Between the Interviews - Going Gray

One thing that I’m 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 judgement of a right vs. a wrong way. Especially as a woman with some strong views of the world, I wholeheartedly believe that there are lines to be drawn in the sand and a time to speak up when they are crossed. I also wholeheartedly believe that much of life is 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 by me for any of the decisions they make. We all have to make decisions. We all have to weigh the pros and cons. Sometimes we choose not to weigh the pros and cons because it makes more sense to us to not think too long about a decision. After all, the saying “time is money” exists for a reason. 

The point is, life is complicated. While in this project I focus on making good choices in how we make and spend our dollars, that “good choice” is complex. This is not intended to be a judgement of choices, but rather a dig into the intentionality of the choices we make and the impact of those choices on the world around us. Perhaps an encouragement to think even just a beat more about the choices we make. Perhaps an encouragement to just strive for 1% better, whatever that means to each of us at a given time. 

What have I read: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is a beautiful story of the complexities of the lives of each of the women in a family. It’s messy, heartfelt, dramatic (but not overly so), heavy while being light, and very well written. 

I'm not telling you what to do, but here's where I'm putting my dollar: Physical books purchased at a local bookstore. Two of my favorites are Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, KY and KD’s Books in Lee’s Summit, MO. 

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Transcript:

“Hey 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. One thing that I’m 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 judgement of a right vs. a wrong way. Especially as a woman with some strong views of the world, I wholeheartedly believe that there are lines to be drawn in the sand and a time to speak up when they are crossed. I also wholeheartedly believe that much of life is 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 by me for any of the decisions they make. We all have to make decisions. We all have to weigh the pros and cons. Sometimes we choose not to weigh the pros and cons because it makes more sense to us to not think too long about a decision. After all, the saying “time is money” exists for a reason. 

So I understand that. But that’s part of why I love talking about some of the things that might make other people's insides clench up. I’m not one to shy away from the things that are difficult and different. In fact, I often tend to run toward them, perhaps to a fault. I really enjoy digging into the complexity of the people and world around us.  

Human nature is a wildcard. Even if we hedge our bets to try to put our money toward something we believe is a good choice, there’s no guarantee that it’ll turn out exactly how we intend it to. I’m definitely someone that will try my hardest to to plan ahead, be prepared, and generally be thoughtful about my choices. But sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes I overlook things. Sometimes I get more information after the fact that would have led me to choose something different. Often, it’s just 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 great jokes about my psychic abilities, I’m not. 

It’s like how I assume weather to work. It can seem like all of these conditions will come together to make it snow in a certain place, but if there’s an earthquake that knocks down a bunch of big trees that then creates wind that blows the clouds in a different direction than anticipated, maybe it doesn't snow in the afternoon in that particular city. Obviously I’m not a meteorologist and that might not really be the way weather works, but you get what I’m saying, right? 

Some people might judge the meteorologist for being seemingly incorrect about whether it snows or not, but it might be more complex than we know. After all, that meteorologist is the expert and 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, so perhaps we should cut that meteorologist some slack. Similarly, we’re all the experts in our own respective lives. Perhaps we shouldn’t judge each others’ decisions too harshly since 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 judgement is automatically flawed. Choices are complex. Some of the choices that I make are likely deeply puzzling to others. 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 handwritten notes. I journal by hand, pen and paper. I buy print copies of books on the surface that is really counterintuitive to the environment and the fact that paper comes from trees, trees are good for the environment and those kinds of things. But yet I value things like handwriting 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 as a means to process what's going on. So I try to journal every day. Most days, it depends on what time in my life it is. But it is something that helps me get 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, am thinking those words in my head. So like, 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, and having things 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 values and what I would get out of it, and what the world is getting out of it there.

To go along with the environment theme here, there are decisions about purchasing cars, and I have a gas car, driving the San-Centra, 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 I'm going to purchase.

Another thing about me is that I'm generally pretty frugal, but I'll spend money on travel. I think I talked about that before. I'll spend money on certain clothing items. I'll spend money on massages and spa experiences or concerts. I will choose to purchase more expensive cloth napkins than a paper napkin or paper towel. That can seem kind of contradictory.

Easter egg: I'll kind of go through some of these things in more in-depth in future episodes.

And 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 challenge 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 in 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 I'm 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. Maybe 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.

You know, nine times out of ten, 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 get the picture. I'm opinionated. Nine times out of ten, 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 at 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 is 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 1% better, in whatever that better means to each of us at a given time. And it will grow, and it will evolve, and it will change, and that same choice might look different, you know, 5 years apart, or in different states, or in different XYZ circumstances. At the end of the day, it's complex. At 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 like, 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 Napolitano, I believe is 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 overly dramatic. It's heavy while it's got some comedy and some light, and it's just really well written. And perhaps that's a way to tie it into this theme 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, my, I'm not telling you what to do, but here's where I'm putting my dollar.

Again, you know, I love a throughline. 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 choosy, but like I love the way that they look. I think they make really great decorations on bookshelves. And so that's kind of an added value there. I think they make really good gifts also 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 or you, it's a good conversation starter and a good way to connect with 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 free or something. I can go for a walk, get outside, some exercise and also, you know, pop in and get a coffee and then tool around my favorite bookstore. I'll shout out two of them that I particularly like. One is Carmichael's Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky. And then another one is KD's Books in Leesummit, Missouri. If you are in either one of those cities and you are a book lover like me, I highly recommend popping in to those. Again, kind of like a twofer, 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.”