Let me give you a little background. In late January, Cristina
and I were blessed enough to rock a goal coaching session with a legitimate
BADASS! Jacki Carr, co-founder of Rock Your Bliss, is making shift happen in
her own world by inspiring others to live their best lives through yoga, coaching,
retreats, and (that all-important word) community.
Jacki’s goal setting session revealed a HUGE opening. In-Powered
was ready for a finer balance between its IMPACT and its SUSTAINABILITY.
Instantly, an inspiring question blossomed in my mind: “How
can we do both…at the same time?”
Let me explain what I mean by a “balance between impact and
sustainability.” In-Powered has grown multiple programs that are changing the
lives of students, prisoners, and those struggling with homelessness. Cristina,
Roger, The In-Powered Team, and I have thrown our hearts into our work – often with
little concern for any financial gain.
What became clear through our coaching session was that
In-Powered was ready for greater economic viability to ensure that our programs
would be around well into the future. In fact, a “non-profit” that disregards its financial
responsibility does a disservice to its clients, which is why I now like to
refer to In-Powered as a “MORE-than-profit” organization.
In a single word, Danielle Fanfair and Marlon Hall, the
creators of the “IN-POWER” documentary, answered my question of how to affect
change and create sustainability.
Cross-Pollination!
Danielle and Marlon were featuring “INPOWER” alongside their
documentary about Kickin’ Kombucha. It only made sense to ask Kickin’ Kombucha’s
team, Robert Lopez and John Ermis, about creating a new flavor that could
benefit our respective work. In each of our conversations, Robert expressed a strong commitment
to supporting amazing things happening in the Houston community. His
unequivocal “YES” was a signal that Houston’s business community is ready and
willing to support fresh, meaningful ways of creating community.
The final product, a wicked blend of berry and ginger in a
bottle that includes our mission statement, is a beautiful example of how local
businesses can nourish charities while creating profit. It’s such
a simple and powerful model: You purchase an “In-Powered”, Kickin’ donates $0.25/bottle,
and people get yoga. You Get2Give!!!
I’m so honored by the tremendous response from the
In-Powered community. It has been amazing to see the Instagram and Facebook
posts and hear the buzz. What’s not to like about getting a wicked drink, supporting a local
business AND helping a charity make a
difference?
Sounds like my kind of community!
In-Power On,
Dan
