In today’s very special episode of the Give Back Model podcast, Christine speaks with Meg Stevens, the founder of Tree of Hope Creations, a company dedicated to creating motherhood keepsake and memorial pieces. During their conversation, Meg shares some of her background, how she came to be involved in her current work, and the boundaries she has developed for herself as she creates pieces for her customers using ashes, hair, burial dirt, clothing and more. She also shares her emotional connection to each and every precious shipment she receives, and her experience going viral on TikTok for her compassion and vulnerability. Please note that this episode does contain some sensitive conversation around loss of a child and miscarriages.

Meg explains how her business began as a way to help others through their grief and motherhood journeys, and then goes on to address the importance of building a platform, particularly in the context of running a business. Her experiences with using social media to promote her work are recounted, including  dealing with negative comments and criticism and the importance of just diving in and starting to use social media, even if it is intimidating or scary. Meg also describes her experience with breastfeeding, and  highlights the incredible support she receives from her husband, including a particularly meaningful plaque he has created for her. Listen in today to learn more about Meg's remarkable story, the beautiful, meaningful pieces she creates for her customers, and the emotional weight that accompanies this important work.

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. 

Episode Highlights:

• Meg’s work with Tree of Hope Creations and how it began
• Meg’s emotional connections to each and every shipment she receives
• Her TikTok experience
• Meg’s personal and professional history
• Her experience with breastfeeding and her husband’s amazing support
• The emotional weight of handling such precious cargo 
• Creating something so personal and meaningful for her customers
• Dealing with negativity online
• Being vulnerable and showing real feelings and passion in her work

Quotes:

"Hundreds of customers trust Meg and her team to create these gifts from their loved ones’ ashes, hair, burial dirt, clothing, and so much more."

"I feel like I got lucky. I got very lucky in the growth and being able to be part of so many different people's journeys and even helping people through their grief and through motherhood"

"He wanted to make me something that would mean the world, that would say, ‘Thank you for taking care of our kids. Thank you for nursing our kids.’"

"He was amazing and supportive, and I honestly couldn't ask for better."

"I'm so afraid I'm going to screw it up. I'm so afraid that I'm going to mess up and not touch someone's loved one."

"I remember getting the package and just holding my breath because I had someone's daughter in my hands."

"I was making something that she would be able to hold of her actual child."

"I get a whole lot of crap on social media, whether it be people like making fun of us for breast milk because they don't understand, or just that emotional side of it.”

"If you're scared, just do it. It can change your life."

"Those ten people that are liking your post, that's ten people that love you."

"It's worth it, it's worth it. I would do it a million times over."

Links:

The Give Back Model website TheGiveBackModel.com

Follow The Give Back Model on Instagram

Welcome to the podcast! Today's guest is Samantha Weckesser, the founder and CEO of Mama Hen Media, a boutique agency that helps women-owned businesses achieve their marketing goals through Pinterest blogging and Plan Ahead content distribution. Samantha also runs a giveback program through the sponsorship of Girls on the Run, a nonprofit organization that helps girls strengthen their confidence, minds, and bodies through a positive youth development program centered around running. 

In this episode, Christine and Samantha discuss the story behind Mama Hen Media, the importance of mental health and self-care, and how Mama Hen Media's giveback program helps inspire and empower women and girls.

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com.

Episode Highlights:

-The story behind Mama Hen Media

-Importance of mental health and self-care

-Mama Hen Media's giveback program

-Inspiring and empowering women and girls

-Girls on the Run program

-Importance of positive role models and mentors

-The power of running and exercise for mental health

-Combining personal and professional passions

-The value of community involvement and giving back

-The future of Mama Hen Media and its mission

Quotes:

"I started as a virtual assistant and was working under the business name Just Ask For Sam. Kind of fell into it organically through people that I met online and started working, helping business owners and just sort of grew and grew and grew."

"I loved it because I could work the hours that I wanted to and be home with my family. I have four children, ten and under, so being available for them was really important to me."

"As my business grew and my client base grew, I needed to bring on more team members and decided that the name Just Ask For Sam makes it sound like it's just me, when in fact I have now a team to support me."

"I really believe in the power of mental health and self-care and the importance of it. And so I really wanted to make sure that we were incorporating that into our business model."

"I really believe in the power of running and exercise for mental health and just the overall well-being of a person."

"So I wanted to combine my personal passion with my professional passion and be able to give back to a cause that I really believe in."

"I think it's really important for businesses to be involved in their community and give back in some way."

"I just love the fact that we are able to inspire and empower women and girls through our giveback program and through the work that we do."

"I'm really excited about the future of Mama Hen Media and just continuing to grow and make an impact in the world and help as many women-owned businesses as possible achieve their goals."

Links:

The Give Back Model website TheGiveBackModel.com

Follow The Give Back Model on Instagram @thegivebackmodel

Mama Hen Media

Girls On The Run

Filling the Gratitude Gap with Group Greeting Founder Anthony Doctolero

Today’s guest on The Give Back Model is Anthony Doctolero, founder of GroupGreeting, an online digital card provider used by over ten thousand workplaces, including 80% of the Fortune 500 list. Anthony wanted his company to stand for making a difference, so a portion of each GroupGreeting card sent is put toward planting trees in areas hit hard by deforestation and wildfires. Anthony opens the episode by sharing the inspiration for GroupGreeting—a photo album sent all over the country and filled by many friends before being presented as a birthday gift. While it was an awesome idea, Anthony wondered if there was a more efficient way to do it digitally, which led to the creation of GroupGreeting. However, between starting a family and needing a steady income, it took nine years for Anthony to start running the site full-time, growing it month over month until the COVID pandemic hit, at which point the business really took off

GroupGreeting’s year-over-year percentage growth in 2020 was 4,000%, which Anthony credits to the desire for remote workers to maintain their work relationships and still celebrate events together. He discusses the importance of expressing gratitude and appreciation in corporate environments and the challenge of maintaining that as remote working became the norm, with his company helping huge corporations fill the gratitude gap and maintain social connections within their teams. Anthony then talks about GroupGreeting’s give-back partnership with One Tree Planted, why he wanted to give back to the environment, and the success of the model so far, with over 125,000 trees planted and counting. And he finishes the episode by sharing his biggest challenges and most fulfilling achievements over the thirteen years he’s been cultivating GroupGreeting, including the satisfaction of facilitating one-on-one moments of appreciation and gratitude between people.

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. That’s where you can also let Christine know about companies you’ve found that give back, and check out The Give Back Model merchandise, where $5 for every sale goes to non-profit organizations. Thanks for listening!

Episode Highlights:

• Anthony’s journey to going all-in on GroupGreeting
• The impact of remote working on work relationships
• GroupGreeting’s give-back partnership with One Tree Planted
• Anthony’s plans for growth and his biggest challenge
• Anthony’s most fulfilling achievements

Quotes:

“I was one of those kids that would buy candy at a discount at Costco and sell it on the playground, or in high school, we would do fundraisers and car washes, but I kind of treated it like a business. And there was always this thing in me that, like, had this business entrepreneurial aspect.”

“All those people were at home, not connected to the people they’re seeing every day. And at the same time, there’s birthdays, there’s things that were going on, and work anniversaries, so they still wanted to celebrate. So they searched out on the search engines and found us, and we were only one of only maybe three or four people who are offering it. And it just kind of took off from there.”

“We thought, as business owners, this really is our chance to make a company whatever we want. And we wanted to stand for making a difference, not only in the lives of the companies and the customers we work with but also the environment. So we were like, let’s just do it, who cares whether we succeed or we don’t succeed, at least we tried, and we tried to help the environment.”

“It’s kind of like planting a tree, you know, you put the seed in...

Challenging Norms and Finding Your Own Path with Miriam Haart

Joining Christine on today’s episode is entrepreneur, engineer, and designer Miriam Haart. Miriam’s a content creator who continues to empower women to be their true selves while learning new skills and using their voices. She’s also one of the stars of the Netflix series My Unorthodox Life, and she opens the episode by discussing becoming a public figure, the positive feedback that motivates her, and the impact of having an audience. She also shares her journey from a childhood spent in a fundamentalist Orthodox Jewish community to the transformative moment of questioning her religion to leaving the community, studying at Stanford, and getting into the tech world.

Next, Christine asks Miriam for advice on how to get into crypto as a woman, for whom the industry can often be intimidating. Miriam speaks to the inequality in the tech space and the importance of encouraging women and other minorities to get involved, so they’re not excluded from the technology that shapes the world. She also has some advice on how to get started with crypto and points out that the technology isn’t just good for making money but also has the potential to do real good in the world. For example, Miriam points out her own NFT, which donates 100% of its profits—almost a million dollars—to reproductive rights organizations. She also shares how learning to code when she was a teenager empowered her and can do the same for women by giving them a way to build the world they want to be part of. And Miriam closes the show by discussing some of her next projects, including her new podcast, and sharing her message to the world—to throw off societal pressures and find your own path to happiness.

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. That’s where you can also let Christine know about companies you’ve found that give back, and check out The Give Back Model merchandise, where $5 for every sale goes to charity. Thanks for listening!

Episode Highlights:

• Becoming a public figure with 'My Unorthodox Life' on Netflix
• Miriam’s journey through religion and toward Stanford
• The importance of creating equitable tech
• How women can be empowered by the tech industry
• Miriam’s next projects, including new podcast 'Faking It'

Quotes:

“Getting to Stanford from that background and that lack of knowledge of Math, Science, English, critical reading, critical writing, was really hard. It was really, really hard. I studied three hours every day for two years to get to Stanford, to build my score because I needed at least a thirty-one on the ACT’s because that was their minimum.”

“I think it’s so important for women to get involved in the space because if we’re not involved, we will be excluded from these very deep, underlying technologies that will change the way of how we interact with each other over the next hundred years.”

“A lot of the time, we think that tech just grows, and it’s like the innovation just happens. But really, there’s people who are creating these innovations. And there’s a lot of systems in which the thought happens that excludes a lot of people or promotes others. And so we have to find a way to create equitable technology.”

“For women, who oftentimes don’t feel like they can just be loud and be outspoken, technology’s a way to do that and to create products and things that you wish existed for yourself. And so also, that’s one thing that I think is so beautiful about women getting into technology, it’s kind of that they get to create things that they wish existed, they get to feel empowered by being able to actually build the world they want...

On this episode of Give Back Model, Christine Petrella welcomes Filly Bellette to the podcast.  As a cofounder of Chris and Filly Functional Medicine, a mother, and giver, she begins this week’s episode by talking about the farm she was raised on in Tasmania.  She notes that her family heavily valued giving back, and this led her to volunteer to teach English alone in Kenya.  While she was there, she quickly came to the realization that she was vastly ignorant of her privilege, and likewise, how she could use that privilege for good.  

She decided to get her PhD in Human Rights and was granted her degree the day she gave birth to her first child, an experience that would transform the rest of her life.  After going through a rather traumatic birth, Filly suffered months of poor gut and mental health.  It was this journey that led her to start Chris and Filly Functional Medicine, an organization that helps parents improve their own and their children’s health. Her company partners with Free to Shine, an organization based in Cambodia that educates and prevents young Cambodian girls from entering the sex trafficking ring.  Through her work with Free to Shine, Filly has not only learned that you don’t need a lot of money to give back, but she also learned the importance of self worth.  She draws this episode to a rather fitting close by coming to proper terms with her self worth - no longer does she believe that her worth is dependent upon her work.  Filly knows now that she is enough.  

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. That’s where you can also let Christine know about companies you’ve found that give back, and check out The Give Back Model merchandise, where $5 for every sale goes to charity. Thanks for listening!

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Filly grew up on a farm in Tasmania with a family who valued giving back.
• 
  
• She volunteered in Kenya alone and came face to face with her own ignorance.
• 
  
• Filly got her PhD in Human Rights after realizing that she didn’t have the right tools to help others.
• 
  
• Her experience on antibiotics after giving birth introduced her to common problems with gut health.
• 
  
• When Filly started functional medicine, she felt like she’d finally found her calling helping high strung parents find their footing again.  
• 
  
• She and her family participate in a child protection organization, Free To Shine, that supports Cambodian girls to educate and save them from human sex trafficking.
• 
  
• Through her work with Free To Shine, Filly learned that you don’t need a lot of money to give back. 
• 
  
• Filly recalls feeling like her self worth depended on her productivity before realizing that she was enough.

Quotes:

“Their goal is to help high achieving parents with energy, mood and gut issues to end their body burnout for good.”

“Our family culture was very much about giving back to others, and service and showing compassion for other people without really expecting anything in return. So I kind of feel like that was built into our family values.”

“So for the next four months after I had Poppy, I had no sensation to pee. So I was using a catheter to urinate. Because I was prone to getting UTI infections, because I had this internal catheter in 2007, I was on loads of antibiotics, in and out of hospital, catching all the infections still and then going on more antibiotics. So my gut health was kind of ripped raw.”

“I called myself the ‘dragon mom’, I was just screaming all the time, like, the anxiety for me...

Nina Rauch is Social Impact Lead at insurance company Lemonade, a certified B Corporation available in the US, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Lemonade aims to change the way people think about insurance by focusing on strong values and charitable contributions instead of profit. Nina joins Christine today to talk about Lemonade’s groundbreaking business model, her journey to becoming Social Impact Lead, and the impressive amount of money the company has donated since 2017.

Nina explains the Lemonade Giveback, the charitable core of the company, which means Lemonade annually donates its leftover dollars to a range of nonprofit partners. She discusses how this process was built into Lemonade from the beginning and describes the huge impact the program has had on organizations working with such causes as climate issues, racial justice, support for veterans, and LGBTQ+ issues. Nina goes on to describe her journey from fundraising in high school to working for Lemonade and discusses a few of the organizations that have stuck with her over the years, as well as the challenges and inspirations she’s experienced along the way. To finish up, Nina shares what’s coming up for Lemonade, including their new venture into car insurance and how to balance its environmental impact, and her plans to increase the strength of Lemonade’s voice in the climate space and ensure the company stays transparent and authentic as it continues to grow.

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. That’s where you can also let Christine know about companies you’ve found that give back, and check out The Give Back Model merchandise, where $5 for every sale goes to charity. Thanks for listening!

Episode Highlights:

·   Nina Rauch is Social Impact Lead at Lemonade.

·   Lemonade is an insurance company that tries to connect its policyholders with nonprofits as a means of making charitable contributions rather than profit.

·   Nina was featured in Forbes magazine this year, something that’s always been a goal of hers.

·   Lemonade is trying to reshape how people think about insurance, primarily through an element of their product called the Lemonade GiveBack.

·   Traditional insurance works through pooling small amounts of money by taking premiums from a large number of people to pay for those who need to make claims. This generally leaves money left over at the end of the year (because the amount needed can’t be predicted, so people are asked to pay higher premiums than what winds up being needed), which the insurer keeps as profit.

·   Lemonade wanted to differentiate itself from this model, so it created the Lemonade Giveback, which means that, once a year, the company donates its leftover dollars to its nonprofit partners.

·   The first Giveback in 2017 donated $53,000 to 14 different charities; in 2021, over $2.3 million went to 65 different organizations.

·   The best way to use Lemonade is through their app (though you can use their website as well!).

·   From the beginning, you choose the cause you want to Giveback to, and that cause will stay with you unless you want to make a change (which is really easy to facilitate).

·   The Giveback was built into Lemonade’s product from the very beginning—without it, the product couldn’t exist. It was a B Corp before its first policy was sold.

·   Lemonade wants to make the process of claiming insurance as simple and supportive as possible, from minimizing paperwork to making sure you can talk to a real person or get on their Slack channel when you need help.

·   Lemonade works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, and Nina ensures that their values align...

Molly Trerotola is the Head of Social Impact at ShoppingGives, a certified B Corporation and an award-winning technology startup focused on building an economy of giving by creating a positive impact through everyday purchases. Today, Molly joins Christine to discuss giving back involving small businesses, shoppers, and nonprofits highlighting the potential roadblocks that may arise and how ShoppingGives can help overcome them.

Molly begins by discussing her passion for philanthropy work and fundraising, and the journey she has taken that has ignited this passion. She goes on to offer extensive details about the work that ShoppingGives does, how they do it, and the hugely beneficial impact is has, as well as her experiences working with Give Lively, a free fundraising platform for nonprofits. Molly concludes by sharing her wish to see more brand values front and center and actions taken by the companies to fulfill their commitments to nonprofits that their customers care about.

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. That's where you can also let Christine know about companies you've found that give back, and check out The Give Back Model merchandise, where $5 for every sale goes to charity. Thanks for listening!

Episode Highlights:

·   Molly Trerotola is the Head of Social Impact at ShoppingGives. 

·   ShoppingGives is an e-commerce platform that powers brands to give donations to nonprofits.

·   She has always been passionate about philanthropy work, fundraising, and giving.

·   She started at a global public health nonprofit in Peru, where she worked in the communications department helping to develop digital stories around their initiatives to generate more fundraising support.

·   Molly has committed wholeheartedly to social impact work, and when she moved to New York, she had the opportunity to dive headfirst into corporate social responsibility.

·   ShoppingGives helps a small business accomplish corporate social responsibility of giving philanthropy fundraising by basically providing a tech solution for brands to scale their philanthropy efforts and embed social impact within their e-commerce journey

·   It allows companies to give back to causes they're passionate about and lets customers choose a cause they're passionate about as part of their purchase.

·   A critical core component of the platform is compliance and regulation. ShoppingGives covers brands from a compliance standpoint, and gives them access to a database of 1.8 million nonprofits.

·   Brands donate to the ShoppingGives Foundation, a US-registered nonprofit, under section 501(c)(3), and then the foundation grants those funds to the organizations that the brands pledged the funds to.

·   Nonprofit organizations have challenges where they get requests, and they want to be able to support them, but they need to focus on their programmatic work. Technology like ShoppingGives, or any other innovative third-party fundraising platforms that can alleviate some of those challenges, and streamline fundraising efforts for nonprofits, is necessary.

·   ShoppingGives also plays a matchmaker role between brands and nonprofits.

·   This is Molly's third social impact tech organization that provides technology to nonprofits at no cost.

·   ShoppingGives is a certified B Corporation. These companies go through a rigorous assessment process to prove their positive impact in their external and external communities.

·   ShoppingGives contributes to or answers recurring fundraising, subscription-based giving.

·  ...

JD Dilks is a writer, podcaster, and founder of a non-profit mental health meeting center in Bloomsburg, PA. Today he joins Christine to discuss his experience with mental health and addiction issues, and they begin their conversation with a trigger warning for anyone who may not be prepared to hear stories of suicide, child abuse, and addiction. JD talks about experimenting with drugs and alcohol at the age of 11, then spiralling into alcoholism after a traumatic life event at age 12. He opens up about the shame that often comes with addiction, finding closure after the death of his fiancée, and supporting others who are on the path to sobriety.

JD tells Christine about creating a community of support for LGBTQ+ youth in particular and leaving toxic masculinity behind as a culture, then shares a powerful story about sex trafficking that was featured on his podcast. You’ll also hear why the 12-Step program is so crucial to recovery, which step was the most challenging for JD, why people need to realize they want help on their own, and what you can do if you know someone who’s facing addiction. Today’s conversation highlights the importance of educating ourselves about mental illness and addiction, recognizing the warning signs, and spreading more love through the world as we hold a supportive and welcoming space for those who may be struggling. You can learn more about MJs Progress Not Perfection here.

For more information, and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. That’s where you can also let Christine know about companies you’ve found that give back, and check out The Give Back Model merchandise, where $5 for every sale goes to charity. Thanks for listening!

Episode Highlights:

• JD Dilks is a writer, podcaster and founder of a non-profit mental health meeting center
• He shares his experience with mental health and addiction issues, as well as his recovery
• Stigma around mental illness and addiction
• JD and his wife opened their mental health facility in May 2021
• They host AA meetings, NA meetings, trauma meetings, LGBTQ+, medical marijuana meetings, tarot meetings and much more
• Importance of meeting in person when going through recovery
• JD began experimenting with drugs and alcohol at age 11 and spiralled into alcoholism after a traumatic event at age 12
• Pressure on men and boys to push down their feelings and not show their emotions
• How his center is building a community of support, especially for young people
• Being open about the shame that often comes with addiction 
• JD’s important dates along his journey to sobriety
• Finding closure after losing his fiancée
• Supporting others through sobriety and accepting that he cannot save everyone
• Time management
• Nicole’s story of sex trafficking as shared on JD’s podcast
• Socially acceptable stereotype of moms drinking wine after a hard day needs to change
• Everyone’s speed bumps are different, but rock bottom is always getting to the point where you know you need to change
• Why the 12-Step program is so crucial to recovery and how it can apply to any issue that makes your life unmanageable
• Step 3 (turning over to a higher power) was the most challenging for JD
• JD’s comedy career 
• According to drugabusestatistics.org, 19.4% of people have used illicit drugs at least once  
• You can check out JD’s podcasts and support MJs Progress Not Perfection