Good Morning, Beautiful Business: The Unexpected Journey of an Activist Entrepreneur and Local-Economy Pioneer in Good Work Institute

Mar 21, 2013 Julie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: economy, community, female-authored, business, leadership, recommended-reading

I was a kindergartener when White Dog Cafe opened in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t know about the cafe until after I opened my own cafe 22 years later. My business was founded on a Triple P bottom line – people, planet & profit – and about a year after we were opened, I came to the conclusion that if I really was committed to that foundation then revitalizing local economy was the first step towards sustainability. It took a couple more years to see a “Think Local First” campaign in full swing in my I was a kindergartener when White Dog Cafe opened in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t know about the cafe until after I opened my own cafe 22 years later. My business was founded on a Triple P bottom line – people, planet & profit – and about a year after we were opened, I came to the conclusion that if I really was committed to that foundation then revitalizing local economy was the first step towards sustainability. It took a couple more years to see a “Think Local First” campaign in full swing in my community, but while searching for those who intuited this same path towards resilience, I learned about the founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), Judy Wicks, also founder of the legendary White Dog Cafe. Judy is a pioneer of bringing ethics to a table where billions are invited through her proven & mature model of what is now known as social & activist enterprise.

Wicks memoir “Good Morning, Beautiful Business: The Unexpected Journey of an Activist Entrepreneur and Local Economy Pioneer” was published in Spring 2013 (Chelsea Green) and after reading the first few chapters I unexpectedly burst into tears. My own independent business had just turned seven, and I was in the process of reviewing the massive impact the localism movement had with not just my enterprise, but all of my entrepreneurial counterparts who managed by a hair and tooth to escape collapse while huge banks and franchises folded in the economic downturn of 2009. My time spent dedicated to promoting the concepts of localism, often shifting direct focus away from my own cafe, was effective in ensuring a much healthier economy for us all. That time investment was seen as a risk by some, and often had me in hot water with associates, but this ability to multi-focus and act as a catalyst for the local economy movement was absolutely vital, and not just to my little cafe. It was a dire necessity for our entire community and sense of place – we could all rise together if we combined our voices about the benefits of supporting local & independent or many of us would fall and be slow to recover with a “competitive, take care of your own, first” mentality.

Reading this memoir from a living legend who achieved financial success alongside remarkable social change which is still sweeping the globe and redefining neighborhood business everywhere, I cried three chapters in for two reasons. One, she mentions her first period and other perfectly normal rights of passage into womanhood, letting me know this was not just any memoir – this book about business & social change from a woman’s perspective goes there, where a remarkable few dare to go. This sets up Judy’s approach of noticing something that needs to be seen or heard and done differently and courageously going there to show and tell & then catalyze massive social change. Wicks is a storyteller, she delicately balances transparency with respect, she speaks of her journey to her feminine side, of questioning that stiff lipped voice in her head, of her vulnerability and doubt, and does not apologize for her style of leaping into projects and businesses without a plan, trusting her response-ability as her heart impulsed her towards this or that. Read rest of this review at my website: http://julienorris.wordpress.com/2013... ...more

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