Episode 102: Isabelle Grosmaitre
Join Lori in a conversation with Isabelle Grosmaitre, Founder and CEO of Goodness & Co., as they explore how businesses can show their contribution and impact on society. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this episode will leave you rethinking the role of business in creating a better world!
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
The concept of "business as a force for good."
Three fundamental elements for creating a meaningful business impact.
How Goodness & Co helps organizations reinvent themselves for better futures.
Brands and companies showcasing positive change and impact.
And much more!
Goodness & Co Website: https://goodnessandco.one/
Isabelle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelle-grosmaitre-changemaker/?locale=en_US
Check out Isabelle’s book, Business as a Force for Good: How courageous leaders shift purpose into practice, on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/Business-Force-Good-courageous-practice/dp/2959606906
Goodness & Co Website: https://goodnessandco.one/
Isabelle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelle-grosmaitre-changemaker/?locale=en_US
Check out Isabelle’s book, Business as a Force for Good: How courageous leaders shift purpose into practice, on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/Business-Force-Good-courageous-practice/dp/2959606906
Episode Transcript
You're listening to the positive impact philanthropy podcast, where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into their lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey, and the stories we will share here, we hope that it sparks something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host. Lori Kranczer, attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy giving strategist. Together, we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and make a positive impact in the world. Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode posted on Wednesdays. And for our next episode, I'm really excited to welcome Isabelle Grosmaitre. She's going to refer to the spelling of her last name, because I keep messing it up, but I am so excited to have her regardless. And I could definitely say Isabelle, because people know that is my daughter's name. Isabelle is the founder and CEO of Goodness & Co. and I have to say, we've been trying to schedule this for a while, and so excited. It worked out for today because I cannot wait to share her story. So Isabelle, welcome. Please correct me with your last name pronunciation.
Speaker 2 01:18
Thank you so much. Lori, I feel so grateful to be on your podcast. Thank you.
Speaker 1 01:23
Well, I'm so glad to have you here and go ahead and pronounce your last name for our listeners and share more about you.
Speaker 2 01:30
My name is Isabelle Grosmaitre, as we say in French. Can I say about myself? I've always wanted to contribute to better futures, and my friends would tell you to change the world, and I think that there are various ways to contribute to a better world. I've always chosen business. You can work in politics and institutions, associations, in many things. I've always chosen business. Why? Because I believe in the tremendous power of action of businesses, and I'm a woman of action.
Speaker 1 02:08
Well, we love that. Okay, so when did you make this realization about focusing on making changes through business?
Speaker 2 02:16
It's always been there. I've been working for 30 years or so. I've always found that in creating business to be a force for good, and it's actually the title of my new book, Business as a Force for Good. How courageous leaders can shift purpose into practice. I've always done that in familial business, in investment funds. The last company I worked for was Danana, the food company, where I was a catalyst of the company, alongside the CEO, Daniel fauve, and I've led the transformation of the company from a strategy to implementation on impacting Montana at one house. And then I decided to create and to found Goodness & Co. and to go into an entrepreneurial journey.
Speaker 1 03:05
Yeah, I love this, and I want to dig into this a little bit more so when you are and there's a few different things where I want to talk about so when you're looking at businesses and looking to create that impact through businesses, what are some of the first things that you're looking to do
Speaker 2 03:21
First let me maybe Lori, maybe a critical element of the journey is, why did I decide to found Goodness & Co.? Because it's a critical chapter, if I may say, of the journey and Goodness & Co. was built on a conviction, as you have always worked in the area of social impact and impact, basically, in the world. And something was actually, I don't know if you felt this way, Lori, or all the people that are listening to us, there was something happening in 2019 just before COVID, where you saw that something was cooking. You had the first strikes from the next generation, was great at the merge, starting the strikes. There was also in the US, the first business roundtable with the 181 CEOs that really decided to move from a shareholder to a stakeholder approach. There was the first real climate change crisis. And I love the mountains, and I was very struck to see that there were huge challenges that summer. And at the same time, at that time, I was beyond my role at Danone. I was also co-chairing an organization called the Consumer Goods Firm with 58 CEOs in the boardroom. And that day I saw, literally, the boardroom shifted, where conscious leaders that used to be isolated became a majority, and the question that day was not anymore about the why, why should we embrace impact at the core of the business model, but how? How do we do it? And this is when I decided to build Goodness & Co. on this conviction that there was a tipping point in the world when businesses had to demonstrate their contribution to society. And I even believe that only businesses with a positive contribution or positive impact will thrive because they will be chosen by people, consumers, employees, retailers, clients, investors, you name it. But I think that this was the time, and this is why I decided to build Goodness & Co. in this conviction.
Speaker 1 05:32
Yeah, so thanks for the backstory, because that's really important is that it goes to why we do what we do, is to understand why we create our business and the impact we want to make now share, if you would, some of the things that you're seeing in businesses, and how can businesses make an impact? Because I have to say, we see a lot of businesses that are sort of using like they are for social input. I really, I think they would appreciate hearing like, what can they do? And what, what do you see that's most effective?
Speaker 2 06:00
So true. I think it's a learning journey. I don't think that all businesses are there. And my hope, my conviction, my work, my choices in life, has always been to work alongside pioneers to help the courageous leaders or the pioneers make the shift happen, because we believe that it will have a snowball effect for the others. I'm conscious that it's not every single CEOs of every business, but this is the story I want to share. So I think that maybe there are three fundamentals in businesses of force for good. The first one can be simple, but it's better when you say it: really be clear on your purpose. What is your purpose? Why do you exist beyond economics? I may say, if you were to disappear in the world, what would we miss? It's very important that, and it's also about acknowledging that today in the world, 80% of the citizens because they don't trust anymore, media, governments, institutions. They are expecting companies to help them solve the world's biggest challenges they need as a company to decide everything starts with a vision. What is your purpose? What do you stand for? What will be your contribution to the world, if I may say. And that's number one. The second element is, okay, you have defined your guiding star, what you want to contribute to. And here you have many examples, the most popular one is Patagonia. But there are many others. The second thing is that it is about aligning words in action. If it's just a wording, if it's just words, if it's just a signature or logo, it doesn't go anywhere. It's how much is it really at the core of your action? How do you turn words into action? How do you make the right decision every day? How does this really guide your decision? So which means, as a leader, use your positive impact, what you have decided to work on as a compass of decision, and not in just one thing, but in everything you do. If you run a company, it's if you invest in new areas, new territories in M&A have a check on this. How much does it contribute to it versus dilute it? If you do a business review, a country review, a brand review, whatever you call it, it also has this as a compass of decision, and then also as people, how you recruit based on this, how do you grow your talents based on this? How do you recognize the contribution based on this? So I would say the second point is about how you turn that into action, at the core of the operating model. The third dimension, because it's all about people, right, and we know that people will make the difference is that, and I've seen companies around the world, there is only one thing that distinguishes companies that succeed in this transformation versus others, is their ability to harness the power of people around them. It's about engaging. And engaging is, of course, starts with your own people, because otherwise you're not credible. You're not legitimate. So all about your own people to start, but it's also, how do you really collaborate with your stakeholders along the value chain? How much your suppliers, your clients, are part of the decision maker, or at least you get their insights on your strategy, on your decision, it's how much you are trusted by them, and there are numbers also highlighting that organizations who have trust in the stakeholder perform better, and especially in terms of crisis. It's also about a more resilient model if you work well with your ecosystem. And this doesn't go very far, because engaging people around you, as we do, for instance, work a lot with pioneers. Also system change. If you're the only one to change the system and if I may say, you don't change the system on your own. No company could do that. But the challenge here is the competitive edge, the label playing field, as you're an organization really trying to invest, creating value, reinvent models. You need to bring people along to make the system shift and also to bring a competitive edge to the sector. These are the three highlights movies. One is Imagine. Imagine, because it all starts with the vision. Otherwise you don't know how to stop, how to maneuver. The second is about making sure that you turn words into action in your everyday, everywhere, operations. And the third is about engaging, because people will make the difference, and you will go much further together.
Speaker 1 10:56
Who's doing this really well? Which organizations, which businesses can you highlight whether they're, you're working with them, or just the public would know, besides Patagonia, who does this really well,
Speaker 2 11:08
Patagonia is one of them, because they have it all. Another one that I can share with you in the same areas. For instance, Decathlon, I don't know if you've heard about them. It's a sports wear company, and, so, for instance, they have committed several years ago, for instance, to go more circular, so to reinvent, basically the model. And at that time, I think it was five to 10 years ago, they only had 1% of the turnover, which they called responsible, which was reusable, recyclable, etc. Well, reusable, they reinvested into a different type of model, and now it's much bigger. And they also demonstrate that they really enable the company to grow while the carbon footprint is decreasing. It's interesting to look at that. That's an example. Another one, especially in this moment, is around whose fans really were their values. At the core is L’Oreal, for instance, in the consumer goods industry and in beauty, where they're working to create the beauties that move the world. And really it's part of the way they do business. It's not just one side, you do good, and then on the other side, you do business. No, they're really creating a virtuous model. And for that, they do several things, and maybe I can highlight three things. One is their culture is very much about being inclusive, how much they are building an inclusive workforce culture embracing that. For instance, 57%, of the top 300, are women, and it's very diverse, also in terms of regions of the world's nationalities, etc. It brings a lot to it. But also they're engaged their brands to become a force for good, and for instance, L’Oreal Paris, they invested into not only better products, but also better impact, with a campaign on the street harassment, working with NGOs that are doing it best to really train, I think, six millions of people worldwide to know how to behave when it comes to a street harassment themselves or one another. That's a couple examples. I could go on forever like Unilever worked a lot, and Unilever was the first one to really embrace purpose at the core, and they have demonstrated that brands with purpose grow six times faster. The business case is already there. It just needs to be skilled
Speaker 1 13:49
people. Yeah, absolutely. And we talk with our clients and our audience, about when you're considering your individual philanthropy, if one also has a business, to be incorporating their values into the business as well. It's not only the right thing to do, but it's also good for your business there. Now, if I speak with individuals that are considering an exit from their business, and there's no or it's very light on sustainability or philanthropy, you need to have these to be investable, and then also to have a good exit.
Speaker 2 14:21
Of course, it is fundamental. It's about doing good business. This is what we're talking about. It's not ticking the box. It's a compliance exercise. It's really about building a really competitive edge. Why? Because people will choose you. We were discussing citizens begging companies to really embrace impact. But it's also true for employees that are looking for companies that have better values aligned with themselves. They want to be helpful. They want to be useful for the world. They want to contribute to something bigger than themselves. And I think that it's really a system shift, because it's also about businesses working hand in hand with philanthropies, associations and all our stakeholders, really, to embrace cooperation as the new norm.
Speaker 1 15:27
Yeah, I'm curious, because I think this is very inspiring for people that could be listening right now, and I wonder, you know, or there may be thinking, How do I even do this? How do I get started? Because I have that motivation, that desire to do so, and they're inspired to do so, but then sometimes there's that overwhelm. How do we bridge that gap? What do you suggest are the first steps they do?
Speaker 2 15:47
So on this, I'm quite pragmatic, so I think that is very important. I mean, it's the same for companies as it is for us. It's about looking for alignment. And alignment is about what is your purpose, what you want to contribute to. There are people I've chosen to really serve courage as leaders of the world and years to make the shift happen. But maybe your willingness is to work in education and kids development or adults, or whatever. I think that it's very important to understand what areas you want to contribute to. Then the second thing that I would do the other round about the companies, is that I think it's all about people based on that. It's about meeting people in these areas to really understand what is at stake, what are the challenges, what is their point of view, and see based on that, how you can best strive, best strive is your inky guy. It's about what you want to do, how you want to contribute to the world and those whom. And then the alignment comes and the new actions to strives are there.
Speaker 1 16:54
And do you have any, any stories of businesses that you worked with that had either a trigger event that created this growth or that aha moment they have while they're working with you to understand, like what their value system was and how to integrate into their business.
Speaker 2 17:16
I just want to make sure I understood the question is in our clients, in the work we do. Did we see any aha moments right on their journey? I think that today, conscious leaders are becoming a movement, not a niche, unless what we are seeing in the world, because this is the information war or communication war. I think that conscious leaders are becoming a movement, whether you like it or not, whether the planetary boundaries are here to stay, and people are conscious. So based on this, I would say that the people that we work with didn't have a I wouldn't qualify that aha moments, but maybe something that helped them go into the next step. It is very much about demonstrating that it is possible. I always look for that. I think that's the boardroom in 2019 that I told you, where I took the decision to build Goodness & Co. was building on this moment in the boardroom. And I think that there was a, I wouldn't say aha moment, but there is a collective and I think that collective moment is key, because there will be no transformation without courage. And courage also is contagious, when others are moving forward, when the pioneers are moving forward, then the other that don't really know are conscious but don't really know how to move the needle, or then they follow, if they trust, if that really gets possible, I wouldn't say there is aha moments, but I think that leaders are conscious, and it's about demonstrating that it is possible to move the needle and encourage them to look into this direction and looking into who can inspire them and have conversation with them, to really show that it's not easy. It's okay to have a challenge, but sometimes we just need to dare because we know it's the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 19:22
Yeah, and you, you're talking about who may have inspired leaders. I'm curious who may have inspired you. You had this moment in 2019, are there others that inspired you in philanthropy and social impact? Who else do you have on your team, who joins your journey as you're doing this?
Speaker 2 19:44
There are many, many, I mean, I'm inspired every single day because I'm surrounded with change makers. I'm part of several movements. I think that this is a key for the people that are listening to us. You're not alone, and it's very important to find your tribe, to help you navigate and grow, if I may say, people that will nourish your soul, challenge you and that you will act and have a better impact together. I'm part of several movements. I don't name them all, but I'm part of the 100 Davos Women, I'm chair of the Value Balancing Alliance, steward of before good leaders, etc, etc. So I think this is fundamental, that's one and then the second thing is that I think that I am inspired by pioneers, because I've also worked a lot with them. I think it's a matter of trusting one another. Those pioneers know that it's not so easy, that it does require courage. I think this relation goes both ways. I wouldn't say that there is one individual that stands out, I think that at every single step of the journey, and for instance, who inspired me today sitting next to me, it's our young intern called Luan, and she has an incredible job, and I was so inspired by her work. It's a matter of being also, of course, curious, and setting yourself to be able to learn every day, to learn from people that are around you.
Speaker 1 21:20
Well, I love that. Thank you. And then we're at that point in time, and there are interviews that we talk about what we want to leave behind and what we want, what kind of impact we want for the future. Though, can you think for a moment about what you would want your legacy to look like?
Speaker 2 21:39
I don't know if this author called something, yeah, the book that I love from this author is called The Little Prince, and I would definitely recommend it. Okay, there is one thing that something super says is, we do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children. When it comes to legacy, let's say that I think that there is a revolution coming up, tipping point, unconscious about what is coming up. You can choose to embrace this revolution or to become a change maker, however, you name it, or to be left behind. One thing is sure, from my side, is that there will be no transformation without courage. Comfort is much more easier, but I don't think you can choose courage or can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both. For sure, I believe myself that courage is not so easy, but it's the strength of heart you were discussing about the 42 this is strength of heart that enables you to take challenging decisions in a challenging context. And myself, I have five kids at home, and I want to make sure that in 10 years from now, that I will be able to look at them right in the eyes and say that I've done everything I could at the time that it really mattered
Speaker 1 23:07
Fantastic. Thank you. So we're at the point in time we would love to know where everyone could find out more information about you. You mentioned a lot of different things. We're going to get all that information afterwards and put in the show notes. But Isabelle, where can people find out more about you?
Speaker 2 23:25
So maybe. So of course, I attend several events, as I do keynotes, but maybe one thing is my book, which is called Business as a Force for Good. You can find it on the internet everywhere around the world, and we can share the link this will, I think it's enthusiastic testimony about this new era that we are coming in when it comes to governance and leadership. So the question, as we were discussing at the beginning, is not anymore about the why, but about the how. And this is very much about the how. And then the second thing is on my LinkedIn, where I try to share almost very often, what I do and what I think and who inspires me, and this is a way to connect with me.
Speaker 1 24:10
Thank you for sharing. So before we mention all the different links in the show notes, everyone can find Isabelle's book and connect with her on LinkedIn and all the other resources that she had mentioned Isabelle, thank you again for joining us. This has been truly so inspiring to hear about your journey, and also what you are creating.
Speaker 2 24:30
Thank you so much Lori. I feel so grateful for this podcast. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Stay tuned for our next episodes posted on Wednesdays
Speaker 1
On Wednesdays, when new episodes are dropped, we'd love to hear your feedback, so leave a comment and a rating you like and what you'd like to hear more about. And if you liked the episode today, make sure to share it, to raise awareness about the story, to inspire other women to take action. I'm Lori Kranczer, and until next time you can make a positive impact through philanthropy every day. Thanks For Listening. .