Chau started  GreenSoul Shoes,  selling sandals made from recycled tires by artisans in Third World countries.  Chau’s husband came up with the idea after seeing children playing barefoot in a Manila garbage dump.  For ever pair sold, they donate another to a needy child in the artisans’ communities.  GreenSoul isn’t only making a difference  in underdeveloped countries.  The company incorporates the social change aspect on the home front by using a facility that employs ex-cons, recovering addicts and formerly homeless to do their packing and shipping.

The article mentions other young social entrepreneurs including Tyler Gage and Dan MacCombie, two Brown grads  who are bringing a tea called Guayusa to America as an energy drink. A highly caffeinated, sweet tea that keeps you alert without the jitters, Guayusa is grown in  Ecuador and because it needs the shade of other trees to grow, it is helping to preserve the rain forest, and is supporting indigenous farmers. 

These and many other aspiring entrepreneurs, are turning their recent job loss into an opportunity to create a new economic model that makes doing good in the community or the world a part of doing well financially.  This recession is likely to birth some of the most successful and socially conscious entrepreneurs in history. 

How can you turn a job loss or down economy into an opportunity to take a stand and make a difference while you’re making a living.  Could this be the perfect time for you to, as Gandhi said, “be the change you wish to see in the world?” 

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Is it OK to make money while doing good?.

Not only Ok but vital to your livelihood and your cause.  I’ve heard people complain about the salaries paid to  directors of non profits.  They say things like “if she really were in it for the better good, she would do it for free.” Or,  “I resent that part of my donation (to a particular charity) goes to paying a director’s salary.”

Do these same people believe that their doctor shouldn’t charge a fee or that public defenders should do their jobs pro-gratis? I don’t believe that the people who research cancer treatments or those who develop cleaner fuel sources feel the least bit guilty about getting paid well to do good in the world. 

So why is it that many entrepreneurs who want to make a difference by addressing social issues feel they shouldn’t command a reasonable income to do what they feel passionate about? 

The truth is, non profits do pay nice director’s salaries and as a result attract the best, most effective staff. If everyone who wanted to make a difference had to be a full time volunteer, we would not have the effective leadership to make positive change.  Most of us need to make a living and it takes the brightest, highly driven and most dedicated executives to direct change. If those people couldn’t make a good living as change agents, they’d have to be corporate leaders and just do what they can for a cause in their spare time. I, personally, am thrilled to have the best and brightest heading up causes I feel strongly about. and I am happy to see them making what they are worth to make changes in the world. 

If your dream involves making a difference but you don’t see how you can make a living as a social entrepreneur, the first step is to examine your attitudes about wealth and adjust your mindset around money. You likely have a gift to share with the world and it has monetary value. If a corporation was to hire you to use your talent to set up and run a particular department, you’d expect to be paid well for your expertise. As a social entrepreneur, you have even greater value. 

As you are dreaming of making a difference,  think about what special skills you have that you’ll use to implement change. Then consider what you’d expect to be paid to do this job in corporate America. That is the value you should place on your new “job” and figure that into the overall plan. It may involve some creative financing or grants, and you won’t make that salary overnight, but it is your “value” and you have no reason to feel anything but generous about giving your time and talents in exchange for income.