Podcast Episode 88: Laura Hertz

Alison : Hello, Jean. I warmed up my throat.

Jean: You did…I thought you were going to, like, sing an operatic song for me.

Alison : You never know that could happen. Um. So I bought a car.

Jean: Yeah,

Alison : Because my old car was fading, and I my my, my, my lovely husband’s like, it’s time. And we did it. But then when I bought the car from Subaru, they said, okay, you get a gift for buying the car. And I’m like, well, I got the car. Right. Like, don’t I get to take this home? And, um, and I saw that it was a place called, Gifts for Good. And they give you like a selection. You can get this candle made by this person. It’s all made by organizations and gives money back to organizations, and I thought it was such a great idea that I ran to you and said, you’re not going to believe this. We have to talk to this person, Laura Hertz.

Jean: And so we’re doing it. We’re talking to Laura Hertz, who is the founder of Gifts for Good. And I think she did this back in 2016. And she is- talk about a force for good.

Alison : And her resume is like a novel, like she’s been doing philanthropic work for, you know, since she was young. And, um, I just can’t wait to meet her because the guy at Subaru was like, oh, yeah, she came and visited us and thanked us. Like, I’m like, wow, like, I kind of love that, you know?

Jean: Yep.

Alison : And so I’m excited because anyone that names their company, Gifts for Good.

Jean: We’re all about that.

Alison : We’re all about goodness, aren’t we? Good good, good. Well, here she is, Laura.

Laura: I know. Great to meet you guys too. Good to see you in person. I obviously checked out all your your Instagram posts and some of the past podcasts and I was like, I’m excited to be with them. You guys look like a joy. So excited.

Alison : We’re excited to meet you. I’m Allison.

Jean: And I’m Jean.

Alison : And I bought a Subaru and they said, hey, for buying this Subaru, you get a gift. And I’m like, what are you, what are you talking about? And then like through this brochure and then they, I, I started to ask them about the brochure and they were like, oh, it’s Laura and it’s Gifts for Good, and I got some LGBTQ socks.

Laura: So amazing. I love those.

Alison :  Yeah. So what you’re doing… I was saying to Jean, we have to meet you because what you’re doing is just so smart because it makes philanthropy for corporations so easy, right?

Laura: It does. And that’s what the best part about what we do. I mean, I drove a Subaru before we even partnered with them. So it’s just such a full circle moment. I had my Forester and, you know, my husband’s dad actually got in like an accident with a Subaru. It saved his life. And I’ve just been super connected to that brand. So I love what we do with Subaru. It’s just a great example of what we could do by taking, you know, this budget that companies were typically spending on just cheap junk drawer promotional swag and using it to change people’s lives. So yeah, with Subaru, it’s my favorite partnership that we have with the company because they’re a brand, as everybody knows, that really lives what they do. And they’ve always been, you know, a part of their brand and just giving back. And we’re helping them to do that through something that’s so easy, right? Just like a gift for a customer after they buy their car. And we’re able to support nonprofits and social enterprises around the world and love that program too, because over 50% of Subaru customers choose a charity instead of a physical gift, and we’re able to help them to do that, which is great. So just empowering them. They used to give gift cards, you know, they just went in the trash and they were gas gift cards. So now we’re doing either gas gift cards or a gift for good, right? Something that’s changed in the world. So, um, yeah, it’s a great example and I’m happy you got to experience it and get a sense of what we’re doing here.

Alison : So can you talk to, could you explain to our listeners that don’t own a Subaru, um, what your business model is and what Gifts for Good is?

Laura: Yeah. Of course. So we are Gifts for Good. I always say that I think our business name says a lot about what we do and think of us just like a marketplace for gifts that give back. Um, and all of our products will come with a little social impact story card. They talk about how they’re changing someone’s life. And best part about them is they’re actually made by a non-profit or a social enterprise. So for example, you get a candle from our site. It might actually be handmade by a woman who’s coming out of homelessness. She’s in a job training program. It’s teaching her how to get off the streets. She’s spending six months learning candle making and, you know, becoming an expert in that. And it is empowering her to get off the streets, learn a wonderful skill and get back into the job marketplace. So it’s so much more than just a candle, right? So every gift kind of has that same sort of story behind it. It might be a candle that’s made by a woman transitioning out of homelessness, or maybe a bag that’s actually made by a woman coming out of human trafficking situations. We’re really trying to empower people, um, out of these, you know, situations that sometimes we find ourselves in, um, and making them have a wonderful, better life just through a purchase of a gift, right? Something so simple. And we do it for both consumers as well as corporate, but we’re really focused on helping the corporate gifting market to get away from that, like cheap junk drawer promotional swag and giving a gift with the purpose and meaning.

Alison : It’s iunbelievably smart.

Jean: Truly and what a meaningful business you’re you’re operating. Uh, Laura, so can you share like what got you inspired/ started right? To, to create this amazing organization?

Laura: Yeah, of course, we’d love to share it. So when I was 18 years old, I joined something called AmeriCorps, which is, uh, I was in something called the National Civilian Community Corps, which is a part of AmeriCorps where you spend a year working with nonprofits around the country. And as an 18 year old, you know, I kind of came from a great town. I was lucky in New York, went to a wonderful school district. And, uh, during my senior year, I went down after Hurricane Katrina and I was just volunteering and in New Orleans. And it was just such an eye opening experience to me. I couldn’t believe that more Americans weren’t talking about what was happening down in New Orleans. So when I went there and I experienced that, I decided to do AmeriCorps as a gap year between high school and college. And I worked with all of these amazing nonprofits who, one thing in 2008, they were really relying on just donations and grants during kind of that economic downturn, but I saw some of them were starting to actually like make their own products to fund their missions. So I was working with nonprofits as an inner city school teacher.

Laura: I was rebuilding homes in New Orleans, and I just saw that they were kind of creating products to help fund their missions. And how could we make that a more sustainable thing for them… And fast forward, you know, five years I worked at Deloitte and I just saw all this like junk drawer promotional swag at one of the big four accounting firms. And I kind of put those two ideas together. Like what, what if we just redirected this corporate gifting budget into funding nonprofits and social enterprises, right? Companies were spending $100 billion a year on corporate gifts. And when I started looking into. Yes. And I’m saying I find that absolutely crazy, right? So they spend over $100 billion a year on corporate gifts, and 50% of them end up in a landfill within two years. So I was like, what if we just take this money that companies are already spending and use it to change people’s lives? So, um, it seems, it seems like such a, you know, simple idea, but it was very new at the time. And, uh, yeah, it’s kind of how we got, we got the idea started.

Alison : So that’s kind of amazing. You’re first of all, your resume, we were looking…it’s like, you know, dedicated her life to this, worked a year there, did like, like, were you raised that way?

Laura: Yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t, I think AmeriCorps was just this turning point for me as a young adult. So, you know, I grew up with a mom who was a nurse. So of course, I always had that in me of just like taking care of other people. And my dad was, you know, a businessman in New York. And I saw him, you know, working extremely hard, those typical New York City long hours, right? And so I think I have kind of both of those people in me as a person, a strong businesswoman, but also someone who’s deeply devoted to helping others. And when I spent a year with AmeriCorps, I think it just showed me like how much need there is in my own backyard. Often people want to even travel abroad right before they just help someone in their own community and teaching in the inner city schools. I was an 18 year old, i’m teaching in the inner city schools. And I realized like, how lucky I was for my public school education. And then I go down to New Orleans and I’m realizing how incredibly lucky am I just to have a roof over my head, right? These people who are impacted by Hurricane Katrina, who had absolutely nothing. So experiencing that when you’re 18 and just like seeing these communities firsthand, I think it just changes you. And it was just such an incredible experience that I now I now tell everybody, like if they have a kid and now me and my husband say the same thing. When our kids are 18, we’re going to make them dedicate a year of their life to service because it can just change you. And it changed my path of my life. I was originally going to go and study engineering, which is hilarious because I can’t even put together kitchen scissors and, and then, you know, I did a gap year.

Alison : That’s right. That’s that’s so that’s amazing.

Jean: I think what you said about, um, you know, having that hands on experience is so important. And I know for myself, you know, there are organizations that I donate to, but the ones that really pull at my heartstrings are the ones where I’ve gone to the field or have really experienced what the finances are helping alleviate or, you know.

Laura: yeah, it’s incredible, right? You see it on the ground and it just changes your perspective and like your life, right? So, um, yeah, I’m going next week actually, to see some of our clean water projects on the ground in Ethiopia. And that’s what it’s all about. Just like connects you back to why you do what you do, right? When you see that kind of work on the ground and it brings you back full circle of how much we can do just through like something simple, like giving a gift, right? Just do it with impact.

Alison : So how do you choose the charities?

Laura: Yeah, it’s a great question. So, um, some of it is really built into the products that we work with, right? So they might be a social enterprise. So we work and look for social enterprises that are having incredible impact, but also can deliver both in like the consumer market and corporate market. So we do things like branding and adding cards, but we’re looking for the most impactful organizations. And I have someone whose entire job is that she was the founding member of Toms Shoes global giving program and like scaled that one for one model around the world. And she’s my co-founder, Jinae’s, and she’s incredible. So she’s just dedicated her life to finding these types of amazing organizations that are the most impactful in the world, and we evaluate them on a lot of different things as a, B core. But we look at both nonprofits as well as social enterprises. And for the nonprofit, part of what we do, which you probably saw when you bought that gift from Subaru, you could choose either a physical gift or a charity to support. We look for a lot of things, but from the consumer side, we want to be able to measure what you’re actually choosing as a gift, which you may have seen as something unique on that platform. So you can actually know, for example, instead of it saying, hey, I’m, uh, I’m donating $50 to water for good. It’ll say, I’m giving a month of clean drinking water to two people or I’m planting 50 trees, uh, in X community, or I’m giving 25 meals to children in need. And one of the things I realized a lot of the times nonprofits don’t do is they don’t do that like measurement of their programs. It makes the consumer kind of connect to what they do. And we do that both for the product as well as the nonprofits that we work with, where we’re measuring the impact of every purchase of a gift or every redemption, as we call it, of a charity.

Alison : So it’s, it feels very personalized.

Laura: Yes.

Alison : Like I felt like, oh, I can relate to that.

Laura: Yeah. And that’s what we want, right?

Alison : Yeah. And I had a hard time choosing. I was thinking, I’m not going to get anything, but then I gave the socks to my kid and they loved it. So, you know, like, um, but I when you find a charity, do you go and meet, like, because I know you did come to Subaru because that’s what my guy told me. Like, do you personally someone from your team go out and meet them?

Laura: So we do have very, uh, personal partnerships with all of our cause partners is what we call them. But for social enterprises and the nonprofits that we work with, we always hear from them. What makes us different is like, we care. Like we’re real partners. They know us. They talk to us. They know a lot about our family. You know, we want to make sure we understand who we’re working with. This isn’t just a transaction. So we do go above and beyond. You know, we try to visit as many of our cause partners as we can around the world in person. We want to see their programs on the ground. We want to verify what they’re doing, and we want to deeply understand it because that’s how we tell the story to the customer, right? We want to we want to see what we’re doing. So I’m thrilled to be going to Ethiopia next week because I actually haven’t seen water for goods work on the ground, but we fund a lot of different clean water projects for them every year, and I’m thrilled. I’m going to be traveling with the CEO next week and actually see in rural Ethiopia, you know, some of the communities that we are funding and the work that we’re doing. And I think that’s how we help connect the consumer back to the work that we’re doing. And, you know, the simple act of just redeeming a gift, but you’re providing, you know, a year of clean drinking water for a girl in a rural village in Ethiopia, right? So it’s, it’s going much beyond the gift. You know?

Jean: It really is. And, and I think, uh, you know, if I would, I don’t, I drive a Hyundai, I think.

Laura: You’ll be driving a Subaru soon,  hahah

Alison : We’re going to convince you.

Jean: And I think, uh, you know, to when you’re given like a, like a gift and you know, the intentionality behind the gift it to me, it levels up the, the gift. And it also, I think more of the company like Subaru. I’m like, look at them be so socially responsible. Look what they’re doing. You know, um, and I love that you’re championing that. And, uh, what I, um, oh, I know Laura, I wanted to say too, that when I looked at your website, the gifts that you offer are, are really elegant and beautiful. They’re not like, uh.

Alison : Um, a pen.

Jean: You know? I mean, you’ve got to like, but they’re, um, they’re really usable. I, I thought to myself, oh, if I received this, I would love this

Laura: Yeah. It’s so, so it’s difficult, right? It’s difficult to find these incredibly beautiful products. But as we source and think about who we partner with and work with, you know, I don’t want people to associate impactful gifts, not with being premium because it’s actually quite the opposite. You know, there’s a lot of premium gifts in the market, right, that might support a nonprofit. But if you go on our site, you’re going to see these are premium gifts. These are beautiful things that people actually want to give, they want to receive. And when I founded the business, that was so important to me because I want to make sure we’re giving beautiful products because one, they don’t end up in a landfill, right? People keep them, they love them and they want to actually use them as a product, which is so important to me. So we always say we’re product first and impact second, but not in a bad way, right? Like, I just want to make sure that when someone gets a gift, they love it and they’re going to keep it. And so being the premium end of social impact gifts is where I usually try to explain who we are. We’re a beautiful marketplace, you know, for gifts that give back, but they are premium. And that’s always been important to our team because it’s the number one thing when we think about the life cycle of a product and making sure it doesn’t end up in a landfill as a B Corp, we need to make sure these are things people are going to keep. So it’s important to us as a B Corp to really be looking at that as we evaluate who we work with.

Alison : You know, we’re living in a time that you know is challenging right now, I would say. Do you feel, i mean, I’m trying to be, you know, because we have to live through it. Do you see, now you’ve been doing this a while, do you see that we’re moving more towards compassion or away from compassion, like… Do you see a shift in sort of the psyche of our nation or the world?

Laura: Yeah. You know, the most incredible gift of being able to run this business is that I see the best side of humanity. And I feel very lucky for that. Right? Because I think, of course, there’s always negative things in the news and there’s always things going on in the world. But one of the most incredible things is seeing just these acts of giving and these acts of compassion, and that at the end of the day, people are inherently good. And I will tell you that running this business, like most people, want to be a good human being, people want to be able to have an impact in their job. And one of the incredible things about what we do is maybe work in human resources, or you’re an executive assistant, or you’ve been running like a corporate event that you hate for the last 25 years. And now suddenly we’re able to help them give a month of clean drinking water to an entire village. Right? And I think one of the incredible things with this business is that I see that humanity is innately good, and it’s a wonderful thing about it. So as much as that’s on the news, I mean, the decade that I’ve been running this business, I think that we’re moving towards more good. And you see a lot more of that in humanity. And I think people are looking for that in everything. In business especially, I think people want business to be a force for good. So more consumers are stepping up. They’re wanting to see businesses doing good and not just saying that they’re doing good. Actually doing it. Working it into their day to day operations, which is kind of what we help them do, right? Like, how do you just bring something as simple as an event and make it impactful and just help with these, these simple acts of using business as a force for good.

Alison : So it gave me chills because we believe we interview a lot of people and like we people like you, and then people that are making pizzas for their neighbor and someone looking over here doing this with a horse. You know, it just and people I think really are good.

Laura: People are good.

Alison : And kind and want want to be on the side of loving each other.

Laura: 100%. Yeah. And one of the amazing parts about our corporate gifting platform, it’s called Gift Forward. But you know, it’s hard running a business like when I’m in my, in my shoes and just sitting as an entrepreneur, I always get tired, right? Like if you’re working long nights, it’s a lot of work working in these communities and especially doing social impact work, right? It’s, it’s an exhausting field to be in and an exhausting position. But I log in to that system. And one of the great things that I can see is what people write when they redeem their gift on our gifting platform. And there’s thousands of thank you notes, just like rolling in every time someone redeems a gift. And it just gives me this like thrill. Like I just log in and I see, for example, that someone chose six rides to treatment for a cancer patient in lieu of this beautiful leather bag, because they’re going through cancer treatment or their mother’s going through cancer treatment, right? Like you’re connecting them in this beautiful way to something that they experienced in their life. And you get to read how that’s impacted them. Or maybe they’re a former, uh, you know, service member and they’re redeeming this cup that helps veterans and you’re just connecting them back to something bigger. Um, so it’s my favorite part because I think, yes, humanity is good and you just kind of get to read these wonderful notes that people are reading and leaving for us all day long.

Jean: So I do think the feedback that any company gets is fuel for the, the desire to keep moving forward. And I love that people are responding to your company just like Alison was…

Alison : So I was so happy.

Jean: Yeah, yeah.  I read that, and i couldn’t agree more, I read that you’re trying to help other organization realize that giving isn’t just at Christmas or at the holiday season. Right? And, and I always loved this quote. An unexpected gift at an unexpected time is, is really lovely.

Laura: Yeah. 100 percent.

Jean: Yeah. Because it sets it apart from everything coming in during the holiday season.

Laura: Yeah, it’s actually one of the most important things to me when people ask like, what do you want people to know about gift giving? The number one thing I say to people is do it at a time when people aren’t expecting it. Like, how do you give a great gift? Yes, I wanted to give back. Of course I want it to be a gift for good. But one of the wonderful things that you can always think about is how do you surprise and like to light someone. When you’re giving a gift and the holidays, things can get lost in the noise, right? And especially for companies, when they get outside of the holidays, that return on investment is just so much higher because people aren’t expecting it and they’re just like thrilled when they get a gift at their door. And we all know we love getting mail, right? But when you get a gift and it’s July and you haven’t had a gift in six months from anybody, you get this little like thrill and you get a pep back in your step of, oh, who sent me this, right? It’s it’s just exciting and it’s different. Um, and I definitely always recommend that. Right? Think about these times when you can just surprise and delight and, you know, maybe it’s Saint Patrick’s Day, or maybe it’s a summer gift, or maybe it’s Random Acts of Kindness day, right? We can gift in all these different times of the year when people aren’t expecting it, and it goes that much further.

Alison : If you don’t have, can you explain to our listeners, if you don’t have a corporation but want to be involved with Gifts for Good. Is there a way for them to do that?

Laura: Yes, definitely. And I always want to make sure people know we serve consumers and businesses. Um, if you go to Giftsforgood.com you’re going to see we have a marketplace for thousands of products that I’ll give back. And if you want to give a gift to your mom or your sister, it’s just a marketplace. Think of us like Etsy, but for nonprofits and social enterprises. So you can go on there and send a gift to anyone you can shop by cause, and what’s important to you, whether it’s women or children or health. So definitely always think of us. If you’re looking for any gift, whether you know you’re a consumer or a business, we can, we can serve both sides.

Alison : So you don’t have to be a jumbo business, do you? You could you could be a little store. You could, you don’t have to be like Subaru.

Laura: You do not have to be Subaru. And I always want people to know that because sometimes they’ll see that we work with these major companies, right? Like Zoom and Subaru, and they’re like, oh, man, you work only with these big companies, you don’t serve me as a small business. And it’s quite the opposite, because we are so passionate about supporting small businesses and making sure that we can support them through gift giving. So, um, please know that no matter how small your business is, we can help you, we can serve you. And that’s a big part of our mission, right? Making sure more people can gift impactfully. So, um, whoever you are, we can help you.

Alison : So wonderful.

Jean: Yeah. That is so great. Do you, um. Laura, so where do you house all your gifts that, like, how do you get the email that says, okay, I want, uh, three bags with this logo on it or what? So how does that work?

Laura: Yeah, it’s a great question. We have such a unique business model. So, uh, we do a mix of what’s called drop shipping as well as our own fulfillment center. I’m so passionate about educating people about what we do at our own fulfillment center. So our fulfillment center is actually here in LA. So I think you guys are local. If you ever want to do a little visit, let me know. People love joining us in person because it’s at Goodwill of Southern California, and we actually employ people with barriers to work who ship out all of our products, and we run our fulfillment center out of there. So if you order a custom gift set, we actually do it through Goodwill of Southern California. So people think of goodwill and they’re like, oh, it’s just a place where I donate clothes. No, it’s actually so much more than that. So they actually do work with a lot of companies. They run their e-commerce operations and fulfillment there. And we’re so lucky to have them as a partner because not only do our products give back, but our operations do as well. So when you buy one of our products, for example, your Subaru branded socks, they ship out actually from goodwill. And probably one of my good friends, Beverly, who works at our fulfillment center, likely ship that product out. And, you know, she’s, she’s on parole right now. She’s learning the skills to get back into the job force.

Laura: And she’s such a hard worker. She packs about 500 Subaru orders a day. And we’re so proud to see that type of impact just at our fulfillment center. And so we ship out a lot of our products from there, especially any branded products as well as custom gift sets for companies like Subaru. And then we also work directly with our nonprofit and social enterprise partners who might ship a gift for us. So for example, maybe you’re ordering one of our nonprofit partners. It’s called Women’s Bean Project. They’re an incredible social enterprise out of Denver. And you might order one of their gift baskets and it might actually come directly from their bakery in Denver, and they might actually package it up, and we’ll ship out a thousand of them for a company there with a branded card. So we do kind of this mix of shipping directly from our social enterprise partners, as well as from our own fulfillment center, depending on the need of the customer and, and also the specific product. So we’re proud of that. And we have global shipping as well. And we help companies when they do international shipping to be able to actually ship within like global regions like Asia, for example. And we will ship from actual social enterprises within that region of the world, which is important for us as a social enterprise.

Alison : Your like incredible to us. Like you really, your whole thing is really walking the walk.

Laura: That’s what we got to do. Right? But that’s, that’s part of what we’re trying to teach businesses is let’s look at everything that we do as a business and how do we make it better, right? Because we just got to always be thinking that way. So, um, my chief impact officer, you know, there’s so many cheaper options for fulfillment centers, for example, but we have to, we have to walk the walk, right? We want to make sure that we’re giving back through everything that we do in our operations. And so for anybody listening, especially if you have a business or you work for a business, right, think about how you can just ingrain giving back into something simple like your shipping operations. You could be working with people, you know, with barriers to work who could ship those products for you. So look at how you can kind of change, change your business and make it better.

Alison : So do you like you just said something to that, like, almost made me cry like that one… Did you say Beverly?

Laura: Yes. Her name is Beverly. Yeah.

Alison : I was going to ask you, do you have do you have any stories or people that have really touched your heart or because it seems like you are really in touch with a lot of people and you know them personally? Mhm.

Laura: Yeah. Of course. And it’s one of the best things about what we do, right? Because this isn’t just a gift, like it’s actually someone’s life, right? And I, I always try to think, sorry, I get teary eyed talking about it because it’s the best part. It’s the best part of what we do. And like these, these people are people, right? And we’re connecting people back to other humans and humanity. And that’s, it’s a gift to be able to do that type of work, you know? I know Beverly personally. I see her every two weeks. I get to hear that. Like she just graduated with her GED last week right at our fulfillment center. And I’m so proud of her. Um, and those stories are the things that kind of keep you going. Um, my chief impact officer actually, probably ten minutes before I came on the podcast, she sent me a link because we’re going to Ethiopia together next week. And she sent me this incredible story of this little girl who’s five years old, five years old, called Cina, and she lives in this rural Ethiopian village. And, you know, she had stomach cramps and stomach pain for weeks. And then Water for Good, our nonprofit partner came in and they built a well, and they started teaching families handwashing and safe storage and sanitation and built a, you know, water well for them. And within three months, this girl, Zina, she has no more stomach pain. She’s like eating well, she’s playing hide and seek again. You know, she’s full of life again. And the kids in her community are back at school. And and when I say like, we provide clean water, that’s what it looks like. It’s a five year old girl who just gets to be a kid again, you know? And so that’s really the story behind the gifts in our marketplace. And I love those stories because it’s the best part about what we do.

Alison : Yeah.

Jean: Wow.

Alison : It almost makes me cry, honestly.

Jean: It’s a win win organization that you’ve created. And your, your, uh, female based. Is that what?

Laura: Yeah. Of course. Yeah. We’re woman owned, so I’m proud of that. And it’s hard, right? I never raised capital and it’s a hard decision coming out of business school. Just do you go after that type of funding when you’re getting business off the ground, but when you’re a socially impactful business that can kind of change the nature and the course of your business overnight. So we’re super proud. We’re bootstrapped, but from day one, like we launched the business and someone luckily landed on our site and said they worked at Red bull. I still remember her. And she said, oh my gosh, I’ve been looking for this for a decade in my job. And like you just opened the website that I’ve been dreaming of. And we were like, oh, I think we, I think we have something here. Like, I think we have something amazing. And she was like, the first order, a corporate order on my store. Um, and that’s, it’s the best part about what we do, right? People!

Jean: So is that is that, um,… I envision you on, is it Shark Tank that you presented your company on?

Alison : Have you done anything like that because you win everything.

Jean: I would think, if I was one of the judges on Shark Tank and you show up, you present this beautiful, uh, you know, your pro forma of your company… I would be like, yes, yes.

Alison : Me too.

Laura: You know, we, we I haven’t been on Shark Tank…i’ve thought about going actually, and I’ve thought a couple times people have invited me to the auditions and we’ve been like, ah, maybe we should do it. You know, what does that look like? But, you know, we’re really lucky when I try to tell people is my goal is to build this evergreen business. I want to show people that business can be a force for good. I don’t need to go after $100 million in venture capital. I know I could get that, but if I want to actually support these social enterprises the way that they need to be supported, we need to kind of, you know, rather than grow like this, we’re growing, we’re growing like this. And like, that’s okay because it’s having a better impact. And the business model is different, right? So I love to teach people about evergreen businesses. I want to create something like a Patagonia, right? That forever will have an impact on the world. So.

Jean: Right.

Alison : Yeah. That’s, you know, you’re kind of a snorer, aren’t you? You kind of , you kind of don’t have any big dreams… You’re, you’re kind of incredible to us really.

Jean: Yeah.

Alison : Because you’re right in it, you know, like you’re really doing it there. I think there are a lot of people that talk about stuff and the fact that you’re actually doing it. And as you’re talking, I’m thinking like, you know, both my kids went through college and we got so much crap from that college…like ya know what I mean?

Laura: Oh my gosh….All of that swag. It’s just crazy how, just wasteful, right? It’s just so wasteful. So what’s incredible is like my idea for Gifts for Good,  it actually started in business school after I worked at Deloitte. I was just like a class project, right? And I’m working on it and I pitch it at the end of my business school where I’m studying social entrepreneurship and at USC Marshall and people were like, oh my gosh, everybody walked up there. Just start saying these stories about how terrible their corporate gifts are and how somebody needs to do something about this market. Oh my gosh, I got this tchotchke here. I got this edible arrangement from someone, right? Like it’s just an industry that needs to be changed. And when, you know, right when I pitched the idea that to business school, I was like, maybe we got something here. And my co-founder looked at me who was in my class with me, and he was like, let’s try this. Let’s see what we can do. And, um, we’re really lucky to still be here almost a decade later. And it’s funny, and I always say to students, right, like, it could just be an idea, but you can actually bring it to life one day. It’s just awesome.

Alison : That’s it.

Jean: Right. Laura, do you, um, not that you have any spare time at all on your hands, but would you consider like going to universities like in freshman and sophomore years of business school and teaching? Maybe not now. Maybe when you’re.

Alison : Older.

Laura: Oh my gosh, I love that you say that.

Jean: But but would you? … Because it’s such a great model to have a template for that other people can, uh, look at?

Laura: Of course.  Um, it’s very funny that you say that. It’s almost like you’re reading my inner soul. Um, I am so passionate about wanting to be potentially a teacher one day and teach the field of social entrepreneurship. So I actually found out last week, which is going to make me cry, that I won like USC Alumni Entrepreneur of the year.

Alison : Wow!

Laura: Where it’s yeah, it was crazy. Snoop Dogg won it in 2024, right? I’m like alongside Snoop Dogg and then here I am. I was like, what do you mean Snoop Dogg won this? Like, you’re gonna nominate little old me. Um, but it’s, it’s incredible to think about how you can teach the next generation, right? About using business as a force for good. And when I got that award, all I could think about because I’ve thought about teaching my whole life. And I think maybe in my, you know, ten years from now, say, I might go back and actually help to teach social entrepreneurship because it’s something I’m so passionate about. And I think especially for the younger generation, we want to teach them how we can keep using business as a force for good. And you see that they’re passionate about it, especially when I go there and I go to USC often, and Berkeley, which is my undergrad, and I’ve talked to a lot of students there, and I, I love being able to show them what you can actually make out of business school. And the business can be something that’s changing people’s lives. So yes, yes, that’s definitely on my radar.

Jean: Very inspiring.

Alison : You are you really are.  Is there something, um, just that like a few words just to people in general about, about kindness or compassion that we could just sort of give them, you know? Yeah.

Laura: Kindness and compassion… I mean, humans are good. Like I just, I truly feel that way. And I think when you think about anything that you do, whether you work, you know, as a job in human resources or HR or events, I always just want to encourage people that you could be an intrepreneur. You don’t need to be an entrepreneur starting your own business. Think about how you can innovate inside of the company that you work in. And so many people are thinking like, I I need to go get this new job. I’m not passionate about it, and I’m not connected to the work that I do in my job that I’ve been working in. I always say to them, like, before you get the next job, what can you pitch within your own company? How can you make something different? Right? Because companies are really open to that. And so many people leave a job before they think about how they can kind of create their dream job or create something new. So I think, you know, that’s something I always want to get across to people is just think about intrepreneurship, think about where you are and what you do, and what good can you bring to the world in your position? It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go quite job at a big company and work for a nonprofit, you can be doing something amazing with your big job. So, uh.

Alison : In your neighborhood, in your community.

Laura: yes, in your neighborhood, in your community. And yeah, you don’t need to, you know, go abroad to help change people’s lives. Like everybody doesn’t realize, for example, that one of the hungriest communities in America’s Orange County, right? Like you just think these are wealthy kids. And, and it’s one of the most impactful things that we get to do. You know, that’s a local community to us here in LA. And we provided over a quarter million meals for kids who are hungry in Orange County last year. Right? Like, do you you don’t even think about that being an option, right? Because you just think their kids in Orange County, right? And anybody in America will think they’re fine. But there’s so much we can do in our own community, in our own backyard to help. So.

Alison : Oh, you’re just I can’t believe that from that one little choosing of a sock, we get to meet such a wonderful person.

Jean: Yeah.

Laura: I’m glad you got your socks. And they had cute little Subarus on them, too, right?

Alison : You know, um, my kid’s non-binary, and so it was perfect to and they were like, mom, you’re so sweet that you like, you know, it was just, you know, I just, it just was a perfect mix. And, and I’m very enthusiastic. And, um, we just have two quick questions as we sum up.

Laura: Of course.

Alison : I think inside wink means.

Laura: Oh man, what is inside wink mean? Uh, I would say it’s kind of that quiet moment of connection when you just realize your actions have a ripple and someone else’s life. And I think in, in my work, it’s really knowing just that feeling when a gift isn’t just an object, like it’s a shared support between the gift giver or the artisan or the social enterprise who made it. And I think it’s just saying like, I see you, I value you. We’re in this together. So I think when you know, you meet a founder or a partner and we get to have every purchase have a purpose, there’s this kind of unspoken recognition of like, yeah, we’re in this together, right? And I think that’s just the being human. We’re all in this together and we’re here to make people’s lives a little bit better.

Alison : That’s perfect.

Jean: So true .. Okay. And then a real tough question. Do you prefer cake, pie or ice cream?

Laura: Oh, man, that is a tough question. Um, i do love sweets, but I would say definitely ice cream. My mom’s been obsessed with ice cream since I was born. Um, nothing brings more joy to my mother’s face than ice cream. So we’re always on the hunt for the best one. And I think since I was a toddler, that’s just been like my, my hunt. So I mean, adulthood, now I’m a big baker and I love to cook from scratch. And literally nothing is better than homemade ice cream. I make it home. My husband will tell you that. So I think ice cream is just like versatile. It brings people together. And if it’s from a social enterprise, even better.

Alison : So exactly it.  You know, if we could ever help in any way or just just keep in touch with us if you know, because you’re just exploding my heart. So thank you so much.

Laura: Thank you guys so much for having me. It’s been a joy. And thank you for what you do to spread some good in the world, because we all know we need a little more of it…So thank you.

Jean:  thank you so much, Laura. All the best to you.

Laura: Thank you. You too.

Alison : Bye.

Alison : She got me going, Jean. She got me going.

Jean: You know  her business model is is fantastic. And talk about transparency or not… So yes, transparency, but also, um being a win win for both consumer and the

Alison : the causes..

Jean: The causes. Right.

Alison : And um, her passion is just an unbelievable to me. I just love I her energy and, and then that, that brings my faith in people back, you know?

Jean: Sure. And I, and I think what she said on the interview that she does, she feels that there is more good in the world, and I. And I believe that too. And it is companies like hers that there is so much hope for our future. And our future will be beautiful if it’s dominated by companies like that.

Alison : And, you know, you, you see, um, I don’t want to necessarily say young people, but energized, passionate people about, about doing good things. And their focus is that, and it, it, it almost makes me cry because I feel like sometimes we are inundated with seeing other images and just talking to her made me feel like I want to go see what they do. The factory, I want to go volunteer more, you know, like…

Jean: And it makes me makes me want to support her company.

Alison : Right. So if you have any gifts coming up, I, you know, Arbor Day, 4th of July, anything.

Jean: Groundhog’s day

Alison :  exactly. Give it a look –  Giftsforgood.com. It’s a really smart idea. And you are going to be sending a gift to someone, which is always lovely. You’re going to be helping a cause. Helping the people that are even packaging it to send it to, to the, to your friend. It’s really just a wonderful model.

Jean: It is.

Alison : Made me happy.

Jean: The rippling effect is gorgeous. So thank you Laura, and your team, I know you, you mentioned your team  and it always it always takes a team.

Alison : So yeah. Thank you.

Jean: Thank you Laura.

Alison : Have a great day everybody.