Stories

Driving Change and Binge Watching GOT: Not a Contradiction Sami Grover - Creative Director, The Change Creation

"The world doesn’t change because you make a cool logo. When someone calls and says ‘we need a business card’ tonight, I now say no to that type of work. The only way to communicate effectively is to communicate consistently over many, many interactions with your audience. That’s where I’ve enjoyed my work the most. It’s also great because then I also get to have great relationships with the people there."

What Are You Eating? How Beer, Burgers, and Pizza are transforming the way one community thinks about food Seth Gross - Owner, Bull City Burger and Brewery and Pompieri Pizza

"Every Sunday night, I would look at the dumpster area. We have two restaurants and a handful of small businesses and residents all sharing this one dumpster. By Sunday, you couldn’t even get near the dumpster. There were trash bags overflowing everywhere, all on the ground. It was ridiculous. I kept thinking look at all this waste and it was just from a couple of businesses and people. So we started thinking about, how could we do better?" It was a big paradigm shift for everyone at the restaurant. Our first step was saying that we’re going to have 4 trash cans and we’re going to sort our waste. People were like ‘oh god, I have to do this… and touch everything… and sort the paper…’ Now, no one thinks about it. It’s just how we are."

“B”ing the Change: Connecting Students to Business as a Force For Good Jessica Thomas - Director, Business Sustainability Collaborative at NC State University's Poole College of Management

"Consider volunteering or getting an internship and really seeing what this looks like in the real world. I think it’ll get students more passionate and more focused. Having that picture of seeing how they can have an impact and what that means for them and their skill set. So many students think it’s going to be a role that has sustainability in their title, but there are so few of those roles. The B Corp framework is eye-opening because it shows you can have an impact in any role."

Building Better Lives: One Table at a Time Carter Ellis - Founder, Ellis Furniture Co.

"Over the last year, I developed a lot of confidence as I explored doing this full time. I realized this is what I want to use my life for, I want to do business in a way that gleans: we operate a business that makes a killer product and yet we leave money on the table so that others may have access to work. Profit’s great and necessary, but profit maximization isn’t the end goal."

Disrupting Biases in LegalTech

"I’m working to redefine what success looks like in high tech. I’ve had to overcome subtle bias throughout the process of getting this venture launched. My vision is that bias could be something that could become inherently positive. I think that all of these things that we subconsciously assume are negative, are actually strengths. In my case, I’m an older woman, with a great deal of experience. I have an academic background, which means I bring a great deal of expertise and rigor to the work I do. Unfortunately, some investors don’t see these traits as a positive. I hope to change this paradigm."