DO GOOD X Podcast
Welcome to the DO GOOD X Podcast – where purpose meets business, and the journey is just as important as the destination. Hosted by advocates for impactful entrepreneurship, Kimberly Daniel and Stephen Lewis, this podcast creates a space for Black and Brown folk, especially Black women, navigating the intricate path of purposeful business.
In this sanctuary, the hosts understand the challenges of entrepreneurship, and their mission is to help listeners transform doubt into confidence, fostering the growth of their dreams without sacrificing well-being.
Embark on a transformative journey, discovering inspiration to fuel your passion for business. Shared experiences and stories act as beacons, nurturing you for the entrepreneurial road ahead.
Navigate the challenges of being an under-resourced entrepreneur with practical strategies and resources in the Tools & Tips segment. Overcome obstacles and thrive in the purpose-driven business world.
In the Mentorship segment, hear from seasoned guides who have successfully built businesses with a focus on social impact. Gain insights not only from the guests but also from hosts who intimately understand the unique journey of overlooked entrepreneurs.
This podcast is more than a productivity machine; it's about slowing down to go further. Each episode invites listeners to exhale, reconnect with inner wisdom, and rediscover the power of community. Embrace the impact your business can make without compromising well-being.
Leave feeling lighter, shedding stress, embracing self-compassion, and finding joy in the entrepreneurial journey. Gain actionable insights, learn from diverse perspectives, and expand your knowledge with tools for success, guided by hosts Kimberly and Stephen.
Feel empowered, recognizing yourself as your greatest asset. Build confidence to develop and grow a viable, impactful business aligned with the needs of the community.
About the Hosts
Kimberly R. Daniel catalyzes entrepreneurs and organizations to do good. She is
co-founder and project director of DO GOOD X, a community that provides programs
and support for faith-driven social entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on positive
Change.
Kimberly also helps purpose-driven organizations clarify and design compelling brand and communication strategies. With over 15 years of experience developing and leading communications efforts, it is her commitment to produce effective processes and create authentic, “sticky” brands that are community-centered.
In any aspect of her work, she is deeply passionate about purpose, meaning, and the
common good.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-r-daniel/
Stephen Lewis is the president of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) and creator and co-founder of DO GOOD X, a community that provides programs and support for faith-driven social entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on positive change.
He is an organizational change strategist and a leadership development specialist,
focused on inspiring the next generation of faith-inspired leaders and entrepreneurs to live and work on purpose. Stephen is the co-author of Another Way: Living and Leading Change on Purpose (2020) and A Way Out of No Way: An Approach to Christian Innovation (2021).
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-lewis-8b1b941/
DO GOOD X Podcast
Ep. 35 Turn Setbacks into Stepping Stones with Growth Mindset: Insights From Kimberly and Stephen's Entrepreneurial Journey
Welcome to the DO GOOD X podcast, hosted by Kimberly Daniel and Stephen Lewis. In today’s conversation, we dive into the importance of embracing failure as part of the entrepreneurial journey and how setbacks can be catalysts for growth. With the support of the DO GOOD X community, we explore how to reframe failure, adopt a mindset of "failing forward," and the power of gratitude in overcoming challenges. Tune in for practical advice, encouragement, and a reminder that your path to success is about learning, adapting, and growing stronger.
IN THIS EPISODE:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:20) Let’s discuss failure
(03:00) Failure should be seen as failing forward
(06:12) Failure and setbacks are unavoidable
(08:26) The role of gratitude
(10:37) Be encouraged by seeking support from the DO GOOD X community
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Failure is a natural part of entrepreneurship and should be seen as a learning opportunity. Embracing "failing forward" means using setbacks to grow, adapt, and make better decisions, ultimately helping you pivot and move closer to your goals with greater resilience.
- Failure is not a negative setback. It can catalyze personal and business growth, helping entrepreneurs pivot, refine their products, and improve their strategies. Viewing failure as a chance to learn and adapt strengthens resilience and perseverance, ultimately setting you and your business up for long-term success.
- Reflecting on gratitude and successes, especially at year-end, is essential. A supportive community can help you see achievements, navigate challenges, and reduce negative mindsets, fostering resilience and growth.
RESOURCES:
Kimberly R. Daniel catalyzes entrepreneurs and organizations to do good. She is co-founder and project director of DO GOOD X, a community that provides programs and support for faith-driven social entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on positive Change.
Kimberly also helps purpose-driven organizations clarify and design compelling brand and communication strategies. With over 15 years of experience developing and leading communications efforts, she is committed to producing effective processes and creating authentic, “sticky” brands that are community-centered.
In addition, Kimberly has nearly ten years of experience as a certified life coach. She has facilitated workshops, spoken to communities, and written about innovation and entrepreneurship centered on social impact.
Stephen Lewis is the president of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) and the creator and co-founder of DO GOOD X. This community provides programs and support for faith-driven social entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on positive change.
He is an organizational change strategies and leadership development specialist focused on inspiring the next generation of faith-inspired leaders and entrepreneurs to live and work purposefully.
Stephen and Kimberly co-authored Another Way: Living and Leading Change on Purpose (2020) and A Way Out of No Way: An Approach to Christian Innovation (2021)
Narrator: [00:00:00] Welcome to the do good X podcast, a sanctuary from the entrepreneur grind host Kimberly, Danielle, and Steven Lewis advocates for impactful entrepreneurship guide you on the path where purpose meets business. Join us to slow down, reconnect, and explore the challenges of under resourced entrepreneurs, uncovering the unique journey of building businesses that make a difference.
Now you're hosts.
Kimberly R. Daniel: Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do good x podcast. My name is Kimberly Danielle, and I am a community builder, a communication strategist and a coach who comes from generations of faith driven leaders and entrepreneurs who believe that our purpose should drive us to contribute to the common good. We thank you for for joining us.
Stephen, how are you doing?
Stephen Lewis: I'm [00:01:00] doing all right. I'm a catalyst for positive change in communities and businesses. And for over two decades, I have inspired leaders and entrepreneurs to live and work on purpose with intention, faith, and a commitment to their well being. And so I want to thank the listeners for tuning in with us today.
Kimberly, what do we have on deck? I think some of what we're going to talk about here is about we're nearing the end of 2024, and this is the time of the year where you may be reflecting on the progress that you've made as an entrepreneur during the past 12 months, and that you're planning ahead. For some of you, it, you may have grown your business.
For others, you may have had to pivot, and for some, you may have experienced setbacks, and some may not have quite hit the mark where you intended to be. Failure is a word that's often mentioned in the entrepreneurial world, and I think it's important to discuss now, [00:02:00] especially if this has come up for you as we reflect back on the year.
So today, we're going to chat about failure.
Kimberly R. Daniel: Yeah, if you've been a loyal listener, even if you've listened to, you know, a few of our podcast episodes in this season, we've really talked to quite a bit of founders and other folks who have Transcripts Spoken about failure and what that has looked like for for them and how they have grown from it.
So I do think that this is an important conversation to have and not just, you know, on our podcast as I'm out networking and talking to others in the entrepreneurial community. Failure is a thing. It can get in the way or it can really set someone up well, depending on perspective and how they approach it.
So, yeah, I think this is a good conversation for us to have today, Steven. [00:03:00]
Stephen Lewis: Yeah. So, you know, one of the things when I think about failure, you know, um, we oftentimes think of it as kind of a negative perception or we have a negative perception around failure, which creates a narrative that this is something that entrepreneurs should avoid.
Now, the statistic is 9 in 10 entrepreneurs fail. So you should come into this, you should come into this work with the idea that failure is part of, you know, what comes with the business. And I think part of this is recognizing that success comes from learning from our setbacks and our challenges. Um, of what we, what we may experience as failure, you know, I think, you know, part of this is recognizing that it's not so much as, you know, failing and failing backwards, but it really is failing forward.
How do you take [00:04:00] your, um, you know, like, how do you take these losses? That you may experience failure as, and actually turn them into lessons. Um, things that help you make better decisions about where it is that you're trying to go in your business and where you might need to pivot, um, to actually move in that direction.
What would you say, Kim?
Kimberly R. Daniel: Right, right. I mean, just building off of that. It's important to just embrace failure as a learning opportunity. I've heard several entrepreneurs that I've talked to kind of shift that negative perspective that you mentioned and really don't think about failure as being something negative.
Failure is something that happens to actually get you on the path to get your business on the path that it's supposed to be. So it really can be a catalyst for your personal growth as a founder, as an entrepreneur, a [00:05:00] catalyst for growth for your business. Because maybe it's saying, Hey, maybe you need to shift customers, or maybe you need to pivot.
Your product, the folk, the features of your products or your service or your revenue model, it's showing you what you can change and shift in your business or change in order to really set yourself and your business up well, but that only happens if you don't allow failure to get in your way. And failure can also strengthen your resilience and perseverance if you're looking at it as an opportunity for growth and not the end all be all.
And then it can also provide the opportunity to build a stronger business. Again, it grows, it can be a stronger business, have a more solid foundation in which you operate off of. And so, Again, to what you're saying, Stephen, it is about perspective. It's about [00:06:00] mindset. It's about looking at failure as an opportunity to learn, to reflect, and to make changes in order to do and be better.
Stephen Lewis: Yeah, I think, you know, um, what's most important is that you try not to avoid it because it's, unavoidable. Failure will come with, um, the work. And I think it's, you know, how you overcome it and what you do with it, um, that's most important. So, you know, I think, you know, when I think about what we have done, Kimberly, I mean, we've had a lot of setbacks.
So maybe you don't want to use the word failure. Maybe it's a setback. A setback means that you can get up and you can step forward, right? So, um, but we've had a number of setbacks from moving from, you know, a in person to a virtual to thinking about how we shift our customer base in order to get [00:07:00] You know, more people involved in our work to a number of different things that we've done.
And so I think part of, you know, when you think about failures or setbacks is really taking a time to reflect on what you need to learn and how you will move forward. Um, which is really important. How do you really get clear about what is it though? I need to learn in this moment. What am I learning in this actual moment that feels like failure?
Um, and what do I need to do different so that. I don't keep repeating this, or what is this moment teaching me that I need to attend to so that I can actually move forward? I think also it's about attending to your mindset. Um, it's, you know, your set of beliefs that shape how you view yourself in the world.
I mean, failure can often shift the ways that we think about ourselves and our business, and In many ways, there ways that don't really serve as well. [00:08:00] So how are you building a mindset that pushes you forward instead of pulling you backwards? And that mindset is a, is a big part of because you and both you and I both know that, um, your mind can, um, Can play terrible tricks on us and make us think that, you know, we haven't been as successful as we want to be, or we're not where we should be.
And we don't take a time to sit back and think about our gratitude, about. What have we been successful in? What did we overcome to get to where we are? And as we come to the end of the year, you still here, you're still here working on that business. So I think part of it is about how do you recognize a community that can sometimes identify what you can't always see.
In spite of your setbacks or your failures that they can point out the successes. They can maybe point out to you the things you may need to pay attention to [00:09:00] in terms of your own, uh, which you need to be grateful for. And so I think finding that community of support that can help you navigate the ups and downs of which you may experience in the business, um, or what you may perceive to be failure will help mitigate some of those mindsets and things that we oftentimes are trying to avoid, um, which are unavoidable.
Kimberly R. Daniel: Yeah, that's so important today. I have on a shirt that says, be kind. And I would say, be kind to your mind. In order to move to these moments, be kind to your mind, give yourself some grace. And when failure happens, I'm not going to say if, because it will, or those setbacks, like Stephen said, um, when those setbacks happen again, think to yourself, oh, What am I grateful for in this learning opportunity to set me up better for what's next?
And how [00:10:00] can you be more gentle with yourself and have that community of support around you? So really as you're reflecting back on this year and you're looking at areas of growth, of learning, those setbacks or challenges that you have, make sure you celebrate the successes. And make sure you look at those opportunities of growth and those setbacks as something that will move you forward in the way and the path towards success for your business in 2025.
Now, if you are ready to turn your setback into stepping stones, we also can be a resource for you at Do Get X. We invite you to go to DoGetX. org. Here you can explore our resources, our program, and connect with a community of like minded entrepreneurs [00:11:00] and change makers who want to support one another.
And so, you know, make sure you visit ducadex. org and if you've enjoyed this brief episode with me and Steven, make sure you leave us a rating or share this episode with somebody who needs to hear this, who's wrestling with failure and need help in shifting their perspective to something that Is more supportive to their wellbeing and to their business moving forward.
We thank you for joining us again, and until next time, be well. Thank you.
Narrator: Thank you for listening to the Do Good X podcast. To continue the conversation or access our resources, visit www.dogoodx.org. Join us again for conversations that will nourish your soul, ignite your dreams. And empower you to build an impactful business one intentional step at a time. Until then, keep striving, thriving, and doing [00:12:00] good.