Why does any of this matter?

0:00Hey folks, this is the between the interview show where I'll provide some context background reflections and recommendations associated with the capitalism for good philosophy. While the interviews are obviously focused on highlighting businesses and their leaders through talking about their experiences and philosophies, the between the interview shows will be mostly me connecting the dots, providing some additional insight, spotlighting the things that I'm listening to, reading, and watching in order to learn more, as well as some of the why behind where I am choosing to put my dollar. These between the interview shows will be sprinkled in between the interviews and will be posted on the main feed, but will also be posted weekly on the Patreon in video form. So if that's your jam, head there, there's a link in the description. Okay, so let's start by talking about the name of this project, capitalism for good.

1:01One of the things that I am cognizant of is that by putting the word good in the name of this project, it may seem to imply that there's either a good or a bad way to make and spend money. It could seem like there's a good versus evil or a right versus a wrong way, especially as myself, if I am being self-reflective, a woman with some very strong views of the world, I wholeheartedly believe that there are lines to be drawn in the sand and there is a time to speak up when those lines are crossed. But I also wholeheartedly believe that life is much more of a spectrum of gray than a simple either or choice of black or white. I never intend to make someone feel like they're being judged for any of the decisions that they

2:03make. We all have decisions to make. We all have to weigh the pros and cons. Sometimes we have to choose not to weigh the pros and cons because it makes more sense to just not really think about a decision. The saying is time is money, that exists for a reason. So I understand that. But that's also part of why I love talking about some of the things that might make other people and sides kind of clinch up. Not really one to shy away from the things that are difficult or different. In fact, again, if I'm trying to be self-aware, often tend to run straight towards them, perhaps at a fault. But I really enjoy digging into the complexities of the people in the world around us. Again, wholeheartedly believe that human nature is a big fat wild card. Even if we

3:08try to hedge our bets and put our money towards something that we believe is a good choice, there's no guarantee that it will actually turn out the way that we intended it to. I am definitely someone who tries my hardest to plan ahead, be prepared, think about all the different possible scenarios and just, like, generally be thoughtful about my choices. But sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes they overlook things. And, you know, also just often it's impossible to just absolutely have all of the information that is something that I don't love. I wish that I could have all of the information. I really wish I could have the answers. I could be like, all right, well, let me get it all of it. And something that I've learned is I have gotten older is that it's just impossible to actually have all of the information. Sometimes I

4:08get more information after the fact that should I've had that amount of information or that kind of information when I was making a decision, I would have gotten in a totally different direction. You know, often it's just flat out impossible to have absolutely all of the information. If I did, I'd be psychic. And while I have a lot of vivid dreams that make for really great jokes about my psychic abilities, I'm not. It's kind of like how I assume weather works. It can seem like always conditions will come together to make it snow in a certain place at a certain time. And so therefore that's what the meteorologist is telling us is that it's likely good to snow in this city in the afternoon. But then if there's this earthquake, then knock sound a bunch of big trees and that makes a big gust of wind and that gust of wind blows the clouds in a different direction anticipated, then maybe it doesn't snow in the afternoon in that particular city.

5:11Obviously I'm not a meteorologist and that might not really be the way weather works at all, but you know what I'm saying, right? Some people might judge the meteorologist for being seemingly correct about whether it's snow's or not, but it might be more complex than we know. After all, that meteorologist is the expert. Obviously I am not. Maybe that expert made a mistake. Maybe there was a wildcard that was difficult or impossible to predict. We may never really know. What I'm saying is perhaps we should cut that meteorologist some slack. Similarly, we are all the experts in our own respective lives, so perhaps we shouldn't judge each other's decisions too harshly because we're not the experts in their lives. If we judge the choices of others, we automatically don't have all of the information and our judgment is just automatically

6:14flawed. Choices are complex. For example, some of the choices that I make in my life are likely deeply, deeply puzzling to other people. For example, I have talked a lot about how I care about the environment. That is a high priority when I am making a lot of different decisions about the way in which specifically I spend my money, but yet I write down a hundred notes. I journal by hand pen and paper. I buy print copies of books and on the surface that is really counterintuitive to the environment and the fact that it paper comes from trees, trees are good for the environment, and those kinds of things. But yet, I value things like hand writing notes. That is the way my brain works. If I write things down, I'm more likely to remember them. I also write things down

7:21as a means to like process what's going on. So I try to journal every day. Most days, it kind of depends on what time in my life it is. But it is something that helps me just get my thoughts out of my mixed up mushy brain and into a place where I can process them. I can see them a little bit differently. I often as I'm writing and thinking those words in my head. So specifically if I'm writing thoughts and ideas for this podcast, if I write it down, I can almost edit it in my head as I say it out loud. And that'll help me form my thoughts. I am also someone who before I have a difficult conversation with someone like I'm writing down and taking actual notes and that helps me kind of process put my thoughts together. I'm a little bit less rambly. I make more sense because I'm kind of catching those things as I go. So for me, writing things down in having

8:27things in like print copy is a that's a huge value to me. So while yes, I do still care about the environment. I am still cognizant of the impact of that purchase of paper or like printing things out so that I can write and edit and mark those up. It's kind of like a pro con list of my of my values and what I would get out of it and what the world is getting out of it there. It took go along with the environment theme here. There are decisions about purchasing cars and I have a gas car, Germany, Sondra versus having an electric or a hybrid car. And that's its own kind of pro con list when I'm making those decisions about what what I'm going to purchase. Another thing about me is that I'm generally pretty frugal, but I'll spend money

9:29on travel. I think I talked about that before. I'll spend money on certain clothing items. I'll spend money on massages and spots, experiences or concerts. I will choose to purchase more expensive cloth napkins than like a paper napkin or paper towel. That can seem kind of contradictory easter egg. I'll kind of go through some of these things and more in depth in the future at the most olds. Another thing is that I am pretty thoughtful about the efficiency of my time and how I utilize my time and yet I will also spend the time to cook almost all of my meals daily and to grow some of my own food. That takes time and effort and attention. Again, however, if I'm just balancing the scales of that, then I enjoy the activity of that. That is something that is a fun

10:33challenge for me. It's a great time for me to catch up with other people at the same time while I'm cooking. It's enjoyable. It's a fun activity to me. So is like gardening and taking care of plants and those kinds of things. So while that might be the less efficient way to go about life, that is something that is important to me. So I choose to do it. If we also just kind of using myself as an example and the decisions and choices that I make, I may nine times out of 10 never choose to shop at a particular store, but given a certain set of conditions, I might actually do it. Maybe there's an urgent need for something. Maybe there's an emergency. Maybe in a location where that is one of the only stores that is available to me or that is close and I'm balancing once again efficiency of time and money versus convenience versus my stance on this particular store.

11:41Maybe I am with other people who don't share my strong disdain for that particular store. So I choose not to put my foot down at the time. Nine times out of 10, I may speak up at work when I don't agree with something, whether that's a business decision that's being made, whether it's the way someone's being treated. Maybe it is a goal or the way that we're interpreting a certain value. Maybe it's a choice of how we're spending company funds. Who knows what it is, but you know, you get the picture. I'm opinionated. Nine times out of 10, I might speak up when I don't agree with something specifically if I think it's going to have a detrimental impact. But I also truly believe that there's value sometimes to picking your battles. Here's a baseball analogy here for you. Almost every hitter won't swing it every pitch. There's a time and a place to swing big and there's also a time to let that pitch just go right by you. So my point here is just generally that life

12:49is complicated. And while in this project, I focus on making good choices and how we spend and make our dollars, that quote, good choice is complex. This is not intended to be a judgment of choices, but rather a dig into the intentionality of the choices that we make and the impact that those choices have on the world around us. Perhaps it's an encouragement to just think just a moment more about the choices that we make. Perhaps it's an encouragement to strive for just one percent better in whatever that better means to each of us at a given time. And it'll grow and it'll evolve and it'll change. And that same choice might look different, you know, five years apart or in different states or in different XYZ circumstances. At the end of the day, it's complex.

13:52At the end of the day, it's gray, much like the way that my hair is turning in this old age. Okay, so moving on to what I have read. Again, maybe this just ties into the theme of complexity and gray, but this what I have read, example, is not something that I'm particularly learning about when it comes to capitalism or economics or money or business. What I'm going to call out today is a book called Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitino. I believe it's the way you say her name. I might have just butchered that a lot, but it's this really beautiful story about the complexity of the lives of each of these women in a family. It's messy, it's heartfelt, but it's dramatic, but not like overly dramatic, it's heavy while it's got some comedy and some light, and it's just

14:57really well written. And perhaps that's a way to tie it into this theme of kind of life being gray is some of the decisions that these women make, even the way in which they're interpreting each other's decisions and there are judgments there and there are impacts on each other's relationships because of the way those decisions are made or whether or not they agree with those decisions, and perhaps that's part of why I've just been thinking a lot about how life in general is gray. That book Hello Beautiful is just really well written, and if that is again your jam, I highly recommend that. I believe it was in Oprah's Book Club Choice at some point, and there is a link to it in the show notes if you are interested and would like to read that. And then next, I'm not telling you what to do, but here's where I'm putting my dollar. Again,

16:04you know, I love a three line. Physical books purchased at local bookstores. You know, it might seem counterintuitive to the environmental priorities that I have to actually have printed books on paper. However, I think that it's got a huge value. I spend so much of my day looking at screens, specifically computers. One of the last things that I want to do when I'm trying to actually like read and unwind is just look at another screen. And so I really enjoy having a physical copy of a book that is just a different thing for my eyes to focus on. I also was kind of cheesy, but like I love the way that they look. I think they make really great decorations on book shelves. And so that's kind of an added value there. I think they make really good gifts

17:07also if you know someone else who is a reader and you can give that book to them. I love receiving books also. And you know, sometimes you can write a little note in there where you it's a good conversation starter and a good way to connect to people to talk about your favorite book. I also think that it is a great way to put your money toward a small local business. So I really enjoy also the activity of walking around a bookstore. There is one that is within walking distance of me and like that's really great. If I've got an afternoon on a weekend for you or something, I can go for a walk and get outside some exercise and also, you know, pop in and get a coffee and then tool around my favorite bookstore. I'll start out two of them that I particularly like. One is Carmichael's bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky. And then another one is Katie's books

18:11in Lee Summit, Missouri. If you are in either one of those cities in your book, lover like me, I highly recommend popping into those. Again, kind of like a two for both of those bookstores are right next door or a couple stores down from a great local coffee shop. So if you want to just have a little Andrea afternoon and go on a walk and get a coffee and walk around bookstore, then highly recommend that. All right, so that is enough. Let's go leave this place better than we found it.