“I wanted to always be contributing to the success of enterprises that have a positive impact.“
Sandra Stewart, Co-Founder and Principal of Thinkshift Communications
What are the top three things people should know about your business?
- We are experts at communications strategy, thought leadership, messaging and media relations.
- We work exclusively with impact-driven enterprises, climate tech companies and advocacy nonprofits.
- We specialize in making complex ideas and technologies easy to understand and compelling.
What inspired you to get involved with WeTheChange?
I love that WeTheChange recognized from the beginning that leading means more than building a successful business—it also means using our power and creativity to change structures that aren’t working and inspire others to join us. And when it comes to building a business, this group is incredibly generous and supportive. Many groups say they are a community; this one really is.
What makes your business a standout in your field?
Thinkshift was one of the first—and remains one of the few—PR agencies to work exclusively with impact-centered clients. When we committed to that in 2013, some people (our attorney, for one) thought we were nuts.
Back then, B Corps and prioritizing anything above profit were still mysterious concepts. Impact investing was a nascent field. We heard a lot of doubt that we could sustain this business. But we had a motivating mission — driving adoption of creative solutions to social and environmental problems — and the obstinacy of true believers
What has been your greatest challenge?
Our doubters weren’t entirely wrong. Building any business is challenging, and our determination to work only with mission-aligned clients created an extra degree of difficulty. But it allowed us to attract enterprises that are addressing urgent problems and share our belief that social and economic justice, accountability and sustainable resource use should be business as usual. Many of them come to us after working with PR firms that didn’t get their goals or their market.
Just generally, dealing with the rollercoaster ride that is running a small business has at times turned me into a stress monster that I’ve had to learn how to tame. Maybe that’s why I grind my teeth at night?
What led you to create / lead a purpose-driven business?
I wanted to get up in the morning happy to go to work and feeling inspired about our clients and the brands we’re helping them build. We spend so much of our lives at work; I knew I just didn’t have it in me to promote, year after year, companies that were just meh. Excluding clearly negative actors was not enough to keep me going. I wanted to always be contributing to the success of enterprises that have a positive impact.
What’s something most people don’t know or wouldn’t guess about you?
My first business with my co-founder was a content marketing firm, and I wrote a column for our newsletter called Ask the Grammar Queen, in the persona of the Grammar Queen. That got me featured as a local character in a guidebook called San Francisco: The Unknown City. (Yes, I did know the author.) Also, I can keep a hula hoop spinning pretty much indefinitely—as long as I’ve ever wanted to, anyway.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I really relate to this quote from the composer John Cage: “I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.”
It’s hard to look around at the world and think, “Yeah, we’ve got it all figured out.” That has inspired me as a communicator to focus on making complex or weird-sounding ideas accessible to enough people that they can get a fair trial. This quote also reminds me that I shouldn’t be discouraged by other people’s discouraging words, which often come from a place of fear. There are always plenty of people who will tell you why something won’t work or why you can’t do it, but I’ve never regretted taking a chance, and I’ve seen many of those chances pay off, for me and for others.
Oh, and Thinkshift is open for business!
How can people learn more about you and your business?
Visit thinkshiftcom.com and my LinkedIn profile.
Check out recent media and resources:
Pushing Beyond the Status Quo Bias (Real Leaders podcast)
Why Thought Leadership is Key for Impact Companies (PRNews)
Media training Rorschach test: know your persona, give better interviews (Medium)
Email Rachel Landry Berdan, WTC member specialist at membership@wethechange.net to get your own Catalyst Spotlight in motion.
Want to be part of a community with incredible leaders like her? Join us today!