5 Innovators Share How to Make The World—and Your Business—Better

There’s a lot of change afoot in the world right now: Americans waking up to the realities of racial injustices and imagining what better systems could look like, people rethinking what everything about their daily life looks like as COVID continues to spread, and more and more individuals wondering how they can make this crazy world we’re living in even a little better for themselves and the people around them.

Luckily, entrepreneurs and innovators are change-makers and world-builders by trade. This month, I pulled out some insightful thoughts from my podcast guests about how they use their skills to make the world a little better—and their businesses or careers a little stronger.  Read on for the highlights, and then listen to the full episodes for more insights. 

1. Don’t get caught up in the way things were.

Sarah Friar is a powerhouse business leader, basically the mentor we all wish we had. She’s currently the CEO of Nextdoor—the world’s largest private social network for neighbors—and has also held high-level positions at Square, Salesforce, and Goldman, is on the boards of Walmart and Slack, and has co-founded Ladies Who Launch to help other entrepreneurial women succeed. 

On the podcast, she shares that what’s been on her mind lately is how to decidedly not go back to the way things were. “The term I use with my team all the time is, what is the emergent theme? So don't just think about back to normal, let's not even use phrases like that, because it implies that it's just going to all be the same again. And I think that would be a complete missed opportunity if that does become the case,” she shares in the episode, along with some of the emerging opportunities she sees right now and more. 

Listen to the full episode.

2. Inspire others with authenticity. 

Mark Mastrandrea has been a serial entrepreneur for most of his life and is now the co-founder of Ikonick, one of the fastest-growing digital art companies in the world, selling motivational canvas art. 

He’s learned a ton from the successes and failures he’s experienced through his career, and one of the most salient things is that the most powerful ventures are driven by something really authentic to the founders. “If you're a true, authentic self, and you're building your own story, then there's no competition, because no one can be a better you than you.” 

In the episode, he shares why it’s important to first find clarity around who you want to be, and then find a way to authentically put that out into the world—and why now is actually the perfect time to do it. 

Listen to the full episode.

3. Think how your business can provide for real needs. 

Helen Russell is the co-founder of Equator Coffee, a national brand known for its value-driven approach, award-winning coffee, and impactful action around issues of environmental sustainability, female empowerment, and economic empowerment. 

One way she thinks businesses can make things better for customers through COVID and into the future is by really being empathetic to all the needs of their customers, and thinking creatively about how to provide for those needs. For instance, when COVID started, she noticed customers wanted to reduce the number of places they had to go when running errands. So, “[we added] provisions so our customers that may not want to go to the grocery store can pick up flour, can pick up eggs, can pick up a case of gloves.”

This not only made their customer’s lives easier, but it made their business stronger. “Anything to add to the average transaction to make that a viable space so we can pay our people to be there,” Helen says, sharing more ways they’re staying creative and building community around their business in our conversation. 

Listen to the full episode.

4. Elevate the qualified voices (including your own). 

Bragging has a bad rap, but Meredith Fineman is here to change that. She’s the founder of leadership and communications company FinePoint and author of Brag Better, which is all about mastering the art of shameless self-promotion. 

She says her work is targeted at the “qualified quiet”—the people who have done the hard work, are truly experts in their field, but don’t speak up about their expertise and accomplishments enough. “I just want everyone to start talking,” she says. “I think in a year like 2020, in an election year, it's really also somewhat civic responsibility to—if you know the stuff and have done the work—please start talking about it so that other people can be inspired and learn from you.” In the episode, you’ll learn more about how to get more comfortable doing this, and why part of bragging better involves elevating the voices of others, too.

Listen to the full episode.

5. Don’t lose sight of the mission. 

Shiza Shahid is a golden model of using your experiences and expertise to improve the world around you. A decorated entrepreneur driven by social impact, she kicked off her career as the founding CEO of the Malala Fund, and has since launched NOW Ventures, the world's first funding platform dedicated to enabling early-stage companies with transformative solutions for a prosperous world, and Our Place, which is all about making it easier for people to connect and learn about each other over food. 

She believes that all brands today have an obligation to have a deeper mission and set of values behind the products and services they sell. “Businesses need to be inherently mission-driven. They need to think about their supply chain, their hiring practices, their culture, their impact on the world, and they should inherently be making the world better.” In the episode, she shares more about how she practices what she preaches through her kitchenware brand, and more.

Listen to the full episode.

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Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of San Francisco–based Hint, a healthy lifestyle company known for its delicious unsweetened flavored water. Since launching in 2005, Hint has introduced an oxybenzone- and paraben-free sunscreen collection using its signature fruit essences, and most recently, a plant-based, aluminum-free eucalyptus + lemon deodorant. Kara produces and hosts her own podcast, Unstoppable with Kara Goldin, where she interviews founders, entrepreneurs, and disruptors across various industries. Keep up with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And, of course if you aren’t already, follow her on Linkedin here and subscribe to her podcast here. She is an active speaker and writer. Her first book, Undaunted., will be launching this fall.