A Gathering Place For Social Impact Entrepreneurs
The Heart Series
This year was our first attending The Heart Series conference in LA and we were thrilled to be among a thriving community of social impact leaders. Dynamic speakers from companies like Etsy, The Giving Keys, Krochet Kids, THINX and Lululemon shared best practices for social impact. The environment was collaborative and open, the conference was well-paced and thoroughly engaging, making it one of the best gathering places for companies that place social good at the forefront of their business model.
The Founders
Megan Sette and Gail Cayetano Classick co-founded The Heart Series with a vision to create a conference that was both intimate and ‘retreat-like’, one that encouraged innovation and collaboration among socially good entrepreneurs. We had a chance to catch up with Gail a bit more about her work with The Heart Series and ways to be involved in the future if you missed this year’s event!
What Was Your Inspiration For Starting The Heart Series?
My family has a socially conscious jewelry line called Cayetano Legacy Collection, where we work with small communities of women artisans in the beautiful yet still third world country of the Philippines, to source and handcraft each product, enabling both the creation of jobs and economic growth in a part of the world where it is still most needed. We started the business as a way to give back. As first generation Filipino Americans, it was something that we know we needed to do.
Little did I know that this business was one of many in the socially good space. When I DID realize there were tons of companies out there that I could learn from, I asked Meg what conferences in the socially good space I should attend. Meg was, and still is, one of the most in-the-know people I’ve ever met. She consults with businesses on how to weave social responsibility into their objectives (she is so passionate about it!), and, is just very much a natural community builder. If anyone knew what conferences I should attend, she would be the person!
But the more Meg and I talked, the more we realized there wasn’t anything out there like what we were trying to build – a conference that was both intimate and ‘retreat-like’, encouraging innovation, collaboration and new learnings among socially good entrepreneurs that put social mission at the forefront of their business model. We wanted to jumpstart this community.
What Were Your Favorite Moments From This Year’s Heart Series Event?
Ahh so many. I think the caliber of people year after year is just mind blowing to me. I am such fans of many of the companies in attendance as well as the speakers, so to have them come be a part of The Heart Series just truly touches our hearts. Some of the amazing speakers included Brit Moore (The Giving Keys), Miki Agarwal (THINX), Duke Stump (lululemon), Ryan Devlin (This Bar Saves Lives), Miranda Barnard (Children’s Miracle Network), and so many more.
We also made a very conscious effort to integrate social goodness and sustainability into all of the conference offerings, for example from working with sustainably sourced food (True Food Kitchen and Chipotle) and drinks that are saving the planet (Vinium Wine, One Hope Wine, Boxed Water Is Better), to décor that are reusable with social impact (Juicy Kits, Local +Lejos), even down to our paperware’s one-for-one model (Cheeky Home).
Do You Have Plans For Pop-Up Events Or Other ways To Be Involved?
YES! We are exploring pop ups throughout the country this year including in NYC, Denver, San Diego and San Francisco. And our next annual conference, our tentpole event, is set for Feb 9 and 10, 2017 in Los Angeles. We keep The Heart Series conference consistently on the Thurs and Fri before Valentine’s Day, so that we never forget!