Most of the media often paints all businesses with a single stroke, but in our experience businesses are each unique and so many of them are focused on making the world a better place. We’ve highlighted a few such gems below.

Jasmine Rice | Transformation Life Coach

2020 has been a year of the unexpected. I remember seeing social media posts in December of 2019 with people cursing the year, ready for a new beginning. January 2020 was like a start to many other decades. Many entered 2020 with a great sense of excitement, with more clarity and purpose than they had in a long time. People knew what they wanted out of the year, hit the ground running and I were focused on goals and visions for the year. Then, in March, COVID-19 rocked our world and plans quickly shifted. Everyone’s activities would be restricted. Kids would now be learning virtually, your favorite stores and restaurants closed. Stay-at-home orders and mask mandates were put into place. I think the biggest lesson for many in 2020, is that nothing is certain. During unexpected challenges in life, whether it is a divorce, a loss or unexpected struggles due to a global pandemic…it can be comforting to know you are not alone and to have support through it. Transformation coaching is designed to help people transform themselves during and after challenging transitions, that is where I come in. Read more>>

Katy Iengo | Birth and Postpartum Doula, HypnoBirthing Educator, Certified Lactation Consultant

Peaceful Mama Birthing was born out of a desire to help people experiencing childbirth find the joy and power within it, rather than fear or trauma. Instead of entering the birthing space afraid and disempowered, my goal is to guide birthing persons to a more autonomous, confident, and supported birth. Birth trauma is no joke and it effects a staggering percentage of the general population. Unfortunately, the birthing world is rife with systemic racism, toxic patriarchal values, and a tragic amount of shame. These issues are truly life threatening. When the birthing person isn’t authentically seen or heard, then vital things can missed. There’s also rampant obstetric abuse stemming from a severe lack of informed consent. This is why I created Peaceful Mama Birthing. To provide education and support to ALL birthing persons, allowing them to be the architects and bosses of their births! In addition, I co-founded Inclusive Birth Collective, a non-profit providing financial resources to low-income, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ members of the community, which gives them access to crucial birth support. In my opinion, changing birth can truly change the world. Read more>>

Mark Andreas | Life Coach

I’m grateful to be part of a business that impacts the community in multiple ways, not just the private clients that I work with to achieve their personal goals. Our Core Transformation Coach Certification program not only teaches our participants how to be exquisite personal transformation coaches, it does so while simultaneously offering community service. As part of the coach certification program, our coaches each guided 10 people unfamiliar with Core Transformation through this profound process. This means our coaches graduate the program with the competence and confidence to actually bring this work to others, while having already touched the lives more than 250 people with two completely free coaching sessions. We also track the outcomes of our coaches through research. This year the clients our coaches worked with answered this survey question after their 2 sessions, “To what extent have your issues been resolved?” On a scale of 0 meaning no resolution, to 10 being completely resolved, the average response was 7. Read more>>

Megan Odell | Designer, Owner LIveWire Couture

As a business owner, a main focus is the big picture and how I can make a difference outside of our own four walls. As a small manufacturing company and designer I want to affect not only our customers in making a difference in their lives, but the people who work here and also the merchants I buy from. I make sure we all benefit from manufacturing in Colorado and also buying all fabrics and trims in America. We have the ability to teach an age old trade to more individuals in America and Colorado in hopes they have a trade they can always utilize and maybe even start their own clothing and manufacturing company in the future. Read more>>

Malina Farias | Owner, Peaceful Rebel Vegan Cheese

As a dairy-substitute, we, along with other nondairy cheese and milk products, are having a tremendous impact on reducing the environmental impact of the industrialized dairy industry. Here’s a few facts: – The average dairy farm uses 3.4 million gallons of water every day. – Dairy produces lots of greenhouse gas emissions. The average American diet includes 31 lbs. of dairy cheese per year, which translates to 400 lbs. of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. – Cheese is the single largest source of saturated fat in our diets. Although we don’t focus on these facts, or market the brand as “environmentally friendly”, we are very aware that each time someone picks up a package of our cheese instead of a dairy cheese, it is helping our community a little bit. Read more>>

Dr. Ryan E. Ross | Dad, Servant, Educator, and Actualization Coach

We live in a country that is full of hope, opportunity, and bounty for some people. However, the reality is there are far more people dreaming about meritocracy than actually experiencing it. I recall my early days growing up in some of Denver’s most impoverished areas. Everything in eyesight was a social challenge. As I walked, the neighborhood inequity, and achievement gaps were evident everywhere: education, economics, access to business capital, development, housing, and the list goes on. This reality was counterproductive; in fact, it was full of hypocrisy. This realization compelled me to find a way to serve in the interest of the community. As an adult, I visit the old neighborhood, new cities, and states, and the narrative is the same. People are often underemployed, under-housed, and disproportionately face barriers not only to their success but their very existence. Since childhood, my goal has been eradicating this narrative and ensuring everyone has an equitable opportunity to thrive. Read more>>

Tamara Herl | Shadow Transformation Coach

My business helps the community and world in that my mission is to help people connect with their passion so they can achieve their full potential and make the kind of impact they want to in the world. Imagine what the world will be like when more people are doing what they love–what they are meant to do! Most people, at some point in their life, had a really big dream in their heart. They knew they were meant to do something special or important. But somewhere along the way, they started to doubt themselves. They told themselves, “I’m not smart enough.” Or maybe, “I’d really like to do _____ but I can’t because ______.” They started to buy into these limiting beliefs, and they decided to settle for less. In my work with people through 1:1 coaching sessions, groups, and workshops, and by using experiential practices such as art therapy and forest therapy, I help people recognize and transform these limiting beliefs, which I call the Shadow. Read more>>

Jacqui Avis | President and Founder of Drifter’s Hearts of Hope

Drifter’s Hearts of Hope (DHOH) helps the community through rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming at-risk horses. When I founded the rescue in 2014, I wanted to create another option for horses that were facing hardships to help guide them toward a safe landing. To date, DHOH has changed the lives of over 540 horses. However, our work goes behind just the horses: in helping these horses, we are also helping those that were no longer able to care for them as well as the families that become these horses’ forever homes. In addition to rescuing horses, DHOH builds community: we provide resources to adopters and horse owners, give advice in trying times, and lend a helping hand whenever we can. After recognizing the challenges our neighbors were facing in 2020, we spearheaded our COVID-19 Equine Assistance program where we provide a short-term donation of feed for those who are facing financial challenges. If you’re interested in helping DHOH help more horses (and more people!), you can learn more here:https://www.driftersheartsofhope.org/support.html. We’d love to hear from you, feel free to send us an email at info@driftersheartsofhope.org. Read more>>