“You don’t need a lot, to do a lot” — This is so clear and so simple of a concept and a way of life. It means that someone doesn’t have to be rich or even comfortable to decide to give back in some capacity. It could be donating clothes, time, feeding people, giving money, etc. The point is if you have something — or anything — it’s enough to share and make an impact on someone.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing C. Street.
C. Street is the principal of CStreet Creative, a micro-marketing and creative services consultancy. She is also the founder of BECOME THE MOVEMENT, a social impact startup that uses e-commerce to empower people, initiatives, and organizations making a positive impact, and transformative change particularly in human rights and social justice.
Her artistic and professional work has garnered award recognitions in visual art, performance art, marketing, and innovation.
C. lives, works and creates on the outskirts of Chicago.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Thanks for having me and for asking. I grew up in a suburb about thirty-five miles from Chicago with parents that instilled giving back early on. From helping friends who fell on hard times, to feeding people, or opening our home to someone who needed a place to stay, it was common to share whatever we had. Giving back and simply being there was pretty much what everyone just did — so it was a seed planted as far back as I can remember. I must state and be clear, however, that I’m from an everyday middle-class family with a father who worked a blue-collar job and a mother who was a homemaker. Yet, they taught me that you didn’t need a lot to do a lot; so I carry those lessons with me every day.
I went to homeschool for high school, so when I got my first taste of college, I worked with a couple of friends to start an organization geared toward bringing people together. I wanted to create a safe space to converse about social and racial issues through art, poetry, and other forms of expression. Later on, I started doing some activism work and working full-time at a global brand, which both taught me a lot and helped me to refine what I wanted to do long term.
I later graduated from my alma mater and saw a need to use my experience to help small businesses and organizations, so I started consulting and doing a ton of pro-bono work. It’s been gloves off since then (and a hefty share of both rewards and challenges). Being a small business myself who helped a lot of small businesses was in many ways a way for me to BECOME THE MOVEMENT as an individual. Launching BTM as a startup allows not only me, but others to make an impact, collectively.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
There are so many great people, initiatives, and organizations doing transformative work but I noticed that most are understandably focused on the issue(s) they care about and/or garnering support to stay afloat themselves.
Unfortunately, garnering sustainable support tends to work better for the organizations or initiatives with the most visibility, which leaves many of those who aren’t structured traditionally (as a 501c3) or who lack the reach — out of the conversation for being able to secure funding or support. Oftentimes, these are the orgs, initiatives, and people, who have been in the communities doing the work, putting in the time, and making a huge difference on the local/ community level which is often where the most impact is needed, and happens. They’ve done the work for years with little to no support and no real budget, and definitely without media coverage to highlight those efforts. Our goal is to change that.
As a startup guided by a social-impact compass, BECOME THE MOVEMENT’s disruptive model levels that playing field and funnels much-needed resources to orgs and initiatives of all sizes, structures and focus areas. We’re not just saying “support us” instead, we’re saying “by supporting us, you support them”. Another disruptive element to our model is that we use e-commerce to empower not only orgs and initiatives but everyday people (our makers) who can sustain their livelihoods through an equitable and impactful partnership with us.
To expound further, we curate pieces from “makers” who want to give back and who can provide/sell unique items to the consumer. The consumer, who also wants to not only get great finds but spend in a socially conscious way while supporting independent makers, will be able to make a purchase. The maker earns, the consumer gets rare finds while supporting great orgs and initiatives, and of course, the orgs get up to 20% of all purchases made. This process creates what I call a “4-way impact”.
An additional element to this is that many “makers” are POC who statistically are left out of the conversation or face more challenges in securing equitable opportunities. Essentially, we aim to make a multi-tier impact through every interaction. We believe this is extremely disruptive compared to the models that have been in place since…well, forever, maybe?
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I have plenty of mistakes I can draw from but for the sake of time I’ll highlight one, in particular, that was a huge learning lesson. When I first conceptualized BECOME THE MOVEMENT, I thought it would grow super fast and make a behemoth impact even faster. While I had the concept mapped out in my mind, I hadn’t drawn out the intricate details of how it would actually run on the backend, or how it would be sustained. I put together a website, wrote some SEO-friendly content, and stepped away — waiting for the magic to happen. Not long after I’d done that, I was nominated for an innovation award (around 2014/2015). I was super excited until I realized that I failed to clearly define (and show) how BTM would work. I had failed miserably to prepare for the interests it may garner, yet alone, highlight its unique value. Again, I somewhat knew and held the idea of how it was important in my mind but unfortunately, I didn’t come across any mind readers so that certainly didn’t render any results. At this point, I had been in marketing for a little over six years so this misstep not only negatively affected and halted the growth of BTM but also left quite the bruise on my marketing capabilities and know-how. Needless to say, I shut everything down and went back to the drawing board with a more refined vision and a great lesson in preparedness and humility. I reference this lesson every day.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
My parents made a huge impact simply by not imposing traditional “success identifiers” on me. They never pressured me to have a certain career or even to go to college. And by trusting me to figure it out and think through it, it gave me the license to fail, and figure out what I wanted to do. I must say, however, that my mother was one of my biggest supporters. She always made sure that my siblings and I were cultured, aware, and empathetic towards others. She was relentless in ensuring that we had a village of great people around us to learn from. She was just love and light and was truly a rare person and a wonderful mom whose impact I will never be able to quantify or define fully.
My sisters were and are also huge supporters, along with various great mentors, friends, and associates I’ve met across a plethora of experiences and industries from activists to small business owners and corporate executives who all shared their worldview and lived experiences without pause or reservation. To say I’ve been extremely fortunate to have the circle of people I have in my life is an understatement.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
This is an extremely valid question to explore, and I think that disruption can be either a positive or a negative. In truth, I’m unsure whether any system or structure has “withstood the test of time” — simply because as time evolves both systems and structures evolve or require some adjustment, even if only fractionally. I believe the difference of when disruption can be positive or negative, may rest in one’s intent and decision(s) to disrupt. For example, I’ve shared my vision and goals of BECOME THE MOVEMENT, which I believe is a positive step forward in disrupting a somewhat antiquated process of offering organizations, initiatives, and people support; however if my intent or decisions were to evoke discriminatory practices or to segregate, or disenfranchise people — that would certainly, from my view, be negative disruption.
Another example is what we’ve all experienced in the last year and a half with the devastating impact of COVID, crippling racial injustice, mass shootings, and more. To say we are in a negative disruption would be an understatement. Our nation is accustomed to finding or fighting our way back from hard times, however, it’s more necessary than ever to learn from and evolve through these experiences — and not to return to what was (even though what was has “withstood the test of time”). We haven’t had the opportunity until now to develop, build and define something far better than even our forefathers conceptualized. But for it to happen it’s going to require courage, and a serious reckoning and acknowledgment of not what has made us great but what has left us weak and vulnerable. In retrospect, it’s far harder to discuss and find solutions to the latter than it is to focus on our ideals of the former; however, this negative disruption we’re in and are experiencing gives us all a rare opportunity to transform it into positive disruption, together. I don’t want it to be a “comeback” story but the “best build-forward” story, EVER.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
“You don’t need a lot, to do a lot” — This is so clear and so simple of a concept and a way of life. It means that someone doesn’t have to be rich or even comfortable to decide to give back in some capacity. It could be donating clothes, time, feeding people, giving money, etc. The point is if you have something — or anything — it’s enough to share and make an impact on someone.
“Do what you can” — My mother never said “do better” or “do your best”. She always said, “do what you can”. For me, it eliminated the feeling (or the stress) that I was in some way not meeting or living up to a certain standard. Ironically, her saying those words always made me want to do my best and challenge myself in every scenario. I’ve surmised that this may have been a form of reverse psychology but it worked.
“It’ll be alright” — anytime I felt overwhelmed, stressed, scared or doubtful (or even certain that life, as I knew it was over) my mom always said “it’ll be alright” and almost immediately, I would regroup and tune my focus. It was a statement that created a simple pause and reflection and made me reassess whatever I was going through. Big or small roadblocks or setbacks, I repeat this to myself and it helps put things in perspective.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
While I am super excited about several endeavors I want to embark on, currently, my main priority is officially launching BECOME THE MOVEMENT. I think it’s especially critical right now to make focused and intentional moves that will contribute to imparting both positive and necessary change. A major step to doing this is getting as many resources and as much visibility to people, initiatives, and organizations that are fighting for transformative change. It’s a lofty goal but I have to believe that there are more of us who want to level the playing field, address the hard issues, build up one another, and courageously come closer together, than not. Seeing this in action and seeing it take form, for me, is priority number one.
After this, I’m also looking forward to further developing, securing protections, and funding for several innovative products I created — two of which are for the healthcare space. In many ways, these endeavors also align with giving back and making an impact so they’re always top of mind.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
There are so many phenomenal books and other resources to draw from. One book in particular that I stumbled upon in my quest to be an enlightened teen (yes, that’s an oxymoron) was “The Awakening of Intelligence” by J. Krishnamurti. It’s based on the premise that everything we learn or have learned was taught to us by someone else and therefore, may limit (or influence) our perceptions, ideas, and beliefs. It was mind-blowing. To this day, I reference some of Krishnamurti’s points and use them as guardrails to keep an open and exploratory mind.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
When I was considering what would be a good motto or tagline for BECOME THE MOVEMENT, I was racking my brain. I wrote out about fifty catchy phrases when something dawned on me. I determined that it didn’t need to be “catchy”. It needed to be true and it needed to express what we fundamentally believe.
The quote is: “change, changes everything”.
I believe it’s going to require a change in mindset and beliefs — in interaction and communication — in fair and equitable opportunities — in policies, laws, and procedures — and of course, in resources.
All of these things require change both literally and figuratively.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’m going to have to shamelessly go with BECOME THE MOVEMENT, of course, because that could mean working collectively with us or even on your own. But I want to encourage people not to stop there. Help the planet, help the homeless, support small businesses, support human rights and civil rights — speak up against inequality and racial injustice. Above all, know that “you don’t need a lot, to do a lot” so if you have a voice, a dollar, a shirt to donate, a half of a sandwich to share, or even an hour to give — you can make an impact.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow me on LinkedIn at:
Follow {BECOME THE MOVEMENT} on IG at:
www.Instagram.com/the_official_becomethemovement
or on Twitter:
@MovementBecome
And you can also check out {BECOME THE MOVEMENT} to shop for great art, e-books and unique finds, and to subscribe at: www.becomethemovement.org
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Thanks for having me!
Female Disruptors: C. Street On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.