Today’s episode is with Shawn Askinosie. Shawn is a former criminal defence lawyer turned craft chocolate maker Shawn is the founder of Askinosie Chocolate, a small-batch direct trade chocolate company based in Missouri in the US. Every year Shawn travels to Ecuador, Tanzania and the Philippines because Askinosie Chocolate sources 100% of their cocoa beans directly from the farmers, buying the beans at a price that is way above the fairtrade price. Not only do they make the best...

This is my conversation with Isa Alves who has joined us from Lisbon in Portugal. This episode is a little bit of a treat because we will be discussing COMMUNICATION WITH EMPATHY, Improving how people communicate with one another and improving communication within organizations with EMPATHY is Isa’s mission. Because EMPATHY is a skill that we can all learn and become more intentional when using it in the way we communicate with people around us. Isa will tell us all about it. Isa will...

Most people know Seth Godin through his work in the field of Internet Marketing as he has founded several companies The most famous one is Yoyodyne, one of the first web-based direct marketing firms and it was acquired in 1998 by Yahoo for 30 million USD. Then he founded Squidoo one of the 500 most visited websites in the world back in 2008 Seth is also a successful author who has published 20 international best selling books. He is a very prolific blogger who has written over 8000 blog...

Today I’d like to take you on a trip to discover the beauty of the wilderness and the vibrancy of the culture of South Africa. My conversation in this episode is with Daniela who has joined us from Capetown, on the Southwest Coast of South Africa. Daniela is the Founder of Walk The Talk Africa, a creative studio that designs and makes beautifully handcrafted slippers using fabric remnants and off-cuts. I first found out about Walk The Talk Africa because I was looking for slippers on...

Liz Johnson is a former British Swimmer and Gold Medalist, who won multiple medals in the Paralympics, European Championships, and World Championships, just to list a few of her achievements. After she retired from her swimming career, Liz co-founded The Ability People, TAP, a ‘for profit’ social enterprise dedicated to empowering the skilled disability population and helping companies enhance processes and adapt cultures. When I invited Liz to be a guest on my podcast, I wanted to find...

The entire episode is about SUCCESS On this podcast, I often ask my guests how they would define success. And I find the answers really inspiring, so I decided to put them together and make a whole episode. Even if these founders are involved in the fashion and design industries, they are shooting for the kind of success that will give them the power to create the change they want to see in the world. Success is never measured or defined in personal financial terms or through shiny...

This episode is with Jennifer Myers Chua, co-founder of Hip Mommies, a distribution company of sustainable and innovative goods for the conscious Canadian retailer. We talked about: - building a business based on values - offering better consumption choices by offering better products to retailers in Canada - digitizing a family-run business and exploring new ways of working with retailers ... and other topics related to making an impact with a small business, the power of being lean, and...

When we choose to adopt a posture of Empathy and Gratitude what new possibility can we create for ourselves and for the world? What could be the new opportunities in our professional pursuit? and for our business? Today's guest is David Nebinski, podcast host of Portfolio Career Podcast, a friend and a mentor, someone I can think of as an Empathy and Gratitude Practitioner and you will easily understand why I think of him this way in this episode. We will learn how David created a...

Sue Heatherington is a writer, a catalyst, and a thinking partner for innovators and change-makers. Sue first used the phrase Quiet Disruptor as a quick way to explain her unusual broad backstory, which included a decade as a pioneering public service chief executive of the NHS, the National Health Service in the UK. So when she described herself as a Quiet Disruptor, Instead of being bombarded with questions about the meaning of this phrase, people suddenly feel seen and understood with...

Shivani Patel is the founder of Arture, a brand of lifestyle accessories, that makes vegan and sustainable goods that are designed with purpose and intent. Arture works primarily with cork as an alternative to leather. I initially wanted to talk with Shivani because I was really interested in learning all about the growing and the processing of cork as a material for fashion items. So in this episode, Shivani will share with us the benefits of using cork, the lifecycle of cork oak trees,...

Today’s conversation is with Josie MacKenzie, the Founder of AMMA Sri Lanka. AMMA is a social enterprise that Josie launched in 2015 in Nuwara Eliya, a region in the middle of Sri Lanka often known for tea plantation and production. AMMA’s mission is to provide training and employment to Mothers through sustainable jobs within the textile industry. Josie will explain how she landed in Sri Lanka at the tender age of 18, how this experience has impacted her choice at university and why she...

How can you create a Better Business in the fashion industry that provides not only jobs for mothers but also dignity and skills so these women could achieve even greater things in their lives? AND, at the same time, create a new category of products in the very crowded market of fashion! Well, let’s find out with today’s guest: Bai Ahmad Zahmri, Founder of Nazkids, a social enterprise in Malaysia, that empowers local women through entrepreneurship by creating baby clothing. Bai aims to...

Today for the first episode of the new season of Better Business Founder, I am beyond thrilled to share with you my conversation with Ihita Shandilya, Founder and CEO of MITHILAsmita, an award-winning social enterprise in India. Ihita’s entrepreneurial journey is really inspiring. After her grandmother passed away she quit a high-flying corporate job and invested her savings to focus on the development and promotion of the ancient Indian art form called Mithila Paintings. MITHILAsmita...

How can we build a creative business that delivers value to people and to the planet? What does it EVEN mean to be or to to become BETTER for a fashion business? I’ve been exploring and experimenting with these issues for almost 20 years now. And today we are facing some really really big challenges but it also means that we have amazing opportunities ahead of us to build a BETTER BUSINESS in the fashion industry. And I believe that there are many different ways we can achieve that. Hi...

Today, for our last episode of 2020, I am absolutely thrilled to share my conversation with Scott Perry. Scott is the Founder and Chief Difference Maker of Creative on Purpose, a community and a coaching program that gets you stepping into possibility with intention and integrity. And we will learn more about what it means and what it implies in our discussion. Scott is also in the Head Coach Team in Seth Godin’s Akimbo workshops. Scott believes that excellence is cultivated through work...

The 1st episode of the Mindful Business Founder podcast was published in November 2019. It has already been one year! THANK YOU! Thanks to all the listeners, Thanks to all the guests, Thanks to all the people that have relentlessly provided me support and guidance in my podcasting journey. And after a year of listening to and sharing the stories of business founders on this podcast, I am inspired to share with you a part of my journey to sustainable development and what is the vision...

Nan and Carl are a married couple and they are the founders of the brand Seeker Retriever, a brand that brings the conversation of ethical and sustainable fashion to the very next level. Nan and Carl will tell us the story of how their brand was born from the love for vintage clothing and how a personal exploration has led them to a community of weavers in the mountains, in the Northern parts of Thailand. They will also explain how the human aspect is at the core of their brand value and...

Today, we are joined by Pola Stępień, founder of a very special ready-to-wear brand based in Lodz. Lodz is a former industrial city in Poland. Before the Polish economy transitioned from communism to a market-based economy in the 90s, the economy of Lodz was heavily reliant on the textile industry. It is in this highly creative environment with such an inspiring legacy that Pola launched her brand MODAPOLKA, In this conversation, Pola will share with us how she feels about the current...

Today, I’m delighted to share with you my conversation with Julia Skergeth, a young and very inspiring handbag designer who has joined us from Vienna in Austria. If I need to use one word to describe Julia, I would use the word BOLD. Yes, Julia is the embodiment of boldness. She is a bold business person and a bold designer. In this very fun conversation Julia will tell us the story about how launching a collection on a crowdfunding platform led her to take over a factory in Indonesia. She...

My conversation today is with Helena Roth, the Founder of the Tankespjärn community. For those who don’t know, tankespjärn is a Swedish word, more precisely a Swedish word construct of 2 words for a concept for the mind. It’s a philosophy of life for personal and professional growth. I will say no more about it because it is the main topic of our conversation, so we will mainly learn from listening to Helena. But I just want to say that I find the concept of tankespjärn particularly...

Today’s episode is the 2nd part of my conversation with Mati Ventrillon who has joined us from Fair Isle, in Scotland. When she first visited the island, she felt that she really belonged there and decided to move there. But you cannot just decide to move to Fair Isle: you need to submit an application and build a project. As Mati explained: there’s plenty of work there but no one is recruiting there. So you have to be entrepreneurial and create your own job, and also to find a way to serve...

Mati is the founder of Mati Ventrillon, a knitwear brand based in Fair Isle, in Scotland. Fair Isle the most remote inhabited island in the United Kingdom. You have probably seen many Fair Isle inspired sweaters every winter, but not many of them have actually been made in Fair Isle, because, it’s not only remote, but it’s also a tiny, tiny island with not so many inhabitants. Mati Ventrillon came under the spotlight in 2015 when her brand was exposed to massive exposure in the fashion and...

Today, Leekei is behind the mic talking about the opportunities for independent fashion business owners in the current COVID crisis and how they can adapt their business to start preparing the future of the fashion system. These are real challenges at every step of the value chain and it is difficult to see opportunities through all these difficulties. But brands need to rethink the way they have been working and find new ways to adapt to the circumstances. So the biggest opportunity is...

Today’s episode is the 2nd part of the conversation with Kathleen Audet, Founder of Your Authentic Image, an image consulting business that Kathleen has been running for over 20 years. In the first part of our conversation, we talked about how Kathleen is helping her clients advance in their lives and careers by showing them how they could connect who they are on the inside with how they show up in the world. We also talked about Kathleen’s perspective on today’s environmental challenges...