The Value of Purpose-Driven Businesses: Q&A with Kelly Stewart

I’m willing to bet that 2020 has left you a little stressed (ok, an understatement), but has also provided you with a little perspective. While this year may have forced you to do things you never thought you’d have to do in your business (furlough employees, accept government loans, etc.), it is impossible to not also take stock in your blessings, as there are so many others in this country who have faced, and are continuing to face, even more challenging circumstances.

That makes this the perfect time to revisit this podcast with Kelly Stewart – from before the pandemic. Kelly is an advocate for businesses “doing good to do well.” She is both a champion for positive businesses and a practical optimist as the owner of The Positive Business. Read on to learn more about how you can transform your business to make a longer lasting impact to your community (and maybe the planet), while also improving your own bottom line.

Debbie Albert: Hello, there! Today we are looking at purpose-driven businesses. Although this may not seem directly related to marketing, bear with me, because it absolutely is. I’ve asked Kelly Stewart from The Positive Business to join me and, as you’re about to hear, Kelly is passionate about this topic. Her background is in client services, new business development, and marketing, and today, she helps business leaders develop strategies that will help them do well by doing good. So Kelly, welcome to Prove It! 

Kelly Stewart: Thank you, Debbie, I’m delighted to be here. 

Debbie: Let me get right to it. As you know, it’s ten minutes, three questions, and a Prove It point. I’m going to ask my first question right away – what does it mean to be a purpose-driven business? 

Kelly: A purpose-driven business is the big “why” in business. If we go back to the 1980s and 90s, companies used to operate from a mission statement, which was the statement of how things are done. For example, we’re the best widget maker on the west coast, and that was fine, but what did that mean to an employee or to a customer? How was the company qualifying “best”? 

So the difference between then and now is that purpose is about how a company reaches its stakeholders and what it hopes to accomplish, which is typically beyond the singular pursuit of profit. 

Debbie: That’s interesting. Tell me a bit more about that. 

Kelly: Sure. A company’s purpose today is broader and bigger than ever. It’s about intentionally doing good in business, as part of the core activities. It’s not something that is only done in good economic times. It’s about the everyday business practices that improve the world. 

Debbie: I love that. It’s no longer just doing no harm, it’s intentionally doing good. 

Kelly: Doing good in business is how we intentionally bring out the best in our employees. It’s how we lead with authenticity. It’s how we look to work with local suppliers, or seek to employ a demographic that is chronically under-employed. And all of that is part of the core business activities, while we are subsequently trying to improve the planet. Again, doing no harm to the planet is a good place to start if you’re new to this, but if you are really a purpose-driven business that’s doing it well you must say, “Oh, we can do better than do ‘no harm.’ We can actually do better.” 

As an example, a few large companies have formed an alliance to create plastic bottles out of bio-based material. Not only is that innovative, but it’s good for the planet.   

Debbie: And efforts aren’t just environmentally-focused, correct? There must be some that are also hiring-focused.

Kelly: Absolutely. There’s a lot out there that is baked into purpose. It’s bringing compassion into business. Leading with love, having mindful negotiations, and developing apprenticeships and mentorships. That’s what we see on the HR level – diversity, inclusion – and there are great companies leading the way. 

Diversity can mean a lot of different things, and some companies intentionally employ people who are cognitively diverse. Next, they asked the strategic question, which is “How can we leverage cognitive diversity?” This just wasn’t a conversation 10 years ago, 20, 40 years ago. 

Debbie: Help me understand something, because this is such an interesting conversation. How is a purpose-driven business different from what, when I was in corporate America, we called corporate social responsibility? 

Kelly: I get asked that a lot. Corporate social responsibility is good. I always say, here at The Positive Business, we do not judge. Anything that benefits others is a good thing. Traditionally, corporate social responsibility, or CSR as it’s known, tends to be separate from the core business activities. And as a separate initiative, or division, of a company, it is very vulnerable to changes in economic conditions or changes in leadership. But when companies are authentically purpose-driven, they do all of those good things as part of their core business activities in good times and in bad. And not only that, the leaders do their best to ensure that what they’re doing is passed on to the next leadership team. 

Debbie: That’s a great, great answer, because we can see that this is the integration of doing the right things as part of business, not as, “Oh, we need to have a CSR department, because that’s what people are doing these days.” 

Kelly: Exactly. We call that ‘purpose-washing,’ and in the post-Internet social media era where we operate in informed, connected, and transparent markets, it is easy to figure out if a company is or isn’t authentic. Also, a big part of being a purpose-driven business is measuring the impact that you’re making. If you don’t set goals for something, then how do you know if it is working? It’s the hallmark of an authentically purpose-driven business to manage those metrics, and then create new goals. When the goals are core to strategic business activities, companies are then comfortable being transparent, and that’s a great thing. 

Debbie: No, that’s a wonderful thing.  And now let’s get to the Prove It part. Tell us about a company that really did well by doing good. 

Kelly: There are so many to choose from. One that is near and dear to my heart because they are in my local community is AWeber Communications, an email marketing company. They do fabulous things with their culture, with their community, and for their employees. 

They provide on-site yoga, they have chefs who create three healthy meals a day for their employees. I believe they even have a garden out back, so they grow some of their own food. All of these investments in health and wellness are paying off for them and that is the hallmark of a positive business. You just do these things because they’re good to do. Not only do these things benefit employees personally, but it helps the businesses in terms of employee retention. They have surpassed the average tenure for how long people tend to stay with a company, and that ties to how well they can serve their clients, in terms of better products and better services. 

Debbie: Absolutely. If you can prove that doing the right thing leads to a higher retention rate, which means morale will increase, you’re going to better serve clients for a longer period of time with the same team. That’s a real Prove It point for me. 

Kelly: Cool stuff. 

Debbie: Well, we are out of time, but if you want to learn more about how to turn your business into a purpose-driven company, go to Kelly’s website, which is the Positive Business. Kelly, I want to thank you, because I find this topic really fascinating, so thank you so much for being here. 

Kelly: Well, thank you for having me. 

Debbie: And I want to also thank everyone for listening. If you have thoughts about this episode, leave your comments on our website, and stay tuned for more episodes of Prove It! to gain even more clarity in what’s working in marketing communications today. Take care.

You can listen to the complete podcast here.