Nohelia Rambal spoke on her experience of quitting a corporate job to become a marketing consultant for impact organizations. She now runs the social enterprise GoodFind, a directory of sustainable brands that helps consumers easily find an ethical alternative to everything. Ideally, the directory was created so that anyone could find an alternative for anything. Items in the directory range from clothing, home goods, sports, health, and more.

Before she dove deep into the social enterprise space, Nohelia completed volunteer work, and a few gigs, for companies dealing with social impact. Once she finally decided to start consultant work, she felt the first action she needed to take was to put up a website and casually shared her content with friends and family. Surprisingly, she shared that she didn’t imagine the site would grow into business. Doing work through volunteering and gigs led to her work being more recognizable in the space.

Beyond building her portfolio, Nohelia shared how social content boosted her business amidst the pandemic. She explained what happened with her business, social content, and the Black Lives Matter movement that opened a new gate in the way she supports social impact causes. Reflecting this, the GoodFind directory had filters that help consumers see who they are supporting. Learning if a brand is minority-owned or focuses on plastic reduction became easier with GoodFind.

Nohelia took time to explain why making things easier for consumers is important for any social enterprise. Originally, larger companies with larger budgets can afford to spend more on marketing and technology that create tighter funnels for their consumers. She expressed how this poses a problem for companies focused more on impact that can get lost in algorithms. Nohelia gives examples of different consumers engaging with sustainability based on her own interactions. Ultimately, Nohelia believes that a sustainable life starts from small commitments: “... we believe ‘one thing, one swap’ is enough, and surely enough, you will come back for more.”

Talking about friends and small commitments led our conversation to discuss the “ripple effect”. Everyday conversations with peers in our circle hold influence. Nohelia explained how our behaviors can be contagious. Minimal steps we take to find alternatives or recommend a new brand to friends build up the new trends normalized in society, and allow social impact companies to create more positive impact.

People may not realize how much influence accepted ideas have in the way the world operates. Nohelia Rambal expressed her thoughts on how society created and accepted the idea of “waste” and the world’s view of consumption. People developed habits of fast consumption and cheaper methods of production, but the beauty of quality production can be appreciated through more mindful purchasing. Thinking alongside how people habits are related to the world’s view, we briefly spoke about messaging used by brands, and why it knowing how the economy works can help us make different choices. GoodFind’s directory can be used to be one swap closer to a sustainable lifestyle.

If you would like to learn more, you can visit goodfind.io, or connect on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.