Episode 143: A Lift for Us All with Dena Hirschberg of HHPLIFT, Growing Through Adversity Series
It’s a moment many have been familiar with, where it seems like hope is lost but what looked like the end is a new beginning.
We started this series a few weeks ago called Growing Through Adversity, where we’re bringing together the voices of those reluctant heroes we know that have overcome serious setbacks.
Today, our guest is Dena Hirschberg president of HHPLIFT, a Chicago-based nonprofit and social enterprise. They’re on a mission to spark change and uplift underserved communities, locally and globally, by creating business for social impact companies whose eco-friendly, retail-quality, social impact products transform the lives of their artisans and makers overcoming barriers to employment.
HHPLIFT is also a direct provider of jobs, and career paths, to people from underserved communities in Chicago through its 1eleven® Program and has been deemed an essential business.
This episode serves multiple purposes, not only will we hear Dena’s story about how they turned a roadblock into an opportunity, but HHPLIFT is also someone I wanted to talk to because of what they do.
Right now what the world needs is more comfort and support. And our industry needs solutions to a complex problem. At skucon this year, Vicky Ostrom, futurist and trend analyst with SanMar, led a session on trendspotting, four macro trends driving innovation today, one key trend she highlighted was how the world was craving security and comfort, a trend she noticed even before the coronavirus and economic crisis hit.
Her presentation was incredibly prescient, one statement she shared from the future innovations report was, “The concept of home as a space for self-improvement, self-care, and community will be a growing market as 2021 nears, driven by the need for calm and comfort.”
Who knew we would be here today?
The reason I’m excited to talk with Dena and her team at HHP Lift is the possibilities: What if you could develop a campaign that comforted the end-user, the recipient, inspire your client, through a supply chain partner who is deemed an essential business and whose employee base is comprised of at-risk workers, some of the most vulnerable in our society right now.
Join us as we talk with Dena about this, plus other insights including where we went wrong with the attitude, “stay in your lane,” how the quiet of this moment makes us more open to unique opportunities, and more!