{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Inspiring A Movement of Kindness with Matthew Hoffman","description":"Brian chats with Matthew Hoffman, the founder of You Are Beautiful, a Chicago-based company that uses art to provide kindness, compassion, and community when it\u2019s needed most. On the episode, Matthew shared how he became an accidental entrepreneur and some of the hard lessons he\u2019s learned as a business owner and artist. He also digs deep into using feedback to grow and refine your business. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses have a message. When Matthew started making his signature You Are Beautiful stickers that would eventually become a business, he had a clear message that he wanted to share with the world. He thinks the same kind of purposeful messaging separates mission-driven businesses from the rest. \u201cIt\u2019s all about having a clear mission or message and trying to share that with the world,\u201d Matthew said. You can be an \u201caccidental\u201d entrepreneur. Some people start a business with the desire to be an entrepreneur. But other entrepreneurs, like Matthew, don\u2019t originally dream of running their own businesses. In Matthew\u2019s case, growing demand from his community was the catalyst to take his sticker business online and for profit.  \u201cI say I am sort of an accidental business owner because for the first years, the stickers were absolutely free, then people were begging me to let them buy them,\u201d Matthew said. \u201cI finally began to offer them for sale on the website \u2026 and that began growing the community even bigger.\u201d Treat customers and employees well. One tip that Matthew shared throughout the podcast is the importance of treating people the way you want to be treated. Recognizing that he can\u2019t build a business alone, Matthew tries to cultivate a family-style company culture that is fun, drama-free, and supportive. He also prioritizes the customer experience with dedicated customer service and an online review system. \u201cTo find those people that support you and help fill you up is critical,\u201d he said. Grow from your mistakes. While Matthew always strove to overdeliver through his business, his track record hasn\u2019t been perfect. After his stickers appeared on Oprah\u2019s Super Soul Sunday program, You Are Beautiful got so many orders that he couldn\u2019t fulfill them all and his payment system didn\u2019t allow him to reach customers with updates. That experience led him to overhaul his approach to e-commerce in order to deliver the premium service he wanted to give customers. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to disappoint or upset, and I always want to overdeliver,\u201d Matthew said. \u201cThat allowed me to set up a really successful and rigorous system.\u201d Resources + Links You Are Beautiful: Website, Instagram, Facebook Matthew\u2019s Social Media: Website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Brian\u2019s Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast  Brian Thompson, JD\/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too. ","author_name":"Mission Driven Business","author_url":"https:\/\/btfinancial.com\/podcast","html":"