August 3, 2020 • 43 mins
In this episode Carla Marie talks to Laura Clise, the creator of Intentionalist.com. Intentionalist helps you shop small and local by category. You can search by family-owned, women-owned, black-owned, native-owned, asian-owned, and soooo many more options! Laura's reasoning for creating Intentionalist is very in-tune with this entire podcast. Support your community.
Support Inentionalist
http://intentionalist.com/
Follow Intentionalist
https://www.instagram.com/intentionalist_/
Follow Carla Marie
https://www.instagram.com/thecarlamarie/
Watch Carla Marie and Anthony on Twitch
http://twitch.tv/carlamarieandanthony/
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host, Carla Marie.
Each week I talked to someone who is either following
a passion outside of their day job, working extra just
for something they truly believe in, or people who have
taken their side hustle and made it their full time job. Now.
I always tell you that this podcast has essentially become
(00:20):
my own side hustle, but right now it's technically my
full time job because yes, I was let go from
my morning show job about ten days ago. My co
host Anthony and I. So if you're looking on ways
how you can find us. We've actually been streaming on Twitch,
which has been really cool, and it's interactive so you
can watch us in the morning. I put the link
below so you can click it, but it's Twitch, dot
tv slash Carla Marie and Anthony. It's free. You can
(00:42):
follow there. It's pretty awesome. This week's guest is Laura Klass.
Three years ago, Laura invented intentionalist dot com, having no
idea how much we were truly going to need her
in Intentionalist is this really amazing website where you can
go to find small businesses that are either family owned,
(01:04):
black owned, Asian owned, Native owned, and all different kinds
of categories. So you can spend your money intentionally, and
that's obviously something I have preached forever on this podcast.
Shop small, shop local when you can, and Laura's website
Intentionalist lets you do that. But how and why did
Laura start this? Well, this is Laura's story for a
(01:28):
lot of people. You know, why are you? Why do
you know what you want to do? And this is
something you want to do? Do it. I'm a hustles
side side hustle. Do it. I'm a hustle side hustl
do it. I'm a hustle side hustlove. Come on, ask
about me, yo yo. It's the side hustlest podcast we
call The Route. This episode has been like in the
(01:51):
making for more than a year, so I'm very excited.
I've got Laura Clais here. Hello Laura. So you actually
live in my old department building, which we didn't mean
each other there, and I'm we're gonna get into the
story and how we met, which is wild. But you
are the mastermind behind intentionalist dot com. So I'm gonna
let you explain what intentionalist is. Absolutely So I started
(02:14):
Intentionalist because I believe that where we spend our money matters,
and more specifically, I believe that small businesses and diverse
communities are the heart and soul of our city and
cities around the world. And yet what I found going
back a few years ago was that it was really
(02:36):
hard to find information not about what was for sale
at local businesses, that information about the people in stories
behind them. Yes, I wanted high, That's why we have
this podcast to get it. I wanted to find black
owned restaurants. It was Black History Month and my wife
and I had decided that part of our celebration would
(02:59):
include only dining out at black owned restaurants. But three
years ago, when I went to try to do the
research to make that happen, it was ours and not
a whole lot of results, and I thought, there really
needs to be a better, easier way. Well, and you
guys have a ton of categories now, but but you
(03:20):
just mentioned something. It triggered back. We did two episodes
where I talked to black female business owners. I brought
them back onto the podcast, and what they were telling
me is that a lot of times they don't like
putting their face with their brand because they have this
fear that because people will find out its owned by
a black female, they're not going to want to shop there.
(03:40):
And I think that could have been part of the
problem when you were searching. Maybe other people felt that
same way, But now it's like, because so many people
are rallying together, it's like, no, be proud of this.
We want to shop from people intentionally obviously where the
name came from. So I think that could have honestly
been part of the problem too when you were searching. Yeah.
I think in addition, we have this somewhat inherent culture
(04:02):
that focuses almost exclusively on convenience. And I think that
while I'm busy, you're busy, we're all busy. When we
pause for even half a second and think about what's
really important and what really matters, we remember that people
matter and in order to align our values with everyday
(04:26):
decisions about where we eat, drink, and shop, people are
part of that equation. And I think that it's important
to remember the link between the money that we spend
and the communities that were a part of That's something
I've been preaching, i'd say, over this last year more
than ever. I've had this podcast for longer but this
podcast and small business owners have helped me realize what
(04:48):
you everything you've said exactly that you know where you're
you spend your money, it matters, and you're putting the
money directly in a humans pocket. When you shop small
opposed to a big corporation, you don't know where that
money is going, you don't know what it's being used for.
And you know, Amazon is an easy example. It's just
we're all guilty. It's so easy to shop Amazon, and
no one is telling you not to use Amazon. But
(05:11):
if you can buy it locally, right down the street,
get off your button, go do it. And I think
that's what a lot of us need to start realizing,
and it'll change our communities for the better. I think
that a lot of us have good intentions, but what
we hope Intentionalist provides is a simple resource that allows
(05:32):
us to close the gap between our good intentions and
really simple action that makes a difference. And you're right.
When you are spending locally and you know the person
in the family that is benefiting from the decisions that
you make, it's no longer a transaction, right, It's a
relational investment. And it's not only good for the business
(05:56):
and everyone that they're connected to, but you also feel
more connected to your community. Oh yeah, and you just
feel good. It's almost, I don't want to say it
feels like you're doing a good deed, but you just
feel better when you shop locally. And it's it's true.
That's coming from someone who's done it, who's who's transitioned
to making sure you shop small or check if you
can shop small before you go to a big corporation,
(06:18):
and you do feel so much better. So what if
it takes an extra day to get delivered, if you
have to order online, or if you have to get
in your car or go for a walk. So what
it's it's worth it, especially now we all have the time.
You know it's worth it. But I want to talk
about the categories you have. Now three years later, you've
branched out into so many categories. And then I want
to get into how you did this and how you
(06:39):
built out the website, but talk about all of the
categories that you guys have at intentionalist dot com. From
a categorical perspective, we wanted to include brick and mortar
places where you or I, as consumers might eat, drink, shop, workout,
get our haircut, get our nails done, get a massage,
get our car fixed. The reason that we focus on
(07:01):
brick and mortar is because, honestly, it felt like no
one else was. And when we look at the way
that businesses that have a physical presence shape our communities,
influence the culture of the places where we live and
work in play, it makes a difference. I think we've
(07:21):
all experienced how strange it's been walking around our neighborhoods
during the pandemic and seeing dark windows and boarded up storefronts.
And there's something special that we lose when we don't
have those really special cultural touch points that are the
(07:41):
reflection of the creativity and ingenuity of real people in
our lives. Yeah, so you guys, you started with black
owned businesses three years ago, right, is that what you
launched with? We actually launched in Atlanta, but you're in Seattle. No.
I didn't know that, so annoyance when they started in Seattle.
(08:02):
But fast forward a few months and I knew that
I was going to be participating in a social impact
conference along with thousands of other people in Atlanta, and
I thought this would be a good test case, so
that was for your day job that conference. So I
was speaking at the conference for my day job. But
I had this idea that there were going to be
(08:24):
thousands of people coming to an unfamiliar city who needed
to get a cup of coffee, go somewhere for cocktails,
maybe pick up some gifts, grab a bite to eat,
and why not try to direct their spending power in
support of local, diversea and small businesses. And so I
hopped a flight to Atlanta and had done some desk
(08:45):
research and walked around like door to door to the
verse small businesses, which is insane to think in today's
world that someone did that. But what was really amazing
was that we learned two really important things. The one
that was actually the most important thing was that this
was something that small business owners were actually open to
(09:07):
and saw value in right, the opportunity to share a
little bit about who they are and why they started
their business. Thing too, which was also super important, was
that people were excited to know about local, meaningful alternatives
for their cup of coffee or for their lunch break.
(09:27):
When you first told me about Intentions, I was like, wait,
how has no one wait, you invented that? That's so cool? Like,
I was like, we need How has this not been around?
We need this? Oh my god, I love this. It
was just all these feelings and it's you have such
a feel good job too now, which is really cool
that you've been able to launch this, But your day
job was also really cool. I think. So we're going
(09:49):
to get back into Atlanta, but tell everyone what your
day job was. I spent the majority of my career
in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, so thinking about the
intersection of in my case, large corporations and society and
how it is that we could harness our resources and
(10:11):
influence and support of the planet and people and communities.
You've done incredible things for people, especially with intentionalists, with
with small business owners who need us now more than ever.
But go back to Atlanta. You're in Atlanta for this
conference and you start telling people, Okay, go to these places.
(10:32):
Was the reaction. People were really excited because I think
that a lot of times when we travel were relieved
to get there. In one case, our luggage arrives and
then we're busy trying to figure out how to get
from here to there. But what was really cool is
that we offered a shortcut for these conference attendees to
save them needing to do research, to access a more
(10:56):
local experience while they were in town, and it was
really cool for them to know, for example, that they
could grab lunch at Busy Be Cafe, which has been around,
uh since cash I want to say, the late nineteen
forties by a black woman who started working there and
worked your way up and now owns and runs the restaurant.
(11:21):
It's typical Southern food, the best bread chicken in Atlanta.
But in addition to that, it's a place where civil
rights leaders met during the height of the movement, and
so there's really incredible history along with delicious food and
a sense of community. Can ask for anything more. So
(11:41):
when you saw how people reacted and you saw the
difference it made, what was your your next step and
your reaction? My reaction was I'm going to have to
find a way to do this for real, because up
until that point, I mean, what we haven't touched on
is you know, at what moment did I know that
intentionalists should be a business right? And I think that
(12:04):
a lot of entrepreneurs know for a long time, like, oh,
I want to own my own business. I want to
be my own bus. You know, I'm a hustler. I
want to be an entrepreneur, and I was super comfortable
being an entrepreneur, so I like instigating new, haven't been
done yet ideas. But I was able to do that
(12:28):
within the safety of a large corporation and insurance, which
was cool, right. But I was never one of those
people who was just waiting for that moment when I
could start my own company. And so I had, you know,
a long list of excuses why this was just something
(12:49):
I was interested in, Why this was something that I
figured somebody else, you know, would pick up the baton
and just make it happen. I wanted the resource to exist.
I wanted the ability, wherever I was in the world,
to be able to be intentional about where I spent
my money. And I figured it was so obvious that
(13:10):
someone would create it and then I could just and
just use it. Yeah, that's great, But that wasn't the case.
So what did you do? The presidential election happened, and
I just found myself reflecting on my experience, my expertise,
how am I using the privileges that I've had, and
(13:31):
do I feel like I'm doing everything that I can
to contribute to the kind of America, the kind of
world that I want to be a part of. It's
something that's always been really important to me. How am
I trying to leave my company, my community, any organization
that I'm a part of a little bit better? And
(13:53):
as I was listening to the response of people and
communities that are important to me after that election, a
lot of people were scared. Folks were angry, people were frustrated,
people were anxious, and they were talking about how that
was spurring different kinds of action, everything from protests to
(14:16):
boycott to volunteerism to philanthropy. But I didn't hear any
one talking about harnessing the money that we already spent.
It's soul in support of people in communities that matter.
And one of the other things that I think is
really powerful about connecting with and supporting small businesses is
(14:40):
that they're owned by such a wide diversity of people,
people from different backgrounds and cultures and experiences, And when
we interact with those people face to face, there's an
opportunity to encounter and learn something new. With those connections,
I think comes the opportunity to maybe even ridge differences
(15:03):
between us, and I think that the world that I
hope to contribute to is one where there's more connectivity
right now each other. It's not why I set after
this podcast, but that's what it became for me. It
was connecting listeners to these business owners, and then it
became connecting business owners with one another, and it's just
(15:26):
an incredible community. And that's the best way to describe it.
It's a community. And I know the small business community
is just a group of people who still they also
want to help one another, which is really cool in
that and being able to connect people to people is
the biggest thing we can do because once you meet
someone and I say this to almost everyone who's on
(15:49):
the podcast, and like, once someone knows your story, they're
connected to you, and they're more likely to spend their
money with you and their time with you than anyone else.
And when you finally you're doing that, you're bridging that gap.
You are letting people know where their money is going
and who it's going to. So intentional lists in its
(16:10):
own way, is is doing the same thing that this
podcast is doing, but on a whole new level, on
a level where it's just at your fingertips and I
can just search it no matter, you know, if I'm
traveling or not. And you have given these small businessessners
such a cold gift, and consumers to such a cool gift.
And it's crazy what you've done in three years, and
(16:30):
and so many more things are going to come. I'm
sure you've got things up your sleeve alard. You know,
I know you've got things up your sleeve already. But
your categories, to me now, I think are so cool,
and I think people need to know about that. If
they haven't gone to intentionalist dot com yet, they should.
And if you just scroll down wherever you're listening, you
can click right there in the description. We've got a
(16:51):
link to the website and your Instagram intentional list is
there as well, so people can check out everything. But
your categories, now, can you outlist some of those offer us? Sure?
So we have places where you can eat or drink,
so bars and coffee shop. We have dessert and a
huge dessert fan, so it gets its own category, of course,
(17:12):
Restaurants and cafes, bakeries, Jim's yoga studios, places where you
can get your hair done, we have health services, and
then a whole range of other services, everything from bike
shops to automotive mechanics to you don't ever think about
that either, yeah, as small business owners. But yeah, what
(17:33):
we hope is that in time, when each of us
is taking just a moment to be intentional, as we
look at where we spend our money, nine times out
of ton, there is you know, a local, diverse, intentional option,
and so then it's just a question of how can
we make it as easy as possible for you to
(17:53):
find and support that business. Now, your community categories, I
want to talk about those, like the different own businesses
because did it originally start as just showing black owned businesses.
It started as being broader than that. So it was
inspired by the difficulty I encountered around Black History months.
But the initial categories actually included Latino Asian owned, Black owned,
(18:19):
LGBTQ owned, veteran owned. It also includes Native owned, family owned.
And the idea here is, on the one hand, personalizing
the opportunity for connection, and we've seen so much more
of this over the past few months. Small businesses have
different challenges than large corporations. But then when you drill
(18:42):
down and you look at which small businesses, for example,
didn't receive as much federal assistance, which small businesses don't
receive easy access to loans, another capital. What we realized
is that businesses owned by women, businesses owned by people
(19:04):
of color, businesses owned by people from historically marginalized or
underrepresented communities, there's a revenue gap. And that's where we
as consumers can, you know, in a sense, put our
thumb on the equity scale and really make a difference.
So if someone goes to intentionalist dot com, first of all,
(19:25):
it is seamless your website. It is so easy to use,
so there are no excuses for anyone. But you go
right there, and I'm on there right now. I can
say what I'm looking for, whether it's a business or
service everything like you you listed off grocery, gym, coffee, dessert,
and then you can actually shop by the community, whether
like you said, it's veteran own, native owned, lgbt Q,
(19:46):
any of that, and then you can do the city
and state. Now you have is it fifteen cities and
seven states right now? So those are the ones that
we highlight, okayplicitly, there are even more that are included,
and we're adding more every day, largely based on suggestions
from the broader community. So how can people suggest that?
Because the cool thing about this podcast there's people that
(20:07):
live in those states that you guys highlight and so
many more. So if they're like, wait, wait, I know
this local business, how can they suggest to you At
Intentionalist Laura their business that they love. If you go
to intentionalist dot com at the top of the page,
there's a set of menus and the second one suggestive business.
I gotta suggestive business. That's where you go. That's so cool,
(20:30):
And and your whole tagline is spend like it matters.
I love that because it does. And I love that
you have pride t shirts that they spend like it matters.
That tope bag behind you. Can people buy that as well?
They will be. We just need to add it to
the website so you will awesome. So obviously check intentionalist
dot com because I think everyone needs this tote. I
(20:50):
have a kind of a rude question, but it's the
business podcast. How do you make money? That's a great question,
and you're right, it's a super important question. In a nutshell,
We've taken our time. And what I mean by that
is normally for a website like ours, the go to
monetization is to make money off the backs of the
(21:12):
small businesses that are a part of the network, and
by design, we intentionally wanted to try to start somewhere
else because the reality is that brick and mortar businesses
they're operating on really thin margins. And while yes, if
I help a business attract new customers make additional revenue,
(21:33):
yes there's a willingness to pay. But our hypothesis is
that small businesses aren't the only ones who benefit from
a thriving small business community, and so if we, as
consumers experience value and other stakeholders experience value, then there
ought to be a way to monetize. Initially, we didn't
(21:54):
make any money and it was all about laying the
foundation and building relationships with small business owners, with nonprofit
organizations and partners, and with the consumers like you who
use our site. Last year, we dipped our toe into
monetization by creating our pilot electronic gift card, and the
(22:19):
premise was something like this, People spend a lot of
money saying thank you, and the go to thank you
right is a Starbucks gift card, Amazon gift card, or
something in that spirit. And actually it was a member
again of intentionalist community who said, man, it would be
cool to have an intentionalist gift card or wallet that
(22:44):
I can use a multiple intentionalist businesses. And so what
we have in place right now is an electronic gift
card that can be used at a select number of
businesses as well as in our gift certificate marketplace, which
is something that we just created during the pandemic. So
(23:07):
we're selling our own gift card and small businesses gift certificates.
But here's how we actually make monk. We make money
by asking the people who purchase the gift cards and
the gift certificates to consider giving us a tip. We're
really transparent. We say, look, we want to keep these
in commission at zero at a minimum for the small
(23:30):
businesses that are part of our network. We don't charge
the membership these We aren't charging them commission, you know,
to sell their gift certificates on our platform. Just because
we could doesn't mean that we should. Because we wanted
to test the appetite to monetize a different way. And
what we have found is that individual consumers who care
are willing to chip in companies that are looking to
(23:54):
thank and reward their employees are willing to chip in
nonprofit organizations or will going to chip in, And it's
our way of proving that a thriving brick and water
small business community is something that we all benefit from
should want to invest in. It's still smart, and it's
great that you didn't try to make money right away
(24:16):
because you were able to make money the right way,
and it's you know, it may have taken a little longer,
but you did it. And at what point did you
leave your day job? At what point we're like, all right,
you know what I can do this? I want to
say it was about nine months into having formally incorporated Intentionalist.
(24:38):
The way that that I put it a little bit
tongue in cheek, is that I ran out of excuses
not to go all in. Yeah, because I've been like
a nerdy overachiever my whole life. Right, I work hard,
I get good grades, I you know, do the things
and get the results. But I'll tell you something, meeting
(24:59):
small business owners has been the most humbling experience of
my life. And when you realize what small business owners
put on the line in order to start their businesses,
in order to provide for their families, and you you
realize the risks that they take and all that they
(25:20):
put into making their businesses possible. If you're someone like me,
you realize that there's really no excuse not to try,
especially if you think you have an idea and the
ability to try to make a difference. Yeah, that that
hits home a lot for me, because I've made excuses
(25:41):
for a lot of things where I'm like, no, like
I have my job, like I don't need to do
anything else, and now it's like, well I don't have
my job, and now I have no more excuses. But
I often get very emotional talking about small business owners,
and people who don't interact with small business owners kind
of look at you like you're crazy, because you're like
what why? But I'm so glad you just said all
(26:03):
the things you said, because I screamed that from the
roof shops I do, and I'm like, I'm telling you,
just meet the people you're shopping from. I I fully
believe in every word you just said because I feel
it and I say it too, and I'm so I
feel justified in what you're saying. And I hope people
who are listening are like, Okay, I'm gonna start talking
(26:24):
to small business owners. I'm going to do it because
it really is, like you said, humbling, and it's life changing.
And it seems so silly to say, but it is.
Talk to the people in your community who are owning
these small businesses, who these people are making your community.
They are what makes your community. And if you just
you know, either walk by their business or shop and
(26:45):
just keep your head down and head on your phone
without having a conversation with them, you're missing out. And
I highly recommend doing it to Laura, I appreciate you
for saying that and not making me sound crazy. No,
it's so true. And I think it's hard to talk
about small businesses and not talk about the impact of
the last five months. But before we before we talk
(27:07):
about like the hardship in the heartbreak. Here's what gives
me hope, keeps me going the response of so many
of the small business owners that I know. And I'm
going to point, for example, at restaurant owners, right, and
I'm gonna point at folks like Melissa Miranda of Moossang,
Christie Brown of That Brown Girl Cooks, Eduardo Jordan's of Solare,
(27:33):
and June Baby, and we send a green bar within
weeks of the stay Home order at a time when
sales had fallen off and they don't know what the
future is going to hold and their entire business and
savings are at risk. They aren't asking the question, how
(27:53):
can I look out for me? They're asking how can
I pivot my restaurant into a community kitch, and how
can I serve members of our community who are most vulnerable,
who are experiencing the most meat you know, I think
of you know, Linda Dolillo Morton and Tamara Murphy of
taraup Lata and the Food is Love Project, cooking meals
(28:15):
to be able to then distribute them to either folks
who are experiencing homelessness, to families who otherwise had received
some food assistance through the public school system. And I
think that it's important to remember that in moments of crisis,
small business owners are our leaders in our community in
(28:36):
really powerful and inspiring ways. Well. Yeah, and obviously with
the pandemic we saw it firsthand, we saw it recently.
But the same thing when you see hurricanes and tornadoes
in cities all across American other countries, who is they're cooking?
It's always a small business owner cooking, donating supplies. I
mean we saw it with you know, masks and stuff.
Small businesses that had masks were donating them as well.
(28:59):
So in the those crazy times, who are the heroes?
Obviously there are you know, your firefighters, your police officers,
your nurses, your doctors, but small business owners are also heroes.
They are your local heroes for different ways. And I'm
glad you told all those stories because I didn't know
any of those. I knew small business owners were doing that,
but I didn't know those specific ones, so that you know,
(29:20):
in a time when they need help are helping others.
I mean, right, there is enough reason to go to
intentionalist dot com and and order dinner from one of
them tonight, or or shop for the next time you
need to get a birthday gift from one of them.
When the pandemic first hit, I thought about you guys,
and I was like, wow, this is this is a
great time for Intentionalist because of what they've created. And
then a lot of the protests and riots were happening
(29:42):
and everyone was preaching shop black owned, and I was like, damn,
like this is Intentional list. Oh my god, They've They've
set us up for this this is great. And then
I saw national and local news articles with interviews with you,
Laura highlighting you highlighting Intentional List. I was like, oh
my god, this is awesome. So I was girling from
the sidelines. But when when you were going through that
(30:03):
or what was that like? And when people are reaching
out to you and you're really getting this national coverage.
The way that we view our work is that every follow,
every quick every retweet, every amplification isn't really about us.
We're the vehicle right where the bridge, where the connection.
And so I can feel comfortable, I guess as someone
(30:29):
for whom I think, I mean, humility is really important
to me. It's definitely something that has been ingrained in
me for my whole life, you know, through my family,
and so it's always for me a little bit awkward, uh,
to receive recognition. I get it. But when it comes
(30:49):
to Intentional List, there's something a little bit different because
everything about Intentionalist is about amplifying and elevating and showcase
seen small business owners and the people who care about them.
Be proud of what you've done, because it's it's not
like you're out here pushing a product like hey, look
at this amazing product by bod and well, I mean, yes,
(31:10):
you're selling products, but they are for a good need.
But it's not that you're out there, you know, pushing
a product. You are pushing other people's livelihoods. You are
you are presenting, you're basically selling other people's livelihoods. And
what you've done is incredible. And I was so excited
to see, specifically reading an article from King five that
listed a ton of restaurants that you guys had highlighted,
(31:31):
and I was like, oh my god, this is amazing.
And it was like, thank god you've worked on this
for the last three years because we needed it more
than ever now and because you had that moment where
you're like, why doesn't this exist like many side hustlers
or many business owners, you help so many people by
finally diving into it. And I love that you've been
honest about you You didn't want to make it, you
(31:52):
wanted someone else to make it, because I feel that
way about a lot of things, like why can someone
else just do it so I can use it? And
I'm glad you were honest about that. And sensional List
has been built by a small but mighty part time
contract team and so to be able to share with
them the impact that we've been able to have, especially
(32:12):
over the last five months, has been really powerful because
these are people who are contributing their time and talent
in between other things that they have going on, and
there are the folks that make the resource possible, and
so for them to see the real impact um and
for them to hear directly from the businesses that are
(32:35):
a part of our network drove meaningful sales and awareness.
I want everybody who is a part of Intentionalists to
know that their contribution makes a difference. This podcast is
going to make a difference, and I can't wait to
loop back with you and let you know about it,
I hope. So, but have you heard back from small
(32:58):
business owners who are like, oh my god, people found
me from intentionalist dot com. Thank you. Yes, it's amazing,
it really is. I mean, I have to tell you,
even though it has been you know, day and night
and everything in between for the last three years, in
my mind and in my heart, I still feel like
I felt when we had like ten Instagram followers and
(33:21):
they were all family members, right, And so I still
notice everyone who takes a moment to shout out Intentionalist
on social media, and there are people who regularly let
us know I checked out the Station coffee shop because
I heard about them on intentional List. And then to
your point, when small business owners let us know, whether
(33:44):
it's in person, whether they're sending me a text, whether
they're sending me a d M through Instagram, they get excited.
And when I think about what it takes for a
consumer to be so excited about Intentionalists that they're going
to seek out a restaurant owner and say, oh my gosh,
I read a little bit about your story on Intentionalist
(34:04):
and that makes me even more excited to be here.
That's pretty special, and that that's evidence of the kind
of connection that we hope to facilitate. Have you seen
the video it went viral actually this year of two
girls behind a counter in a retail shop and it's
there's the security footage and they're working and someone buys
(34:25):
from them, and the person walks out and the two
girls duck behind the counter gets super excited and do
some like crazy little handshake. And the meme was like
this is what actually happens when you shot from a
small business, and it was I was like, yeah, this
is the cutest and I was like, there's no other
way to describe it other than this video. And I
thought you saying all that stuff made me think of
(34:47):
that video and it's real. And I'm glad you've been
able to help me preach on this podcast about small
business owners. This is so you. You're awesome and I
know you have a lot of things coming up, and
one thing we do want to tell people to do
is sign up for your newsletter, which I'll put the
link below for them to sign up for the newsletter.
I fully understand the importance of a newsletter. Anthony and
I have one, and we talk about it with different
(35:10):
guests on this podcast, because that is your way as
a business to directly connect with someone because social media
could vanish one day and we lose all of that.
So the newsletter is super important for connecting with intentionalists obviously,
but small business owners. A lot of times you go
into the store and they have a little note book
for you to put your your email on. I love
doing that, so that's really cool. And then you have
(35:31):
what is the dessert, the sweet intentionalists that you're doing.
What is that? So, of course we believe that it's
important to spend like it matters to put our money
where our mouth is. But we recognize that there are
times when maybe today I don't have money to spend.
Even if that's where you are today, you can still
contribute to and support small businesses. So what we started
(35:55):
doing is a little activation that enables folks to put
together their top ten list. So we call them intentionalist.
I love the fun like that, right and right now
we're encouraging folks to share their favorite dessert spots. And
(36:16):
so you go to intentionalist dot com. There's a little
banner at the top that encourages you to share your
favorite dessert shops. You create your intentional list, you share
it via social media and tag intentional List underscore. And
then you're entered into a weekly giveaway and we're giving
out Baked from the Heart pious Fridays. Where from the
(36:41):
Heart is a black owned pie business down in the
Mount Baker neighborhood. Cool. So if someone enters in another state,
how what happens? I will figure out a way to
reward them. Acquitta, okay, good, just wanted to make sure
we can ship a pie. We can figure out a way.
I am going out a road trip. Maybe I can
deliver it to them. We'll make it happen. Um, and
(37:03):
then you've got what is the impactful ice cream that
is on the download for the moment. And so folks
should keep an eye out because anyone who has followed
Intentionalist knows that I love ice cream like I love
ice cream. On National ice Cream Day, I went to
five ice creams. Oh my god, I could have gone
two more. And so I mean, there's just something fun,
(37:27):
something satisfying about trying to bring together the things you
love in a way that's impossiful. And so we're cooking
up a little ice cream impact. So keep an eye
out on this podcast. I love talking about how people meet,
and most recently it's been a lot of through Instagram
I've found people or through people have been on this podcast.
(37:48):
But you and I actually met at a networking event,
which seems so ancient at this point. We were at
it was Bumble Women in Business, right, and we just
started talking and you're telling me about Intentionalists, and you
act told me that there was a new ice cream
place opening up and it was Sweet Alchemy, right, And
I haven't I've been into m d O Donuts because
(38:08):
they're they're connected. I actually haven't had sweet Alchemy yet,
so now after this, I have a lot of stops
to go. You've made me hungry, but I'm laughing because
you're talking about how much you love ice cream, and
that was the day we met. You told me that.
But then we also connected um talking about how we
lived in the same apartment building at that point for
like three years, and how did we we had to
(38:28):
have bumped in. We only bumped into each other once. Really,
I think after that, open your eyes and have conversations
with people is my thing because we maybe could have
had a conversation with the elevator and met each other sooner.
And I learned a lot that day when I was like,
damn hell, you know, we've probably walked by each other
a ton of times and head down, maybe not even
a hey, you never know, and you know it took
(38:49):
that event, which I'm grateful for, but we could have
met each other sooner. So conversations are are big thing
for me. And obviously you love talking to small business owners,
so you know that. But yeah, that I'm grateful for
that event. I met a lot of amazing women that day.
We are going to do a giveaway together. Yes, you
are the mastermind behind this. You've got a lot of
things we're going to give away, so tell me all
(39:09):
the things and then we can tell people how to enter. Absolutely.
So one of my favorite local shops is on Capitol Hill.
It's called Retail Therapy and it's owned by a woman
named Wazma Samose And you can actually read about her
story through intentionalist flog and you can learn about how
her family originally immigrated from Afghanistan, and just as impressively,
(39:34):
her boutique has been around for seventeen years, which which
is forever on the hill. Yeah, it really is. I
mean I feel like you hear that a little bit
in Ballard, but not so much in the Capitol Hill area.
So I thought that since tis the season for take
out and take away and being outside, she had this
(39:54):
really cool cocktail canteen for sale, and it include everything
you need for making drinks on the go, and it's
in this handy little canister and it includes a zester
and a bitters dropper and a mini funnel and an
extendable mixing spoon and a thermos. And then we'll couple
(40:15):
that with utel. I like cocktails. Yes, the carry on cocktail, yeah,
which has all the ingredients except for the booze. You'll
have to by O B. And then as a bonus,
it's hard to see an RBG action figure. Okay, So
we know that she needs all of our good wishes
and prayers, so this way you can channel them directly
(40:39):
to your RBG action figure. Okay, So what we'll tell
people then go to our Instagram accouncil. I'm at the
Carla Muri and Intentionalist is intentionalist underscore, and there will
be instructions on what to do there. It will most
likely be follow both of us and we'll pick a
winner from there, which is super cool. So thank you
for doing that, Laura, haven't done I don't think I've
(40:59):
done to give away in a while, so I'm excited.
It's very exciting. Well, and then you'll have an opportunity
to learn a little more about retail therapy. Yes, absolutely,
And what is the one last thing you want people
to know about intentionalists and why they should go to
intentionalist dot com and keep in on people who listen
from all over not just Seattle. I want people to
remember that you can make a difference through the money
(41:22):
that you already spend. You don't have to spend any more.
We just want to help you to be intentional, to
use the everyday decisions about where you eat, drink, and
shop as an opportunity to support and invest in the
people in small businesses in your community. Bam dropped the
mic on that one. I loved it. That was awesome. Laura,
(41:45):
thank you so much for being here and tell me
everyone your story. I appreciate it. This was so much fun,
and thank you for being such a passionate evangelist for
side hustlers and small business owners alike. Ah, you're the best. So,
like Laura said, we are doing a giveaway. You can
check out my instagram at the Carla Maurie for all
the information, but also it's intentionalists underscore on Instagram, but
(42:08):
that's below, so you can just click right there on
how to support intentionalist, shop locally and recommend businesses in
your area at intentionalist dot com. It's gonna be really
cool to see how many of you do that. So
go go, go, go do that. And thank you so
much for reaching out to me. I know you've been
emailing side Hustler's podcast at gmail dot com you've been
messaging me on Instagram at the Carla Murray. It's very
(42:29):
overwhelming but very welcomed, and I've been getting back to
people slowly, So thank you. This is a crazy time.
I'm glad you're here to support me during this wild ride.
I'm glad you're here to support Anthony as well. So
Twitch dot tv, slash Carla, Marie and Anthony is where
you can find us. For now. We're gonna embark on
an epic road trip. Soon maybe we're gonna pass through
your city and we can socially distance wave to you,
(42:51):
So follow along on Twitch on my Instagram just so
you know what's happening. Thank you again for being here.
This podcast has been produced by Houston Tilly. Until next week,
keep ustling and be a good human. M
Welcome to the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host, Carla Marie.
Each week I talked to someone who is either following
a passion outside of their day job, working extra just
for something they truly believe in, or people who have
taken their side hustle and made it their full time job. Now.
I always tell you that this podcast has essentially become
(00:20):
my own side hustle, but right now it's technically my
full time job because yes, I was let go from
my morning show job about ten days ago. My co
host Anthony and I. So if you're looking on ways
how you can find us. We've actually been streaming on Twitch,
which has been really cool, and it's interactive so you
can watch us in the morning. I put the link
below so you can click it, but it's Twitch, dot
tv slash Carla Marie and Anthony. It's free. You can
(00:42):
follow there. It's pretty awesome. This week's guest is Laura Klass.
Three years ago, Laura invented intentionalist dot com, having no
idea how much we were truly going to need her
in Intentionalist is this really amazing website where you can
go to find small businesses that are either family owned,
(01:04):
black owned, Asian owned, Native owned, and all different kinds
of categories. So you can spend your money intentionally, and
that's obviously something I have preached forever on this podcast.
Shop small, shop local when you can, and Laura's website
Intentionalist lets you do that. But how and why did
Laura start this? Well, this is Laura's story for a
(01:28):
lot of people. You know, why are you? Why do
you know what you want to do? And this is
something you want to do? Do it. I'm a hustles
side side hustle. Do it. I'm a hustle side hustl
do it. I'm a hustle side hustlove. Come on, ask
about me, yo yo. It's the side hustlest podcast we
call The Route. This episode has been like in the
(01:51):
making for more than a year, so I'm very excited.
I've got Laura Clais here. Hello Laura. So you actually
live in my old department building, which we didn't mean
each other there, and I'm we're gonna get into the
story and how we met, which is wild. But you
are the mastermind behind intentionalist dot com. So I'm gonna
let you explain what intentionalist is. Absolutely So I started
(02:14):
Intentionalist because I believe that where we spend our money matters,
and more specifically, I believe that small businesses and diverse
communities are the heart and soul of our city and
cities around the world. And yet what I found going
back a few years ago was that it was really
(02:36):
hard to find information not about what was for sale
at local businesses, that information about the people in stories
behind them. Yes, I wanted high, That's why we have
this podcast to get it. I wanted to find black
owned restaurants. It was Black History Month and my wife
and I had decided that part of our celebration would
(02:59):
include only dining out at black owned restaurants. But three
years ago, when I went to try to do the
research to make that happen, it was ours and not
a whole lot of results, and I thought, there really
needs to be a better, easier way. Well, and you
guys have a ton of categories now, but but you
(03:20):
just mentioned something. It triggered back. We did two episodes
where I talked to black female business owners. I brought
them back onto the podcast, and what they were telling
me is that a lot of times they don't like
putting their face with their brand because they have this
fear that because people will find out its owned by
a black female, they're not going to want to shop there.
(03:40):
And I think that could have been part of the
problem when you were searching. Maybe other people felt that
same way, But now it's like, because so many people
are rallying together, it's like, no, be proud of this.
We want to shop from people intentionally obviously where the
name came from. So I think that could have honestly
been part of the problem too when you were searching. Yeah.
I think in addition, we have this somewhat inherent culture
(04:02):
that focuses almost exclusively on convenience. And I think that
while I'm busy, you're busy, we're all busy. When we
pause for even half a second and think about what's
really important and what really matters, we remember that people
matter and in order to align our values with everyday
(04:26):
decisions about where we eat, drink, and shop, people are
part of that equation. And I think that it's important
to remember the link between the money that we spend
and the communities that were a part of That's something
I've been preaching, i'd say, over this last year more
than ever. I've had this podcast for longer but this
podcast and small business owners have helped me realize what
(04:48):
you everything you've said exactly that you know where you're
you spend your money, it matters, and you're putting the
money directly in a humans pocket. When you shop small
opposed to a big corporation, you don't know where that
money is going, you don't know what it's being used for.
And you know, Amazon is an easy example. It's just
we're all guilty. It's so easy to shop Amazon, and
no one is telling you not to use Amazon. But
(05:11):
if you can buy it locally, right down the street,
get off your button, go do it. And I think
that's what a lot of us need to start realizing,
and it'll change our communities for the better. I think
that a lot of us have good intentions, but what
we hope Intentionalist provides is a simple resource that allows
(05:32):
us to close the gap between our good intentions and
really simple action that makes a difference. And you're right.
When you are spending locally and you know the person
in the family that is benefiting from the decisions that
you make, it's no longer a transaction, right, It's a
relational investment. And it's not only good for the business
(05:56):
and everyone that they're connected to, but you also feel
more connected to your community. Oh yeah, and you just
feel good. It's almost, I don't want to say it
feels like you're doing a good deed, but you just
feel better when you shop locally. And it's it's true.
That's coming from someone who's done it, who's who's transitioned
to making sure you shop small or check if you
can shop small before you go to a big corporation,
(06:18):
and you do feel so much better. So what if
it takes an extra day to get delivered, if you
have to order online, or if you have to get
in your car or go for a walk. So what
it's it's worth it, especially now we all have the time.
You know it's worth it. But I want to talk
about the categories you have. Now three years later, you've
branched out into so many categories. And then I want
to get into how you did this and how you
(06:39):
built out the website, but talk about all of the
categories that you guys have at intentionalist dot com. From
a categorical perspective, we wanted to include brick and mortar
places where you or I, as consumers might eat, drink, shop, workout,
get our haircut, get our nails done, get a massage,
get our car fixed. The reason that we focus on
(07:01):
brick and mortar is because, honestly, it felt like no
one else was. And when we look at the way
that businesses that have a physical presence shape our communities,
influence the culture of the places where we live and
work in play, it makes a difference. I think we've
(07:21):
all experienced how strange it's been walking around our neighborhoods
during the pandemic and seeing dark windows and boarded up storefronts.
And there's something special that we lose when we don't
have those really special cultural touch points that are the
(07:41):
reflection of the creativity and ingenuity of real people in
our lives. Yeah, so you guys, you started with black
owned businesses three years ago, right, is that what you
launched with? We actually launched in Atlanta, but you're in Seattle. No.
I didn't know that, so annoyance when they started in Seattle.
(08:02):
But fast forward a few months and I knew that
I was going to be participating in a social impact
conference along with thousands of other people in Atlanta, and
I thought this would be a good test case, so
that was for your day job that conference. So I
was speaking at the conference for my day job. But
I had this idea that there were going to be
(08:24):
thousands of people coming to an unfamiliar city who needed
to get a cup of coffee, go somewhere for cocktails,
maybe pick up some gifts, grab a bite to eat,
and why not try to direct their spending power in
support of local, diversea and small businesses. And so I
hopped a flight to Atlanta and had done some desk
(08:45):
research and walked around like door to door to the
verse small businesses, which is insane to think in today's
world that someone did that. But what was really amazing
was that we learned two really important things. The one
that was actually the most important thing was that this
was something that small business owners were actually open to
(09:07):
and saw value in right, the opportunity to share a
little bit about who they are and why they started
their business. Thing too, which was also super important, was
that people were excited to know about local, meaningful alternatives
for their cup of coffee or for their lunch break.
(09:27):
When you first told me about Intentions, I was like, wait,
how has no one wait, you invented that? That's so cool? Like,
I was like, we need How has this not been around?
We need this? Oh my god, I love this. It
was just all these feelings and it's you have such
a feel good job too now, which is really cool
that you've been able to launch this, But your day
job was also really cool. I think. So we're going
(09:49):
to get back into Atlanta, but tell everyone what your
day job was. I spent the majority of my career
in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, so thinking about the
intersection of in my case, large corporations and society and
how it is that we could harness our resources and
(10:11):
influence and support of the planet and people and communities.
You've done incredible things for people, especially with intentionalists, with
with small business owners who need us now more than ever.
But go back to Atlanta. You're in Atlanta for this
conference and you start telling people, Okay, go to these places.
(10:32):
Was the reaction. People were really excited because I think
that a lot of times when we travel were relieved
to get there. In one case, our luggage arrives and
then we're busy trying to figure out how to get
from here to there. But what was really cool is
that we offered a shortcut for these conference attendees to
save them needing to do research, to access a more
(10:56):
local experience while they were in town, and it was
really cool for them to know, for example, that they
could grab lunch at Busy Be Cafe, which has been around,
uh since cash I want to say, the late nineteen
forties by a black woman who started working there and
worked your way up and now owns and runs the restaurant.
(11:21):
It's typical Southern food, the best bread chicken in Atlanta.
But in addition to that, it's a place where civil
rights leaders met during the height of the movement, and
so there's really incredible history along with delicious food and
a sense of community. Can ask for anything more. So
(11:41):
when you saw how people reacted and you saw the
difference it made, what was your your next step and
your reaction? My reaction was I'm going to have to
find a way to do this for real, because up
until that point, I mean, what we haven't touched on
is you know, at what moment did I know that
intentionalists should be a business right? And I think that
(12:04):
a lot of entrepreneurs know for a long time, like, oh,
I want to own my own business. I want to
be my own bus. You know, I'm a hustler. I
want to be an entrepreneur, and I was super comfortable
being an entrepreneur, so I like instigating new, haven't been
done yet ideas. But I was able to do that
(12:28):
within the safety of a large corporation and insurance, which
was cool, right. But I was never one of those
people who was just waiting for that moment when I
could start my own company. And so I had, you know,
a long list of excuses why this was just something
(12:49):
I was interested in, Why this was something that I
figured somebody else, you know, would pick up the baton
and just make it happen. I wanted the resource to exist.
I wanted the ability, wherever I was in the world,
to be able to be intentional about where I spent
my money. And I figured it was so obvious that
(13:10):
someone would create it and then I could just and
just use it. Yeah, that's great, But that wasn't the case.
So what did you do? The presidential election happened, and
I just found myself reflecting on my experience, my expertise,
how am I using the privileges that I've had, and
(13:31):
do I feel like I'm doing everything that I can
to contribute to the kind of America, the kind of
world that I want to be a part of. It's
something that's always been really important to me. How am
I trying to leave my company, my community, any organization
that I'm a part of a little bit better? And
(13:53):
as I was listening to the response of people and
communities that are important to me after that election, a
lot of people were scared. Folks were angry, people were frustrated,
people were anxious, and they were talking about how that
was spurring different kinds of action, everything from protests to
(14:16):
boycott to volunteerism to philanthropy. But I didn't hear any
one talking about harnessing the money that we already spent.
It's soul in support of people in communities that matter.
And one of the other things that I think is
really powerful about connecting with and supporting small businesses is
(14:40):
that they're owned by such a wide diversity of people,
people from different backgrounds and cultures and experiences, And when
we interact with those people face to face, there's an
opportunity to encounter and learn something new. With those connections,
I think comes the opportunity to maybe even ridge differences
(15:03):
between us, and I think that the world that I
hope to contribute to is one where there's more connectivity
right now each other. It's not why I set after
this podcast, but that's what it became for me. It
was connecting listeners to these business owners, and then it
became connecting business owners with one another, and it's just
(15:26):
an incredible community. And that's the best way to describe it.
It's a community. And I know the small business community
is just a group of people who still they also
want to help one another, which is really cool in
that and being able to connect people to people is
the biggest thing we can do because once you meet
someone and I say this to almost everyone who's on
(15:49):
the podcast, and like, once someone knows your story, they're
connected to you, and they're more likely to spend their
money with you and their time with you than anyone else.
And when you finally you're doing that, you're bridging that gap.
You are letting people know where their money is going
and who it's going to. So intentional lists in its
(16:10):
own way, is is doing the same thing that this
podcast is doing, but on a whole new level, on
a level where it's just at your fingertips and I
can just search it no matter, you know, if I'm
traveling or not. And you have given these small businessessners
such a cold gift, and consumers to such a cool gift.
And it's crazy what you've done in three years, and
(16:30):
and so many more things are going to come. I'm
sure you've got things up your sleeve alard. You know,
I know you've got things up your sleeve already. But
your categories, to me now, I think are so cool,
and I think people need to know about that. If
they haven't gone to intentionalist dot com yet, they should.
And if you just scroll down wherever you're listening, you
can click right there in the description. We've got a
(16:51):
link to the website and your Instagram intentional list is
there as well, so people can check out everything. But
your categories, now, can you outlist some of those offer us? Sure?
So we have places where you can eat or drink,
so bars and coffee shop. We have dessert and a
huge dessert fan, so it gets its own category, of course,
(17:12):
Restaurants and cafes, bakeries, Jim's yoga studios, places where you
can get your hair done, we have health services, and
then a whole range of other services, everything from bike
shops to automotive mechanics to you don't ever think about
that either, yeah, as small business owners. But yeah, what
(17:33):
we hope is that in time, when each of us
is taking just a moment to be intentional, as we
look at where we spend our money, nine times out
of ton, there is you know, a local, diverse, intentional option,
and so then it's just a question of how can
we make it as easy as possible for you to
(17:53):
find and support that business. Now, your community categories, I
want to talk about those, like the different own businesses
because did it originally start as just showing black owned businesses.
It started as being broader than that. So it was
inspired by the difficulty I encountered around Black History months.
But the initial categories actually included Latino Asian owned, Black owned,
(18:19):
LGBTQ owned, veteran owned. It also includes Native owned, family owned.
And the idea here is, on the one hand, personalizing
the opportunity for connection, and we've seen so much more
of this over the past few months. Small businesses have
different challenges than large corporations. But then when you drill
(18:42):
down and you look at which small businesses, for example,
didn't receive as much federal assistance, which small businesses don't
receive easy access to loans, another capital. What we realized
is that businesses owned by women, businesses owned by people
(19:04):
of color, businesses owned by people from historically marginalized or
underrepresented communities, there's a revenue gap. And that's where we
as consumers can, you know, in a sense, put our
thumb on the equity scale and really make a difference.
So if someone goes to intentionalist dot com, first of all,
(19:25):
it is seamless your website. It is so easy to use,
so there are no excuses for anyone. But you go
right there, and I'm on there right now. I can
say what I'm looking for, whether it's a business or
service everything like you you listed off grocery, gym, coffee, dessert,
and then you can actually shop by the community, whether
like you said, it's veteran own, native owned, lgbt Q,
(19:46):
any of that, and then you can do the city
and state. Now you have is it fifteen cities and
seven states right now? So those are the ones that
we highlight, okayplicitly, there are even more that are included,
and we're adding more every day, largely based on suggestions
from the broader community. So how can people suggest that?
Because the cool thing about this podcast there's people that
(20:07):
live in those states that you guys highlight and so
many more. So if they're like, wait, wait, I know
this local business, how can they suggest to you At
Intentionalist Laura their business that they love. If you go
to intentionalist dot com at the top of the page,
there's a set of menus and the second one suggestive business.
I gotta suggestive business. That's where you go. That's so cool,
(20:30):
And and your whole tagline is spend like it matters.
I love that because it does. And I love that
you have pride t shirts that they spend like it matters.
That tope bag behind you. Can people buy that as well?
They will be. We just need to add it to
the website so you will awesome. So obviously check intentionalist
dot com because I think everyone needs this tote. I
(20:50):
have a kind of a rude question, but it's the
business podcast. How do you make money? That's a great question,
and you're right, it's a super important question. In a nutshell,
We've taken our time. And what I mean by that
is normally for a website like ours, the go to
monetization is to make money off the backs of the
(21:12):
small businesses that are a part of the network, and
by design, we intentionally wanted to try to start somewhere
else because the reality is that brick and mortar businesses
they're operating on really thin margins. And while yes, if
I help a business attract new customers make additional revenue,
(21:33):
yes there's a willingness to pay. But our hypothesis is
that small businesses aren't the only ones who benefit from
a thriving small business community, and so if we, as
consumers experience value and other stakeholders experience value, then there
ought to be a way to monetize. Initially, we didn't
(21:54):
make any money and it was all about laying the
foundation and building relationships with small business owners, with nonprofit
organizations and partners, and with the consumers like you who
use our site. Last year, we dipped our toe into
monetization by creating our pilot electronic gift card, and the
(22:19):
premise was something like this, People spend a lot of
money saying thank you, and the go to thank you
right is a Starbucks gift card, Amazon gift card, or
something in that spirit. And actually it was a member
again of intentionalist community who said, man, it would be
cool to have an intentionalist gift card or wallet that
(22:44):
I can use a multiple intentionalist businesses. And so what
we have in place right now is an electronic gift
card that can be used at a select number of
businesses as well as in our gift certificate marketplace, which
is something that we just created during the pandemic. So
(23:07):
we're selling our own gift card and small businesses gift certificates.
But here's how we actually make monk. We make money
by asking the people who purchase the gift cards and
the gift certificates to consider giving us a tip. We're
really transparent. We say, look, we want to keep these
in commission at zero at a minimum for the small
(23:30):
businesses that are part of our network. We don't charge
the membership these We aren't charging them commission, you know,
to sell their gift certificates on our platform. Just because
we could doesn't mean that we should. Because we wanted
to test the appetite to monetize a different way. And
what we have found is that individual consumers who care
are willing to chip in companies that are looking to
(23:54):
thank and reward their employees are willing to chip in
nonprofit organizations or will going to chip in, And it's
our way of proving that a thriving brick and water
small business community is something that we all benefit from
should want to invest in. It's still smart, and it's
great that you didn't try to make money right away
(24:16):
because you were able to make money the right way,
and it's you know, it may have taken a little longer,
but you did it. And at what point did you
leave your day job? At what point we're like, all right,
you know what I can do this? I want to
say it was about nine months into having formally incorporated Intentionalist.
(24:38):
The way that that I put it a little bit
tongue in cheek, is that I ran out of excuses
not to go all in. Yeah, because I've been like
a nerdy overachiever my whole life. Right, I work hard,
I get good grades, I you know, do the things
and get the results. But I'll tell you something, meeting
(24:59):
small business owners has been the most humbling experience of
my life. And when you realize what small business owners
put on the line in order to start their businesses,
in order to provide for their families, and you you
realize the risks that they take and all that they
(25:20):
put into making their businesses possible. If you're someone like me,
you realize that there's really no excuse not to try,
especially if you think you have an idea and the
ability to try to make a difference. Yeah, that that
hits home a lot for me, because I've made excuses
(25:41):
for a lot of things where I'm like, no, like
I have my job, like I don't need to do
anything else, and now it's like, well I don't have
my job, and now I have no more excuses. But
I often get very emotional talking about small business owners,
and people who don't interact with small business owners kind
of look at you like you're crazy, because you're like
what why? But I'm so glad you just said all
(26:03):
the things you said, because I screamed that from the
roof shops I do, and I'm like, I'm telling you,
just meet the people you're shopping from. I I fully
believe in every word you just said because I feel
it and I say it too, and I'm so I
feel justified in what you're saying. And I hope people
who are listening are like, Okay, I'm gonna start talking
(26:24):
to small business owners. I'm going to do it because
it really is, like you said, humbling, and it's life changing.
And it seems so silly to say, but it is.
Talk to the people in your community who are owning
these small businesses, who these people are making your community.
They are what makes your community. And if you just
you know, either walk by their business or shop and
(26:45):
just keep your head down and head on your phone
without having a conversation with them, you're missing out. And
I highly recommend doing it to Laura, I appreciate you
for saying that and not making me sound crazy. No,
it's so true. And I think it's hard to talk
about small businesses and not talk about the impact of
the last five months. But before we before we talk
(27:07):
about like the hardship in the heartbreak. Here's what gives
me hope, keeps me going the response of so many
of the small business owners that I know. And I'm
going to point, for example, at restaurant owners, right, and
I'm gonna point at folks like Melissa Miranda of Moossang,
Christie Brown of That Brown Girl Cooks, Eduardo Jordan's of Solare,
(27:33):
and June Baby, and we send a green bar within
weeks of the stay Home order at a time when
sales had fallen off and they don't know what the
future is going to hold and their entire business and
savings are at risk. They aren't asking the question, how
(27:53):
can I look out for me? They're asking how can
I pivot my restaurant into a community kitch, and how
can I serve members of our community who are most vulnerable,
who are experiencing the most meat you know, I think
of you know, Linda Dolillo Morton and Tamara Murphy of
taraup Lata and the Food is Love Project, cooking meals
(28:15):
to be able to then distribute them to either folks
who are experiencing homelessness, to families who otherwise had received
some food assistance through the public school system. And I
think that it's important to remember that in moments of crisis,
small business owners are our leaders in our community in
(28:36):
really powerful and inspiring ways. Well. Yeah, and obviously with
the pandemic we saw it firsthand, we saw it recently.
But the same thing when you see hurricanes and tornadoes
in cities all across American other countries, who is they're cooking?
It's always a small business owner cooking, donating supplies. I
mean we saw it with you know, masks and stuff.
Small businesses that had masks were donating them as well.
(28:59):
So in the those crazy times, who are the heroes?
Obviously there are you know, your firefighters, your police officers,
your nurses, your doctors, but small business owners are also heroes.
They are your local heroes for different ways. And I'm
glad you told all those stories because I didn't know
any of those. I knew small business owners were doing that,
but I didn't know those specific ones, so that you know,
(29:20):
in a time when they need help are helping others.
I mean, right, there is enough reason to go to
intentionalist dot com and and order dinner from one of
them tonight, or or shop for the next time you
need to get a birthday gift from one of them.
When the pandemic first hit, I thought about you guys,
and I was like, wow, this is this is a
great time for Intentionalist because of what they've created. And
then a lot of the protests and riots were happening
(29:42):
and everyone was preaching shop black owned, and I was like, damn,
like this is Intentional list. Oh my god, They've They've
set us up for this this is great. And then
I saw national and local news articles with interviews with you,
Laura highlighting you highlighting Intentional List. I was like, oh
my god, this is awesome. So I was girling from
the sidelines. But when when you were going through that
(30:03):
or what was that like? And when people are reaching
out to you and you're really getting this national coverage.
The way that we view our work is that every follow,
every quick every retweet, every amplification isn't really about us.
We're the vehicle right where the bridge, where the connection.
And so I can feel comfortable, I guess as someone
(30:29):
for whom I think, I mean, humility is really important
to me. It's definitely something that has been ingrained in
me for my whole life, you know, through my family,
and so it's always for me a little bit awkward, uh,
to receive recognition. I get it. But when it comes
(30:49):
to Intentional List, there's something a little bit different because
everything about Intentionalist is about amplifying and elevating and showcase
seen small business owners and the people who care about them.
Be proud of what you've done, because it's it's not
like you're out here pushing a product like hey, look
at this amazing product by bod and well, I mean, yes,
(31:10):
you're selling products, but they are for a good need.
But it's not that you're out there, you know, pushing
a product. You are pushing other people's livelihoods. You are
you are presenting, you're basically selling other people's livelihoods. And
what you've done is incredible. And I was so excited
to see, specifically reading an article from King five that
listed a ton of restaurants that you guys had highlighted,
(31:31):
and I was like, oh my god, this is amazing.
And it was like, thank god you've worked on this
for the last three years because we needed it more
than ever now and because you had that moment where
you're like, why doesn't this exist like many side hustlers
or many business owners, you help so many people by
finally diving into it. And I love that you've been
honest about you You didn't want to make it, you
(31:52):
wanted someone else to make it, because I feel that
way about a lot of things, like why can someone
else just do it so I can use it? And
I'm glad you were honest about that. And sensional List
has been built by a small but mighty part time
contract team and so to be able to share with
them the impact that we've been able to have, especially
(32:12):
over the last five months, has been really powerful because
these are people who are contributing their time and talent
in between other things that they have going on, and
there are the folks that make the resource possible, and
so for them to see the real impact um and
for them to hear directly from the businesses that are
(32:35):
a part of our network drove meaningful sales and awareness.
I want everybody who is a part of Intentionalists to
know that their contribution makes a difference. This podcast is
going to make a difference, and I can't wait to
loop back with you and let you know about it,
I hope. So, but have you heard back from small
(32:58):
business owners who are like, oh my god, people found
me from intentionalist dot com. Thank you. Yes, it's amazing,
it really is. I mean, I have to tell you,
even though it has been you know, day and night
and everything in between for the last three years, in
my mind and in my heart, I still feel like
I felt when we had like ten Instagram followers and
(33:21):
they were all family members, right, And so I still
notice everyone who takes a moment to shout out Intentionalist
on social media, and there are people who regularly let
us know I checked out the Station coffee shop because
I heard about them on intentional List. And then to
your point, when small business owners let us know, whether
(33:44):
it's in person, whether they're sending me a text, whether
they're sending me a d M through Instagram, they get excited.
And when I think about what it takes for a
consumer to be so excited about Intentionalists that they're going
to seek out a restaurant owner and say, oh my gosh,
I read a little bit about your story on Intentionalist
(34:04):
and that makes me even more excited to be here.
That's pretty special, and that that's evidence of the kind
of connection that we hope to facilitate. Have you seen
the video it went viral actually this year of two
girls behind a counter in a retail shop and it's
there's the security footage and they're working and someone buys
(34:25):
from them, and the person walks out and the two
girls duck behind the counter gets super excited and do
some like crazy little handshake. And the meme was like
this is what actually happens when you shot from a
small business, and it was I was like, yeah, this
is the cutest and I was like, there's no other
way to describe it other than this video. And I
thought you saying all that stuff made me think of
(34:47):
that video and it's real. And I'm glad you've been
able to help me preach on this podcast about small
business owners. This is so you. You're awesome and I
know you have a lot of things coming up, and
one thing we do want to tell people to do
is sign up for your newsletter, which I'll put the
link below for them to sign up for the newsletter.
I fully understand the importance of a newsletter. Anthony and
I have one, and we talk about it with different
(35:10):
guests on this podcast, because that is your way as
a business to directly connect with someone because social media
could vanish one day and we lose all of that.
So the newsletter is super important for connecting with intentionalists obviously,
but small business owners. A lot of times you go
into the store and they have a little note book
for you to put your your email on. I love
doing that, so that's really cool. And then you have
(35:31):
what is the dessert, the sweet intentionalists that you're doing.
What is that? So, of course we believe that it's
important to spend like it matters to put our money
where our mouth is. But we recognize that there are
times when maybe today I don't have money to spend.
Even if that's where you are today, you can still
contribute to and support small businesses. So what we started
(35:55):
doing is a little activation that enables folks to put
together their top ten list. So we call them intentionalist.
I love the fun like that, right and right now
we're encouraging folks to share their favorite dessert spots. And
(36:16):
so you go to intentionalist dot com. There's a little
banner at the top that encourages you to share your
favorite dessert shops. You create your intentional list, you share
it via social media and tag intentional List underscore. And
then you're entered into a weekly giveaway and we're giving
out Baked from the Heart pious Fridays. Where from the
(36:41):
Heart is a black owned pie business down in the
Mount Baker neighborhood. Cool. So if someone enters in another state,
how what happens? I will figure out a way to
reward them. Acquitta, okay, good, just wanted to make sure
we can ship a pie. We can figure out a way.
I am going out a road trip. Maybe I can
deliver it to them. We'll make it happen. Um, and
(37:03):
then you've got what is the impactful ice cream that
is on the download for the moment. And so folks
should keep an eye out because anyone who has followed
Intentionalist knows that I love ice cream like I love
ice cream. On National ice Cream Day, I went to
five ice creams. Oh my god, I could have gone
two more. And so I mean, there's just something fun,
(37:27):
something satisfying about trying to bring together the things you
love in a way that's impossiful. And so we're cooking
up a little ice cream impact. So keep an eye
out on this podcast. I love talking about how people meet,
and most recently it's been a lot of through Instagram
I've found people or through people have been on this podcast.
(37:48):
But you and I actually met at a networking event,
which seems so ancient at this point. We were at
it was Bumble Women in Business, right, and we just
started talking and you're telling me about Intentionalists, and you
act told me that there was a new ice cream
place opening up and it was Sweet Alchemy, right, And
I haven't I've been into m d O Donuts because
(38:08):
they're they're connected. I actually haven't had sweet Alchemy yet,
so now after this, I have a lot of stops
to go. You've made me hungry, but I'm laughing because
you're talking about how much you love ice cream, and
that was the day we met. You told me that.
But then we also connected um talking about how we
lived in the same apartment building at that point for
like three years, and how did we we had to
(38:28):
have bumped in. We only bumped into each other once. Really,
I think after that, open your eyes and have conversations
with people is my thing because we maybe could have
had a conversation with the elevator and met each other sooner.
And I learned a lot that day when I was like,
damn hell, you know, we've probably walked by each other
a ton of times and head down, maybe not even
a hey, you never know, and you know it took
(38:49):
that event, which I'm grateful for, but we could have
met each other sooner. So conversations are are big thing
for me. And obviously you love talking to small business owners,
so you know that. But yeah, that I'm grateful for
that event. I met a lot of amazing women that day.
We are going to do a giveaway together. Yes, you
are the mastermind behind this. You've got a lot of
things we're going to give away, so tell me all
(39:09):
the things and then we can tell people how to enter. Absolutely.
So one of my favorite local shops is on Capitol Hill.
It's called Retail Therapy and it's owned by a woman
named Wazma Samose And you can actually read about her
story through intentionalist flog and you can learn about how
her family originally immigrated from Afghanistan, and just as impressively,
(39:34):
her boutique has been around for seventeen years, which which
is forever on the hill. Yeah, it really is. I
mean I feel like you hear that a little bit
in Ballard, but not so much in the Capitol Hill area.
So I thought that since tis the season for take
out and take away and being outside, she had this
(39:54):
really cool cocktail canteen for sale, and it include everything
you need for making drinks on the go, and it's
in this handy little canister and it includes a zester
and a bitters dropper and a mini funnel and an
extendable mixing spoon and a thermos. And then we'll couple
(40:15):
that with utel. I like cocktails. Yes, the carry on cocktail, yeah,
which has all the ingredients except for the booze. You'll
have to by O B. And then as a bonus,
it's hard to see an RBG action figure. Okay, So
we know that she needs all of our good wishes
and prayers, so this way you can channel them directly
(40:39):
to your RBG action figure. Okay, So what we'll tell
people then go to our Instagram accouncil. I'm at the
Carla Muri and Intentionalist is intentionalist underscore, and there will
be instructions on what to do there. It will most
likely be follow both of us and we'll pick a
winner from there, which is super cool. So thank you
for doing that, Laura, haven't done I don't think I've
(40:59):
done to give away in a while, so I'm excited.
It's very exciting. Well, and then you'll have an opportunity
to learn a little more about retail therapy. Yes, absolutely,
And what is the one last thing you want people
to know about intentionalists and why they should go to
intentionalist dot com and keep in on people who listen
from all over not just Seattle. I want people to
remember that you can make a difference through the money
(41:22):
that you already spend. You don't have to spend any more.
We just want to help you to be intentional, to
use the everyday decisions about where you eat, drink, and
shop as an opportunity to support and invest in the
people in small businesses in your community. Bam dropped the
mic on that one. I loved it. That was awesome. Laura,
(41:45):
thank you so much for being here and tell me
everyone your story. I appreciate it. This was so much fun,
and thank you for being such a passionate evangelist for
side hustlers and small business owners alike. Ah, you're the best. So,
like Laura said, we are doing a giveaway. You can
check out my instagram at the Carla Maurie for all
the information, but also it's intentionalists underscore on Instagram, but
(42:08):
that's below, so you can just click right there on
how to support intentionalist, shop locally and recommend businesses in
your area at intentionalist dot com. It's gonna be really
cool to see how many of you do that. So
go go, go, go do that. And thank you so
much for reaching out to me. I know you've been
emailing side Hustler's podcast at gmail dot com you've been
messaging me on Instagram at the Carla Murray. It's very
(42:29):
overwhelming but very welcomed, and I've been getting back to
people slowly, So thank you. This is a crazy time.
I'm glad you're here to support me during this wild ride.
I'm glad you're here to support Anthony as well. So
Twitch dot tv, slash Carla, Marie and Anthony is where
you can find us. For now. We're gonna embark on
an epic road trip. Soon maybe we're gonna pass through
your city and we can socially distance wave to you,
(42:51):
So follow along on Twitch on my Instagram just so
you know what's happening. Thank you again for being here.
This podcast has been produced by Houston Tilly. Until next week,
keep ustling and be a good human. M
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.