Better Shopping with ConsciousCBUS | with Heide Rembold

[00:00:00]Adam: Welcome to people, helping people, the podcast to inspire greater social change in the business world and give you ideas on how to take action. I'm your host, Adam Morris, and today I'm talking with Heidi rumble, a conscious business activist here in Columbus, Ohio. She's passionate about reducing waste and making purchasing decisions that have an impact, and she's also has plans for our own social enterprise.

[00:00:35] She's just released her holiday guide to help you purchase conscious gifts. And I'm very excited to have her on the podcast to talk about easy ways that you can make an impact while you do your holiday shopping. So without further ado, Heidi, welcome on the podcast.

[00:00:50] Heidi: Thank you. It's so nice to be here.

[00:00:52] Adam: You have quite a social impact mission that you're developing in your life. And I was wondering if we could just start and talk about some of the projects that you're working on.

[00:01:01] Heidi: Absolutely. So we can start with, conscious Columbus since that's my kind of most recent and most active one. I started at conscious Columbus too.

[00:01:08] Really connect consumers with conscious businesses in Columbus, Ohio. so kind of a little bit of everything, social enterprises, nonprofits, even those small kind of non-classified businesses that actually are giving back with their business in some way or another. So I started that on social media, just an Instagram page, really to get with people, meet new people, and connect everybody together.

[00:01:28]I always say, I'm not. Necessarily the creative one behind the scenes doing the arts and crafts, but I am a loud speaker and I'm very passionate so I can really amplify their voice and their existence. so sort of that and just started posting, started getting to meet people. Well, doing a lot of networking with it and then going from there.

[00:01:48]we are slowly transitioning into a full blog and a couple of other little fun things that are coming along this holiday season to really highlight those businesses and those people and individuals doing good in Columbus. All right, cool.

[00:02:02] Adam: You have big dreams as well. Plans to open a coffee shop down the road, correct?

[00:02:05] Heidi: Yes. Yes. I have a social enterprise of my own called the solar bean cafe, and currently we're seeking a home in a small village outside of Zanesville, Ohio. it's an impoverished village with a lot of, social issues going on right now, and they're looking to revamp it. So we are really looking to hopefully find a home there and be a light in the community, and operate again with those same social.

[00:02:30] Impact mindset of giving back to the community. you know, hiring troubled youth, hiring and people who've been through a lie and really just trying to help the community in every way that we can and, and be a business that's more than just profit.

[00:02:44] Adam: Cool. What kind of experience have you had with that?

[00:02:46] Rescues.

[00:02:48] Heidi: So with at risk youth, I have done, a little bit of volunteering on my own. And then I actually worked for the star house in here in Columbus, Ohio for about a year. I was a youth advocate, so I was on the floor with them, constantly talking with them, helping them. and I was very, again, with my personality, I ended up being very loud and they're very, um.

[00:03:06]Optimistic, very jumpy, but I really loved helping them with their resumes. I really loved helping them just sit and talk with them. Even I sometimes would sit with one youth for an hour and have a really long discussion, and you find out that. There's, you know, a person behind that homeless youth or at risk youth, you find out that there's somebody there and they have the story.

[00:03:24] And then in my mind, I just start formulating, how can I help them? Like, here's the story, but let me help you. So then I would be like, well, all these places are hiring and there's this other resource center and there's this, and you should read this book. And really just try to help them in any way that I could, which I'm sure a lot of them thought I was crazy, but.

[00:03:42] I love doing it. I love that.

[00:03:44] Adam: Now I talk about star house a lot on the podcast cause I'm a huge fan. But for anybody who does not know, can you give a certain description of what the star houses?

[00:03:51] Heidi: Yeah, so star house is a drop in center for homeless youth or at risk youth in Columbus, Ohio. it is open 24 hours a day.

[00:04:00] You can come in, they can get . Necessary resources to just have a basic lifestyle. So there showers, there's laundry, there's clothing, there's things like toothbrush, toothpaste, all those kinds of day to day items that we all sometimes take for granted. they can go in and receive counseling, and then there's the youth advocates such as what I was that they can.

[00:04:21] Discuss with, oftentimes are there to help. we're always there to help, but often times they, you know, will help them with their resume, such as I did or help them with, do even just like basic skills of like, Hey, let's figure out how to go online and find jobs. Let's figure out how to cook something.

[00:04:37]so there's just a really all encompassing place and kind of a kind of a home for a lot of them in a way, because they don't have one. So it's a place for them to stop and kind of reset and rest and, and then be ready to go back out. Got it. Now

[00:04:51] Adam: I have a lot of misconceptions when I first went to the star house.

[00:04:54] I'm just curious from your point, like what you learned about the people that came in was different from what people might expect.

[00:05:01] Heidi: Yeah. I think the biggest thing that I really learned. Was that there are people behind that idea of a homeless youth. and we often don't think about homeless people being youth.

[00:05:15] Sir, how serves, the ages up to, I'm 25 years old. So if they're under 25 years old, they can be in there. And a lot of times they have kids themselves. So then it's not only this single youth that you're serving, but there are youth beneath that that are also being impacted by this. so I think that it was really the realization that.

[00:05:32] They are all humans and they all have their own story and they all have something somewhere in their life. And a lot of times they can pinpoint, you know, this is exactly what happened. And a lot of times they're like, I don't know what happened. I'm just here and I know it. And, and I myself, have been in a position where I have been.

[00:05:49] Bouncing between people's couches or just not having a solid place to live. I had a car, thankfully, and half my belongings were in my car, but, so I had just a little bit of an idea of how it can be to be like, alright, you know, let's find somewhere to go. Let's make sure we've got this, let's, you know, go call my siblings, call family members, call my friends, and be like, Hey, can I stay here tonight?

[00:06:12]which is definitely a lot better than a lot of them had, but. It was really just eyeopening to meet a lot of them and then hear about, you know, where did you sleep last night and where that was. And it's like, Oh my gosh, this is a real issue. And yeah, real people here and they really need our help.

[00:06:28] Adam: That's always surprised me. Like when we go in for our work program with wild tiger tees, everybody is really different and I'm always amazed that people are very articulate about their situation. They typically know what they're going through. Um. But from one person to the next, like what they struggle with varies a lot.

[00:06:44] And, and so it's really working with people one on one. They're not that different from, you know how I was when I was 20 you know, this kind of like trying to figure things out and life's complicated and messy. And for them it's just more complicated and messy. And

[00:07:01] Heidi: I think the big thing too that I realized is that my, I've had my struggles, but I've always had someone there.

[00:07:06] I've had family, I've had community, I've had friends, a lot of them. You know, they don't have family or their family has turned on them and all their friends are in the same situation as them. So star house can kind of be that buffer or that bouncer for them. And it's like, Hey, you can come here and you can talk with other people.

[00:07:20] You can also talk with people. They had counselors and stuff on staff. so I think that that was another thing too, is realizing like, even if I lost everything I had today, like I have. People there that are going to help me and they didn't and they don't often. That's the kind of the hardest part about it.

[00:07:36] That's the really rough part about it.

[00:07:37] Adam: It is really tough. No, I've definitely developed a huge appreciation for everything my parents did when I was growing up, and I don't think I realized it at the time until you know till much later, until you realize that, Hey, when people don't have this.

[00:07:51] This is what they're facing because of that. Exactly. How has working at the star house shaped a bit what you want to do in your own career?

[00:08:01] Heidi: It has a little bit. so I have always been a little bit of, I guess, an oddball when it comes to my passions and wanting to help people. I, yes, I, well, I would very young age.

[00:08:12] I really loved writing and I really loved drawing maps and you know. Images and graphics and things like that. and I just started kind of formulating all these ideas of how I'm gonna help people when I was older and a lot of the times it had something to do with, you know, I'm going to build a community.

[00:08:27] I'm going to build the house for people. I'm going to have a place. People can come and stay. I'm going to do all this really fun stuff. And of course I was young at the time, nine, 10, 11 years old. And. Can't really do a whole lot at that age. and so from there on out, it's just been simply a matter of how can I get to this final goal where I am helping people in what I do.

[00:08:46] And I've taken a lot of different paths to get there. And start house is definitely one of those where it gave me insight on, um. What they were doing themselves. Nonprofits in Columbus, just meeting other likeminded people and working in a place where other people have similar mindsets of we want to help people, and that's why we're here.

[00:09:02]so it's definitely a big part of my very long journey of getting to a place where day in and day out, I am just simply living to help other people and make an improvement on where I'm at in my community and my world. And. So on and so forth.

[00:09:18] Adam: And it seems like you've dug really deep into the community in Columbus.

[00:09:22]and, and do you have a really good understanding of some of the things that are going on here? And I was just wondering if I could pick your brain on what you've seen are some of the big problems that are outstanding that, people could jump in and address.

[00:09:33] Heidi: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. so one of the biggest problems I think that automatically comes to my mind when I think of Columbus or any really big city is trash.

[00:09:43] And I think that everybody kind of has that similar mindset. if you go to any festival, any get together, any gathering, even on the street and stuff, and the trash cans are just overflowing with trash. And I think there was one of the first things that I started doing when I. Kind of moved towards this conscious lifestyle is realizing that, Hey, I don't have to make as much trash as I am.

[00:10:03] So simple, quick changes that I made were no more grocery bags using reusable straws. I'm bringing my own containers when possible. bulk food shopping. That can be a hassle, but it is very rewarding in the end. And if you get your system up and running, then it really works out for you. I'm shopping bulk food shopping, so buying simple things like oatmeal, popcorn, grains, usually nuts and seeds, a lot of like your dry staples you can purchase in bulk.

[00:10:31] Usually I'd cold foods, fresh time. There's a couple of smaller ones, in Columbus that also offers spices in bulk. you know, even salt I've seen in bulk before, which is. Really cool to think about that. You can get that much soul in bulk, but that eliminates a lot of the plastic and a lot of the trash, and then simply just bringing your own cup too is a huge thing.

[00:10:50] That's what I'm a huge advocate for. It's. Again, super easy to do and it creates three, four, or five less pieces of trash that are going to be thrown away. If you think about it, the straw, the lid, the cup, sometimes there's a sleeve, sometimes there's, you know, you get a napkin with it, or if you put sugar in your coffee, then there are all that extra trash that can be eliminated.

[00:11:10] That's one of the most big forward facing problems. I think that just day in and day out, everybody can contribute to, and it doesn't cost a whole lot. It doesn't make, it's not this huge hassle. It's just as simple. Bringing your own cup with you somewhere. That's really cool. so that's one of the biggest ones.

[00:11:26] I think that my next one. Not necessarily address a specific problem, but I think the entire idea that several things that you would buy on a daily basis, or you would do, you know, social activities, you can do them in a way that you're impacting others positively. And that's kind of where.

[00:11:47] Conscious Columbus comes into play with, you know, Hey, you want to go out for a cup of coffee with a friend? Here are five socially conscious coffee shops in Columbus, Ohio, that you can do that and your cup of coffee and your time with your friend is going to have this much greater impact than it would if you just went to, you know, McDonald's or tomorrow.

[00:12:08]so places like the Roosevelt coffee house, bottoms up, coffee, there are a couple, even kind of outside of Columbus, um. That also has positive impacts, but we always post a bunch of out on our page, of course. But even if you just Google them or if you look in, you know, social ventures, or even just asking to when you do get to a place, you know, asking, Hey, do you guys do anything socially conscious?

[00:12:30] Do you guys have an impact anyhow? and just making your, your day to day life and your activities have a bigger, a greater impact.

[00:12:38] Adam: I don't think that crosses the mind for a lot of people of, Hey, when I go out. I can find out if the companies I'm doing business with are, are doing good in the community.

[00:12:48] So that's it. Very interesting just to ask and say, Hey, what are you doing? And yeah, because I think when people are doing something, they look to talk about it.

[00:12:55] Heidi: Yes, definitely. Definitely. And I will say, if you ask them and they're not doing anything, please point them in our direction and we will help them do something cool.

[00:13:04] We love that. We love helping people be more conscious and especially businesses and working with them. And. Everybody just having a greater impact.

[00:13:12] Adam: Got it. So if a business came to you and they were like, Hey, we want to make a better impact in our community, what, what, what type of work would you do with

[00:13:19] Heidi: them?

[00:13:20] So it'd be several different avenues. Obviously there's, really simple ones. Again, going back to trash and less waste. That's just always the simplest SWAT people can make. so I, the first thing that I would honestly encourage, for instance, we'll use the coffee shop example, since we've been talking coffee shops.

[00:13:36]a lot of times. In Columbus, it's not as big of an issue, but elsewhere, they won't offer mugs. They won't offer, you know, in-house equipment to use if you're sitting there. I know Starbucks is kind of, you have to fight them on that sometimes, you know, I know I just went in a mug. I don't want a paper.

[00:13:52] Anything. so, you know, making small swaps like that would always be encouraged. hopefully, ideally, maybe pairing them up with nonprofits could be another opportunity there. I'm saying, Hey, whether it's. Once a month, your whole team goes and volunteers or you donate a certain percentage of your profits to them, or you even just have like a food drive or a diaper drive or a clothing drive for them.

[00:14:13]you know, so many different small opportunities that really don't cost anyone anything in the long run because people typically already have all those things there. but just kind of making that stance and standing out and making that impact. And. Pushing things further. so it would be a little bit of both of those.

[00:14:29] And then obviously the more, if they have specific ideas, we'd love to chat specific ideas and kind of go further into that aspect as needed. Oh,

[00:14:36] Adam: that's cool. Cause I think quite often one of the big barriers that people have. Is they just don't know what's possible. Right. So, you know, just sitting down and saying, Hey, here's what you can do, and if it doesn't cost you money in it, it's something better than what they're doing.

[00:14:52] People will generally do it unless it's a lot of effort or really complicated. because people do want a better community to live in. And so

[00:15:01] Heidi: definitely

[00:15:02] Adam: I think when you make that easy for people and, find out exactly what they can do, they make that choice.

[00:15:09] Heidi: Yeah. So, yup. And that's what we love to try and do is make it easy both for the consumer and the businesses of just connecting them together and making sure that everybody knows that they have that option and that that choice of.

[00:15:21] Having their purchase had a greater impact.

[00:15:24] Adam: Now I'd love to move on and talk a little bit about some of the great things that you've seen in Columbus of what people are doing. either product wise or, or mission wise. Yeah. Check out a lot of stuff. And

[00:15:37] Heidi: yes, I do. I love exploring Columbus and Columbus is a great place to find those socially conscious enterprises and businesses and just individuals in general.

[00:15:47]some of the biggest ones I think that I constantly am going back to, um. Roosevelt coffee house, of course, my love bottoms up coffee house. There's a lot of even smaller or not smaller, but I guess different businesses that are also having this greater impact. Cova coworking is a new one, coworking space.

[00:16:04] They have a really positive impact in what they're doing. and they're really. Have a program down the road that will be focusing on social enterprises and helping them get up and running and continuing the work that they're doing. so it's kind of a cool idea that it's, you're working with a business who's further working with more businesses who have all this long term impact on everything, and it's really cool to think about that.

[00:16:24] There's other additional resources as well. I'm conscious. Capitalism is one. I recently went to an event of theirs and got to learn about what they're doing. Got to meet again, like minded people

[00:16:33] Adam: are doing over there.

[00:16:35] Heidi: So conscious capitalism is focusing on kind of similar to what we're doing, but on a larger scale, they really focus on businesses that operate with conscious means.

[00:16:45] So they again, go back to the idea that you can operate or you can operate and have. A greater impact. and the cool part about them is that they pointed out a lot of really big companies that were doing this that I didn't even know about. Ben and Jerry was one of them, but it was just really cool to hear like, Hey, they're socially conscious.

[00:17:03] Like I had no idea. So now I'm going to go buy a bunch of Ben and Jerry's

[00:17:06] Adam: ice cream.

[00:17:07] Heidi: Yeah. Yeah. And they don't. I don't think that they really brag about it, which is fine, but I definitely didn't know. And well

[00:17:15] Adam: actually that's very interesting too, cause they, they, uh, did a lot of work.

[00:17:19] There was a bakery called the Greyston bakery. which, uh, had a model of hiring people. who had barriers to job entry. So a lot of people who have been on incarcerated or had issues with drugs, and originally they, uh, Ben and Jerry's bought, uh, brownies from them to sell along with their ice cream.

[00:17:35] But when they received the boundaries, they were all clumped together. and. There was no way for them to separate and actually sell them. And that's how the double brownie chocolate ice cream came about. They were like, well, what are we going to do with these brownies? They put them in there and I think they'd been working with them ever since.

[00:17:51] Heidi: That's so cool. So

[00:17:53] Adam: when Joe DeLoss was looking for a model of a company that he could start up and he modeled hot chicken takeover, Greyston bakery. So it's very interesting how. Successful social enterprises inspire other social enterprises?

[00:18:06] Heidi: Yes. Yes, it definitely is. I mean, I'm inspired by all of them to be honest, so I love seeing them and love taking notes.

[00:18:13]and I've had the opportunity to talk with the owners of a couple of them too, and kind of just take notes about, you know, how I'm going to do my own some day. And. Get to learn from there. but yeah, bakeries, he made me think about that. There's a lot of socially conscious bakeries, in the area.

[00:18:27] I think a freedom a LA carte is one of them that's socially conscious. and then for the hiring clean does that third way cafe does that, I believe, a couple other organizations around them. there's so many, so many good businesses in Columbus, and once you start to look, you kind of. It feels like sometimes you hit the jackpot cause you find one and then you find five, you find 10 and then it's like I have to go visit all of these as soon as possible.

[00:18:52] And so it's really cool to, to really get to explore them. And. Find out what they're doing.

[00:18:57] Adam: That's cool. Now, for the holidays, you've put together a, a guide for conscious shopping, is that correct?

[00:19:04] Heidi: Yes, correct. So the conscious, holiday guide is a guide, kind of your one stop shop for learning about conscious businesses in the area.

[00:19:13]and giving you the opportunity to patronize them for your holiday shopping. our focus is a little bit more small scale with it. There's a lot of really small businesses in the area that are doing good but aren't, you know, as big as some of the other, you know, huge companies. I will say 11th candle co is in it and they're pretty big company, but then we've got a lot of smaller ones of, um.

[00:19:34]A couple of zero waste ones such as reuse revolution, full circle. So a couple of really cool, even smaller scale businesses that not only are you supporting a good cause, but you are supporting somebody, a small little dream that they're working on in their kitchen they're working on in their studio and trying to help them, you know, take it a little bit further.

[00:19:52] Adam: Can you tell me a little bit about what some of these companies are doing.

[00:19:55] Heidi: Yeah. So 11th candle co is a candle company. They fight human trafficking with their operations, which is awesome. they, I have several other candles. I love them. Yes. I do love their

[00:20:07] Adam: candidate was when I met her doing the podcast.

[00:20:10] Heidi: Yeah. Yeah. There's a couple of different conscious candle companies in Columbus, but they all kind of have their own thing, which is really cool. you know, that way they're not competing really against each other. They're kind of. With each other on it. a couple of the other ones that we have are the, the ice cream one.

[00:20:27] For instance, they do vegan ice cream and they have less waste operations and you can currently purchase their items, I think, out of the Bexley market, which is cool. Still pretty new. full circle and reuse revolution are both all about zero waste or less waste lifestyle. So they provide products, they provide resources that help you eliminate the trash and single use plastic in your life.

[00:20:50] So toothbrushes, reasonable face towels or cotton pads, different things like that. I've seen a lot

[00:20:56] Adam: more of these companies popping up that are about upcycle. There are kind of products being reused. What do you see happening in that space? Cause that seems like something that's starting to almost explode in a new way.

[00:21:10] Heidi: Yeah. So with the idea that. People are taking something that some people will call trash and turning them into products or items. I think that that is definitely growing. I think that it goes alongside of the really like re reduce, reuse, recycle, which is huge right now. You know, people are really getting on that, which is awesome, of not only creating less waste, but purchasing second hand.

[00:21:32]I know that was kind of the original. Eco-friendly, environmentally friendly, you know, conscious shopping that people did that we didn't even really think about. I grew up shopping second hand and I didn't really realize the impact it actually had until way later in life. but I definitely see that and hope that that area grows.

[00:21:48] I hope that we see more businesses like that. I know that there's a lot of jewelry. businesses seem to be huge right now with that of taking, you know, either old jewelry that would have been thrown away or, you know, recycled metal or cycled, anything like that, and reforming it into this awesome jewelry that people get to use.

[00:22:05]and then I also see a little bit of, sometimes candle companies will do it sometimes. Even if it's just not their whole product, but it's a small aspect of their product. So the containers that they make, the candles in, or the specific part of what they're doing, you know, Hey, this was recycled, this was reuse, which is awesome.

[00:22:23] Adam: I think quite often people don't realize that even with recycled goods, like there's a huge energy cost to taking the material, processing it and getting it ready to be reformed. So when companies actually. You know, take things that are essentially trash and reuse them. One, a lot of that energy that goes into that manufacturing goes away cause you're, you're using it, you're not recreating a product.

[00:22:49] So that cuts down on a lot of waste. So what you get with these kind of ups cycle products is something which is saving you from buying something else and calling up the manufacturing system with waste

[00:23:02] Heidi: and

[00:23:02] Adam: getting more life out of the stuff that we already have.

[00:23:05] Heidi: Yeah. So

[00:23:07] Adam: that's cool. So now what's your vision for, conscious Seabass over the next couple of years?

[00:23:14] Heidi: Yeah. So the biggest thing that we obviously want to stand for ongoing is businesses doing good and small businesses doing good. and again, connecting those consumers to those businesses, connecting those businesses to each other. down the road. I think that we will do a little bit more.

[00:23:29] Consulting for businesses a little bit more hands on with them and sharing, ideas. Again, like we discussed earlier about how they can do better. and again, simple methods. It's not nothing that's going to be, you know, breaking the bank or this big huge turnaround or anything like that.

[00:23:44]and then of course, we would love to do our blog and possibly down the road open somewhat of a conscious market where people can. Continuously come to the website and there's a spot on there with specific businesses in the area that are doing good. So when they're thinking, Oh Hey, I want to shop for my friend who's super socially conscious, they can hop on our website, go to the market page and everything would be there.

[00:24:08] And then they can pick their gift from there. cause right now for me, I am. Purchasing Christmas gifts for people, but I luckily have my pool of resources right now, but I love to keep everything socially conscious. And if I didn't have conscious Columbus, I would be Googling day in and day out, you know, conscious business near me, how to do conscious Christmas gifts, all that kind of fun stuff.

[00:24:27] So I'm trying to kind of ease that for people. And then not only that, but I'm also trying to turn around and make it look like, Hey. This is the way to go. Like you don't need to purchase all this stuff from, you know, Walmart or Amazon. Even though I love Amazon, you can purchase it from, you can get a candle that is socially conscious.

[00:24:44] You can get a zero waste kit that socially conscious. You can get clothing, you can get jewelry, you can get anything that's socially conscious. even just gift cards to coffee shops or bakeries or restaurants in general. There's so many farm to table restaurants and Columbus different places.

[00:24:59] There's, yeah, there's, it's a growing. Community. I would say. a couple, a couple of popped up here now and I know there's more, but they are difficult to find. It's usually when I'm there already eating, I discover it versus me Googling for an hour farm to table restaurants near me cause that doesn't always work out for me.

[00:25:19] But usually I'm just hearing about them or meeting people. and uh, so played it as one of them that I recently got to try. skillet is another one that's really good. Yeah, they're really cool. And usually. Again, they're supporting local farmers. There are a lot of organic products.

[00:25:33] They're, a lot of their alcohol if they have a bar, is locally sourced. I'll have a lot of ideas in mind for conscious Columbus, and one of them is a conscious or sustainable restaurant spread, hopefully down the road. so we'll keep you in the loop on that if we get that up and running and post that on Instagram and hopefully our blog.

[00:25:50] Adam: Fantastic. So one, what's the best way for people to find you.

[00:25:55] Heidi: The best way right now is to get on Instagram and search up conscious Seabass. That is our handle. and that's the biggest way to find us right now. Follow us on Instagram or we are on Facebook as well. we'll post on both of those when it is live and give you that active link to go to.

[00:26:10] Adam: Where did they find you on Facebook?

[00:26:11] Heidi: Facebook. It would be just conscious Columbus spelled out, I believe. I think our. Short name is conscious Seabass on there as well.

[00:26:18] Adam: So if people are interested in their conscious gift guide, they can find that on, on your website, which we will put in the show notes and please go on and check that out and hopefully get inspired with some cool ideas, which you've never heard of.

[00:26:32]that will make a huge difference just for local businesses here in the community. But you'll also be making an impact with the. The gifts that you do. And quite often these gifts are very cool. They're different, they're unique because they're made by local artisans. So

[00:26:45] Heidi: yeah, some of the best stuff.

[00:26:47] Adam: And then if you're looking for further resources, uh. Also, please check out the marketplace on the social ventures website. They list a hundred social entrepreneurs here in Columbus. they're not all product based. They have different businesses, but it's a great, uh, directory to go to just to see what is available, here in Columbus for companies that are specifically designed around making a social impact, what other words of wisdom do you have.

[00:27:12] Heidi: Great, less waste shop, social enterprises and small businesses doing good. And I think the biggest thing it really, what it really comes down to is. Just thinking about your purchases, just kind of realizing and respecting what went into that and what, who may have, you know, possibly suffered because of it or what may have possibly suffered because of it.

[00:27:34] I think that that's really the biggest thing that it comes down to is purchasing. Clothing, and you just think like, you see the tag of where it was made and you just know like this, this was not good. Like this was not made ethically and, and so that's a big deal for me. So I just try to think about my purchases before making them, you know, do I need this?

[00:27:52] Is it necessary? Or, you know, does it have a purpose? And then thinking further than that. You know who is impacted by this and how, and making sure that it was a positive impact and not a negative impact. I think that's, that's really what it comes down to. I think once we start to wrap our heads around that mindset, that will all transition towards making purchases that have a greater impact instead of just buying what's convenient or quick or easy or doing it without thinking twice about it.

[00:28:20] Adam: Well, thank you so much for coming out and talking to me today and spreading some ideas of what's going on here in Columbus. Yeah,

[00:28:27] Heidi: thanks for having me. Thanks.

[00:28:33] Adam: I love the effort that Heidi puts into the purchases that she makes by checking out the companies and products she engages with. That's great inspiration for what we all can do. And if you don't have the time to search for the stuff on your own, follow her on Instagram or Facebook as conscious Seabass to get great recommendations.

[00:28:48] Actually check out her handle consciouscbus to get the link to the conscious holiday shopping guide so that you can make more of an impact with your gifts that you buy this season. And as always, you can find out more resources on the show notes on people, helping people that world. Thank you so much for listening and until next time, cheers.