A New Chapter Begins with a Belief in Business for Good

Can businesses truly play a role in making the world a better place? Can workplaces be caring, equitable communities? Can heart-centered leadership be a business best practice, rather than invisible work, perceived as weakness?

Despite all the odds, I believe the answer is YES. And knowing we spend so much of our lifetime engaged in our work, I need to believe it. I need to believe we can rewrite the system and make things better for future generations. So they don’t have to grow up and set out into the world to simply be a cog in the wheel of “the man.” So they have pathways to work environments that nurture them and their communities—that exist to serve them.

Before I set out to begin my career 20 years ago, I was a young environmentalist who spent a lot of time hiking and thinking about the future and my place in it. As the end of college approached, and many of my peers headed for Capitol Hill, I beelined it for the Appalachian Trail. All I knew was I wasn’t quite ready to be a cog. Mostly, I wanted to be free. Very much, I wanted to do life differently. Passionately, I wanted to make a difference with my life.

And, I needed to make some money. So my goal became to only work for organizations with heart. The kind not just out for their own gain, but instead understand they are part of an interconnected community. And who take their responsibility as a member of that community seriously.

After the Appalachian Trail came the Colorado Trail, then a job for a whitewater rafting company, then working for a family running a natural home building company. My dream evolved into wanting to own some land and live as sustainably as I could. Soon, love steered me to Wisconsin to co-own a small, organic farm, and in a lot of ways, life really felt like it began when I settled onto that land.

From there, I’ve had many personal and professional adventures that have formed the winding path to today: from joining the team at Organic Valley to founding a local foods-focused magazine to becoming a mother of two beautiful sons.

And, all along the way, my most important experiences have been rooted in the relationships I’ve gotten to build with so many truly good and inspiring people. It is through these relationships that I’ve learned, grown and had the courage to continue to believe that it’s possible to change the world.

Sure, that may sound idealistic. But, I don’t believe anything game-changing has ever happened without a pinch of idealism to fuel it forward. The bottomline for me is, we must believe better is possible, and more importantly, we must try to make a positive impact with our short time here on planet earth. So, to that end, I’ve united with people who feel the same to use our collective expertise to help other people who feel the same.

I’m over-the-moon excited to get to team up in this way with the amazing, talented people I’ve been fortunate enough to work with over the course of my career. Together, we aim to use our expertise to have an expanded impact supporting more passionate leaders and teams. 

We invite you to join us on this journey and hope you’ll keep in touch with us. Some ways to do that are through our monthly eNewsletter and this blog, where we will share our learnings, insights and expertise in our various fields, inspirations, and the work of others striving to make a difference.

And lastly, as we launch this website, we’re also launching Doing Good, our philanthropic program. Our first initiative, where we team up with artists to offer products that support important causes, is kicked-off over in our Market.

Thank you for taking the time to read and help us celebrate this exciting new chapter.

With Gratitude,
Jamie Lamonde
Founder + CEO