Change the World—One Pair of Shoes at a Time

Jeff Klein is the CEO of Working for Good, a conscious marketing-and-business-development company based just over the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. He’s also the author of “Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living,” and its companion book, “It’s Just Good Business: The Emergence of Conscious Capitalism and the Practice of Working for Good.” These two tomes describe the work he does as a trustee and member of the executive team of Conscious Capitalism, Inc., andClick here to listen to the podcast!

Roy Spence is chairman and CEO of GSD&M Idea City, a national marketing communications and advertising agency. Under Spence’s leadership and its Purpose-Based Branding™ philosophy, the agency has helped some of the world’s most successful brands grow while using its talents to make a difference in communities around the country and the world. Spence has been named Ad Man of the Year and Idea Man of the Century, and he has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, USA Today,Click here to listen to the podcast!

Tara Sheahan is rocking the world one soul at a time. It won’t take long, she believes, before everyone is a little more conscious. That’s the mission of her organization, Conscious Global Leadership, which is igniting global social harmony by strengthening the character and consciousness of leaders across all fields. “We aim to share best ‘inner’ practices and how to mentor others for heart-centered living and leadership,” explains the CEO of the group that is considered a rock star inClick here to listen to the podcast!

Laura Roberts wants to change the way the we play with the chemicals that pervade our lives. The CEO of Pantheon Enterprises, Inc., may just change the world. “Sustain better life,” is the mantra by which this avid environmentalist and elementary school teacher lives her life as a corporate leader. Indeed, her life was dramatically transformed when her father died unexpectedly in 1997, and she decided to take over running the family business—a small, green, industrial chemical business. Today, theClick here to listen to the podcast!

Steve Leveen is the CEO of Levenger, which since 1987 has designed and sold high-end products geared toward reading, writing, and working with ideas. Founded in Boston with his wife, Lori Granger Leveen (pictured together, at right), Levenger started doing business in Boston with its first catalog, “Tools for Serious Readers.” Today, Levenger is headquartered in South Florida and has grown into the place to come for support in all manner of creative expression—whether it be for work or forClick here to listen to the podcast!

Carrie Freeman Parsons is the vice chair for Freeman, a world-class provider of integrated services for face-to-face (F2F) marketing. Based in the company’s Dallas headquarters, Carrie has held various positions across the enterprise that her grandfather—D.S. “Buck” Freeman—founded in 1923. “While other young college students at the University of Iowa were discovering chemistry and calculus, Buck was discovering his passion for party decorating, while pledging for a national fraternity,” Carrie explains. He turned this passion into a lifelong trade whenClick here to listen to the podcast!

Jay Coen Gilbert is the co-founder of B-Labs, a nonprofit based outside of Philadelphia that envisions a new sector of the economy, harnessing the power of private enterprise to create public benefit. It promotes legislation allowing companies to formally incorporate as benefit corporations. B Corps use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. “Indeed, B Corp certification is to sustainable business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee, or USDA Organic certification is to milk,” Gilbert explains,Click here to listen to the podcast!

Teju Ravilochan is unreasonable. “I want to live in a world where every human being can be the master of their own fate, unbound by the chains of poverty, oppression, or injustice,” says the CEO and co-founder of the Unreasonable Institute. “To me entrepreneurship—coming from French for ‘to taking into one’s own hands‘—gets at that fundamental human drive to rule our destinies. And when that drive is combined to empower others to do the same, I believe no force canClick here to listen to the podcast!

Shayne Hughes is CEO and Lead Culture Change Partner at Learning as Leadership, a Northern California company that is committed to helping individuals and organizations bring their deepest aspirations to fruition. “Through experience and theoretical knowledge, you possess most of what it takes to be an inspiring, collaborative, and effective leader,” Hughes explains. “And yet sometimes you can be defensive, confused, angry, and often checked out. What’s the problem? “This situation is caused by your ‘egosystem,’” Hughes insists. “It isClick here to listen to the podcast!

Michael Davis is the founder and president of US Pure Water Corporation, a mission-driven, privately owned, full-spectrum, water-treatment service company that has been at the forefront of water treatment technology since 1985. In this podcast interview we learned: Davis’ mission is to provide an ecological and economical alternative to bottled and tap water by providing water treatment at the point of use. USPW has saved The City and County of San Francisco over $1 million by converting their offices fromClick here to listen to the podcast!

As the CEO of Soles4Souls.org, Buddy Teaster runs the Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has delivered more than 19 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes. The shoes have been distributed to people in more than 125 countries, including Kenya, Nepal, Thailand, and the UnitedClick here to listen to the podcast!