What if the thing standing between you and the impact you want to make isn't a lack of resources, but a lack of confidence?

Confidence is one of those words that sounds simple but hits differently when you're an entrepreneur trying to do something meaningful in the world. Adam Morris sits down with Rachyl Kershaw of Greater Columbus Consulting and Lachandra Baker of LBB Edutainment to dig into why so many purpose-driven people hold themselves back, and what they're doing about it through the Confidence Lab.

Two powerhouses who somehow never crossed paths despite moving in the same Columbus circles for years, Rachyl and Lachandra bring complementary energy to a shared mission: helping people show up as their full, authentic selves, whether they're in a boardroom, building a nonprofit, or somewhere in between.

The conversation gets real fast. Lachandra talks about the emotional exhaustion that drives people to the Confidence Lab, the feeling of constantly trying to find your sea legs in a world that keeps shifting. Rachyl shares her own journey from a sharp-elbowed early career version of confidence to the healthier, more grounded kind she now teaches, rooted in knowing your value rather than defending it.

They also tackle something particularly relevant for social entrepreneurs: the discomfort of selling, speaking up, and delegating when you're used to carrying everything yourself.

Their message: You don't have to do it all, and you don't have to do it alone. The Confidence Collective they've built is living proof of that, a group of brilliant leaders pooling their strengths and going after opportunities together.

00:00 Why confidence is harder in practice than it sounds

01:05 Rachyl's background and why she left corporate life

02:43 Lachandra's 35 years in people-first work

05:04 How the Confidence Lab idea was born and the gap it was designed to fill

08:31 What participants took away from last year's event

10:50 Why the Confidence Lab naturally became a women-centered space

16:21 The power of delegating, partnering, and not doing it all yourself

19:41 Rachyl's personal story: from defensive confidence to the real thing

25:19 How leaders can create psychological safety so others speak up too

28:35 How to find the Confidence Lab and get involved

Rachyl Kershaw is the founder of Greater Columbus Consulting, bringing decades of corporate and technology experience to help social enterprises and conscious capitalists build stronger, more impactful businesses.

Connect with Rachyl and her work: → LinkedIn

Lachandra Baker is the founder of LBB Edutainment, with 35 years of experience in employee engagement, company culture, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is a speaker, culture strategist, and champion for bringing full humanity into every workplace.

Connect with Lachandra and her work: → LinkedIn

The Confidence Lab Summit is Monday, May 4th, noon to 4pm at Rev1 at the Peninsula. Grab your tickets and learn more at confidencelab.org.

How can you expect to change the world if you are constantly running on an empty tank?

Social impact work is inherently heavy, but lately, that weight feels even more intense for many founders. Between massive federal funding cuts, the rapid acceleration of AI, and a general sense of global uncertainty, change-makers are finding themselves at the brink of burnout. It is a rational response to an irrational world, but it creates a dangerous paradox: the people most committed to helping others are often the ones neglecting themselves the most.

Prioritizing your own mental health isn’t a retreat from the mission; it is a prerequisite for it. Just like the oxygen mask analogy on an airplane, you have to be grounded and healthy to hold space for the challenges others are facing. Whether it is through morning journals, finding space to recharge, or reconnecting with nature, these self-care pillars provide the resilience needed to stay in the game. Real change happens when we move out of isolation and back into community, sharing our vulnerabilities authentically and remembering that we do not have to solve the entire puzzle alone.

Episode in a glance

00:00 The Importance of Emotional Well-Being

01:53 The impact of recent federal funding cuts

04:56 Navigating AI anxiety and rapid change

08:54 Why your well-being is a core business metric

14:15 Moving from a downward spiral to a grounded state

17:13 Five pillars for maintaining daily resilience

19:59 Finding community in social impact masterminds

24:33 Prioritizing Well-Being for Greater Impact

Are you feeling the weight of the work? Adam is here to support social entrepreneurs through the messy middle of building an impact venture. If you are feeling burnt out or just need a non-judgmental space to talk through your strategy, reach out for a conversation today. Don't forget that you are part of something bigger than yourself!

Are you struggling to explain what you do without launching into a long-winded explanation that leaves your audience more confused than when you started?

Mission-driven leaders often fall into the trap of leading from behind, assuming that if the work is good, the supporters will simply find them. But as Brandy Nicole Walker, founder of Brandworthy Solutions, explains, "intention without clarity is a missed opportunity for impact." Growing up with two entrepreneur parents and spending years as a teacher, Brandy learned early on that the best stories are the ones people can actually see themselves in. She eventually moved into the nonprofit world, where she realized that the "symptoms" organizations complain about such losing donors or failing to get traction on social media, are usually just a lack of clear, cohesive storytelling.

Building a brand is about more than a nice logo; it is about establishing a structure that pierces the heart and prompts action. Whether it is through an "origin story" that hooks an audience in seconds or an "invitation story" that makes a specific ask, the goal is to stop talking to everyone and start speaking to one person. For those who are terrified of the camera or overwhelmed by the "post every day" pressure, the secret lies in treating social media as a data experiment. By shifting the focus from perfection to practice, leaders can move from being "confusing" to "brandworthy," ensuring their message finally lands with the right customers and supporters.

Episode in a glance:

01:09 From the classroom to coaching adult storytellers

08:40 Why fundraising is actually just relationship-building

12:22 Why structure matters more than the actual words in messaging

15:06 Social Media Strategies for Early Stage Entrepreneurs

18:17 The three stories every organization needs

22:15 Purposeful Content Creation

23:46 Choosing the Right Social Media Platform

25:06 Overcoming the fear of recording video content

Brandy Walker is the founder of Brand Worthy Solutions, where she helps mission-driven organizations and entrepreneurs own their stories and amplify their voices. With a deep background in nonprofit program development, teaching, and fundraising, she specializes in helping leaders move from internal confusion to external clarity.

→ Visit the Brandworthy Solutions website: www.youarebrandworthy.com

→ Follow Brandy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandywalker

→ Find her on social media: @brandywashere

Tia Johnson was a mother of three climbing the corporate ladder in 2013 when she reached a breaking point. She knew she wanted to instill something more in her children and redefine what wealth really meant beyond just a paycheck. After a frustrated argument with her teenage son about a smelly trash bin, a lightbulb went off: nobody actually wants to clean their trash cans. What started as a relatable household pain point turned into Fresh Bloom Bins, a venture that eventually blossomed into Fresh Environmental Services.

Tia leveraged free community resources and leaned into her natural grit to navigate the challenges of the 2020 pandemic. By listening to the specific needs of municipalities and property managers, she moved beyond simple cleaning to offer a full environmental services model. Her journey is a masterclass in staying flexible, asking the right questions, and understanding that even something as overlooked as waste management is a key factor in community equity and quality of life. Today, she is helping property managers manage the complicated logistics of waste while empowering her employees to see that no one is a "throwaway" person.

01:06 Breaking free from the corporate burnout

03:06 Lessons in grit from a childhood paper route

06:23 How a smelly trash can became a business

11:17 Winning municipal bids by asking the right questions

17:55 Pivoting into Fresh Environmental Services

Tia Johnson is the founder of Fresh Environmental Services (formerly Fresh Bloom Bins). She is a mission driven entrepreneur dedicated to improving waste management logistics for multifamily properties and communities. Through her Clean Community Program and upcoming "She Speaks Trashy" brand, she focuses on quality of life, sustainability, and empowering people through purposeful work.

Linkedin → https://www.linkedin.com/in/tia-johnson-environmental-services

Website → https://freshtrashservice.com

Do you ever feel like your passion for change is miles ahead of the actual business model keeping you afloat?

We have all been there. You get into this work because you love the community and want to solve a real problem, but then the business side of things starts to feel a little scary. It is easy to get stuck in imposter syndrome, wondering if what you are offering is actually worth the price tag. But here is the truth: a strong revenue stream isn't a distraction from your mission. It is the engine that helps you scale that impact to a whole new level.

The secret to getting unstuck is starting small. Instead of spending months building a massive product in isolation, try running tiny revenue tests. Think $10 digital products or quick offers that take just a few hours to create. This is how you learn what people are actually willing to pay for before you commit your life to an idea. It is about understanding the dream outcome your audience wants and building a bridge to get them there. Whether you are partnering with local nonprofits to share resources or moving into high ticket consulting, the goal is to keep your messaging and your impact consistent. When you stop guessing and start having real conversations, the path to growth becomes much clearer.

00:00 Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship and Revenue Models

00:17 Why business models matter for scaling impact

02:51 The power of the $10 micro-offer test

05:29 Creating Effective Offers for Social Impact

07:34 Navigating impact audiences versus paying customers

10:49 Building Partnerships for Greater Impact

13:08 Developing a Consistent Business Model

15:26 Scaling Your Business and Revenue Streams

Adam Morris is the founder and host of People Helping People. He launched the podcast in 2017 with the vision to learn and share what is possible through social entrepreneurship, as well as to give individuals the tools to successfully start their own impact ventures. He is passionate about connecting people and creating a world that will thrive for generations.

→ People Helping People

→ Linkedin

→ Instagram

→ Youtube

Are you building your social enterprise in a "basement" of isolation, or are you developing it alongside the community you actually serve?

Social entrepreneurship attracts people with a deep desire to solve community problems, but many of these founders fall into the trap of building their vision in total isolation. Adam Morris explores why the "perfect" plan often fails while the "messy" test succeeds. Using the cautionary tale of two underwater vehicle companies, the discussion highlights how early failure is actually a competitive advantage. One company spent ten years engineering the perfect vessel only to go bankrupt, while the other "crashed" early, learned quickly, and eventually dominated the market.

We dive into the journey of Jerry from Renter Mentor, who bypassed high-tech coding to first sit down with landlords and discover their true pain points through focus groups and "speed dating" sessions. This approach to Applied Design Thinking isn't about colorful sticky notes; it’s a disciplined way to identify your riskiest assumptions. Whether they involve your customer, your revenue model, or your actual social impact.

By shifting the focus from building a "car" to building a "skateboard," founders can stop guessing and start creating solutions that people are actually ready to support.

Episode in a glance

00:00 Defining social entrepreneurship and the two types of founders

02:46 Learning by doing: The tale of two submarine companies

05:33 Success story: How Renter Mentor used focus groups to pivot

07:31 Understanding Design Thinking

09:33 The MVP explained

11:38 Six core assumptions every social entrepreneur makes

16:13 Avoiding bias: The Mom Test by Robert Fitzpatrick

17:25 Five practical tests to validate your idea

19:03 Why revenue and pre-order tests are the ultimate signal

Adam Morris is the founder and host of People Helping People. He launched the podcast in 2017 with the vision to learn and share what is possible through social entrepreneurship, as well as to give individuals the tools to successfully start their own impact ventures. He is passionate about connecting people and creating a world that will thrive for generations.

→ People Helping People

→ Linkedin

→ Instagram

→ Youtube

Are you just making noise, or are you actually moving your audience from awareness to action?

Hannah Nichol, the founder and CEO of Mane Impact, joins the show to share how values-driven brands can cut through the digital clutter. Social entrepreneurs often get caught in the trap of "Frankensteining" their marketing by piecing together random social media posts and emails without a cohesive plan.

This conversation breaks down the shift from short-term tactics to a long-term strategy that builds trust and scales impact. It explores the marathon-like nature of marketing, the importance of focusing on quality over quantity in the early stages, and the emerging movement of "digital sustainability."

For any founder staring at a blank sheet of paper, this discussion provides a clear roadmap for turning a mission into a movement.

Episode in a glance

03:13 Hannah's Journey to Mane Impact

04:57 Strategy vs. Tactics: What marketing actually means

06:35 Nonprofits vs. For-Profits in Marketing

09:01 Early Stage Marketing Strategies

10:18 Budgeting for Marketing Success

17:03 Knowing When to Outsource Marketing

18:20 The Evolution of Nashville's Social Impact Scene

22:33 Being a change-maker vs. a noise-maker in 2026

26:40 Connecting with Mane Impact

About Hannah Nichol

Hannah Nichol is the founder and CEO of Mane Impact, an agency dedicated to amplifying the voices of brands making a positive difference. With experience spanning retail, tech startups, and nonprofits, she specializes in strategic branding and authentic storytelling for organizations that prioritize purpose alongside profit.

Visit the Mane Impact Website → maneimpact.com

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/maneimpact/?hl=en

YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@maneimpact

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/mane-impact/

Email Hannah → hello@maneimpact.com

How do you build a sustainable business when your primary goal is social change rather than just a bottom line?

After a two-year break, People Helping People is back with Season 3.

This season is all about the "how-to" of social entrepreneurship, helping you bridge the gap between having a heart for change and running a business that actually scales. Building a social enterprise is a unique challenge. You aren’t just a nonprofit chasing grants, but you aren’t a typical for-profit startup only focused on revenue. You’re somewhere in the middle.

Adam talks about why social entrepreneurs think differently and why things like marketing, sales, and finance are actually the engines that keep your mission alive.

Adam gets honest about his own journey. He shares his transition from a 25-year tech career to launching a t-shirt brand for youth experiencing homelessness. He also opens up about being an entrepreneur and the awkwardness of finally starting a video challenge on social media.

This season isn't just about tips; it’s about community. Whether you're tackling homelessness or building a neighborhood tool library, you don't have to do it alone. Adam previews a season full of expert guests, deep dives into business models, and the peer support you need to turn a blank sheet of paper into a thriving impact venture.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship

02:41 Navigating Business Development for Social Enterprises

04:48 The Journey of a Social Entrepreneur

08:11 Vision for People Helping People Podcast