Follow Your Values

Introducing Caroline Duell and All Good Products

There is often reluctance to jump into business if you are passionate about the environment and social issues. Capitalism has been a tool for the greedy over the last few hundred years and at the expense of people and the planet. However, just because others have abused capitalism doesn’t mean that is the only way business gets done.

Caroline Duell is the entrepreneur behind All Good Products. Like many who are passionate about social issues and the environment, Caroline was also reluctant to jump into the business world. In the late 90’s, Caroline was living with her future husband on an organic farm in Northern California. As a massage therapist and a rock-climbing instructor, Caroline needed a product to her hands between jobs. She ended up developing a balm from some of the herbs on her farm. She gave away her balm to friends and her massage and rock-climbing customers. After moving to another part of California, Caroline had planned to move on to other things but the calls kept coming in and she reluctantly started All Good Products in 2006. Her reluctance was due to the idea that she might have to compromise her values, which is something she has never had to do (especially after becoming a B Corp in 2009).

Check out this episode of the Boiling Point to see how you can be both a capitalist and also be socially and environmentally minded without having to compromise.

In this episode

• We hear how Caroline went from being a rock-climbing instructor and massage therapist to a balm entrepreneur.
• Caroline tells us where the name for All Good Products came from.
• She tells us about her reluctance about entering the business world.
• We learn about the importance for Caroline to stay authentic to her environmentalism and spreading goodness.
• Caroline tells us how becoming a B Corp has helped to communicate her authenticity to her customers.
• We also hear how she has been an evangelist of the B Corp movement.
• Greg and Caroline continue to try and convert Dave’s Vision Coaching to a B Corp.
• Dave sees Caroline as an amazing ambassador for the movement and wonders how many people are reluctant to enter the business world due to their values and a perceived conflict of interest.
• Greg sees reluctance as normal because of the way capitalism has been abused in the past. He also sees B Corps as a great middle ground and a way to encourage businesses to do better and for environmentalists and social movement makers to get into business.

Links

- All Good Products Website

- All Good Products on Facebook

- All Good Products on Twitter

- All Good Products on Instagram

- Caroline on Linked In

- B Corporation Website

The Future is Coming

Introducing Paul French and Innovation & Technology Today 

Thomas Fuller once said, “He that fears not the future may enjoy the present.” Though we may be uneasy about where the advances of technology will take us, the future is coming and it is best to understand where we might be going.

This week, the Boiling Point welcomes Paul French. Paul is the Managing Editor of Innovation and Tech Today, a national quarterly magazine that features columns, essays, and interviews with scientists, celebrities, and business leaders. The latest fall issue includes Michael Fassbender, Michio Kaku, Mark Hamill, and more. We brought Paul in to speak about all things futuristic.

For all those thinking about technology and the future, this is your episode.

In this episode

• Dave tells us about how Greg is now Saint John Famous.
• Greg tells us how he met up with Paul at Sustainable Brands.
• Paul tells us how he is constantly surprised by present technology.
• Paul tells us how the technology he covers both excites him and can make him feel a sense of dread.
• We learn about what current futurist are predicting for our near future.
• Paul discusses how we are naturally hard wired to be fearful of the future but we eventually adapt to it.
• We learn about reticular neural networks and how it could change the journalism of our future.
• Paul tells us how virtual reality will become as everyday as our home computer.
• We also discuss how technology will change how we learn leading to more critical analysis and less rote learning.

Links

- Innovation and Tech Today Website

- Innovation and Tech Today Twitter

- Innovation and Tech Today Facebook

- Innovation and Tech Today Linked In

- Innovation and Tech Today Instagram

A Solution for Every Challenge

Introducing Steve Goddard and Resilia Medical Solutions

Everyone remembers having an unfortunate urinary accident when they were young. Not only is it uncomfortable, but also embarrassing. Most of us grow past these challenges as we learn to better control our bladders. However, some women can be reacquainted to this problem many years down the line and through no fault of their own. One in five women experience urinary incontinence stemming from motherhood, age, etc. Currently, the only solutions are surgical in extreme circumstances, or some sort of pad or diaper. However, today’s Boiling Point guest, Steve Goddard, is the CEO of a company with another discrete solution.

Steve is the CEO of Resilia Medical Solutions and his company’s product Uresta is a small item made of medical grade plastic, which is inserted into the vagina and applies pressure to a woman’s urethra and blocks the passage of unwanted urine. The product was developed by Dr. Scott Farrell, an Urogynaecologist from Dalhousie University when he noticed that most of his patients who suffered from FUI were not in need of a surgical solution, but didn’t have a good solution to their problem.

This problem is not just a stigma or quality of life issue; its health effects can be spiraling. Check out this episode to see how there is a solution for every problem if you take the time to fix it.

In this episode

• We hear about Steve’s past life in banking and with JDI.
• Steve tells us why he took the leap into entrepreneurship after leaving JDI and about the companies he helped to start.
• Greg and Dave are made to guess what Resilia’s product is.
• Steve explains how this product is an evolution of a device that has been used for hundreds of years.
• We also hear how venture capitalists reacted to the product versus individual investors.
• We learn that it can take up to seven years for a woman to speak to a doctor about their FUI.
• Steve tells us why the problem of FUI is not just a quality of life issue or a stigma and how it can seriously affect a woman’s mental and physical health.
• Greg is impressed by the fact that when people come across challenges there is always someone out looking for the solution
• Dave notes that every business has that “big domino” that when it drops great things follow.

Links

- Resilia Medical Solutions Website

- Uresta Website

- Steve on Twitter

Best FOR the World

Introducing Bryan Welch and B The Change Media

 Those of you who are repeat listeners of the Boiling Point know about the swelling B Corp movement and how it uses business as a catalyst for doing good in the world. This week’s guest, Bryan Welch, has a plan to spread the word of this movement even further with his new company B The Change Media. 

Bryan has made a career in magazine publishing since the mid-70s. During his career he transformed a declining publisher of two rural-lifestyle magazines to a dynamic, growing multi-media company with 9 magazine titles and numerous websites and ancillary products with millions of readers. Bryan first got the idea for telling stories about businesses doing good in the world about ten years ago, but at the time it was hard to distinguish companies with genuine commitments versus those making marketing plays. However, the introduction of the B Lab assessment tool gave him objective evidence in order to proceed with his plan.

While other magazines on business assess companies on their ability to rapidly acquire wealth through lists like the “Fortune 500”, Bryan is currently working on his own designation, “Best for the World”.

Learn all about B The Change Media and Best for the World in this week’s edition of the Boiling Point.

In this episode

• We learn about Bryan’s motivation for starting a media company focusing on businesses doing good in the world.
• Bryan discusses the size of his audience and how the B Corp movement is growing.
• We hear how the Best of the World designation will be a collection of the top 10% of B Corp companies.
• Greg and Bryan speak to their excitement for the celebration that will take place at the University of California – Berkley.
• Bryan lets us in on a few contenders for the Best in the World designation.
• There is a discussion on where B Corps go from here.
• Bryan tells us that while currently there are around 2000 B Corps in the world, over 40000 businesses have taken the B Corp assessment and the growth of the movement is up 30% from last year.
• Bryan likens how businesses and products are becoming a part of our identity to the music of the 60s.
• Greg sees Bryan as a super dynamic human being and thinks it is a luxury to have him as a part of the B Corp movement.
• Dave appreciates Bryan’s ability to use his intuition.

Links

- B The Change Media Website

- Best For The World Website

- B Corporation Website

- B The Change on Twitter

- B The Change on Facebook

- B The Change on Linked In

- B The Change on Instagram

- Bryan on Linked In

- Bryan on Twitter