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Being Intentionally Good – a conversation with Heather Holmes.
34 Plays3 months ago
Heather Holmes is the founder and CEO of Publicity for Good, a North Carolina based PR consultancy that helps businesses achieve their corporate social responsibilities.
In the episode of The Independent Minds Heather explains to Michael how any organisation, regardless of size or type can help create a change in their society. It all depends says Heather on making sure that the activity not only supports the cause but is also in line with your own values.
It doesn’t have to be a cash donation. Many businesses provide their products or services or as Heather it may just be changing a policy so that more people are able to work for the your business.
The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr.
Zencastr is the all-in-one podcasting platform, on which you can create your podcast in one place and then distribute it to the major platforms like Spotify, Apple, and Google. It really does make creating content so easy.
If you would like to try podcasting using Zencastr visit zencastr.com/pricing and use our offer code ABECEDER.
Find out more about both Michael Millward and Heather Holmes at Abeceder.co.uk
Travel
Heather Holmes is based in North Carolina, USA.
If you would like to travel the worlds the best place to make your travel arrangements is The Ultimate Travel Club, which is where you can access trade prices for flights, hotels and holidays. Use my offer code ABEC79 to receive a discount on your membership fee.
Matchmaker.fm
Thank you to the team at Matchmaker.fm the introduction to Heather.
If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if like Heather, you have something very interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where matches of great hosts and great guests are made. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.
Three the network
If you are listening to The Independent Minds on your smart phone, you may like to know that Three has the UK’s Fastest 5G Network with Unlimited Data, so listening on Three means you can wave goodbye to buffering.
Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.
Being a Guest
If you would like to be a guest on The Independent Minds, please contact using the link at Abeceder.co.uk.
We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.
We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.
Thank you for listening.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'The Independent Minds' Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Made on Zencaster. Hello and welcome to the Independent Minds, a series of conversations between Abisida and people who think outside the box about how work works with the aim of creating better workplace experiences for everyone. I am your host, Michael Millward, the managing director of Abisida. As the jingle at the start of this podcast says, the Independent Minds is made on zencastr Zencaster. Zencaster is the all-in-one podcasting platform on which you can make your podcast in one place and then distribute it to all the major platforms like Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and YouTube Music. It really does make making content so easy. If you would like to try podcasting using Zencaster, visit zencaster.com forward slash pricing and use my offer code ABACEDA. All the details are in the description.
00:01:06
Speaker
Now that I have told you how wonderful Zencaster is for making podcasts, we should make one. One that will be well worth listening to, liking, downloading, and subscribing to. As in every episode of The Independent Minds, we won't be telling you what to think, but we are hoping to make you think.
Guest Introduction: Heather Holmes
00:01:26
Speaker
Today, my guest, Independent Mind, who I met on matchmaker dot.fm, is Heather Holmes, who is the founder and CEO of Publicity For Good. Heather is based in North Carolina you know in the United States of America.
00:01:42
Speaker
I've never been. From what Heather tells me about North Carolina, it is beautiful and well worth visiting. If you ever fancy visiting North Carolina, I recommend you do what I will do and make your travel arrangements through the Ultimate Travel Club. That is where you will get access to trade prices on flights, hotels, and all sorts of other travel related purchases. There is a link and a membership discount code in the description.
Heather's Journey to Founding Publicity For Good
00:02:10
Speaker
Now. Hello Heather.
00:02:12
Speaker
Hello, how are you? I am extremely well. Thank you very much. And I hope that you can say the same. I'm well, and I'm excited for our conversation today. It's going to be good. What is it like today in North Carolina? Yes. So North Carolina is a very green. We're in the ah foothills of the Blue Bridge Mountains. We are on the East Coast about three and a half hours from the beach and ocean.
00:02:41
Speaker
Today is a kind of gray out, no sun, but no rain. Oh, you know, you are three and a half hours away from the ocean, and I reckon if the road was good, the main motorway that goes across ah the England through Yorkshire, you could go from the east coast to the west coast, and maybe not three and a half hours, but probably you'd you'd be pretty much across the whole of whole of England in three and a half hours, gives you some idea of the sight that's the difference in size. Yes. i mean But you are not originally from North Carolina, are you?
00:03:24
Speaker
No, so I lived in Ohio in the Midwest for 27 years and then I started my company and went to l LA, ah Los Angeles for a press tour. Ended up staying and then ended up living in San Diego for a couple years and then we lived full-time in an Airstream, ah which you all might call like a caravan for three and a half years. But an Airstream is a pretty special type of caravan, isn't it?
00:03:53
Speaker
Oh, it's beautiful. there you It's kind of like a silver bullet. It's all silver. ah They created it using airplane parts in the past.
00:04:05
Speaker
ah Very trendy, it looks great in photos, but will definitely keep its value for years and years
The 'For-Good' Component of Heather's Business
00:04:12
Speaker
to come. You now work as this like the founder and the CEO of Publicity for Good. So you're involved in public relations, but there's also another highlight of your career, which is that I'm talking to my first beauty queen. and You were Miss Ohio International.
00:04:34
Speaker
What is all that about? Yeah, so ah the reason that I wanted to do pageants was to meet other like-minded people who really are passionate about different causes and missions. And it was a really great way to get in front of people, go to the community, go to community events, and really gain my confidence. And I was able to use that as a platform to talk about why businesses needed to add a for good component to their business.
00:05:03
Speaker
For good component sounds very interesting. Tell us a bit more about the for good component. Yes, so we really love at Publicity for Good to partner with brands and people that are purpose driven. They're not just building a business to make a dollar or make a lot of money. They're intentional and they want their business to make a difference. So that could be by donating proceeds, that could be partnering with different nonprofits and associations that are values aligned.
00:05:37
Speaker
Um, that could be really, uh, spending their time volunteering for pro bono organizations that could even be, you know, hiring moms or hiring veterans or hiring, you know, people that were incarcerated and, you know, need a new start, right? There's so many different ways that you can make an intentional difference with your business and in your local community.
00:06:02
Speaker
It sounds like this is something that is not an overnight passion of yours. You were involved in and the idea before you had the organization. What started the whole thing off?
Inspiration and Conscious Capitalism
00:06:14
Speaker
Yeah, so I have been doing public relations for over 12 years now. So I love the art and the craft of getting in the media and studying what works, what makes a brand and all those things.
00:06:30
Speaker
When I was in high school, my dad and uncle were very successful entrepreneurs. I saw what they had built. And I knew that one day I would want to be an entrepreneur, especially my dad passed away my senior year of high school of lung cancer. And then my uncle died a couple years later.
00:06:49
Speaker
And because they were entrepreneurs and because I saw being an entrepreneur was my way of leaving a legacy, I had this burning desire to build a business and be an entrepreneur. I went to school for communications.
00:07:05
Speaker
And then I did an intensive at Georgetown University where we studied conscious capitalism and how businesses can make a difference. And I really became extremely passionate about the power of entrepreneurship and how you can make a difference for your family. You can create generational wealth.
00:07:24
Speaker
you can really change your teammates and employees lives by employing them and providing them stability and growth and all those things too. so I wanted to be an entrepreneur and then um before I started publicity for good, um eight and a half years ago, I worked at an advertising agency where I learned how to do PR first. and Then I went out and started my company.
00:07:50
Speaker
There's a logic to what you've just described there is having the intention and the desire to set up your own business, but also making sure that you've got yourself trained by working with other people before you set up your business. Yeah.
00:08:07
Speaker
It's ah one of the mistakes I think that some entrepreneurs make. I studied at entrepreneurs for my master's dissertation. And entrepreneurs, by definition, are very confident. They know what they're doing. They're going off and doing it. there They're changing the world. But so many start to change the world without first getting trained in what it is that they want to do, get the tools that you need in order to upset the upset the apple apple cart, so to speak.
00:08:37
Speaker
But that's great. I'm very interested in this idea of publicity for good and conscious capitalism, the whole sort of role that organizations play within their
Businesses Driving Change Through Purpose
00:08:49
Speaker
community. One of the first ever interviews that I did ah long before podcasting was invented was with Ben E. Heinemann, who was the number two at GE when Jack Walsh was number one. And he'd explained about his move into a course the corporate world was because as a student in the sixties, he wanted to change the world. And instead of protesting, he realized that the best way to change the world was to make money, to be an entrepreneur or to help an entrepreneur and to make money. And then that gives you the freedom, the opportunity, the resources in order to create the change that you want to see in the world.
00:09:32
Speaker
What I'm thinking that your business is about is about helping organizations who are wanting to create a change in the world through their commercial activities to actually get that message out to the right people in the right way. Yeah. You know, it's all about that intentionality piece. I know there's so many people that don't have a plan or don't know where they're going.
00:10:00
Speaker
if you don't know where you're going then you're going nowhere yeah so that vision is really clear you have to have that vision before you can be intentional yes that makes an awful lot of sense to me you mentioned all sorts of different things that people can do about contributing to their community which goes beyond simply donating money There's so much that can be done. It can be using your skill set and using that to support a local business or nonprofit. So if you're really good at marketing or you're really good at bookkeeping, it's giving your time that way. It could be starting an internship program where you're gonna be pouring into other organizations. you know It could be supporting your employees and giving them time off every month or every quarter to volunteer.
00:10:51
Speaker
And then it's also looking you know at a financial level, like, are you able to give financially the causes that matter to you as well? You reminded me there of a time in my career when as a training manager in quite a large high tech company, I had to provide lots of training to people in various different skills. Now, the skills were needed by the organization at a particular point in time. you know Each year, the accountants would need specific activities. Each year, at a particular time, the marketeers would be involved in marketing plans and would need those skills at that time.
00:11:28
Speaker
Unfortunately, a lot of the training providers it didn't provide the training the week before the marketeers needed to apply the skills. So one of the things we did was took the the dates that were available for these courses, which were quite yeah expensive, in-depth courses. And once you do that, you then have the risk of so in between somebody learning something and applying it, they have the risk that they will lose some of the skills that they've learned.
00:11:56
Speaker
So what I was doing was encouraging those people to go off and find a charity that could benefit from those skills in the time when the organization yeah didn't need them, but keeping those skills fresh for the time when they the organization would need them and they would be able to excel because they'd had lots of time to practice and refresh their skills. And it what you seem to be advocating is like, think outside the box about how you can make a difference in your community.
00:12:26
Speaker
rather than simply, well, this is what everybody else is doing, so this is what we'll do. Right. I mean, there, there definitely is an opportunity for you to provide your services. But I also think it really matters on like, what do you have a bandwidth for? If, you know, if you're scaling your business as an entrepreneur, and it's really operationally focused on you, if you have more cash, but you have less time,
00:12:54
Speaker
I don't think there's anything wrong with just donating financially instead of giving her time. yes But for entrepreneurs who are young in their career and they have low overhead and they they don't have more time, but being out of the business for a Friday is not as crucial when it's just you and an employee, right? So I think you really need to look at what do you have right in this time of your business and season to give away. Is it time? Is it your services?
00:13:25
Speaker
or is it money? It's about finding what is right for you. Right, because it's not a one size fits all. Can any organization have a purpose and be purpose driven? I think every business should have purpose and intention. I mean, I feel like businesses should make a difference in the world. ah The companies that make the most amount of money are the ones that are solving the most amount of problems for people.
00:13:51
Speaker
I know not everyone has like a for good component, but is that why? Is that heart? Is that soul? I think that keeps you going. Yes, when you put it like that, I see the logic. It is that every organization sets out to solve a problem to provide a more cost effective solution than the the competition to provide a more efficient one to provide it is higher quality. We're all trying to solve a problem in a different way that will attract ah more customers than the competition. And essentially that is what you're saying is that there are not-for-profit organizations that are trying to solve a problem and you can be part of that solution as well.
00:14:34
Speaker
It makes, I think, things more exciting as well. yeah Like when your heart's centered and you see the change you're able to make, I think. What are the sort of challenges that an organization faces when it tries to to be purpose-driven and do something in support
Staying True to Business Values
00:14:49
Speaker
of its community? I think people try to copy and paste what other people are doing. And, oh, well, everyone's posting about this movement. Like, I got to post about it, right?
00:14:59
Speaker
I really feel like we're in a world now where it's own what you believe and what you're aligned in and it's okay. But when things happen in the world and you see everyone posting about it, like if it's not aligned with your company ethos and what you believe, you shouldn't copy it. And I've seen so many people in businesses do it. It's a bit like International Women's Day or Black History Month, those sorts of things. If an organization, I suppose, is posting about something which the community that they're trying to support doesn't see in the way in which that organization operates, then it could actually be detrimental rather than supportive. Absolutely. I mean, to me, it's all about knowing what your values are, knowing what your beliefs are,
00:15:45
Speaker
And just stepping into that and realizing like your product and service isn't for everyone and that's okay. and But there's plenty of people that want to buy from you. The market is big enough to accommodate everyone. yeah And there are enough courses for every organization to find one that they fit comfortably with. Yeah. What we've touched on there is, is the sort of things that happen when when these campaigns, these initiatives and start to fall apart. And you've explained, I think, that if you are setting out to do something for good,
00:16:16
Speaker
to be purpose driven, to make a conscious decision, to contribute to conscious capitalism, then you've got to be true to yourself. You have to. Because if you're not, it will eventually fall apart and your lack of authenticity will will be very obvious. Yeah. So what do you think have been the most successful campaigns that you've been involved in?
Campaign Success: Gourmet Popcorn Brand
00:16:39
Speaker
Can you tell us about some of those? Yeah, I mean, it's everything from um We worked with a purpose-driven gourmet popcorn brand. They had no publicity prior to us. And we did a campaign for National Popcorn Day.
00:16:54
Speaker
And with that, they ranked on Google. They were in the media like 30 times. They did three TV segments and they had their highest day of sales. So it was really exciting. Nice. And what was the contribution that they made to their to their community? What was the purpose driven part of that? So the majority of their employees actually have a disability. right So that's what they do. So they've made a conscious effort to contribute by seeking out people who might find it difficult in a conventional employment market and actually designing work in such a way that accommodates people with disabilities. Yes, and they are providing an incredible environment.
00:17:36
Speaker
As an HR professional, I'm thinking that like, yeah, it would be great if everybody did that. But the reality is that it does take quite a lot of work to to get it. When is National Popcorn Day? January 19th. January 19th, right. I will make a note in my diary. Yeah. Who doesn't love popcorn? Well, I think that as ah as a Brit, we don't have popcorn in the same sort of way as you do in the States.
00:18:04
Speaker
I work in HR, I'm an HR professional, so I'm going to try and and learn something personally today. What do you think the role of HR professionals is in helping organizations to find a purpose and and to push that purpose? Wow, that's a good deep question. So I think it's keeping the founders focused on the heart of the brand at whole.
00:18:28
Speaker
I think especially when it comes to hiring, it's ensuring that people are the right culture fit. So guiding the team to finding the right people for the company, because what would work for one company won't work yeah for the other. And then I also think it's in the world we live in. I really believe that performance and metrics are way more important than anything else.
00:18:53
Speaker
So what do I
Performance Metrics in Modern Business
00:18:54
Speaker
mean by that? That if you have a team member who is oh like they're meeting their metrics week after week, I think the typical work environment of being super strict with hours is evolving and changing. And I think that's good. Now, if you're not being responsive to a client and you're not being responsive to a team member, that's non-negotiable. But I think it's kind of exciting in the way the world is evolving in that a mom can work from home. She could crush it.
00:19:22
Speaker
I really believe if she wanted to work from 4am to 7am before her baby got up, right? Because that's the time that helps her perform the best, right? Like, I really think it's a mixture of finding the right culture fit people, but really focusing more on the metrics of the position. And with that, I think comes the opportunity for more flexibility as long as, you know, the non-negotiables are still handled, right? Like responding to clients, being responsive to team members, those types of things.
00:19:53
Speaker
We're understanding the requirements of what people need in order to mix work with their life, enabling that to happen. But at the same time, making sure that no one individual within the organization, the individuals, so the organization's customers, and the organization as a whole, that they still get what they need. But there is a balance to be met between everything so everybody can be happy. correct And that can be a key part of an organization's purpose and being purpose driven. It all sounds really very interesting.
00:20:23
Speaker
Yeah, it really makes you think. Heather, thank you very much. I've really enjoyed our conversation. It's been great. Thank you very much. Yes. And make sure you come to North Carolina. I will. I will. It can sound great. The Blue Ridge Mountains. Yes. Great. Thank you. Yes. Thank you,
Closing and Thanks to Matchmaker.fm
00:20:39
Speaker
Michael.
00:20:39
Speaker
I am Michael Millward, the managing director of Abacida, and I have been having a conversation with the independent mind, Heather Holmes, the founder and CEO of Publicity for Good. You can find out more about both of us at abacida.co.uk. There is a link in the description.
00:20:56
Speaker
I must remember to thank the team at matchmaker.fm for introducing me to Heather. If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests, or if like Heather, you have something very interesting to say, matchmaker is where matches of great hosts and great guests are made. There's a link to matchmaker.fm and an offer code in the description.
00:21:19
Speaker
If you're listening to the independent minds on your smartphone in the UK, you may like to know that 3 has the UK's fastest 5G network with unlimited data. So listening on 3 means you can wave goodbye to buffering, which if you are in the mountains, in the panines or the Cairngorns, somewhere like that, that can come in very handy.
00:21:39
Speaker
There is a link in the description that will take you to more information about business and personal telecom solutions from 3 and the special offers available when you quote my referral code. The description also includes links to all the websites and businesses that have been mentioned in this episode of The Independent Minds. The description is going to be well worth reading. If you have liked this episode of The Independent Minds, please give it a like and download it so that you can listen anytime, anywhere.
00:22:08
Speaker
To make sure you don't miss out on future episodes, please subscribe. Remember, the aim of all the podcasts produced by Abbasida is not to tell you what to think, but we do hope to make you think. All that remains for me to say is until the next episode of The Independent Minds. Thank you for listening and goodbye.