Building The New

At the core of any entrepreneurial endeavor or social impact effort there is a desire for change. From the outset, the core function of our work may seem straight forward but we are always trying to solve something much large.

We are ultimately seeking to change the culture. And this is hard, if not impossible work.

Starting any entrepreneurial effort is extremely difficult and it will put your will and endurance to the test. I believe social entrepreneurs to have a distinct set of challenges they face due to the social impact approach to their work. The below list is not a complete layout of all the obstacles you will face, but I believe it can help establish a foundation and maybe make you feel less bad about yourself in the process.

Without further ado, here are the 6 stages of heartbreak for social entrepreneurs…

1) Others questioning the scale of your impact.

When we started our first social enterprise, we began by giving jobs to 10 people in Uganda. It was deeply meaningful to us and to those we were working alongside on the ground, but the initial response we received was “you’re only helping 10 people?”. I began feeling bad about myself and the seemingly minuscule nature of the social impact we were creating. Then I realized something… the same people who were asking this question weren’t actively doing anything to positively impact the issues they cared about. They were looking for us to do it. That’s on them.

No One Knows Who You Are

Every entrepreneur idealizes the “grand opening” of their our idea. The inaugural public invitation to everyone to come and experience the incredible thing you have built. Field of Dreams echoes in our heads and we silently repeat the phrase “if you build it, they will come” to ourselves.

But there’s a problem, no one knows about what you’ve built, and if they do (like your friends and family) they don’t really understand what it is or how they are supposed to make space for it in their lives.

To Thine Own Self Be True

Expectations are hazardous at the very least, but at times can be completely destructive when we choose to do one thing… be dishonest about the expectations we actually have. There is an extremely broad application to this truth — from the movies we watch to the career goals we harbor — but as a specific example that will remain true to the theme of my writing, let’s take a look at social entrepreneurship.

Entering into the dance of capitalism and social impact (otherwise known as social entrepreneurship) brings with it a unique set of challenges. By definition your goals are split across “multiple bottom lines” and your success in each of these is weighted to different degrees depending on the nature of the business and the founder who set out on the original vision.

Talking Consciousness in Fashion

I love what Kestrel Jenkins is up to with her podcast Conscious Chatter. She is creating the new public square where people are discussing and learning about ways to make fashion more ethical and equitable.

She’s hosted three seasons and over 130 episodes on the topic and I was honored to get to share our perspective from KNOWN SUPPLY in one of her most recent releases.

Over the course of our conversation we discuss how to balance storytelling and product to maximize the value of ethical products, and we chat about larger, systemic solutions to making the fashion industry more fair for all.

I hope you enjoy it.