Planet Good Radio

Here to talk about his book, THE RESPONSIBILITY REVOLUTION: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win is Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Inspired Protagonist of Seventh Generation Inc. His blog, Inspired Protagonist, is a closely-followed resource spotlighting socially responsible business practices on the global stage. He has led Seventh Generation from its humble beginnings to its current position as the nation's fastest growing brand of natural home and personal-care products. As a leading authority on issues related to green consumerism, he frequently addresses social and environmental responsibility issues at national and international venues.
Tune in this Thursday to here Jeff share his examples of his own successes, as well as the successes of other companies as well as to learn about corporate responsibility as a process and a model.

After conducting research with over 80 sustainability specialists Amy Fetzer and Shari Aaron have gathered the common 6 principles that all successful sustainability strategies use. These strategies are available in great detail in their new book: "Climb The Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable." But tune in Thursday to hear about a preview of the strategies as well as Amy and Shari’s experiences and advice on how to make your company more sustainable.

Here to give his own expertise in social business is Greg Steltenpohl who chooses to make a difference one conscious beverage at a time. Founder of Odwalla and now co-founder of Adina World beverages, Greg has proven his success by helping to bring natural and organic beverages to consumers worldwide. In his newest line, he’s bottling sustainability and social responsibility with herbal beverages called Adina Holistics. As co-founder of Adina, Greg loves sharing his progressive vision and his entrepreneurial tips with today’s new generation of social entrepreneurs. Greg talks about the mission-based company that uses only USDA certified organic, fair trade ingredients. The Adina Holistics line is rooted in the 5000-year old herbal traditions of Ayurvedic medicine. Adina For Life also chooses to run its touring school bus on vegetable oil to get across it’s purpose of spreading hope for a more sustainable future. This company is doing great things for the environment, for health education, and for our taste buds. Tune in Thursday to hear Greg’s amazing story!

Guest: Andrea White-Kjoss of Mobis/Bikestation

Guest: Timothy Yee of Green Retirement Plans, Inc.

This week’s guest, Jerri Rosen combines 25 years of marketing communications experience with a passion to make a difference in order to become CEO and founder of Working Wardrobes, a nonprofit organization that helps 5,000 men and women in crises re-enter the workforce through professional wardrobing and career development services each year. Since its conception, Working Wardrobes has served nearly 50,000 adults and young adults in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego counties in partnership with more than 60 local shelters and social service agencies.
Bringing her business expertise to the table, Working Wardrobes operates many successful social enterprises (including three upscale resale boutiques, a Vintage & Thrift Shop, and a Career Center), which today account for more than 50% of the organization’s budget.
For her ongoing dedication to the community, Jerri has been recognized by civic leaders, government and organizations at the national, state, and community levels. The host of the award-winning cable TV show about Working Wardrobes, Jerri continues to leverage her expertise in advertising, sales and marketing, and public relations, and as an effective and entertaining presenter, in the ongoing effort to bring the mission of Working Wardrobes to the community.
Tune in to hear Jerri’s story of how the idea of working wardrobes was inspired and the journey she took to make it what it is today.

Here to reveal what it’s really like to run a values driven business is this week’s guests and authors, Margot Fraser and Lisa Lorimer. Their newest book in the Social Venture Network series, “Dealing With the Tough Stuff: Practical Wisdom for Running a Values Based Business“, not only features true stories from experiences in managing and developing a socially conscious business, but also tools, techniques and coping strategies for overcoming common and not so common problems.
For more on this episode, visit www.planetgoodradio.com

This week, Debra Ruh is here to share her inspiring perspective on her own journey to achieve social good through her company, TecAccess. TecAccess is an SBA 8(a) Certified, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), and Woman-Owned Company that has become the global leader in E&IT accessibility solutions that specializes in Web and IT Accessibility, Section 508 compliance, and W3C standards.
But that’s not all. TecAccess has a unique advantage of evaluating technology from the perspective of their actual target audience because its workforce is composed of the very individuals for whom Section 508 was designed – people with disabilities.
Debra’s dream derives from her beautiful daughter Sara, who has Down’s syndrome. When Sara entered middle school, Debra realized that her daughter’s employment opportunities were bleak. At 13 years of age, Sara´s reading and math skills were still at a kindergarten level. Drawing upon a long and successful career in information technology, Debra´s entrepreneurial instincts kicked into overdrive and she created an IT company that hired mainly persons with disabilities — not only mild disabilities, but also severe disabilities.
Today, Debra´s dream has become a reality. TecAccess now has over 45 associates with disabilities ranging from developmental to physical. To say that TecAccess is a diverse company is an understatement: there are associates with cerebral palsy, brain injury, quadriplegia, diabetes, bipolar disorder, macular degeneration, visual impairment, blindness, and hearing loss — just to name a few.

Joining us this week to discuss the rapidly growing conscious business movement is author and social entrepreneur, Michele Risa. Michele is not only co-author of “Conscious Entrepreneurs: A Radical New Approach to Purpose, Passion and Profits,” (winner of the National “Best Books 2008” Awards), but is also CEO of BeyondBodyMindSpirit.com, a website offering a “jumpstart your health” program that is designed to provide a new solution in our times of healthcare crisis, as well as how to turn the worst of times to the best of times in our day to day challenges and decisions that seems to keep steering us further and further from our goals.
Since graduating from New York University and Columbia University Michele has been able to travel the world as well as help many companies- most recently the New York Stock Exchange -- improve its most valuable asset -- the well-being of its employees.
Tune in to hear about the joys and challenges of starting and maintaining a successful social business with Michele Risa.

Joining us this week is Scott Leonard, CEO and Co-founder of Indigenous Designs Corporation, a leading apparel brand and producer of hand-knit, natural fiber clothing. Scott is responsible for directing the Indigenous Brand identity and Indigenous private label production model. Founded in 1994, Indigenous Designs develops and markets premium quality apparel to high-end fashion retailers around the world. These fine garments are designed in-house and produced to specification by artisan cooperatives located primarily in South America, Guatemala and India. In 2009, the company was selected by Apparel Magazine as a “Top Innovator,” in the fashion industry. The company has received the national Socially Responsible Business award from Co-op America. Scott and Indigenous Designs continue to be heavily involved in promoting sustainability in collaboration with Organic Exchange, the OTA, SVN, BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies), and B-Corp. Scott is an ardent advocate about the positive power of business for the benefit of people and the planet. He has been a pioneer in the areas of fair trade apparel, organics, social justice and the sustainability movement. Scott has served two terms on the Steering Committee for the Organic Fiber Council, where he collaborated with the USDA to help set the standards for organic cotton. Scott has also worked with Root Capital to establish a breakthrough financial model for funding the fair trade Artisan apparel sector in South America. In 2005, Scott founded the Green Steps program to raise business awareness of sustainability issues.