Episode 46: Loren Lewin
Join Lori and her guest, Loren Lewin, in this conversation about incorporating philanthropy in business. Loren is the founder of Companion Candles, which was launched because of a very personal experience (more about that in the podcast). Following the success of her business in just a short amount of time, she talks about the impact she’s had with the cause she supports. Stay tuned!
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
The organizations that she is currently supporting.
How does she balance working full-time and managing Companion Candles?
Starting a business with the intention of giving back.
Partnering with stores that also incorporate philanthropy in their business model.
And much more!
About Loren Lewin:
After many hours of quarantine with her pup, Loren Lewin realized that her store bought candles did not live up to their claims (or her standards) and were filled with dirty ingredients that were not only harmful to her, but her dog. Loren threw out her store bought candles and started making her own homemade, clean version. She never looked back; Companion Candles was founded in 2021.
A much-needed change in the industry, Companion Candles takes it back to the basics.
Born and raised in Chicago, Loren has worked with a number of brands including Lyft, SpotHero, Grubhub, SXSW and Tribeca Film Festival.
Connect with Loren!
Website: https://companioncandles.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/companioncandles/
Email: loren@companioncandles.com
Organizations mentioned:
The Anti-Cruelty Society: https://anticruelty.org/
One Tail at a Time: https://www.onetail.org/
Strand Book Store: https://www.strandbooks.com/
Connect with Lori Kranczer!
Episode Transcript
Episode 47: An Interview with Ashlee Sang Brand Strategist and Consultant at Ashlee Sang Consulting
Guests: Ashlee Sang
Your listening to the Positive Impact Philanthropy podcast where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into their lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey and to the stories we share here. We hope that has sparked something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host, Lori Kranzer, attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy giving strategist. Together we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and make a positive impact in the world. Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode. So today I'm really excited to have Ashlee Sang she's a brand strategist and consultant at Ashlee Sang Consulting. Welcome, Ashlee.
Hi thanks so much for having me.
My pleasure. So why don't you tell us more about you?
All right. So yes, I am Ashlee Sang I run the Ashlee Sang consulting. I work with visionary founders, people who have a really strong vision of what they want to create in the world and they don't always know how to make a reality or they don't always know how to convey that really powerful vision to everyone else who doesn't live inside their head and heart all day. So, I come in with brand messaging strategy, really figuring out who are you as a brand, whether they're a sole proprietor, or service provider and they're really the face of their brand. Whether they're building something really big outside of themselves, they still need to know who they are, what they stand for, and being able to relate to their values and their audience will allow them to stand out. That is my favorite way to interact with founders is through brand messaging strategy.
I know that it's not just all visionaries that you work with, because we all have a vision in our business, and some are more purpose driven than others. I know that you work with a lot with purpose driven startups and founders. Can you share a little bit more about how your values also may affect the way that you have you created your business and those that you want to help?
Living out your brand values trickles into every facet of your business. For example, I have the words conscious and purpose driven on my website and in my social media content, so people are organically finding me because they're looking for conscious marketing. They want someone who isn't just all about profit, profit, profit, right? Or, for example, I'm part of 1% for the planet, because I really, really care about our shared Earth and our ability to preserve and hopefully protect it, so I'm able to interact with people in that community and who have shared those values. Those are the types of ways that people know what I stand for and hopefully that is attracting like-minded people, and at the same time repelling people who just want, the cheapest marketing hacks or whatever else that I just wouldn't be able to deliver on. That's not the type of work I want to be doing.
Right so those that maybe just want to drive profits without really feeling like how they are adding value to their community to the world or whatever that looks like because we know philanthropy looks different in so many different ways and for so many different people. It's such an individual decision about philanthropy and who we want to support so going to your clients do you work with, I know you work with founders and startups, do you work also with nonprofits or philanthropists as well on their branding?
I do, I don't think I've ever worked specifically with a philanthropist who branded themselves as a philanthropis, but I certainly work with nonprofits. That's my background, I come from international development in West Africa and local nonprofits, I'm in central Illinois now, so I come from that world of fundraising and donor relations and really getting that powerful social mission across and now I sort of bridge that gap. I still have one foot in the nonprofit world, but I also work with this sort of business for good world, the social impact world or even solopreneurs service providers who are just really passionate about building a business that supports their families, their communities and really believe in showing up well for their clients. Honestly, I just work with good people. That's sort of the prerequisite to work together.
And there's your new tagline, I work with good people. Alright, so I'm glad that you talked about your previous life professional life, so let's talk about that because it's really interesting to share a little about your nonprofit background.
Yeah. Thank you. I have a very liberal arts background. I studied anthropology and French and linguistics in undergrad and that brought me to Senegal in West Africa. That's like sort of the prime location to combine all three of those interests and I met my now husband. Right after graduation, I got a job in Senegal and I worked with this really great NGO for four years. It's a human rights organization and the founder is from a town not far from my Illinois town and she's been there for 40 years, and she's just talking about imaginary. That is where I learned everything about nonprofit management, international development as an acceptor and that's how I found my way to the communications department. That is where I cut my teeth on internal communications, donor relations, media relations, email marketing, all the things that go into communicating a mission. That is where I learned it was in Senegal, in West Africa. What was really cool is that was the international headquarters, so I was also in contact with people in six different countries, and then the US office as well. That was a super formative time in my life, not only professionally but obviously personally and that is what I still carry with me today in being able to think outside my experience and really put myself in someone else's shoes. That's what my anthropology training has allowed me to do and that's what living abroad and really being outside your comfort zone pretty much at all times every day allows me to do and I think it makes me a better business owner and a more empathetic person and I'm really thankful for that experience.
You know, it's interesting because most people I would say, just about everyone that we talk with on this podcast, has this incredible background but when we go a little bit further back into childhood growing up, because our values don't start in a vacuum they don't start to midlife, at some point later on. They're starting early on and can you think back on who may have inspired you or who played a part in in encouraging your work in nonprofit work, or encouraging that value system that you have?
I am not 100% Sure. I have always been a do gooder. I have always had an extremely strong sense of justice and right and wrong, which is obviously subjective, but in my mind, especially growing up it never was subjective, it was so objectively true. I certainly push those boundaries as I've gotten older and just learned other people's perspectives, but I am an Enneagram one if that says anything to anyone. I am an INFJ if that says anyone's anyone that advocate, so it has just always been in my DNA. In terms of external influences, I do think my dad has this very philanthropic heart not only in terms of giving back, but then also just living your life considering other people just being a conscientious person was very important growing up. I think that definitely carried over into my career and I don't think either of my parents had any notions of me going into the nonprofit world, certainly not living in West Africa. They did instill in me this idea of every single every single thing you do in this world has consequences. It has an impact on the people around you for better or worse, so you need to consider that before you take any action ever.
That is incredible. I can definitely see the trend of the values, the communications going from, what you studied and going to the nonprofit sector and then going into what you're doing now as a strategist. So, you mentioned working with nonprofits and developing from their mission or developing the mission statement and developing the communications from their mission, so any tips or anything you can share with listeners from nonprofits that are working on it right now?
For nonprofits specifically, it's really about showing why these matters. Of course, for some people, it will just instantly hit, you just know this cause speaks to my soul, but if you really want to widen that fundraising pool, that volunteer pool, that thing that we're always trying to widen, that base of supporters in whatever capacity it's really about showing how this matters to that person on the other side of the conversation. Similar to how in business, you absolutely need to consider your audience in every single decision you make, the same is true for nonprofits. One of your main audiences are the people you're serving, but you can only serve those people if you get other people on board to support that mission. Really showing why this is a powerful mission, simplifying it. I know one of the biggest mistakes that is sort of pervasive across all nonprofits is you go to their website and it's 40 pages deep and they're all 40 scrolls long, and they just have so much to say about the wonderful work they're doing, which is so great, but you need to be able to boil it down. You need to be able to convey it fast to someone who has never heard of you, or who was only vaguely heard of you and you need to be able to trickle out that conversation over the long haul rather than just dumping. We do all the amazing things and you need to focus on the one thing that will hook the person in.
I agree I work with a lot of nonprofits. on developing their legacy giving case statements and what I always say that we're developing the core method is to you have to ask why is doing care. If you know you have these great programs, and you have this wonderful impact, but still why do they care what you're doing? What's the actual value of it to them, and once you get that you're golden. That's the core of your marketing, your conversations, everything is so much easier once you really truly understand why those donors care about what you're doing. I know as nonprofits we tend to like to want to share all this information about all wonderful programs and we're growing and we're having these impacts, but people will tune out if they can't relate it to themselves. Thank you for sharing that, that's a great tip for people to follow up. What's going to be next as you're building out your business? Because I see that you work with visionaries, but you are one yourself so where were you heading with this?
Thank you for saying that. I never feel like a visionary, but I do think that any entrepreneur in any capacity must have at least a little bit of visionary sauce going on. I do think that my next step is scale and not in the really, bro marketing sort of scale, but this idea of being able to reach more people at a time because that means more impact for the same amount of effort, for the same amount of information. I’m focusing on how I can go deeper with the clients I'm working with. Currently I have one-hour consulting calls and one day intensives and I am launching a 90-day intensive consulting package because I really want to go deep with them over the long haul. In terms of going broader and reaching more people, I might have a podcast in my future. I have absolutely loved guesting a lot in the last six months or so. I think there's a podcast and me somewhere. Then I also really love group facilitation. So really getting in a room with entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, or anyone who has this idea in them that they want to make a reality. I want to get them one step closer, 10 steps closer, however much closer to that goal. And so, some sort of group setting is in my future.
14:02
It sounds like it's a lot of communication, storytelling, connection, community. I think that's great. It all goes towards showing your values and your experience. So, talking about what you're doing next and scaling up, what do you want your legacy to be?
One, I am a new mama less than three months, so that has brought a whole new meaning of legacy through my daughter and also through wealth building. Not in a bad sort of, I want all the money, but money makes the world around and the more we have the more we can make aligned decisions that support causes that we care about. I'm building that legacy through my family. In terms of my business, I'm really aiming for my curious impact. So again, I don't see myself as a visionary necessarily, but I get the opportunity to apply my skills and my perspective to someone else's vision. I insert myself in the process and they go and have this amazing impact. They go touch all these lives through their business. And so, the more businesses I'm able to build in that capacity, the more I'm able to have this amplified vicarious impact. So that's certainly a legacy I hope to leave.
So, supporting others in their vision is also part of your legacy and your vision.
It is yeah.
Great. So where can people find out more about you?
You can definitely visit AshleeSang.com Ashlee with two E's saying like sing a song. Also, if you want a sort of look into my approach, you can download a free workbook, it's called the Stand Up to Stand Out workbook and it really guides you to know your values and your audience and your mission and then it has a consistency checklist to actually implement because a strategy is only as good as the implementation phase. That's Ashleesang.com/positiveimpactphilanthropy and then you can connect on Instagram or LinkedIn. Those are the places I am most active.
Great. We are going to list all those in the show notes. Everyone has easy access to get to everything to know about Ashlee, her services and that downloadable link. Perfect so thank you so much, Ashlee for joining us and sharing your vision for the future and how you support others in their vision. And thank you everyone for joining us. We hope we provided some insights and inspiration that you can use for your own philanthropic journey. Thanks everyone.
