#245 - What Is a Sustainable Product? (And How Can You Identify One?)

Welcome to the Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Podcast. In this thought-provoking episode titled "What Makes a Great Company?" we're diving into the inspiring journey of Dean's Beans Organic Coffee Company. Joining us are two remarkable guests, Dean Cycon, the founder of Dean's Beans, and the new CEO, Beth Spong, who are here to shed light on their unique approach to business—one that's grounded in social, economic, and environmental justice. ⭐ SPONSORED BY: Transform Global - https://www.transform.global/ agood company - https://www.agood.com/ 💌 NEWSLETTER: Click the link below to sign up for our newsletter, The Weekly Ensemble, and every Monday receive a meditation exploring what it means to live and work sustainably at the intersection of business, nature, & philosophy. Subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/ 🗣 TOPICS DISCUSSED: Fair trade certification limitations Empowerment through community engagement Worker-owned cooperative benefits Mission-driven business model Sustainable purchasing practices Importance of deepening impact Challenging profit maximization mindset SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Leave a Review (on Apple Podcasts!)  Subscribe to the Newsletter Share the Podcast GROW ENSEMBLE: YouTube LinkedIn ABOUT CORY AMES: Newsletter LinkedIn Website

Yes, we need to make a living.  But how do we make a life?  It might not simply be about the money.  When the world is in turmoil, when our health is at risk and the future seems murky, perhaps paychecks and productivity aren’t enough. Perhaps we can’t manage our way into the future.  What if we created the best job someone ever had?  What if we built an organization people would genuinely miss if it were gone?  What if the work we did made things better?  Mozart, not Muzak.  This is the Song of Significance This interview with Seth Godin, author of 21 international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about work, is about how we, in business, can do better.  How we need to do better.  In 2023, Seth published this very important book, The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams, which was an urgent call to action for us all to rethink work, management, and leadership.  Both in how it’s all practiced and what it’s all even for.  Seth, has influenced an incredible many in business and marketing myself included, and I believe he has long already been a champion for embedding meaning into the work we do.  To make something people remark on, you must push yourself to make something remarkable. The focus isn’t on attracting customers, but rather, on building community around what you and your organization stand for.  Trust and transactions aren’t best bought but rather built and earned through servicing what people need.   This book, however, takes a much broader look at business–explains the rather dangerous pathway we are on, but in simple, yet profound maxims and short stories offers us a pathway forward.                           In this conversation, Seth and I discuss the perceived problems at hand with business, business culture, and work–and sort through the various nuances of remedying those issues to create a better, more meaningful future.   Specifically, we explore how industrialization has bred a race to the bottom culture in business where it’s margins, not meaning or service fueling the engines of our marketplace.  We explore how we need NEW entrepreneurial idols – and what mainstream business misses about the Henry Fords, Elon Musks, and Zuckerbergs of the world.  And most importantly, Seth shares how we can do WORK WORTH DOING both for ourselves and for our communities.   🗒️ SHOW NOTES  For more --> https://www.socialentrepreneurship.fm/253/

On December 8th, 1993, Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law.  In his remarks at the signing, Clinton proclaimed, “NAFTA means jobs. American jobs and good-paying American jobs. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't support this agreement.”  Two decades after NAFTA had been in effect (1993 - 2013) the Economic Policy Institute reported that over 850,000 American jobs had been moved abroad.  Why? Because American companies gladly moved jobs to Mexico where the daily wage of a Mexican worker was roughly equivalent to the minimum wage per hour in the U.S. Especially in the business world, we take for granted that the global spread of capitalism (fueled by free trade agreements like NAFTA) has increased the quality of life for all by expanding participation in the market, often through jobs.  But, there’s essential nuance here that’s been overlooked.  Not all jobs are good jobs and trade is not good for trading’s sake. Eric Henry, President of TS Designs, a large volume screen printing company based in Burlington, North Carolina, like many many other U.S.-based businesses was forced to reinvent his business anew after bearing the brunt of NAFTA’s impact.  In this podcast, we’ll share Eric’s experience, explore the wider implications and context of NAFTA and globalization, and offer a vision for what a post-race-to-the-bottom world might look like. -- --  🗒️ SHOW NOTES  For more --> https://www.socialentrepreneurship.fm/252/ ⭐️ *SPONSORED BY* agood company - https://www.agood.com/ Dean's Beans -  https://deansbeans.com/  💌 NEWSLETTER 💌 The Weekly Ensemble: The Ensemble Weekly is a weekly newsletter exploring the art of living and working sustainably written and published by Grow Ensemble Founder and Podcast Host, Cory Ames. Join 1000s of social entrepreneurs all over the globe and subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/ -- -- 

In this episode of Grow Ensemble, host Cory Ames delves into the deceptive tactics of greenwashing, where companies mislead the public about their environmental and social responsibility. Through 7 compelling examples, Cory sheds light on how businesses use certifications, misleading marketing claims, and acquisitions to present themselves as sustainable and ethical, while engaging in harmful practices. With a focus on transparency and accountability, the episode challenges both consumers and business leaders to identify, confront, and avoid falling victim to greenwashing. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of the detrimental effects of greenwashing and to equip yourself with the knowledge to navigate the landscape of sustainable and ethical business practices. -- --  🗒️ SHOW NOTES  For more --> https://www.socialentrepreneurship.fm/251/ ⭐️ *SPONSORED BY* Transform - https://www.transform.global/  Intrepid Travel -  https://www.intrepidtravel.com/us 💌 NEWSLETTER 💌 The Weekly Ensemble: The Ensemble Weekly is a weekly newsletter exploring the art of living and working sustainably written and published by Grow Ensemble Founder and Podcast Host, Cory Ames. Join 1000s of social entrepreneurs all over the globe and subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/ -- -- 

5 roasts, over 5 regions, and the story of the coffee supply chain from farm to cup. Our task here is to explore and reconsider this question: what makes great coffee?  To do so I’ve enlisted the help of my many friends at Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee. Dean’s Beans is a 100% employee-owned, Certified B Corporation based out of Orange, Massachusetts.  The company was founded by Dean Cycon, an environmental and indigenous rights lawyer, back in 1993. Dean set out to prove coffee around the world could be bought, sold, and delivered to our cups without compromising the health and well-being of people and the planet. Dean offered his answer to the industry and consumers alike, to the question, what makes great coffee? This episode mixes tasting with the very tactical of how we get from bean (or cherry, rather) to finished brew.   We’ll talk organic coffee farming, the role of coffee cooperatives, the significance of fair trade, and also, when you should or shouldn’t put cream and sugar in your morning cup.  -- --  ⭐️ *SPONSORED BY* Transform - https://www.transform.global/  A Good Company - https://www.agood.com/ Intrepid Travel -  https://www.intrepidtravel.com/us Bodhi Surf Yoga - https://www.bodhisurfyoga.com/ -- -- 💌 The Weekly ensemble: The ensemble Weekly is a weekly newsletter exploring the art of living and working sustainably written and published by Grow Ensemble Founder and Podcast Host, Cory Ames. Join 1000s of social entrepreneurs all over the globe and subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/

What does success mean to you? Defining success in a field can define the field. Defining success for ourselves will define our lives. And so here, friend and coach of mine, Paul Zelizer and I go through the essential exercise of defining what to each of us makes for a successful social entrepreneur. Paul is a business coach for social entrepreneurs and host of the Awarepreneurs Podcast where he’s published over 300 episodes with deep-dive interviews with world-class social entrepreneurs. Here we have a unique style of show for you, where back and forth, Paul and me reveal each of our own Top 5 characteristics of success in social entrepreneurship. Before we recorded the conversation you’re about to hear, we each created our own lists (with no knowledge of the other’s list) to see collectively what sort of definition we might come up with for what it means, what it looks like to be a “successful social entrepreneur.” This same conversation, in a slightly different final edit, is likewise being released on Paul’s show, Awarepreneurs—which, if you’re curious to check out you can go to Awarepreneurs.com, or, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts. So, in this episode here, on The Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Podcast with me, Cory Ames as your host, you’ll hear Paul’s origin story to social entrepreneurship and then, together, our 10 Characteristics of Successful Social Entrepreneurs. #socialentrepreneurship #socialentrepreneurs #socialentrepreneur ⭐️ *SPONSORED BY* Dean's Beans - https://deansbeans.com/ Transform - https://www.transform.global/  A Good Company - https://www.agood.com/ Intrepid Travel -  https://www.intrepidtravel.com/us -- -- 💌 The Weekly ensemble: The ensemble Weekly is a weekly newsletter exploring the art of living and working sustainably written and published by Grow Ensemble Founder and Podcast Host, Cory Ames. Join 1000s of social entrepreneurs all over the globe and subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/

In a little over a decade, Houston has housed over 28,000 people who were experiencing homelessness. The U.S.’s 4th largest city has cut its total homelessness figures by more than 60% since committing to tackle this issue head-on in 2012. Representatives from cities nationwide visit Houston to learn about how they’ve achieved such progress. Houston adopted what’s called a Housing First strategy. Housing First, for those unfamiliar, is an approach to addressing the challenge of homelessness by first, before addressing anything else (addiction and sobriety, employment, etc.), housing the individual in question. Research has shown this is the most effective way to get and keep people out of homelessness. Various studies confirm that a rapid re-housing approach leads to 75%-91% of households remaining housed after one year. The thing is, Housing First has been around for a while. While the ideas originated around the world over 100 years ago, the term became more widely used in the U.S. in the early 1990s. Not to take away from what Houston has accomplished, but they didn’t make some groundbreaking discovery. They were applying (effectively, very much to their credit) someone else’s ideas. So what changed? Where did the political will come from to commit so fervently to addressing this issue? These are the questions we answer in today's ensemble:  Are we even close?  -- -- 💌 Weekly ensemble newsletter : Every Monday receive a meditation exploring what it means to live and work sustainably at the intersection of business, nature, & philosophy. Get both practical and philosophical guides to navigate the world more sustainably and as well, take an active role in creating a more sustainable world yourself.   Subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/ -- -- 📄 Full Show Notes - Links, Transcript, & More SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Leave a Review (on Apple Podcasts!)  Subscribe to the Newsletter Share the Podcast on Twitter or LinkedIn GROW ENSEMBLE: YouTube LinkedIn ABOUT CORY AMES: Newsletter LinkedIn Website

We're thrilled to introduce a new format of the show — what we’ll be calling Ensembles.   These ensembles are designed to be something of a meditation, helping us to explore the art of living and working sustainably and building a better world, from a different perspective.  The goal here through sharing various stories from the wide world of sustainability, social entrepreneurship, and innovation, is to seek understanding. We’re digging for the principles, values, and ideas that we can take with us on our collective journey to build a better, more sustainable world.  This still includes the tactical and practical of living and working more sustainably, using business to better the world, but our driving motivation will be to find wisdom.  These episodes are a shorter form complement to our longer more narrative and or educational shows.  If our other shows are heavy on action — these ensembles offer a different pace, with analysis, reflection, a means to distill and name, what matters.  So, our first ensemble here a preamble to all ensembles to come (if you will), will be digging deeper into this experimental format itself, this ensemble is titled:  What’s in a name?  -- -- 💌 Weekly ensemble newsletter : Every Monday receive a meditation exploring what it means to live and work sustainably at the intersection of business, nature, & philosophy. Get both practical and philosophical guides to navigate the world more sustainably and as well, take an active role in creating a more sustainable world yourself.   Subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/ -- -- 📄 Full Show Notes - Links, Transcript, & More SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Leave a Review (on Apple Podcasts!)  Subscribe to the Newsletter Share the Podcast on Twitter or LinkedIn GROW ENSEMBLE: YouTube LinkedIn ABOUT CORY AMES: Newsletter LinkedIn Website

The right amount of stress at the right time. That’s all it requires to trigger coral to grow anywhere from 25—50x it’s natural rate as it would in the “wild.” In the practice of coral farming, this is called microfragmenting. Our guest today, Sam Teicher, is the co-founder of Coral Vita. In Freeport, Grand Bahama, Coral Vita is farming coral (using techniques like microfragmenting) to restore the planet’s dying reefs. By employing breakthrough techniques Coral Vita can as well grow coral at 50x the typical rate. In 2021, Coral Vita was an Earthshot Prize winner, an incredible award for any environmental organization. This honor recognizes the great potential of their solution and awards them with £1M to further advance and scale their work. Stick around for this episode with Sam Teicher, as through this lens of good stress, bad stress, and everything in between we explore the work of Coral Vita, the vital importance of our coral reefs, and share solutions to restoring the world’s dying reefs. ⭐ SPONSORED BY: ☕️ Dean's Beans, Transform, 🌊 Bodhi Surf + Yoga, & 🛫 Intrepid Travel -- -- 💌 The Weekly ensemble: The ensemble Weekly is a weekly newsletter exploring the art of living and working sustainably written and published by Grow Ensemble Founder and Podcast Host, Cory Ames. Subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/ -- -- 📄 Full Show Notes - Links, Transcript, & More SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Leave a Review (on Apple Podcasts!) Subscribe to the Newsletter Share the Podcast on Twitter or LinkedIn GROW ENSEMBLE: YouTube Twitter LinkedIn ABOUT CORY AMES: Newsletter Twitter LinkedIn Website

Assessing the sustainability of any individual product or company is a core facet of the work we do here at Grow Ensemble. But if there’s no agreed-upon definition of “sustainability,” it’s unclear what anyone means when they say their product is sustainable. So, for the sake of setting important definitions, here we are asking: What is a sustainable product?   ⭐️ SPONSORED BY: Tentree, Dean's Beans, Saybrook University & Choice Organics   -- -- 💌 BETTER WORLD WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: The Better World Weekly is a weekly newsletter written and published by Grow Ensemble Founder and Podcast Host, Cory Ames. For the latest insights, analysis, and inspiration for building a better world, join the 1000s of changemakers and social entrepreneurs from all sectors all over the globe who get this email in their inbox every Monday.   Subscribe >>> https://growensemble.com/newsletter/ -- --   📄 Full Show Notes - Links, Transcript, & More   SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Leave a Review (on Apple Podcasts!)  Subscribe to the Newsletter Share the Podcast on Twitter or LinkedIn GROW ENSEMBLE: YouTube Twitter LinkedIn ABOUT CORY AMES: Newsletter LinkedIn Website