We had the good fortune of connecting with Debra Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Debra, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
As the saying goes… ‘the most important things I need to know I learned in Kindergarten’, and for me, the most important of all is follow the golden rule. And not the one that often rules the roost ‘He who has the gold makes the rule’,,, I mean the good old fashioned golden rule “Do to others what you would have them do to you”.

I find that whenever I am at a crossroads, or need to decide how I should handle a sticky situation, although it isn’t often the easiest path forward, applying The Golden Rule generally helps me to make the right decision.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Good Business Colorado is a fiercely member-led organization. We are constantly striving to better serve our members, and every year we come up with new innovative programs aimed at helping our member businesses succeed. For example, for our policy work, every year we ask members to complete an annual policy priorities survey. This provides us with our marching orders at the Colorado State Legislature as we work to pass policies that level the playing field for values-driven businesses and raise the bar for ethical business practices. Similarly, last year, we surveyed members to find out what topics would be most useful for a lunch and learn series aimed at meeting business owners where they are and providing tangible examples and applicable advice for implementing new and improved business practices. In 2023 we are leveling up again and will be crowd-sourcing ALL purposeful networking and educational programming ideas from our members!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When I have out of town guests I LOVE to give them the GBC tour! Even if we’re confined to the Denver Metro Area, we could eat at a different GBC member for each meal of the day with favorites such as Illegal Pete’s, Fire on the Mountain, Zoe Ma Ma, and Sexy Pizza. And I would have to take them for tea and delicious desserts at TeaLee’s Teahouse in Five Points, and follow it with some wine at Bonacquisti Wine or Dos Luces Brewery if they prefer beer… or both… they are here for a week after all!

I would of course encourage them to do all their souvenir shopping at GBC retailers such as Matter, Book Bar and perhaps even Awakening if they are into that ; ) and if they are clothing shoppers, we’d have to pop in Arc Thrift Stores and Victory Clothing Boutique.
And no trip to Denver would be complete without visiting Meow Wolf!

If we have the ability to travel a bit I would insist we head to Fort Collins to visit GBC members Horse & Dragon Brewing Company and Nuance Chocolate, or perhaps go south to Colorado Springs if they have kiddos to doing some pottery painting at Color Me Mine, before visiting Little Richard’s Toy Store.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Good Business Colorado would not exist were it not for its founding members. There were 7 of us who began meeting regularly to discuss what it would look like to start an organization in Colorado for businesses like us. Businesses that care about more than maximizing profit at all cost. Leaders who understand that business success cannot be measured by profit alone and that true success means that our planet, communities, employees, and bottom lines are all thriving. Had it not been for these Co-Founders, there would be no GBC. They were: Blake Manion – Founder, Soul Salve
Edwin Zoe – CEO, Zoe Ma Ma & Chimera Ramen
Jenny Davies – Founder, Progressive Promotions
Judy Amabile, President, Product Architects Inc.
Ken Jacobs, Owner and President, Sustainable World Investment Advisors
Sarah Marcogliese – Owner, Native Earth Landscape
Yoav Lurie, Co-Founder, Simple Switch

Website: https://goodbusinesscolorado.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodbizco/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodbizco/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodBizCo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodbizco

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL2QMASpRVA_GKYVouisUPQ

Image Credits
Rebecca Todd – Photographer / Owner Tru Blu Images – the 1st 3 images The last 3 images – Michael McCoy

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.