 Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Change Podcasts. Today, I'm very excited to introduce the topic and our special guest. We are going to talk about conscious businesses. And here I have with me my really good friend. Her name is Anna Choi. Hi, Anna. Hi, Linda. Hi, everybody. So Anna is a conscious business coach who helps her clients transform and focus their energy to attract more customers in less time and also scale their impact on the world. Her key message is creating a new normal economy based on the quadruple bottom line, which I'm very curious to hear more about. So let's welcome Anna for this podcast. Yes. So Anna, first of all, how do you define a conscious business? And is it different from a social enterprise? Very good. So it's kind of like not all squares are rectangles, but some rectangles are squares kind of thing. I don't know if I said that right. So yes, sometimes and no, sometimes not. So conscious business is simply if you're spiritually conscious, which means you're highly self-aware or socially conscious. So you care about social impact. And social enterprise has two definitions or two criteria according to the social enterprise alliance. But honestly, it's defined differently everywhere. I could not find a norm after lots of research. So I'm just using their definition, which is you're both purpose driven. And then so you have some sort of mission and your revenue model. So you're making money. So you're not solely based off of donations like a typical nonprofit you might think. So that's a social enterprise. So all social enterprises are all conscious businesses are social enterprises, but not all social enterprises are necessarily conscious businesses because they could be a nonprofit. I see. That makes sense. Yes. I think it's a really cool trend lately that companies have been taking on to be socially responsible. And I think the consumers these days, because we're being more open to environmental friendly options, sustainability, more people are interested in those kinds of movements and actions that the consumers are actually demanding the companies to become more socially conscious and more responsible. It's antiquated, not too frankly. I don't think it's some trend. It's just how business will be done. If you want to relevant. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. So now I want to ask you, so what is this quadruple bottom line that you are an expert in? Yes. So again, there's not any consensus for what the quadruple bottom line actually is. So I have coined this term for myself to mean the four P's of people, planet, profit and presence. And usually that fourth P presence is missing, but I think it's one of the most critical. You will see a lot of stuff on triple bottom lines of the wrap purpose in there. They'll wrap all these other P's in there. But those I believe are the foundation to really create a new normal economy. So I really like conscious businesses and I feel like more people are trying to take their business that way. Because as we mentioned, the trend is going that way. And it seems like that trend is here to stay. So something that I personally have trouble with. And I think maybe some other people in the audience might have trouble with is if I have a good heart, a good mission, a good purpose, can that really translate to profit? Because not necessarily when I have the best intentions, best heart, does it bring me the results that I really want? Is this something that's truly profitable? And if so, how can people who are just starting out or interested in creating a consciously aware business take it to be something that's profitable? Very good. So yes. I like it. Yes, just do it. Yes. Yeah, I'm like, I'm like, having a good heart doesn't somehow predicate, like, you don't have to be business savvy. Like, you need both. So we kind of, I think it's indicative of our dichotomy thinking like, good heart or money. And that's just so old. I mean, it's a yes and and it's necessary because how can you still make that difference in impact if you're not making money and bringing money through the door? And so the old nonprofit philanthropic model is around. It'll probably be around for a while. And it's antiquated of it. So that's why people are starting to think, what's my revenue model as a nonprofit or business, whatever entity? So the bottom line is you got to figure out an exchange value between who you're serving. So whatever that mission is, great. But what's the exchange value? Like, what are people going to pay for that's valuable? That's it. That's all business. It's very simple, but harder to do than just get that. And how can you find it for someone who has trouble kind of grasping what that service is for them? Do you have any tips that you suggest that they can really find their sweet spot niche marketing? Well, they have to really get a clear understanding of their target market. So I have a whole video on niche versus target market because there's distinctions, but I won't go into it super in depth other than to say, who do you serve? And it seems like a simple answer. But man, it is not for many, many, many people. Yeah. So sometimes, especially if you get into the social enterprise world, there's the beneficiaries who may not actually be your market that you're selling stuff to, whether it's a product or service. So first number one thing is you really have to define your target market, not your niche yet, which niche can apply to both a specific product to a broad range of people or can be a specific person with this specific product, which is probably too narrow when you start out, right? So don't worry about any of that. All you have to worry about is who do you want to serve? And I have this like little Venn diagram that I usually use. Like it's a sweet spot between who you have experience working with as a population or a category or community of people or group of people. And then you can brainstorm who you have, who do you just enjoy being around different than who you might have experience with. And then you can look at who actually think has money. If you want to support all the students, but you have to come up with an offering that would fit that and do lots of volume of it. And so I said four, but I'm just going to say three for now. So you just need like a sweet spot between those three areas to start to brainstorm. Okay, here's where I can really make an impact. They have money. I've got some credibility in this group already. What are some examples of social enterprises that we can see out there of companies that you think from your professional experience are doing a really good job of being profitable and have a good purpose and serve the community and doing all of that very well? Have you heard of Patagonia? Yes, I love Patagonia. Right? You go right on their thing. It's not on the very front page, but if you go into about, it just says like we're in business to save our home planet. Boom. Mission. Clearly there's a revenue model selling our stuff, right? They are very good about making sure that everything's sourced, you know, that they're not using slavery, that you know, all those, they're using a system of resources. Tom's shoes. Boom. Yeah, they were actually the first company that I saw that I saw growing up that really did the whole like one for one like social campaign that kind of changed how companies based their based their like model off of. I was like, look at this. I brought some examples. This bar saves lives. It's like buy a bar, save a life. So that model buy one, give one is one of the popular models. There's other models of like just having a regular business, but you're employing people who can't find employment like homeless people, incarcerated people, etc. So I can name you tons of examples locally here, but worldwide as well that employ those kinds of people. So another question that I as a consumer also have is on this idea of voting better with my dollar. I've heard that term kind of thrown around in many places that you know, the people have the power, not the corporation. So as a consumer, you should vote better with your dollar. But I feel like it's, it's a lot of work to like dig and see what they're all about. When all I want, I'm hungry and I just want a cantaloupe. I don't know if this was, you know, picked by child slaves. Like I mean, how can a regular consumer like me who has a desire to help the world who really wants to support companies that have a good mission, but maybe I don't have all the information or maybe I just don't have the time or maybe I don't have the patience to look through all these companies. How can I exercise better voting with my dollar for someone like me? Okay, two answers. So in the moment, like you just got to grab something just by local. That's like the shorthand answer. You're going to be providing jobs, the supply chain is probably going to be good. Just see if you can buy local, right? And then farmers market? Yeah, it could be the farmers market. It's weird because it gets completed in the grocery store if you like actually ask where everything's from. You're like, what? I thought this was local. It's like from like Mexico or California. They're all local to North America. I know. It's like everything's so complicated sometimes. But so yes, farmers markets, that's an obvious one. I'm trying to get the grocery store. You can at least there are stores you can see like the co-ops co-ops are going to shop at. They say like, you know, you can read their story or see where they're from and see if it's local. And it doesn't have to be like local geography. Like it could be also just a small business. Like, you know, I know people can market things to them. But normally you can tell, right? Like if I'm buying eggs, I get the happy chickens, right? They've got pictures of the chickens, like in their grass fields and stuff with sun. It's just organic even, right? Because the yolks are different. Much, much happier chickens. And it's a lot more expensive. But so are there yeah, are there tips that you adopt your own life where you make your daily purchases more mindful, even if it's something very small? And this is funny that you say that because I was going to say the other thing, sorry, you have to do the research, like it does boil down to that. So for certain things that you know, you're going to use a lot and over and over, I do take the time to research. And there's like a ton of apps. If you like go online, it can be like the top 20 floss, right? So yes, we prepare for this. So I have all these props, but there's this floss. That's amazing. And I didn't know, but floss is like made out of plastic and petroleum. And you're putting it out your mouth. And then you're like putting the trash tangled around animals. Like what's biodegradable? So this is silk biodegradable you can put in the toilet or whatever. It's just called dental lace. I'm not like an affiliate with them or anything, but I just was trying to look for something. Warning, sometimes they're kind of it breaks, so you have to find a good spool. But it does function well otherwise as a glass container that you can use over and over and over just get refills for. So yes, every single item in my house, like my shoes, my toothpaste, my snacks, and it is getting easier and easier from even five years ago to have most all your common things somehow sustainably. It's not don't try to be perfect. It's just about doing your best. You know, sometimes I make a shop at Walmart or somewhere. And I'm like, I hope you know, but you know, you do you do your best with as many items as you can. So I know your area of expertise is coaching people and having your own conscious minded company. So by having that consciously aware company, I'm sure you've run into some obstacles. I'm sure you've had your triumphs. What would you say are some of the personal experiences that you've had? Like what are some difficulties of running a conscious business? What are some great things about running a conscious business? And what do you hope? What kind of impact do you hope to have on the world by coaching the way you're coaching? Well, so that's a lot of questions. So I'll do if I can remember them all. So what challenges as a conscious business is the lingo? Like some people are like, what's conscious? I'm awake and I'm like, well, kind of. I find people my niche that's my my target market is conscious, right? They either get it or they don't get it at all. And then there's a long learning curve to educate. So that's like a big challenge is just making sure on the same page. And a lot of people are conscious, but don't realize it. They wouldn't call it that, you know, so so an agreement on terms and jargon is also difficult because you need a common language. I just picked conscious from some research. So that's been a challenge. Another big challenge I see from I do this free mentoring with the social enterprise alliance, which the national org brings together social enterprises, and they have really funky business models because they're thinking so outside the box, it's just not traditional. So that's a little difficult to support because there's no infrastructure for those models to happen. The more money they're making or success that they're having, personally, like taking care of themselves while they're actually running their business, is going to make the world a better place, which I think then answers your like other question around what's really rewarding and fulfilling is knowing that every, you know, saving one life or not saving the planet one business at a time kind of thing, where if that one business gets more conscious, not just what they are buying, but how they're serving, who they're serving, what they're offering, that has a ripple effect, right? So there's a very magnanimous kind of impact that gets to be made versus just I'm going to help you make lots of money, like what do you do, why bother, you know? So that's very fulfilling and I, the access I think for planetary consciousness and really uplifting the vibe, you know, of all humanity is to, you know, it starts with us, it starts one person at a time, starts inward. I'm just a guide, so I'm really helping them look within to discover their own answers. And I give advice sometimes, obviously, but it's really a weakening to their, unleashing their own potential of the biggest impact that they want to make in the world. And what would you say is the most common question from the people that you coach who are wanting to take their business to a consciously aware business? A common pattern, I see, is energy management. They are now burned out, do gooders, same problem as if you're only focused on profit. So that's still a problem. And what's critical is everybody has 24 hours, yet why are some leaders able to make a good jillion more impact with the same amount of hours? Is it really being more productive? Or is it that they've learned to manage their energy well? And I would argue it's the latter. So that's what I hear a lot is, or I see as a pattern as people not managing their energy, giving all their, they're giving outside themselves. And then they're not going to sustain as a business. Then they can't make the difference they want to make. So I've got to put the Oscar mask on you first and then the business. So what advice do you have for people who are like that, who are just give, give, give, give, give? They have such a good heart. They just want to help other people, but then they get burned up. Yes. And one of, um, a lot of my clients when we're going to our little accelerator, one of the first things we tackle is what's the one thing that nourishes your soul every day. And they get a list and you can make your own list of, I don't look at any of the things on brain education TV. There's many ideas of what nourishes you. So some people, it's a walk in nature, others, it's being with your child or reading in bed. It could be just meditating and breathing, whatever it is for you, just commit to one thing and then, uh, commit to a timeframe, like start to start off easy, like five days, seven days, every day without fail. And then you can either increase or pick a new thing. Um, but that starts to remind you that you have all the power within to, you're the one designing your life. Take back your own power, right? Right. Instead of just serve, serve, serve. I think a lot of people who are in the, the business of serving just tend to just give, give, give, give, give because we're natural givers, natural lovers, natural healers that we forget about ourselves. Totally. Very common. Yes. So I'm curious, what tips do you have for someone who wants to start a conscious business or might be interested in transforming their current business into something that's conscious? Yes. So whether you identify as conscious business or not, um, we can put a link maybe below here, but there's a free link, um, and it's to take the four P pledge. And that's just as simple. It's like four statements, like, yes, I will be a global citizen. Like we're all one. And yes, I'll be a conscious consumer and do my best to shop local and so forth or whatever that looks like. And so that's one action. And then the second would be we have, um, on my website has a ton of free resources and blogs and videos around all of this conversation. And, uh, if I know this is going globally, but locally it's always good to have, we have events as well, but there's, um, there's lots of resources to just meet up with other conscious businesses. I think that's really important so that you have a community. You don't feel like the lone warrior and realize, oh, wow, this is a bigger movement in a bigger, uh, community. So my last question for you is for, for the doubters out there, for the people who are still not really sure or not really convinced on this idea, why should we go conscious for a business? It's a risk not to. And if, if you believe that, then can you explain what you mean by that? The short answer is if, if you are a company that's like, I'm just going to make the most money and destroy the planet in the meantime, I mean, it's going to run out like a, there's like a finiteness, a scarcity to something. And then number two is there, there won't be a market soon for it. So those are just like basic business things you have to be mindful of. Um, the amount of social, we call it impact investing. So sustainable responsible impact investing that's come through the U S, not the U S, but even globally, it used to be, um, like 20 years ago, one in every $10, $10, you know, was invested that way. It's now up to one in four. It's 25%. That's like a tipping point. Um, that's huge. I mean, in the last decade, I've seen it like, you know, Morningstar has an ESG rating, which ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. So it's looking like how many women on the board, like your supply chains, all that stuff. That's like a new metric that all portfolio money managers have to look at to see if they want to bring more investor dollars into your portfolio. Like it would behoove you to do that. Now there's also escalated pressure with the media, right? Like there's a big old thing around palm oil and how they're taking away all the rain for us. But if you, uh, aren't gonna get super bad press, it's kind of the carrot, the stick versus the carrot, right? But if you, you won't survive as a business. So I mean, who knows if they would have done on their own out of their own good heart, but the palm oil kings that were like, you know, kicking off the injures from their lands and all this stuff, they all agrees. Okay. Yes. Yes. We'll do sustainable practices because they're getting such bad press. So it's happening, like whether you admit it or not, it's, um, it's, it's out there to be as a force to be reckoned with to do business. And I really believe we're moving from the informational age of information overwhelm and the internet age, right? Into impact age. And so, I mean, the whole country of Japan is like the whole governments around the society, 5.0, which is reflective of now entrepreneur 5.0. Um, I'm borrowing that from Roger James Hamilton, who's one of my business mentors. And it's all about that hybrid of the high touch, high tech and being able to have impact while making lots of money. It's just, it's, it's no longer dichotomous. It's, it's really instrumental to, to come together. So, I mean, just do all the research like social entrepreneurship. It's one of the hottest courses now in colleges. Like there's, I could go on and on. And maybe I'm a little biased, but you just kind of, you step back and just look at logically all the facts that are happening in the trends. It's, it's not inevitable. It's just highly like, likely unpredictable, given the millennial generation and that women are the highest decision makers, purchasing and it's going to continue to grow as the generations age out and phase out. So it's coming. You better be ready versus the imposer and a bad trender. And I think the, with the rise of you briefly mentioned about this, um, so much access to information, so much access to things that are happening in our society that companies can't hide anymore. You know, just one search and on Google, and you can see so many things that we did not have access to before. So I feel like nowadays there's more power to an individual to choose something that, you know, makes me feel good buying or makes me feel like I'm making an impact, maybe indirectly by supporting a company that is doing good for the planet. So as you mentioned, I really believe that, you know, it's obvious that our resources are becoming more limited on this planet. It's no doubt that climate is changing. Weather patterns are being crazy. There's earthquakes happening like crazy. Things are shifting. And I feel that as people who, if you really do want to help other people, which I feel at the essence of all business, like we're in it to help other people, you know, to provide a solution to a problem. So I really, really hope that every business can adopt a conscious business model and become a company that becomes more socially aware so that we can, you know, still enjoy life, but not completely destroy the planet in the process. Because without the earth, we have no place to even make money. If that is something that you want to do, without the earth, there's no place to do your business. And that is fact. Yeah. Well said. Yes. So do you have any last tips or advice or things you'd like to share about the topic of conscious businesses and what you do as a conscious business coach? Yeah, just, just when you get that link below to the 4p pledge, that'll take you to an assessment. So you can quickly see in the 4p's how you rate. And then don't worry your score is like super low or high, but just commit to a higher score and commit to like two or three actions that you could take differently instead, because it starts with you. So don't wait for other 4,100 companies or the government or whatever to take action. It begins with you. And I think our generation these days knows that more than ever. So that's a real simple, easy way to start taking actions and then share it, share the pledge, share whatever other people can jump on this presence movement as well. Yes. And what you just said kind of reminded me of something else too that don't forget that the people are the ones who have the power. I know it's easy for us as a consumer, including myself to think that all these corporations have more power than me. What can my little little dollar vote do to impact society at large, but actually companies need to meet the demands of the consumer. Because if the consumer stops supporting a company, then that's like cutting off their resources. And then also for a kingdom, I want to ask the audience out there, who do you think is more important, the king or the people? Many people might say the king because the king has power, but actually can the king be a king if he doesn't have any subjects to rule over? Without the subjects, the king is just a human, just a person. But without a king, the people can be just fine. So that's just principle and law. The people have more power, whether you realize it or not. So don't forget, you are important. Your choices and your decisions impact the world and other people way more than you think. So don't everything that what you're doing does not matter because you matter. Yes. Well, thank you, Anna so much for spending time with me to talk about this. Yes. Yes. And I'll link all of the ways to get in touch with Anna and what she mentioned the different links. I'll link them down in the description below. So please check it out. If you're interested in connecting with her and working with her as your socially conscious business coach, then I'll include a link down below to do that as well. Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you. Bye.