Innovating with Mother Nature as a mentor
Let’s travel back to the early 90’s, where a North Dakota farmer named Gabe Brown was on the verge of bankruptcy. Years of drought, pest infestations, and soil degradation had taken their toll on his land. Out of desperation, Gabe tried something radical—he adopted regenerative agriculture practices. Abandoning conventional farming …
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Anxiety vs intuition. What are you anchoring into?
Driving to dinner, I found myself stuck in a loop of anxious thoughts. My dog had just undergone foot surgery, and I’d tied a bandana around his bandage before we left to protect it from getting wet. My mind began to spiral. What if I tied the bandana too tight? …
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Closing a Chapter: Reflecting on the Purpose and Profit podcast
After four years and 100 episodes, it’s time to bring Purpose and Profit with Kathy Varol to a close. This podcast has been a space to celebrate visionary leaders who are proving that business can be a force for good—leaders who bring heart, humanity, and accountability into every corner of …
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The next era of recycling
Imagine standing outside a factory, watching plumes of smoke curl into the air. It’s a sight that has long symbolized industrial progress, but now we know that all of that progress is also one of the biggest contributors to climate change. So imagine if that smoke, filled with harmful carbon …
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The power of “I’m Sorry”.
I grew up in a family that didn’t apologize. Ever. If someone hurt your feelings, you were expected to get over it. No conversation. No acknowledgment. Just move on. This upbringing wired my brain in a few key ways. First, being confronted caused a full mental short circuit. My immediate …
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Harnessing the sun for new possibilities
Let’s travel to the sun-soaked expanse of the California desert, where innovation is rewriting the rules of energy. Here, amidst the stillness of the Mojave, a company named Heliogen is capturing sunlight in a way that could one day make fossil fuels a relic of the past. This isn’t your …
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2024 Year in Review: A Year of Creation and Connection
2024 began with opposites for me: a literal force-of-nature ice storm in Portland, Oregon, that brought two trees crashing onto our house (we’re still navigating insurance repairs!) and the most awe-inspiring vacation of my life. For my birthday, my husband, Ozan, took me on a safari in Botswana with Wilderness …
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What if holiday giving could change the world?
As I sit in the warmth of my home, the glow of holiday lights filling the city, I can’t help but feel a weight pressing on my heart. The festive decorations are beautiful, but their brightness feels almost too stark against the dark realities faced by so many around the …
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Procrastination is a signal worth listening to
I’ve always had a complicated relationship with procrastination. For the longest time, I anchored that word to productivity or, more accurately, the lack of it. When I procrastinated, I’d feel that familiar pang of guilt—like I was failing at some invisible standard of achievement. I’d tell myself, “You’re just putting …
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Turning pollution into progress
Imagine standing in the middle of a windswept field in Iceland, the air crisp and clear. Rising from the horizon is a facility that looks like it belongs in a sci-fi movie—a Climeworks direct air capture plant. This facility isn’t just futuristic in appearance; it’s rewriting the playbook on how …
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