“Our decision to give back is at the heart of our business. We are the first marketplace of social goods that also donates to charity. Giving 10 percent of our total sales to a reputable non-profit each week blurs the line between for-profit and non-profit, and we believe that is the future of commerce.” – Co-Founder Lindsay Byers-Hirth.

Earlier this month two sisters, Lindsay Byers-Hirth and Kelli Byers fulfilled a shared dream by launching their new socially conscious company Society B. Society B curates the best, socially conscious products available today and sells them to consumers online while also giving back 10% of its sales to a new charity of the week, every week. The selection of products are beautiful and carefully chosen after extensive research to ensure that the products are either fair trade or give back and does good to a specific cause. This cuts out the tedious research for consumers and allows them to easily do good.

I had the opportunity to chat with one of the founders, Lindsay Byers-Hirth this week to learn more about the inspiration behind Society B and what differentiates Society B from other online for profit social enterprises. Here is what Lindsay had to say.

Me: What inspired you and your sister, two working moms, to start Society B?

Lindsay: In early 2000, while attending Iowa State University Kelli and I were both very engaged in charity and the spirit of giving back. We talked often about how wonderful it would be if we could create products to give back to charity. But realistically we didn’t have the time or the money. We held on to our dreams while starting a family and career in different states. Then, last Christmas Kelli and I were both home talking about our corporate jobs and how we both wish we had a better sense of purpose in our work. We were brainstorming ways to create something that would do good when we literally stumbled upon it. We were shopping in Fayetteville, Arkansas and came across a few products that give back from brands we hadn’t heard of before. And we realized that we wished we could find all those do-good brands in one place, and that was really our epiphany.

Me: Once you had the idea, what did you do next?