Our Why

Our story starts with an entrepreneur trying to find high-quality gifts that give back for her holiday corporate gifts. It was cumbersome. The items were often low quality. The lead times were long. They were pricey. Ultimately, it was such a pain that she resorted to purchasing from a major online retailer…you know the one.

Does this sound familiar? You made yourself a promise that this year you were going to shop better. Maybe you committed to shopping small or buying from companies with a strong sustainability stance. But then you wear out and, ultimately, end up buying from the same big box retailer or online behemoth you always do. Ugh.

Jessica Shields launched beCAUSE minded with one goal in mind – to make it easy for businesses with gifting budgets to support companies and non-profits making a positive impact in the world. In her wildest dreams, this business will funnel billions of dollars in corporate gifting budgets into organizations who help provide clean water in developing countries. Maybe Fortune 500 companies will purchase gift boxes with items from companies whose sole purpose is to restore sex trafficking survivors by providing job training and a reliable income. Dream big, right?

This is our why.

Sometimes this gets lost in our daily lives. We spend most of our time in 1:1 meetings with clients, packing the boxes, and marketing. When the bigger picture gets lost, we have to recenter. We have to remember who we are at our core – world changers. When we meet with clients, we are partnering with them to create social change. When we pack a box, we are sending out products, and making room for new inventory that is literally changing lives around the world. When we do our marketing, we are sharing our message of what it means to practice empowered gifting, giving people the chance to use their dollars in mighty ways.

Fortunately, our suppliers remind us every once in while what our orders mean to them. Our artisan mugs are made by a company fighting to end orphanhood in Haiti. The founder will text us photos of her team making the mugs and singing. She gives us glimpses into the political turmoil, the financial devastation they fight every day and tells us our order helps keep parents employed, keeping families together who would struggle without this work.

One organization shares how many sex trafficking survivors were saved that year, and how many went through their job training program. They remind us that without a stable income, many trafficking survivors would have a difficult time keeping their independence, but few have existing job skills that would be valuable to a traditional employer. When we place orders for their jute bowls and coasters, it fuels hope for these women.

We have all the same challenges as a “regular” business. We have difficult clients sometimes, run into inventory issues, and have to watch our spending to maintain profitability. But we also have a giant why to keep us going.

Does your company have a “why?” Share it in the comments!