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#009 Katie Boothby-Kung: Shopify's Incredible Work for Social Impact & Sustainability

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Find us:

Where to find Katie Boothby-Kung:

Katie Boothby-Kung - Instagram

Where to find Shopify:

Shopify - Website (Home)
Shopify - Social Enterprise Slack channel (Sign up)

Shopify - Open Learning
Shopify - Environment
Shopify - Sustainability Fund (Read more)
Shopify - Compass, Free Online Courses
Shopify - Community
Shopify - Operation HOPE (Read more)

Links Mentioned in Episode:

Copper Root Collective (Katie's Skincare Brand)

Technovation
Recurate
Genusee
Kiwibot
ShoppingGives
DailyKarma
Kotn
Son of a Tailor

Shownotes:

Krissie Leyland 0:00
Hello, and welcome to the MindfulCommerce Podcast, a place where we talk to ecommerce brands, ecommerce service providers and developers who care about protecting our planet. Today we're talking to the fantastic Katie Boothby-Kung from Shopify's social impact team. Katie is doing lots of incredible work at Shopify and we wanted to chat about it here on the podcast to inspire others to follow in Shopify's footsteps. So hi, Katie, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. You know, I'm a huge fan of Shopify and what you're doing so I'm extremely excited to have you here. Do you want to start by introducing yourself and just tell us a little bit about your role at Shopify? And what you help Shopify to achieve?

Katie Boothby-Kung 0:46

Yeah, totally. Well, first of all: Hi, Krissie. Thanks for having me, super pumped to be here. This is awesome. So I am Katie, I am the Senior Manager for social impact here at Shopify. In my role, I am specifically focused on working with the social enterprises, on and off our platform. I do that by or through strategic partnerships, building education tools, and working with our partners and our platform so that we can help grow and scale. And even launch new social enterprises, on Shopify, and also to give them the resources that they need so that they can be successful.

Krissie Leyland 1:32

Oh, my god, it's so good. It's like the dream job. I love it.

Katie Boothby-Kung 1:35

It really is! (laughter)

Krissie Leyland 1:37

I'm always like, "oh, how did she get that job?" I'm gonna pick your brains. So what is the definition of a social enterprise business to you and Shopify?

Katie Boothby-Kung 1:52

Great question. How we think about social enterprises is that it's at the intersection of environmental action, and human rights. So businesses that are working to create a better climate for generations to come, or be it through supporting communities and workers within their supply chain, making sure that they're treated fairly and with dignity. The combination of the two is really where we see that long term sustainability, long term social enterprise. We like to think about it as a Venn diagram. So you have, environmental action over on one side, and then you have human rights in the other circle. When they come together, and there's that sweet spot right in the middle, that's where we see, where long term sustainability happens: at the intersection of the two of them–social enterprises working on either of these circles, or both of them together.

Krissie Leyland 3:01

Nice. So, what do you think then, is the intersection between sustainability and social impact? How do the two work together and do good?

Katie Boothby-Kung 3:13

Well, by the sounds of it, you guys are just defining sustainability more from an environmental lens. mean, that's certainly how a lot of the discussion around sustainability has been framed: is that it's, it's environmental. However, we see it as both being environmental and social human rights coming together in that intersection in the middle of those two circles. That's how we define sustainability. So by focusing on either or, and coming together, you are creating social impact. Without getting into kind of the complexities of climate change its effect on human rights, and vice versa, that's kind of see how we see it. If you're working towards sustainability, environmental action & human rights coming together, then you are creating a lasting social impact.

Krissie Leyland 4:12

Yeah, it makes total sense. I think I do always think of sustainability, as you know, things that are going on in the environment, but you are right, it does link back to social impact, communities and things like that. So I'd like to talk a bit more about your role in particular. Also, what are the community projects that you're working on at the moment that has a positive impact socially, and potentially environmentally, then?

Katie Boothby-Kung 4:48

For my role in particular: I'm working on ways Shopify can better support the community of social entrepreneurs and also support other communities that are hungry to learn more About being socially conscious. Recently, I was able to team up with some of the folks in other teams here at Shopify to help them expand their educational offering to include ways to help merchants inject more sustainability into their businesses. So we have a team called Open Learning that works with a lot of post secondary education institutions. Also, our Shopify for startups, which is our startup program. By working with them, they're providing education that can not only help businesses grow, but to also help them become more socially minded as well. So that's a lot of what we're focusing on this year is just continuing to support this community, and bring that education to communities that maybe aren't thinking about this all the time, so that they're more inspired to not only create businesses, but to create socially minded businesses as well. My team is always incredibly busy and so maybe you saw, we recently announced we have a global partnership with Technovation. Therefore, we can deliver STEM education to young women and girls around the world. Our team is certainly very, very busy focusing on entrepreneurs, and also within the tech community as well.

Krissie Leyland 6:24
Hmm. Okay. So on that then, because you know, I love a bit of tech conversation: What do you think is the role for tech partners towards a more sustainable and positively impactful ecommerce world?

Katie Boothby-Kung 6:42

Here on Shopify, we can't say enough good things about our partner ecosystem, and the tech partners that are building some wickedly cool tools. I mean, that community is always drumming up really creative ways to support our merchant community. So keep it up. There is a lot of potential for them to impact this space. It's no surprise that sustainability is becoming a top priority for consumers and therefore it's becoming important for brands as well. So I'm sure we're going to see a lot of new offerings from the tech partner community being launched this year in order to keep up with with this growing demand.

Obviously, there's Recurate that's working on the resale market, and allowing our brands to resell their their wares, to keep it from going to landfill–giving their products new life, which I think isn't very exciting. Especially because the resale market is growing so quickly and I don't think that's going away anytime soon.

We're seeing Genusee. They're a an eyeglass company based out of Flint, Michigan, that have a really cool tool on their on their shop, to allow you to try on their sunglasses so that we're reducing the rate of returns. I say we as if I'm a part of it. (laughter) Their customers don't need to return as much. I'm not involved in that at all. They're doing great work.

And then there are even more sustainable shipping alternatives, like Kiwibot. Also the social impact of shopping local, I mean, it's accelerated. So our partners are creating more tailored pickup locations and delivery services. I think this idea of "shop local", is here to stay beyond 2021, kind of like the resale market. So consumers are looking for ways that they can be more supportive of their own communities and the small businesses that are essentially our neighbors. There's a lot of really great tech partners out there doing some, some really, really incredible things to help make sustainability and easier choice for merchants on our platform, for sure.

Krissie Leyland 9:07

Do you think that there's been a rise in, you know, apps that are specifically to help sustainability and social impacts because of the pandemic? It just seems to be on the rise? I don't know if it's because I'm involved in it, and I see it everywhere. But yeah, do you think it's because of the pandemic or it was going to happen anyway?

Katie Boothby-Kung 9:33

Honestly, is a great question. I don't know if I have the right answer to you. I think perhaps the pandemic accelerated this trend. I mean, we were seeing this, as things were kind of heating up in in March and April: this idea of shopping local and "voting with your dollar" and things like that. That became something that people were really talking about, they really wanted to support brands that were helping people throughout the pandemic. I think that there was a stat that I recently read–and I might butcher it a little bit–I think it was something like, I don't want to say it was specifically like 84%, but it was a percentage in the 80s. That said, more consumers were willing to shop from brands that were out there to help those in need during the pandemic. That's a pretty significant stat. Do I think that there was a trend towards more climate action and human rights? So I think that that there was already, but I think that the pandemic certainly helped speed it up.

Krissie Leyland 10:40

Yeah, definitely. I think ecommerce in general is just gone mad. Apparently, five years worth of growth has just happened in six months. Yeah.

Katie Boothby-Kung 10:55

Okay, that's insane.

Krissie Leyland 10:57

I probably butchered that stat as well. So yeah, we need to be mindful of how we're doing it and how we're doing business and ecommerce to make sure that we continue to protect our environment. Okay, so on the topic of the environment, obviously, Shopify did an amazing thing this year during Black Friday: Cyber Monday, to offset all carbon emissions from sales. I'd love to hear more about that and what Shopify achieved.

Katie Boothby-Kung 11:37

Totally. I will, I'll represent Stacy in our Sustainability Fund here. So we purchased a wide range of nature-based and engineering offsets under the assumption that all of the solutions have a role to play in the fight to reverse climate change. Our purchases go beyond just buying the offset itself. We purchase offsets to send a demand signal and we're overpaying for these offsets so that companies can then conduct research and pilot projects to refine their technologies. We're helping these companies to scale and bring their costs & prices down. Then by doing that, more buyers can participate. In 2020, it was really exciting, we invested in 13 companies across 10 different industries. We're already seeing companies gain more traction, in part because of our investments. Again, I'm not I'm not the offset expert so if listeners do want to learn more about this initiative, you can google Shopify sustainability, or you can head to our website, and it's shopify.com/about/environment.

Krissie Leyland 12:50

Amazing. Everyone should definitely go look at that and look at the specific projects that you worked with to offset carbon emissions, because that's super interesting. One big thing about offsetting is to always make sure that it's actually going to the right projects or another project that you align with. Yeah, so everyone should go and check that out.

Katie Boothby-Kung 13:16

Even these offsetting businesses are just so cool to learn about. There's some really cool things happening in this space, for sure, and I think more people should know about it.

Krissie Leyland 13:29

And there's so many of them, I think. Obviously, with the community, we've got app companies & tech partners from Shopify, in the community. Honestly, there's about 10 offsetting apps, but it's so interesting, because each one has worked with completely different projects, people and communities. It's like, if you're a brand and you've got an online store, choose the one that you align with the most and really look into it like, "Where will my customers money go? What's the impact that it's going to have?"

Katie Boothby-Kung 14:09

100%. I mean, you should be doing that for anything. That's woven into your brand, right? Just understanding your customers, you should know your customers so well that you know, the causes that they care deeply about. If they care about you buying offsets from kelp farms, and you should be doing that. Or if maybe there are some charities that are really important to them, you have a donation app installed into your Shopify store. What are the causes that speak directly to your consumers and what is important to them? That's super important to your brand building.

Krissie Leyland 14:53

It's amazing. On that as well, obviously we know that there are apps out there like ShoppingGives and DailyKarma that put the power in the customers' hands so that they can choose the charity that they want to donate to, or the project or whatever it is. I just think that's great, because you're going to feel good about that, aren't you, as a consumer. Plus, then they'll come back.

Katie Boothby-Kung 15:23

Sorry, I'm interrupting you, I'm just so excited! I think there's a lot to be said about building these really amazing experiences so that you can make your customer even closer to the impact that you're making through your business. Whatever you can do to make it so that it's not just a click, or it's not just something that seems simple and almost like at the back of your mind. But bringing them into that experience, bringing them into those choices, really allows them to feel like they're part of the impact that you're making. I think that's super important going forward.

Krissie Leyland 15:59

Yeah and that just makes really nice customer connections as well, doesn't it? If they feel good about making a purchase with you, they're going to tell their friends & family and be like, "Look, you can go and choose your own charity or whatever!" I love it. I love it. It's so funny, because whenever I do a podcast, I end up talking about either Recurate or ShoppingGives. People are gonna think I'm sponsored, but I'm not.

Katie Boothby-Kung 16:31

There are certainly apps that have been around for a while before this trend–I don't want to call it a trend because that makes it seem like it's going to go away–or movement really took off. So giving them a shout out is really great because when you think about some of those donation apps, they've been around for a long time.

Krissie Leyland 16:53

I can just imagine how when we go back to normal, and at point of sale in in an actual physical store, I imagine the shop assistant saying, "Okay, so what charity do you want to donate to with your purchase?" Imagine that... online and offline?

Katie Boothby-Kung 17:15

Cool, very cool. Definitely.

Krissie Leyland 17:19

It's endless, it really is. So, what are some possibilities for tech partners going into 2021?

Katie Boothby-Kung 17:30

Oh, my goodness. The possibilities are honestly endless. I feel like at this moment, you're just opening it up for me to share my wish list, which I'm not going to complain about at all. So, they already existed and I mentioned one of our merchants that's using this, but: to have AI tech or VR tech rather ,across all industries to help reduce the rate of returns. Making returns should be avoided because it is causing a lot of carbon emissions, as as you're all aware. By creating these tools that our Shopify merchants can easily plug and play, I think, will be amazing to reduce those emissions. Right now, if you're coming to Shopify, and you're really excited, you already know that you want to build a social enterprise... that's really, really amazing. However, once you realize that you want to become a social enterprise, the how and sourcing that first product can be a bit of an uphill battle. I know this isn't quite a tech partner, but even just thinking about like the experts in our ecosystem: how can you help brands source from factories that use smart environmental practices and treat their workers fairly and with respect? Brands can source these types of products faster & easier, get up & running and making their first sale. I know again, you're framing this in terms of how tech is in more of the app partnership community, but I'm even thinking about it from all the cool tech and science companies out there that are building really sweet, environmentally friendly alternative materials.

Thinking about fashion and in textile, they're doing some really amazing things! Just this past week, there's brands that are building it out of algae, they're making eather from fruit pulp or they're making it out of recycled fishing nets that they've managed to find in the ocean. This is so incredible. However, when when you're searching for these types of textiles, there isn't really an easy way to get your hands on it. There isn't an "order now" or a "grab a sample, click this" button. So just making those choices easier and making the process–or the workflow from going to the website, discovering a really cool material, and then getting a couple samples so that you can start your production–building something like that would be really, really cool.

My call to action for any tech partner listening is just to make sustainability easier for entrepreneurs. They only have a limited amount of time. In many cases, as I'm sure all of you guys are, as well, they're wearing between 20 to a million hats in a given day. So if making a sustainable choice is a really long and difficult process, these entrepreneurs are eventually going to have to opt for easier options, because they're going to have to move on to the next task. And then the next and then the next. They're running a mile a minute trying to run this business. So just making sustainable choices easier for these merchants so that it becomes a no brainer: "Why wouldn't I make a sustainable choice because it's right there in front of me and it's so easy!" Then, you know, boom: they have 20 products in their store and they're all made with sustainable fibers.

Krissie Leyland 21:24

I love that so much. Yeah, I've heard about people making products out of seaweed and mushrooms.

Katie Boothby-Kung 21:34

Honestly, it blows my mind. What is out there? I've seen some of that mushroom material too. And I'm just like, "Holy smokes. What can't we build products out of like that there?" There's a lot out there. I just think the biggest hurdle for merchants is: how do you go from discovering the product, to getting it in your hands and being like, "Okay, I'm gonna make 20 shirts out of this really cool nylon or something?"

Krissie Leyland 22:05

Oh, it's just so exciting. It gives me like a fire in my belly.

Katie Boothby-Kung 22:11

It's why I wake up and I'm ready for work: because I'm so pumped to work with these kind of entrepreneurs and tech partners.

Krissie Leyland 22:19

Oh me, too. It's amazing. So when you were talking, I was just thinking: what are the barriers for the merchant to be able to get such materials and make products?

Katie Boothby-Kung 22:40

I can't speak for all of them because I haven't found all of them. Just based on what I have seen in my passive research, is just that a lot of the times there's a lengthy "contact us" process where you have to go in, contact them & set up a phone call. Whereas, it would just be great if you could just click a button and have a whole swatch palette mailed to you, and then you can have a "kick it off from there" kind of thing. I mean, obviously, there are reasons why some of these brands have it. They're really small and they really want to work with specific brands, because they haven't gotten to the point of larger production.

So there is that and I can completely understand. I don't want to dictate how these types of materials should get this to be easier for merchants. Based on my perspective, also, as a merchant who went to one of these websites, and was like, "Woah." because I have a skincare company, right? So it's like, "Hey, I can make these really cool. facecloth out of this material! Okay, how do I do it?" And then it was this whole process and it thought, "Oh my god, I have 20 things to do tonight. I can't think about this. I'll get to it next time." It's that mentality of "I have so many things to do, like I'll get to this later." Whereas if they had given me a button where it said, "get your swatch sent to you," I would have been just be like, "Yep, done. Okay, now I have my swatch and I know that I really want this material, I'll give them a call and make an order."

Krissie Leyland 24:31

Hmm, that's so frustrating. I could imagine that. It's so interesting that you've got so many hats yourself. You work for Shopify, you've got your skincare business, which is amazing, by the way. I'm definitely going to invest one day. Yeah, I was just gonna ask actually: are these the things on your wish list as a brand, or coming from Shopify, or both?

Katie Boothby-Kung 25:07

Both. I mean, from my Shopify perspective, I want these decisions to be easier for merchants, because it means that more merchants are making sustainable choices in their business, because it's a no brainer. But from a brand persepective, I selfishly want things to be easier so I don't need to spend a whole evening trying to figure out how to order something. I mean, just how I even got started... It took a long time for me to get up and running: finding the right partner and finding the right materials. It took me almost a year just to find the products and the charity partner where I felt like I was ready to launch and I felt comfortable. So it's like, "It takes one year of a solo entrepreneur doing all this research by themselves." So, how can we take that one year and turn it into one month, one week or one day?

Krissie Leyland 26:10

Yeah, that'd be so great. Going back to Shopify, Shopify makes it easy to start a business online as an ecommerce business. But yeah, if we could make it easy to be ethical and sustainable, and use all these really cool scientific materials, which oh, my god sounds amazing,

Katie Boothby-Kung 26:35

Right?

Krissie Leyland 26:36

It's just so exciting. It's phenomenal, really. If we could make that easy... then the job's done.

Katie Boothby-Kung 26:48

I mean, there will always be something but whatever we can do–and again, like I'll say this again toeveryone listening–whatever anyone can do in this world to make sustainable choices easier, let's do it! It's unstoppable at this point.

Krissie Leyland 27:06

Yeah. So what is Shopify achieved when it comes to having a positive impact in the world? How is Shopify using commerce as a force for good?

Katie Boothby-Kung 27:22

Wow. Well, that's definitely a loaded question. How much time do we have on this podcast? I mean, I can talk all day... Even just going back to the roots of the company, right? Shopify, by design is bringing social impact to the world. If you think about it, a decade ago, people couldn't just wake up one day and start an online business. They had to consider the huge financial burden, how to get a website set up & who could help them with this. There's so many steps that these folks had to take for starting a business. So when Toby started Shopify, he was able to reduce the amount of time and money to start a business, and then get people to realize their independence without having to spend their life savings to start an online business. So by reducing these barriers, more people can realize their dream of becoming an entrepreneur. I think that's impact itself, right? Just the existence of the Shopify merchants, they're able to contribute to economic growth, building their communities & employing people. So I think it's pretty incredible, the impact that one merchant had on their community and in the economy.

Then enter my team. We've been working with communities around the world for quite some time. We've been working with under-resourced tech and entrepreneurship communities via partnerships, education, and even sometimes sponsorship. Just this past year, for my portfolio in particular, I've looked for ways to engage and support our social entrepreneur community. As as you know, Krissie, because you're in part of these. So you know, creating an online forum, where folks can come and ask all their questions and get help from our support team when it comes to specifically creating a social enterprise. We have online networking hubs, meetups & panels. Also just a couple days ago, we filmed our first ever Compass Course on building and scaling a social enterprise on Shopify. So there are a lot of really cool things that are that are happening right now where people can come together. They can learn from from either our education team, they can learn from each other or they can build these networks & these connections with one another. So I think that that's really powerful.

Krissie Leyland 29:55

Oh my god, you're just speaking my language. Oh, I love it so much. I love how aligned MindfulCommerce is with Shopify.

Katie Boothby-Kung 30:07

It's how we became friends, isn't it?

Krissie Leyland 30:09

Yeah, yeah! It's just great... Um, damn it. I forgot what I was gonna say. I was too excited. Oh, yeah! Tell me about the video course that you were filming. I saw a sneak peek on Instagram. Looks very exciting.

Katie Boothby-Kung 30:29

So it's like a social enterprise one-on-one introductory course. We do cover a lot of topics. We obviously we talked about sustainability, we talked about what social enterprises and you know, this intersection between environmental action and human rights. Then we drill down into each of those. Like, "What does environmental impacts look like for your business?" and, "What can you be doing within your business to create environmental impact?" then, "How can you befostering human rights and taking care of the people in your supply chain, building diversity and inclusion within your own company?" and then "How to support the communities that you engage with and that your customers really resonate with?" I mean, you're gonna have to write a lot of notes down, and you might have to give it a listen acouple of times...

Krissie Leyland 31:29

So if there's somebody listening, who wants to get involved with anything that you're doing, actually, how can they do that?

Katie Boothby-Kung 31:41

The community forum is open for anyone. Just head onto Shopify Community, and you'll see it listed there as social impact businesses. You can head in there and ask any of your questions. Whether it's the community that's there to help you answer it, or myself or someone from our Shopify support team, then you know, we have your back, and we're there to help you. Then there's our Slack channel. You just need to fill out a form. I will send that over to you, Krissie, so that if anyone's interested in applying to join the Slack channel, then they can do that. We also always tell folks when we're having these meetups and things like that. So if you are a Shopify merchant, we do our best to put that within our newsletter that we send out so that you know, when these types of meetups are happening. And I don't want to have any spoilers, but there are going to be some other very cool ways that you can get involved too, and we'll just keep everyone posted.

Krissie Leyland 32:54

Ooh, very good. And just so the listeners know, if you are in the MindfulCommerce Community, there's a link to Katie's Slack channel in there as well. Anyways, that was funny, because I was gonna say that bit at the end, but it just seemed right, because we were talking about it. Other than Shopify, who else do you think is leading the way to a more sustainable and positively impactful ecommerce world?

Katie Boothby-Kung 33:35

Wow. There are a lot of really great players in this space, so I don't think I'll be able to name them all. However, a brand that comes to mind specifically is Kotn, they're based out of Toronto. They've done some really incredible work to support the employees within their entire supply chain, "from farm to T shirt" kind of thing. They're just really leading the way in terms of the transparency of how their clothes are made, and what they're made with. So I think that they're a very good example of that intersection between human rights and environmental action. I think they're doing a really, really great job.

Another really cool one is called Son of a Tailor and they're doing made to order, on demand. That in of itself has some very positive environmental impacts. I think that anyone doing made to order successfully are doing some really great things for their their environmental footprint. So that's awesome.

And then I mean, obviously, you guys: MindfulCommerce. It goes without saying. You guys are building this really, really incredible community where people can come together. I mean, that directory in of itself! Before you guys there was never really a home for these types of experts and partners who specifically worked with sustainable brands to be all under one roof. Now, you know, you're throwing this awesome epic party for all these partners at MindfulCommerce. By doing that, think of the time and energy you're saving merchants who are looking to work with a sustainable partner because they can know that they just have to come to MindfulCommerce. They're going to be able to find on so much there. So, thank you for doing that because that is having a lot of impact for our merchants looking for work with more sustainable partners.

Krissie Leyland 35:47

Thank you so much, that's so nice. And thank you for your input on the research project. I was listening back on this, this is this is amazing. This is just what we needed. That's great, I'm glad you like it. So, it's the start of the year... I just thought might be nice to look ahead a little bit. What's next for Shopify in relation to sustainability and social impact?

Katie Boothby-Kung 36:20

We're still charting some of this out, but what I can tell you is that we will definitely continue to deepen our support for black and indigenous entrepreneurs over the coming months. That's including our 1 million black businesses initiative that we announced with Operation Hope, later last year. We'll also continue to build support for our social impact initiatives like Open Learning program that's working with the post secondary education students, our STEM education outreach with young girls in particular, and of course, the work that we're doing to support and grow social enterprises on Shopify. So there is lots happening. I can't speak specifically on the fund, so you'll have to poke Stacy for that information but I'm sure that they have some pretty big and exciting goals that they're going to be working on this year.

Krissie Leyland 37:15

I'm just so impressed. There's so much that you, Shopify & the sustainability team are doing. I just hope that other platforms will follow in your footsteps, because that would just be amazing. Finally, do you have any advice for anyone who would like to find a role like yours at Shopify? I added that one in...

Katie Boothby-Kung 37:52

I mean, it's a great question. When I think about kind of how I landed in my position here at Shopify: I just kept talking about this all the time with people that would listen to me. I remember, I had this old deck. It's fun to look at, because I made it three years ago. It was all about building social enterprises on Shopify and I remember I sent it to a bunch of people. Then, here I am. Just, if your company has the appetite for it, and this is a job that you want, then go get it. Go start talking to people. Go tell them that this is important to you. Go show them why you're the right person for that job, for sure. Depending on what company you work for, you might need to wait a little bit of time. Maybe there isn't an appetite for this right now and that's okay. Just keep pushing for it. Keep talking about sustainability. Kep talking about social impact. Depending on where you work, if there's nothing stopping you from doing small initiatives off the side of your desk... that's showing initiative, that it's showing that nside of your day to day, this is something you really care about, that you're willing to put in the time for your company. I mean, if all else fails, you should just quit your job and start your own social enterprise so that then, you are doing it every day.

Krissie Leyland 39:23

Yes. I like that. I was just gonna say, basically you created your own job! Obviously, because Shopify are very minded in that way, it was good for you. If your company isn't keen, then just do it yourself. Like I did!

Katie Boothby-Kung 39:48

Exactly! I think like whether people are ready to hear what you have to say or not, put in the work now. When I think about it, I was putting in the work before we had changed our team name to Social Impact. There were a few other people that were doing the same as me and now we're all on the same team together. Just put in the work now, and I think it'll pay off tenfold.

Krissie Leyland 40:18

Great, I love it. So, I think that's it really. Where can people find you if they'd like to chat about Shopify's approach to social impact, or anything else?

Katie Boothby-Kung 40:37

If they're interested in learning more about what we're doing as a company, go to shopify.com/about/environment. There's a lot that you can find out there. Take a look at our community forums. Again, like if you're a social enterprise and you want to join this really rad network of other social enterprises that are hanging out together, then come join our Slack channel. If you want to, see teasers about other things that we're working on, you're more than welcome to follow me on Instagram. It's @katiebkung. That's where we had our course teaser just the other day. If you're a social enterprise, and you just want to reach out, or you have any feedback for us, or if there's a partner that we really should be thinking about, orwhatever will help you guys help and grow your social enterprise: lay it on me. You're more than welcome to send me a message and I would love to hear from you.

Krissie Leyland 41:41

Great! Especially if you can tick it off the dream list.

Katie Boothby-Kung 41:45

Yes. Get to work, people. Go!

Krissie Leyland 41:52

Amazing. Thank you so much.

Katie Boothby-Kung 41:54

Thanks Krissie, I've loved this.



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Find us:

Where to find Katie Boothby-Kung:

Katie Boothby-Kung - Instagram

Where to find Shopify:

Shopify - Website (Home)
Shopify - Social Enterprise Slack channel (Sign up)

Shopify - Open Learning
Shopify - Environment
Shopify - Sustainability Fund (Read more)
Shopify - Compass, Free Online Courses
Shopify - Community
Shopify - Operation HOPE (Read more)

Links Mentioned in Episode:

Copper Root Collective (Katie's Skincare Brand)

Technovation
Recurate
Genusee
Kiwibot
ShoppingGives
DailyKarma
Kotn
Son of a Tailor

Shownotes:

Krissie Leyland 0:00
Hello, and welcome to the MindfulCommerce Podcast, a place where we talk to ecommerce brands, ecommerce service providers and developers who care about protecting our planet. Today we're talking to the fantastic Katie Boothby-Kung from Shopify's social impact team. Katie is doing lots of incredible work at Shopify and we wanted to chat about it here on the podcast to inspire others to follow in Shopify's footsteps. So hi, Katie, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. You know, I'm a huge fan of Shopify and what you're doing so I'm extremely excited to have you here. Do you want to start by introducing yourself and just tell us a little bit about your role at Shopify? And what you help Shopify to achieve?

Katie Boothby-Kung 0:46

Yeah, totally. Well, first of all: Hi, Krissie. Thanks for having me, super pumped to be here. This is awesome. So I am Katie, I am the Senior Manager for social impact here at Shopify. In my role, I am specifically focused on working with the social enterprises, on and off our platform. I do that by or through strategic partnerships, building education tools, and working with our partners and our platform so that we can help grow and scale. And even launch new social enterprises, on Shopify, and also to give them the resources that they need so that they can be successful.

Krissie Leyland 1:32

Oh, my god, it's so good. It's like the dream job. I love it.

Katie Boothby-Kung 1:35

It really is! (laughter)

Krissie Leyland 1:37

I'm always like, "oh, how did she get that job?" I'm gonna pick your brains. So what is the definition of a social enterprise business to you and Shopify?

Katie Boothby-Kung 1:52

Great question. How we think about social enterprises is that it's at the intersection of environmental action, and human rights. So businesses that are working to create a better climate for generations to come, or be it through supporting communities and workers within their supply chain, making sure that they're treated fairly and with dignity. The combination of the two is really where we see that long term sustainability, long term social enterprise. We like to think about it as a Venn diagram. So you have, environmental action over on one side, and then you have human rights in the other circle. When they come together, and there's that sweet spot right in the middle, that's where we see, where long term sustainability happens: at the intersection of the two of them–social enterprises working on either of these circles, or both of them together.

Krissie Leyland 3:01

Nice. So, what do you think then, is the intersection between sustainability and social impact? How do the two work together and do good?

Katie Boothby-Kung 3:13

Well, by the sounds of it, you guys are just defining sustainability more from an environmental lens. mean, that's certainly how a lot of the discussion around sustainability has been framed: is that it's, it's environmental. However, we see it as both being environmental and social human rights coming together in that intersection in the middle of those two circles. That's how we define sustainability. So by focusing on either or, and coming together, you are creating social impact. Without getting into kind of the complexities of climate change its effect on human rights, and vice versa, that's kind of see how we see it. If you're working towards sustainability, environmental action & human rights coming together, then you are creating a lasting social impact.

Krissie Leyland 4:12

Yeah, it makes total sense. I think I do always think of sustainability, as you know, things that are going on in the environment, but you are right, it does link back to social impact, communities and things like that. So I'd like to talk a bit more about your role in particular. Also, what are the community projects that you're working on at the moment that has a positive impact socially, and potentially environmentally, then?

Katie Boothby-Kung 4:48

For my role in particular: I'm working on ways Shopify can better support the community of social entrepreneurs and also support other communities that are hungry to learn more About being socially conscious. Recently, I was able to team up with some of the folks in other teams here at Shopify to help them expand their educational offering to include ways to help merchants inject more sustainability into their businesses. So we have a team called Open Learning that works with a lot of post secondary education institutions. Also, our Shopify for startups, which is our startup program. By working with them, they're providing education that can not only help businesses grow, but to also help them become more socially minded as well. So that's a lot of what we're focusing on this year is just continuing to support this community, and bring that education to communities that maybe aren't thinking about this all the time, so that they're more inspired to not only create businesses, but to create socially minded businesses as well. My team is always incredibly busy and so maybe you saw, we recently announced we have a global partnership with Technovation. Therefore, we can deliver STEM education to young women and girls around the world. Our team is certainly very, very busy focusing on entrepreneurs, and also within the tech community as well.

Krissie Leyland 6:24
Hmm. Okay. So on that then, because you know, I love a bit of tech conversation: What do you think is the role for tech partners towards a more sustainable and positively impactful ecommerce world?

Katie Boothby-Kung 6:42

Here on Shopify, we can't say enough good things about our partner ecosystem, and the tech partners that are building some wickedly cool tools. I mean, that community is always drumming up really creative ways to support our merchant community. So keep it up. There is a lot of potential for them to impact this space. It's no surprise that sustainability is becoming a top priority for consumers and therefore it's becoming important for brands as well. So I'm sure we're going to see a lot of new offerings from the tech partner community being launched this year in order to keep up with with this growing demand.

Obviously, there's Recurate that's working on the resale market, and allowing our brands to resell their their wares, to keep it from going to landfill–giving their products new life, which I think isn't very exciting. Especially because the resale market is growing so quickly and I don't think that's going away anytime soon.

We're seeing Genusee. They're a an eyeglass company based out of Flint, Michigan, that have a really cool tool on their on their shop, to allow you to try on their sunglasses so that we're reducing the rate of returns. I say we as if I'm a part of it. (laughter) Their customers don't need to return as much. I'm not involved in that at all. They're doing great work.

And then there are even more sustainable shipping alternatives, like Kiwibot. Also the social impact of shopping local, I mean, it's accelerated. So our partners are creating more tailored pickup locations and delivery services. I think this idea of "shop local", is here to stay beyond 2021, kind of like the resale market. So consumers are looking for ways that they can be more supportive of their own communities and the small businesses that are essentially our neighbors. There's a lot of really great tech partners out there doing some, some really, really incredible things to help make sustainability and easier choice for merchants on our platform, for sure.

Krissie Leyland 9:07

Do you think that there's been a rise in, you know, apps that are specifically to help sustainability and social impacts because of the pandemic? It just seems to be on the rise? I don't know if it's because I'm involved in it, and I see it everywhere. But yeah, do you think it's because of the pandemic or it was going to happen anyway?

Katie Boothby-Kung 9:33

Honestly, is a great question. I don't know if I have the right answer to you. I think perhaps the pandemic accelerated this trend. I mean, we were seeing this, as things were kind of heating up in in March and April: this idea of shopping local and "voting with your dollar" and things like that. That became something that people were really talking about, they really wanted to support brands that were helping people throughout the pandemic. I think that there was a stat that I recently read–and I might butcher it a little bit–I think it was something like, I don't want to say it was specifically like 84%, but it was a percentage in the 80s. That said, more consumers were willing to shop from brands that were out there to help those in need during the pandemic. That's a pretty significant stat. Do I think that there was a trend towards more climate action and human rights? So I think that that there was already, but I think that the pandemic certainly helped speed it up.

Krissie Leyland 10:40

Yeah, definitely. I think ecommerce in general is just gone mad. Apparently, five years worth of growth has just happened in six months. Yeah.

Katie Boothby-Kung 10:55

Okay, that's insane.

Krissie Leyland 10:57

I probably butchered that stat as well. So yeah, we need to be mindful of how we're doing it and how we're doing business and ecommerce to make sure that we continue to protect our environment. Okay, so on the topic of the environment, obviously, Shopify did an amazing thing this year during Black Friday: Cyber Monday, to offset all carbon emissions from sales. I'd love to hear more about that and what Shopify achieved.

Katie Boothby-Kung 11:37

Totally. I will, I'll represent Stacy in our Sustainability Fund here. So we purchased a wide range of nature-based and engineering offsets under the assumption that all of the solutions have a role to play in the fight to reverse climate change. Our purchases go beyond just buying the offset itself. We purchase offsets to send a demand signal and we're overpaying for these offsets so that companies can then conduct research and pilot projects to refine their technologies. We're helping these companies to scale and bring their costs & prices down. Then by doing that, more buyers can participate. In 2020, it was really exciting, we invested in 13 companies across 10 different industries. We're already seeing companies gain more traction, in part because of our investments. Again, I'm not I'm not the offset expert so if listeners do want to learn more about this initiative, you can google Shopify sustainability, or you can head to our website, and it's shopify.com/about/environment.

Krissie Leyland 12:50

Amazing. Everyone should definitely go look at that and look at the specific projects that you worked with to offset carbon emissions, because that's super interesting. One big thing about offsetting is to always make sure that it's actually going to the right projects or another project that you align with. Yeah, so everyone should go and check that out.

Katie Boothby-Kung 13:16

Even these offsetting businesses are just so cool to learn about. There's some really cool things happening in this space, for sure, and I think more people should know about it.

Krissie Leyland 13:29

And there's so many of them, I think. Obviously, with the community, we've got app companies & tech partners from Shopify, in the community. Honestly, there's about 10 offsetting apps, but it's so interesting, because each one has worked with completely different projects, people and communities. It's like, if you're a brand and you've got an online store, choose the one that you align with the most and really look into it like, "Where will my customers money go? What's the impact that it's going to have?"

Katie Boothby-Kung 14:09

100%. I mean, you should be doing that for anything. That's woven into your brand, right? Just understanding your customers, you should know your customers so well that you know, the causes that they care deeply about. If they care about you buying offsets from kelp farms, and you should be doing that. Or if maybe there are some charities that are really important to them, you have a donation app installed into your Shopify store. What are the causes that speak directly to your consumers and what is important to them? That's super important to your brand building.

Krissie Leyland 14:53

It's amazing. On that as well, obviously we know that there are apps out there like ShoppingGives and DailyKarma that put the power in the customers' hands so that they can choose the charity that they want to donate to, or the project or whatever it is. I just think that's great, because you're going to feel good about that, aren't you, as a consumer. Plus, then they'll come back.

Katie Boothby-Kung 15:23

Sorry, I'm interrupting you, I'm just so excited! I think there's a lot to be said about building these really amazing experiences so that you can make your customer even closer to the impact that you're making through your business. Whatever you can do to make it so that it's not just a click, or it's not just something that seems simple and almost like at the back of your mind. But bringing them into that experience, bringing them into those choices, really allows them to feel like they're part of the impact that you're making. I think that's super important going forward.

Krissie Leyland 15:59

Yeah and that just makes really nice customer connections as well, doesn't it? If they feel good about making a purchase with you, they're going to tell their friends & family and be like, "Look, you can go and choose your own charity or whatever!" I love it. I love it. It's so funny, because whenever I do a podcast, I end up talking about either Recurate or ShoppingGives. People are gonna think I'm sponsored, but I'm not.

Katie Boothby-Kung 16:31

There are certainly apps that have been around for a while before this trend–I don't want to call it a trend because that makes it seem like it's going to go away–or movement really took off. So giving them a shout out is really great because when you think about some of those donation apps, they've been around for a long time.

Krissie Leyland 16:53

I can just imagine how when we go back to normal, and at point of sale in in an actual physical store, I imagine the shop assistant saying, "Okay, so what charity do you want to donate to with your purchase?" Imagine that... online and offline?

Katie Boothby-Kung 17:15

Cool, very cool. Definitely.

Krissie Leyland 17:19

It's endless, it really is. So, what are some possibilities for tech partners going into 2021?

Katie Boothby-Kung 17:30

Oh, my goodness. The possibilities are honestly endless. I feel like at this moment, you're just opening it up for me to share my wish list, which I'm not going to complain about at all. So, they already existed and I mentioned one of our merchants that's using this, but: to have AI tech or VR tech rather ,across all industries to help reduce the rate of returns. Making returns should be avoided because it is causing a lot of carbon emissions, as as you're all aware. By creating these tools that our Shopify merchants can easily plug and play, I think, will be amazing to reduce those emissions. Right now, if you're coming to Shopify, and you're really excited, you already know that you want to build a social enterprise... that's really, really amazing. However, once you realize that you want to become a social enterprise, the how and sourcing that first product can be a bit of an uphill battle. I know this isn't quite a tech partner, but even just thinking about like the experts in our ecosystem: how can you help brands source from factories that use smart environmental practices and treat their workers fairly and with respect? Brands can source these types of products faster & easier, get up & running and making their first sale. I know again, you're framing this in terms of how tech is in more of the app partnership community, but I'm even thinking about it from all the cool tech and science companies out there that are building really sweet, environmentally friendly alternative materials.

Thinking about fashion and in textile, they're doing some really amazing things! Just this past week, there's brands that are building it out of algae, they're making eather from fruit pulp or they're making it out of recycled fishing nets that they've managed to find in the ocean. This is so incredible. However, when when you're searching for these types of textiles, there isn't really an easy way to get your hands on it. There isn't an "order now" or a "grab a sample, click this" button. So just making those choices easier and making the process–or the workflow from going to the website, discovering a really cool material, and then getting a couple samples so that you can start your production–building something like that would be really, really cool.

My call to action for any tech partner listening is just to make sustainability easier for entrepreneurs. They only have a limited amount of time. In many cases, as I'm sure all of you guys are, as well, they're wearing between 20 to a million hats in a given day. So if making a sustainable choice is a really long and difficult process, these entrepreneurs are eventually going to have to opt for easier options, because they're going to have to move on to the next task. And then the next and then the next. They're running a mile a minute trying to run this business. So just making sustainable choices easier for these merchants so that it becomes a no brainer: "Why wouldn't I make a sustainable choice because it's right there in front of me and it's so easy!" Then, you know, boom: they have 20 products in their store and they're all made with sustainable fibers.

Krissie Leyland 21:24

I love that so much. Yeah, I've heard about people making products out of seaweed and mushrooms.

Katie Boothby-Kung 21:34

Honestly, it blows my mind. What is out there? I've seen some of that mushroom material too. And I'm just like, "Holy smokes. What can't we build products out of like that there?" There's a lot out there. I just think the biggest hurdle for merchants is: how do you go from discovering the product, to getting it in your hands and being like, "Okay, I'm gonna make 20 shirts out of this really cool nylon or something?"

Krissie Leyland 22:05

Oh, it's just so exciting. It gives me like a fire in my belly.

Katie Boothby-Kung 22:11

It's why I wake up and I'm ready for work: because I'm so pumped to work with these kind of entrepreneurs and tech partners.

Krissie Leyland 22:19

Oh me, too. It's amazing. So when you were talking, I was just thinking: what are the barriers for the merchant to be able to get such materials and make products?

Katie Boothby-Kung 22:40

I can't speak for all of them because I haven't found all of them. Just based on what I have seen in my passive research, is just that a lot of the times there's a lengthy "contact us" process where you have to go in, contact them & set up a phone call. Whereas, it would just be great if you could just click a button and have a whole swatch palette mailed to you, and then you can have a "kick it off from there" kind of thing. I mean, obviously, there are reasons why some of these brands have it. They're really small and they really want to work with specific brands, because they haven't gotten to the point of larger production.

So there is that and I can completely understand. I don't want to dictate how these types of materials should get this to be easier for merchants. Based on my perspective, also, as a merchant who went to one of these websites, and was like, "Woah." because I have a skincare company, right? So it's like, "Hey, I can make these really cool. facecloth out of this material! Okay, how do I do it?" And then it was this whole process and it thought, "Oh my god, I have 20 things to do tonight. I can't think about this. I'll get to it next time." It's that mentality of "I have so many things to do, like I'll get to this later." Whereas if they had given me a button where it said, "get your swatch sent to you," I would have been just be like, "Yep, done. Okay, now I have my swatch and I know that I really want this material, I'll give them a call and make an order."

Krissie Leyland 24:31

Hmm, that's so frustrating. I could imagine that. It's so interesting that you've got so many hats yourself. You work for Shopify, you've got your skincare business, which is amazing, by the way. I'm definitely going to invest one day. Yeah, I was just gonna ask actually: are these the things on your wish list as a brand, or coming from Shopify, or both?

Katie Boothby-Kung 25:07

Both. I mean, from my Shopify perspective, I want these decisions to be easier for merchants, because it means that more merchants are making sustainable choices in their business, because it's a no brainer. But from a brand persepective, I selfishly want things to be easier so I don't need to spend a whole evening trying to figure out how to order something. I mean, just how I even got started... It took a long time for me to get up and running: finding the right partner and finding the right materials. It took me almost a year just to find the products and the charity partner where I felt like I was ready to launch and I felt comfortable. So it's like, "It takes one year of a solo entrepreneur doing all this research by themselves." So, how can we take that one year and turn it into one month, one week or one day?

Krissie Leyland 26:10

Yeah, that'd be so great. Going back to Shopify, Shopify makes it easy to start a business online as an ecommerce business. But yeah, if we could make it easy to be ethical and sustainable, and use all these really cool scientific materials, which oh, my god sounds amazing,

Katie Boothby-Kung 26:35

Right?

Krissie Leyland 26:36

It's just so exciting. It's phenomenal, really. If we could make that easy... then the job's done.

Katie Boothby-Kung 26:48

I mean, there will always be something but whatever we can do–and again, like I'll say this again toeveryone listening–whatever anyone can do in this world to make sustainable choices easier, let's do it! It's unstoppable at this point.

Krissie Leyland 27:06

Yeah. So what is Shopify achieved when it comes to having a positive impact in the world? How is Shopify using commerce as a force for good?

Katie Boothby-Kung 27:22

Wow. Well, that's definitely a loaded question. How much time do we have on this podcast? I mean, I can talk all day... Even just going back to the roots of the company, right? Shopify, by design is bringing social impact to the world. If you think about it, a decade ago, people couldn't just wake up one day and start an online business. They had to consider the huge financial burden, how to get a website set up & who could help them with this. There's so many steps that these folks had to take for starting a business. So when Toby started Shopify, he was able to reduce the amount of time and money to start a business, and then get people to realize their independence without having to spend their life savings to start an online business. So by reducing these barriers, more people can realize their dream of becoming an entrepreneur. I think that's impact itself, right? Just the existence of the Shopify merchants, they're able to contribute to economic growth, building their communities & employing people. So I think it's pretty incredible, the impact that one merchant had on their community and in the economy.

Then enter my team. We've been working with communities around the world for quite some time. We've been working with under-resourced tech and entrepreneurship communities via partnerships, education, and even sometimes sponsorship. Just this past year, for my portfolio in particular, I've looked for ways to engage and support our social entrepreneur community. As as you know, Krissie, because you're in part of these. So you know, creating an online forum, where folks can come and ask all their questions and get help from our support team when it comes to specifically creating a social enterprise. We have online networking hubs, meetups & panels. Also just a couple days ago, we filmed our first ever Compass Course on building and scaling a social enterprise on Shopify. So there are a lot of really cool things that are that are happening right now where people can come together. They can learn from from either our education team, they can learn from each other or they can build these networks & these connections with one another. So I think that that's really powerful.

Krissie Leyland 29:55

Oh my god, you're just speaking my language. Oh, I love it so much. I love how aligned MindfulCommerce is with Shopify.

Katie Boothby-Kung 30:07

It's how we became friends, isn't it?

Krissie Leyland 30:09

Yeah, yeah! It's just great... Um, damn it. I forgot what I was gonna say. I was too excited. Oh, yeah! Tell me about the video course that you were filming. I saw a sneak peek on Instagram. Looks very exciting.

Katie Boothby-Kung 30:29

So it's like a social enterprise one-on-one introductory course. We do cover a lot of topics. We obviously we talked about sustainability, we talked about what social enterprises and you know, this intersection between environmental action and human rights. Then we drill down into each of those. Like, "What does environmental impacts look like for your business?" and, "What can you be doing within your business to create environmental impact?" then, "How can you befostering human rights and taking care of the people in your supply chain, building diversity and inclusion within your own company?" and then "How to support the communities that you engage with and that your customers really resonate with?" I mean, you're gonna have to write a lot of notes down, and you might have to give it a listen acouple of times...

Krissie Leyland 31:29

So if there's somebody listening, who wants to get involved with anything that you're doing, actually, how can they do that?

Katie Boothby-Kung 31:41

The community forum is open for anyone. Just head onto Shopify Community, and you'll see it listed there as social impact businesses. You can head in there and ask any of your questions. Whether it's the community that's there to help you answer it, or myself or someone from our Shopify support team, then you know, we have your back, and we're there to help you. Then there's our Slack channel. You just need to fill out a form. I will send that over to you, Krissie, so that if anyone's interested in applying to join the Slack channel, then they can do that. We also always tell folks when we're having these meetups and things like that. So if you are a Shopify merchant, we do our best to put that within our newsletter that we send out so that you know, when these types of meetups are happening. And I don't want to have any spoilers, but there are going to be some other very cool ways that you can get involved too, and we'll just keep everyone posted.

Krissie Leyland 32:54

Ooh, very good. And just so the listeners know, if you are in the MindfulCommerce Community, there's a link to Katie's Slack channel in there as well. Anyways, that was funny, because I was gonna say that bit at the end, but it just seemed right, because we were talking about it. Other than Shopify, who else do you think is leading the way to a more sustainable and positively impactful ecommerce world?

Katie Boothby-Kung 33:35

Wow. There are a lot of really great players in this space, so I don't think I'll be able to name them all. However, a brand that comes to mind specifically is Kotn, they're based out of Toronto. They've done some really incredible work to support the employees within their entire supply chain, "from farm to T shirt" kind of thing. They're just really leading the way in terms of the transparency of how their clothes are made, and what they're made with. So I think that they're a very good example of that intersection between human rights and environmental action. I think they're doing a really, really great job.

Another really cool one is called Son of a Tailor and they're doing made to order, on demand. That in of itself has some very positive environmental impacts. I think that anyone doing made to order successfully are doing some really great things for their their environmental footprint. So that's awesome.

And then I mean, obviously, you guys: MindfulCommerce. It goes without saying. You guys are building this really, really incredible community where people can come together. I mean, that directory in of itself! Before you guys there was never really a home for these types of experts and partners who specifically worked with sustainable brands to be all under one roof. Now, you know, you're throwing this awesome epic party for all these partners at MindfulCommerce. By doing that, think of the time and energy you're saving merchants who are looking to work with a sustainable partner because they can know that they just have to come to MindfulCommerce. They're going to be able to find on so much there. So, thank you for doing that because that is having a lot of impact for our merchants looking for work with more sustainable partners.

Krissie Leyland 35:47

Thank you so much, that's so nice. And thank you for your input on the research project. I was listening back on this, this is this is amazing. This is just what we needed. That's great, I'm glad you like it. So, it's the start of the year... I just thought might be nice to look ahead a little bit. What's next for Shopify in relation to sustainability and social impact?

Katie Boothby-Kung 36:20

We're still charting some of this out, but what I can tell you is that we will definitely continue to deepen our support for black and indigenous entrepreneurs over the coming months. That's including our 1 million black businesses initiative that we announced with Operation Hope, later last year. We'll also continue to build support for our social impact initiatives like Open Learning program that's working with the post secondary education students, our STEM education outreach with young girls in particular, and of course, the work that we're doing to support and grow social enterprises on Shopify. So there is lots happening. I can't speak specifically on the fund, so you'll have to poke Stacy for that information but I'm sure that they have some pretty big and exciting goals that they're going to be working on this year.

Krissie Leyland 37:15

I'm just so impressed. There's so much that you, Shopify & the sustainability team are doing. I just hope that other platforms will follow in your footsteps, because that would just be amazing. Finally, do you have any advice for anyone who would like to find a role like yours at Shopify? I added that one in...

Katie Boothby-Kung 37:52

I mean, it's a great question. When I think about kind of how I landed in my position here at Shopify: I just kept talking about this all the time with people that would listen to me. I remember, I had this old deck. It's fun to look at, because I made it three years ago. It was all about building social enterprises on Shopify and I remember I sent it to a bunch of people. Then, here I am. Just, if your company has the appetite for it, and this is a job that you want, then go get it. Go start talking to people. Go tell them that this is important to you. Go show them why you're the right person for that job, for sure. Depending on what company you work for, you might need to wait a little bit of time. Maybe there isn't an appetite for this right now and that's okay. Just keep pushing for it. Keep talking about sustainability. Kep talking about social impact. Depending on where you work, if there's nothing stopping you from doing small initiatives off the side of your desk... that's showing initiative, that it's showing that nside of your day to day, this is something you really care about, that you're willing to put in the time for your company. I mean, if all else fails, you should just quit your job and start your own social enterprise so that then, you are doing it every day.

Krissie Leyland 39:23

Yes. I like that. I was just gonna say, basically you created your own job! Obviously, because Shopify are very minded in that way, it was good for you. If your company isn't keen, then just do it yourself. Like I did!

Katie Boothby-Kung 39:48

Exactly! I think like whether people are ready to hear what you have to say or not, put in the work now. When I think about it, I was putting in the work before we had changed our team name to Social Impact. There were a few other people that were doing the same as me and now we're all on the same team together. Just put in the work now, and I think it'll pay off tenfold.

Krissie Leyland 40:18

Great, I love it. So, I think that's it really. Where can people find you if they'd like to chat about Shopify's approach to social impact, or anything else?

Katie Boothby-Kung 40:37

If they're interested in learning more about what we're doing as a company, go to shopify.com/about/environment. There's a lot that you can find out there. Take a look at our community forums. Again, like if you're a social enterprise and you want to join this really rad network of other social enterprises that are hanging out together, then come join our Slack channel. If you want to, see teasers about other things that we're working on, you're more than welcome to follow me on Instagram. It's @katiebkung. That's where we had our course teaser just the other day. If you're a social enterprise, and you just want to reach out, or you have any feedback for us, or if there's a partner that we really should be thinking about, orwhatever will help you guys help and grow your social enterprise: lay it on me. You're more than welcome to send me a message and I would love to hear from you.

Krissie Leyland 41:41

Great! Especially if you can tick it off the dream list.

Katie Boothby-Kung 41:45

Yes. Get to work, people. Go!

Krissie Leyland 41:52

Amazing. Thank you so much.

Katie Boothby-Kung 41:54

Thanks Krissie, I've loved this.



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