Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with A. Rafael Johnson, Vice President of Inspire to Change, located in Minneapolis, MN, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Inspire to Change supports purpose-driven Change and changemakers around the globe. We operate at the intersection of critical evaluative thinking, creative engagement, and social justice, where co-creation, mutual respect, and community change can thrive and support transformation personally and collectively.

Anyone working towards a more whole, just, and beautiful world can collaborate with Inspire to Change. We work with individuals, businesses, nonprofits, communities, and government organizations. We work locally in the Twin Cities area, nationally, and globally.

Tell us about yourself

Nora Murphy Johnson and I began Inspire to Change when we realized that changemakers needed ways to understand all the elements involved in sustainable and transformative social Change. From there, we assembled a small cohort of people to help us work out our ideas. Once we knew we had a viable business model, we launched Inspire to Change.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

"Global challenges are complex and interwoven and cannot be solved in isolation. Whether working to advance peace, ensure prosperity, or protect our planet, there is a need to design and build approaches that incorporate multiple perspectives, keeping pace with the speed at which the global community is moving and evolving. Therefore, building and maintaining connections between people and issue areas is essential."

The GHR Foundation funded 15 of these "Bridgebuilder" projects worldwide and asked us to evaluate their progress. The projects ranged from teaching immigrants to conduct tours of Parisian museums in their native languages to planting mangroves by drones in Mynamar to helping indigenous people preserve their land rights. We helped them understand the common principles at work throughout all their projects, then found ways to evaluate their work according to their own principles.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

There's always a balance of risk and responsibility that every business must manage.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Develop a set of guiding principles. These will help you and your employees make decisions and take actions that reflect your values.
  2. Always learn about yourself, your company, your customers, and your community.
  3. Organizations run on trust. Being trusted and trusting others in return will get you through the hard times.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.inspire-to-change.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspireToChang8
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/InspireToChang8/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspiretochang8/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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