Are you crazy enough?

I had a lovely phone call with this gal yesterday.  (faces have been covered to protect the innocent)

She runs a social enterprise that will literally knock your socks off.  I can’t wait to introduce you to her as a Love Maker and tell her full story very soon!  She’s incredible.

One of the things we discussed is my plan for creating a specific community for women who give back, as social entrepreneurs, through product sales.  She said, Like a support group for people crazy enough to be social entrepreneurs?  I love it!

We both laughed.

Then the tone became more serious as we talked about the real struggles and isolation of starting a business that gives back.

I’ve thought about that a lot over the past 24 hours.

Why does it seem crazy to build a real, profitable business focused on doing good?  

The answer is, it doesn’t seem crazy until you try to do it.  Until you realize that traditional business is built focused solely on forecasting revenue and scaling to meet the numbers.  Everything must be cheap, fast and scalable.  The why behind social enterprises is non-existent in traditional business.

It’s that why, that changes everything.

When everything you do is to make someone’s life better, it changes the entire paradigm of business.  Even in the middle of the dark, lonely, and difficult nights, working to make the dream a reality, it gives you a reason to keep going.  What you find out along the way is that process ends up making your life better.

You become stronger, more empathetic, more loving, more driven and more powerful than you ever dreamed.

Because you have no choice.

If you want to create change that matters, quitting isn’t an option.  To some, that makes you seem crazy.

It’s true of all people who do meaningful work in the world.

How would you like to leave the world better than you found it?

Are you crazy enough to do it?

I bet you are.

I’ll be right here, cheering you on.

Do it!

To more love,

Crystal

P. S. If you read this post and you know you’re crazy enough, but you don’t even know where to begin, I’m considering creating something just for you!  Leave a note in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.  Can’t wait!