Written in Partnership with Amir BakianPurpose-driven businesses see profit as just one part of the equation. Selling products or services is not enough for them — their goal is transformation. They want to see their clients and customers live better lives as a result of the products and services they provide.
The following list highlights some of the top purpose-driven businesses of 2023. Motivated by the inspirational vision of their committed leaders, these eight businesses are looking beyond profit to provide products and services that are changing people’s lives.
1. Maven Recruiting Group
Maven Recruiting Group is a renowned and nationally recognized recruiting firm and brand that specializes in connecting high-leverage executives and personal assistants to the nation’s most prominent companies and individuals. Founder and CEO Jessica Vann is an active thought leader in the administrative support community, the host of REACH — a podcast for executive assistants with over 180,000 active listeners — and the creator of e-courses and executive assistant coaching programs. Vann and her team assert that strong support staff are the bedrock of Silicon Valley and have spent the last decade evangelizing the value of executive assistants and teaching executives how to transform their operations by working effectively with assistants.
“Our goal at Maven is to never forget we’re in the business of recruiting and placing people — actual people,” says Vann. “We believe candidates are more than resumes and companies are more than quarterly earnings. We are committed to treating people as people. We’re honest with them, meet them over coffee instead of over email, and celebrate what makes each person and company unique, instead of directing them to a webpage.”
Vann’s COVID pivot was to transition her team from a brick-and-mortar company to a remote organization that also spends time together at a horse ranch in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Maven has since been recognized by California Best Startup as one of the most innovative corporate training companies, which may have something to do with its balance of remote and ranch work.
Since its inception in 2010, Vann and Maven Recruiting have been recognized in Business Insider, Inc Best Workplaces, Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies, and San Francisco Business Times Top 100 Woman Owned-Businesses. Its commitment to providing executive support talent to Fortune 500 companies, Venture Capital firms, tech startups, and private households across the nation is changing the lives of both executives and the assistants who serve them.
2. Nesas Hemp
Inesa Ponomariovaite is a holistic health practitioner and an expert on hemp and CBD. She’s also a visionary on a mission to change the world by teaching people to harness the power of nature, like she did, to restore their health and well-being. Ponomariovaite is the founder and CEO of Nesas Hemp, a dominant player in the CBDa hemp oil industry. She is also passionate about educating people on full-spectrum CBD oil and hemp oil benefits and on how to choose pure CBD oil.
Nesas Hemp stands out in the marketplace as the world’s first-ever full-spectrum CBDa Hemp Oil. It is created through a unique process that Ponomariovaite developed herself to preserve all the healing compounds of the hemp plant, which brings optimal health and healing and restores the body to its natural state. Those who have discovered Nesas products are living better lives thanks to the positive impact it has on their mental and physical health.
“I truly believe in making a difference in the world, not by asking others to do so, but by starting ourselves to create a change,” Ponomariovaite explains. “So, I decided to ‘be the change I wish to see in the world,’ which is a quote that always really resonated with me. There is nothing more powerful than making a positive impact on someone when they don’t expect it, and they really need it.”
3. Spec On The Job
Spec On The Job is the premiere staffing company focused on serving blue-collar industries. They partner with trucking, construction, and light industrial companies to deliver workforce solutions. Both workers and those looking for jobs can quickly become frustrated with making the right connection. Spec On The Job brings a level of expertise and experience that reduces frustration by pointing their clients to the best opportunities.
“The best change Spec can hope for would be to enhance someone’s career,” says Jason Lamonica, COO of Spec On The Job. “We push them on to the next level in their chosen field. Maybe the new job that we help them find is the position they wanted, having worked hard to pass certain qualifications. Maybe this next step-up allows them to buy a new home instead of renting, giving them stability for themselves and family members.”
Clients turn to Spec On The Job when they are looking for an advantage in hiring qualified workers. They offer a comprehensive screening process, flexible hiring options, and full DOT compliance for their trucking clients. They have staff that is accessible 24 hours a day and remain 100 percent customer-focused. Their company is big enough to fill hiring needs but small enough to care deeply about earning and keeping business.
4. Sideline Prep
If you asked GeNienne Samuels, President/CEO of Sideline Prep, about how her business is changing people’s lives, the obvious response would be about the work it does to help get pro cheer candidates on professional entertainment teams for the NFL, NBA, and other sports leagues. However, the complete answer is deeper and more profound.
The international pro cheer prep company provides the type of expert coaching and accountability that has helped hundreds of people accomplish their goal of going pro. As a matter of fact, they have helped place their clients on 19 NFL and 15 NBA dance/cheer teams. In doing so, the Sideline Prep Coaches have also helped those women and men — even those who don’t make the cut — improve and strengthen their mindset and confidence, live better, healthier lifestyles with food and fitness, and enhance their interview and public speaking skills.
“Sideline Prep’s clients are groomed to be confident public speakers and interviewees,” Samuels explains. “They are coached in developing well-crafted resumes, cover letters, and applications. They are coached on how to have a healthy ‘relationship’ with food and how to become fit and toned. We ensure they have everything they need to create the ‘perfect’ look with their makeup, hair, attire, and overall appearance. We also meet weekly for our ‘Mindset Monday’ calls, where I provide tactics, methods, and techniques to strengthen their mindset, incorporate new habits, and crush their goals. As a result, after completing the Sideline Prep process, 100 percent of our clients say their confidence has increased.”
Sideline Prep’s website is packed with testimonials from clients whose lives have been changed by their experience with the company. Ashley, who was helped by Sideline Prep’s team to get a position with the Raiders, shares: “Sideline Prep develops their trainees not only as dancers but also as individuals. The program focuses on bringing out the best in everyone in all aspects of their lives. Sideline Prep gave me the tools to help me self-reflect and push myself to become better each and every day.”
5. Relevant Connections
Relevant Connections is fostering life change by offering everyday strategies for promoting mental health and equity. Through facilitating safe spaces for difficult conversations, the business provides innovative strategies to decrease stigma, increase meaningful engagement, and enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a result of its work, underserved populations are receiving equitable access to culturally competent care and resources, which decreases the barriers to generational success.
“We’re spearheading hard, uncomfortable conversations that people tend to avoid, specifically surrounding race, mental health, and diversity, equity, and inclusion,” explains Chardé Hollins, owner of Relevant Connections. “In doing so, we create meaningful opportunities for decreasing stigma and cultural barriers that may hinder one’s ability to understand or support the person right beside them. Lives are changed through the work we do as people are equipped with skills and resources for increasing cultural competence and equitable strategies to enhance both personal and professional relationships.”
Jenny Harlow-Keeler of the Integrative Healers Action Network shared the following testimonial after Hollins provided cultural competency training for her organization: “Chardé is a warm, kind, intelligent, and very personable professional to lead a training for your organization. She will take the time to get to know your organization’s culture and deliver training that is uniquely suited to what you are looking for. Her background and experience as an LCSW give her a unique advantage to share perspectives and education that can be applied to real-world situations.”
6. Publicly Private
Publicly Private is a nonprofit organization that is changing lives by offering supplies, support, and empowerment to the LGBTQIA+ community. Executive Director Kollyn Conrad was inspired to found the organization as a result of his own personal experience growing up as a gay man in the South. Always passionate about helping and befriending underserved individuals, Conrad combined his passion and his experience to create Publicly Private and aid LGBTQIA+ individuals in their lifelong journeys.
Publicly Private was created to fill the gap of support for LGBTQIA+ individuals in the South. Through its virtual support, Publicly Private is able to directly change the lives of southern LGBTQIA+ individuals who may be helpless otherwise.
“Understanding personal privacy, we publicly support the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community,” explains Conrad. “Virtuality grants rural queer populations access to life-changing actionable resources. We clearly deliver the message: ‘No matter Your Identification, You Have a Home.’”
7. 1907 Foundation
1907 Foundation is a public charity organization committed to solving the global mental health crisis. It is changing lives by funding innovations across the scientific and technological spaces that are aimed at getting the world one step closer to understanding mental health and thereby being able to solve mental health issues. By catalyzing trailblazing medical research, 1907 Foundation seeks to discover the root medical causes of mental health and cures for mental illnesses using technological advancements that support the mental health space.
One of the organization’s primary initiatives involves eliminating bias in granting research awards and increasing opportunities for scientists who would have previously been overlooked. Research shows that only the top one percent of institutions receive the majority of both public and private funding. 1907 Foundation is committed to seeing scientists focused on innovative and progressive research topics, which are often considered “high risk” in terms of funding, have equal opportunities.
1907 Foundation’s grant management system Atala is the first software of its kind to put science first by maintaining unparalleled levels of equity, ethics, efficiency, and effectiveness at every stage of the grant process. It promotes further advancements in mental health research by allowing a more diverse set of research to be funded.
“Atala ensures that our funding decisions are made based on the best science, gives early-career scientists a fighting chance, and removes the key pain points in the current grant management process,” explains Blair Kelly, Co-Founder and CTO of 1907 Foundation. “Atala creates collaboration opportunities between funders to ensure that the point of nonprofit work — getting the money into the hands of those who need it and can create progress — is realized more ethically and equitably.”
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