​

​

Hi Reader

Wonderful readers. For this Christmas issue, we’re diving into the feel good effects of running a purpose-driven business ❤️.

What's your purpose? You should probably give it some thought, because according to the Blue Zone research, living with purpose can add years onto your life*.

Of course this doesn’t have to come from your work, you can find your personal purpose through hobbies, volunteering, family.

But, what would the world be like if every business was built on purpose?

Would we all be living much happier, more fulfuilled lives, and living longer to boot?

Imagine if your work was aligned to your values, so that everything you did, created, strived for made you feel deeply good.

Imagine you and your whole team waking up every morning, eager to get to work to get you closer to your big goal, because it’s inspiring and will make the world a better place, not just give your shareholders a bit more cash (one day).

Imagine if when things got tough, your team didn’t shrink away from the challenge, quietly updating their LinkedIn profile, but they brought their best game, stood with you on the sidelines and battled through.

One of the Blue Zones is Okinawa in Japan, where 68% of the residents will live to over 100, compared to roughly 15% in the UK. The Japanese have a framework to help them figure out their purpose, it's called Ikigai, as we use it to help founders figure out their business's purpose. You can find our ikigai for founders tool here.​

Here are a few companies who are building their brands on purpose and reaping the rewards (financially and personally). We hope they give you something to think about, perhaps a more purposeful 2024 awaits you...

​

Fishwife

Founded by Becca Millstein and Caroline Goldfarb in 2020, these wonderful ladies are on a mission to elevate the perceived quality of ethically sourced tinned fish.

​Fishwife was inspired by the Spanish and Portuguese conservas (the art of preserving and canning high quality fish). The founders were determined to shake up the American tinned fish market by jumping on an emerging culinary trend and reinventing consumer perceptions.

Seeing an opportunity during Covid for premium, ethically sourced, protein-rich and easy to store tinned fish, the pair decided to give it a go. 75,000 customers later (and 81k followers on instagram), they have made it happen.

The name Fishwife is a hint to their desire to support and empower female entrepreneurs in a traditionally male-domiated industry, giving their followers something else to believe in as well as the high quality product. The term Fishwife is traditionally derogatory, the term brings to mind a brassy, foul mouthed fisherman’s wife, but also a character who is very strong and resourceful. They have flipped the association and given the term new meaning.

Design plays an important role in the Fishwife brand and adds hugely to its appeal. The packaging emulates European designs but adds a fun, quirky character that brings it right up to date. The design plays a big role on shelf impact but are also hugely instagram-able.

​

Wasted

​Wasted grew from a passion for good food and a distaste of waste. Lief, one of the founders loved to cook and enjoyed some early experiences in very high end restaurants watching and learning from some of the best.

​

His moment of realisation came, not from some great inspiration from the chef or the customer experience, but from taking the trash out at the end of the shift. There was bags and bags of waste that contained perfectly good food, that was, well. not perfect. This was just wrong. Lief was on a mission, how to change the way we look at and manage waste?

He’d started a few small food brands before, but this was different; it had a purpose. We have some great stories from Leif, a Canadian now based in Denmark coming in the New Year, but for now, there were two significant elements of the early success of Wasted.

1. Firstly, they built a community before they finished the product. They had believers on board who shared the development of the final recipe and product, and no these weren’t just friends and family, they were people of influence who could help them scale.
2. Secondly, Leif explained that tackling food waste as a business purpose is like a magnet for like minded people, and in many ways more important to the start up team who are enabling the future, than the customers who are growing it.

Wasted are right at the beginning of their journey but they're definitely on to watch.

East Fork

​East Fork have achieved that rare thing; to bring a crafted product to the masses and retain all the integrity and magic of its hand crafted origins.

​

East Fork makes hand finished pottery in North Carolina. The business was founded by Alex Matisse (yes, he is a relation of a very well known artist) and John, later joined by Alex’s wife Connie. After falling in love with pottery, Alex bought an old tobacco farm in North Carolina, built a wood-burning kiln, and started making. Until 2015 East Fork was just a handful of craftspeople working together, producing 80-120 pieces a day at most, and having kiln sales twice a year.

Now, they have 130 employees in a factory using old renovated machinery producing 2000 pieces a day. In 2021 they produced 327,000. They are a certified B-Corp and have been featured in the New York Times and Apartment Therapy to name a few.

The result? A cult brand with a following of some 223k on instagram, and a very engaged audience. Older versions of pieces fetch huge prices on eBay. There is even an after-market instagram account where people can trade and buy “vintage” East Fork, even though the company is relatively young.

East Fork work with local non-profits to tackle racial inequity, a subject which they are openly passionate about. Their purpose and mission is rooted in people:

Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?

More in the New Year, for now, have an inspiring, slow Christmas full of magic.

*Read about the Blue Zone research here.​

​