Editor’s note: Kimberly McGlonn, PhD, is owner of Noor by Grant Blvd, a former teacher and the vice president for social impact at Fitler Club. Build It Boldly: How Daring Business Leaders Can Gain Influence and Create Impact is her first book. McGlonn will talk about building a socially impactful business — and why that matters — in a conversation with Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt at Fitler on February 3. Below is an excerpt from the book.
Conventional business design has always, always been about intention. In our standardized capitalist, Western approach, the due north has always exclusively been creating and then maximizing profit. Everything else gets compromised in service of the bottom line. Concerns about collateral costs to the environment or workers or even consumers are of no or minimal importance. There’s a closely guarded mystery around how dark and damaging the practice of leading with profit is for all of us.
I didn’t come into entrepreneurship from the classic MBA perspective or the legacy of parents who had made millions in business by exploiting people. What I saw growing up were people in my community who were very small business owners who knew and cared about the neighborhood, and who knew and cared about their customers. In contrast, we’re living in a time when people are disconnected from themselves and from each other. I wanted to start a business that would change the economy, not make superficial improvements to social problems. What motivated me was trying to shift consumer thoughts about the goods they consume — about their means of production, their cost to the planet, and their potential to create positive outcomes for people.
How could I build a business on a product that was not based on denying the climate catastrophe or the abuse of women? We’re all inundated with messaging that we are not enough and that we don’t own enough. So much of our edu- cation is focused on stories of negativity and loss. We need to find a balance and learn to recognize that we can have and probably already do have enough. I am trying to encourage people to be intentional about what they consume. To see that out of all the overwhelming choices on offer, you get to choose. As a consumer, you can’t necessarily determine what gets produced, but you have power and agency to choose what you will consume and to choose what you will be loyal to.
I’ve learned that when you design with meaningful purpose as your ultimate due north, you lay the groundwork for something much bigger: a purpose-driven life.
As I prepared myself to launch a business, I dedicated myself to self-study and to using my teaching practice as an opportunity to present new ways of seeing systems.
Through my high school curriculum, I had been teaching about the global supply chain rooted in colonialism. In my eleventh-grade course, we investigated the American quagmire: could a nation whose very growth depended on exploita- tion and violence claw its way out of relentless destruction, greed, and White supremacist structures? In the classroom, it became clear that the things I cared about most were the human rights of people whose circumstances I could truly see, and the planet I had loved since childhood. It wasn’t a personal need that led me to build a business, something I recognize as being a very real and valid reason for many entrepreneurs. Instead, it was my own journey of discovery and an unshakeable sense of concern.
I’d been raised to believe that to know is to do. If you see suffering, injustice, mismanagement, are you just going to be like an ostrich — stick your head in the sand and do nothing? That kind of avoidant thinking has never been part of who I am, and I never wanted it to be the legacy of my story. Walking to a different kind of finish line with a different kind of fight in mind has always called me out of bed. Defining and developing a business that’s bold and, in some spaces, radical is a different kind of love story — one of radical love for people and the planet. When you build with purpose it becomes a grueling but inspired journey. And then one day, it becomes an inspiration to others.
For me, the process of designing a company started with a clear statement of values. Transparency, consistency, truth- fulness, and creating a culture of care came first. I wanted to invite people to become a part of the build-out of better things. As a company, I knew we needed to aspire to sell beautiful garments, yes, but also more than products. Building a brand dedicated to fostering participation, and to advancing the work of people with a shared sense of commitment in doing better, was and still is an ambitious business plan. My dream was to welcome customers to join my journey to use sustainable design in ways that would make them feel part of a movement. Our garments would be like stylish souvenirs of an entrepreneurial experiment we did together.
When we aspire to something beyond the limited boundary that profit sets, more joy and peace and dignity results.
Ultimately, what I wanted was for my business to offer the opportunity to belong to a community of employees and customers who were coming together because of their most cherished values. We all want to belong. As a human being you need to be with people. Purpose can be a driver of that unity. What purpose looks like is different for everyone, so finding the right team is essential, but once you find them you feel like you’re part of a good fight, anchored to who you want to be. Purpose is part of the anchor of building this team and the element that fuels and helps maintain momentum. And for our community, those values are centered in being seen and celebrated for all the things we are and to be a part of positive solution development, or the light.
Along the way, I’ve learned that when you design with meaningful purpose as your ultimate due north, you lay the groundwork for something much bigger: a purpose-driven life. Finding your purpose is distinctly personal, but for each of us, this lifestyle choice has the potential to bring us a sense of peace. By understanding Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we see that as people’s basic requirements for a safe and secure life are met, they can ascend toward more satisfaction and gratification. In a business structure, that can be achieved by encouraging and enabling employees to grow and self-actualize within the organization. If a company can’t give this space, it is much, much harder to hold on to talented, hard-working people. You’ve got to be able to pay people well enough to retain top talent, but it is also essential to be always tapping into who they are and who they want to be.
For emerging manufacturers like Grant Blvd, part of the challenge is creating a product line that contributes to a basic need in a way that offers customers some experience or something that helps them feel they are moving closer to being their best self. That can take many forms, from a makeup product, to a wellness service, to a pair of fancy-ass shoes.
Of all the things we can buy, peace is the one that is most difficult to put a value on. But true peace gives you the highest quality of life. When we aspire to something beyond the limited boundary that profit sets, more joy and peace and dignity results. My intention for Grant Blvd was to design a business with future anchored vision, one that defends the needs of all people, and that puts stewardship of the planet at the center of our shared human purpose. That’s what makes it so much damn fun.
Excerpted from Build It Boldly: How Daring Business Leaders Can Gain Influence and Create Impact, copyright 2024 Kimberly McGlonn. RSVP to hear McGlonn talk about the lessons from her book on February 3, from 6-8 pm at Fitler Club.
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