How Logan Altman Uses Purpose-Driven Branding to Create Change

[00:00:03] Hector: Hello and welcome to another episode of the How to Scale a Business podcast. My name is Hector Santiesteban and I am your host for today. Our special guest is Mr. Logan Altman. He is the chief impact officer at doing good works and I'm excited to dig in because they were recently given some big honors. So Logan, thanks for hanging out with us today.

[00:00:18] Logan: I really appreciate the invite. Could not be more thrilled. This is gonna be a fun time.

[00:00:21] Hector: It's really cool. You can mention it if you'd like. You had a number of recognitions, but from my perspective, the most important is that you seem to do it with a good intentions and a good mission and sort of the values behind it. So I'd love for you to share what you guys do. And then, I think maybe it would be cool to share what perhaps is your favorite award or recognition that you guys have maybe gotten along the way.

[00:00:42] Logan: I love it. Yeah. Quick little backstory. Again, doing good works is our organization. We really began back in 2015 with the idea of leveraging for profit business to create life changing outcomes for young adults that have been impacted by the foster system. My two co-founders, Scott and Jordan, I met them at the very beginning incubations stages of doing good works and the iteration that it was. Both coming from totally diverse business backgrounds, one comes from executive search, the other one from 30 plus years in packaging and supply chain, , but both had on their own journeys, learned about the very dismal statistics for individuals that have emancipated out of the foster care system.

[00:01:20] Logan: Both realized that there was an opportunity to leverage business. They didn't really know what that looked like. Ironically enough at the time they hadn't met, they met through a mutual friend who was very involved in foster care and foster care advocacy.

[00:01:31] Logan: Was that a specific gala and had the opportunity to sit together, chat, and figure out that there needed to be something done and neither of them were okay with sitting back and just letting the statistics currently continue down the trajectory that they were. So they both decided to leave their business worlds and take a leap of faith and start an enterprise that was fully for profit with the idea that it was going to be self funded, the idea that it was not going to compete for grants and donation dollars, but in essence come alongside those incredible nonprofits that were doing incredible work with so many of the young people that needed , that support.

[00:02:06] Logan: So the idea of being fully for profit was really at the forefront of things, but then was what was going to fund it. The promotional marchandise, brand marketing, things with logos on it was something that really came to mind pretty early on. Things that everybody needs, whether you're a small organization or a large organization, the industry was ripe for disruption, a lot of opportunities to engage organizations and saying that your marketing dollars, your swag spend, your brand and merch that you are already going to purchase is going to make a social impact in creating opportunities for young people in the foster system. So, that was early on determined to be the gateway of funding the mission.

[00:02:42] Logan: I ended up coming on board kind of third in command with a bit of a background in that industry. I spent prior about five years in the brand marketing side of the marketing world. Getting really, really good at understanding corporate engagement, how to encourage and engage businesses with both their own constituents as well as employees, external folks.

[00:03:01] Logan: And I found that there was a really great opportunity to bring that expertise to the table, when I was really, I guess you could quote say over the whole idea of branded merch. I thought it was just trinkets and things that end up in a landfill. I was at a crossroads in my career, and thought I was going to exit that industry.

[00:03:17] Logan: But when I ended up conversing with both of our co founders, it was pretty apparent that they were looking to do something pretty remarkable with that industry to take it out of the everyday kind of trinkets and tchotchkes, but leverage brand marketing to create social and innovative impact.

[00:03:32] Logan: And that really perked my ears and said, all right, I'm up for a couple more cups of coffee to kind of learn what that looks like. And was fully ecstatic to join, knowing that it was a pretty early on startup, but that there was enough of an area to share with organizations, how their impact can make a difference.

[00:03:46] Logan: So, that all happened. We first began with the idea that we were going to be a staffing agency funded by the sale of swag, and that we were going to connect young adults in the Orange County, California area with employment opportunities. Our CFO, who came on board kind of around the same time, spent about 20 plus years as an executive at Disney and had a ton of connections within Disney and Sodexo.

[00:04:07] Logan: And so the idea was that we were going to leverage some of those connections, and come alongside some amazing nonprofits to help connect youth with jobs. And it was so cool and so much fun. And it was working until it stopped working. And that was because we realized that there was a huge gap within understanding the mindset of somebody that had been displaced and going through the foster system for 18 or 21 years. That survival and fight or flight mentality translated into the workforce. And so we were seeing so many individuals that enter the workforce leave after a couple of weeks, or if they had an altercation with an employer, they would simply just never show back up, and it was because there was that fear of rejection of abandonment.

[00:04:48] Logan: And we realized that it was a very consistent area of needing to be supported and empowered. And so we shifted that mindset of being a staffing agency fairly early on to one that was going to fund programs and services that supported mindset shifts, job readiness, training, mentorship programs to really encourage the shifting from a thrive or a survival mindset to a thriving mindset, and it's been so much fun over the last, guy we're going on 10 years now, it's been my 10th as well with the organization. We've been blessed to be able to do brand marketing for some of the largest organizations in the world, as you mentioned, we certainly had some amazing accolades that have come with it and being able to ultimately share with businesses how impactful marketing can be, and how easy it is. Has been the most joyous part of my career because when it lights up and they get it, like, oh my gosh, I was already going to buy that shirt, I was going to do this event, and doing the works and we can create impact and they can show the tangibility in it. It is so fun to see those organizations and those business owners just light up.

[00:05:48] Logan: And it's been a ride. I mean, it hasn't come without failures, it hasn't come without triumphs, but it's allowed us to get to that point where we know that resources are absolutely critical in supporting that mission, and that young adults and individuals that have been in the foster system so desperately just need that consistency. And so we really focused a hundred percent of our efforts in our support of mission to ensure that we're providing and able to create resources all through the brand marketing side. So that's just a little bit of a backstory.

[00:06:13] Hector: Yeah, I really appreciate you going into that. And one of the books I read early on in my entrepreneur, it's called Conscious Capitalism.

[00:06:21] Logan: Oh, yeah!

[00:06:21] Hector: If you haven't read it, that you're familiar with at least the concept of it given the lane that you guys have gone, down and my observation has been that early on, there was the Tom's sort of phenomenon, where Tom's came around and then it seemed like every business, had a philanthropic angle and it was like very trendy and sort of the challenge with those trends is that they lose their, I don't know if essence, maybe that's too dramatic of a word, but it ends up being not for the real purpose for which it was.

[00:06:50] Hector: They're not actually there making an impact. They're there they think more people will buy And what I've seen now with the businesses that continue to do that, and you guys have taken a unique angle in the sense of it totally for profit they really integrate it into or perhaps what their business is.

[00:07:08] Hector: Oh yeah And it's not something that they just as it's some, some trinket that they add on at the end, but it's really an integral part of that Am I off base in thinking that that's something that you guys have done or how have navigated that that decision of how authentic do you make it within the company.

[00:07:22] Logan: Great point. Folks are smart, especially the driving workforce of where the millennial and Gen Z's are really taking over those strategic positions. They're not blind to inauthentic behaviors within an organization. We see that if an organization shows one way and acts another, it's blasted everywhere.

[00:07:39] Logan: I mean, folks are not afraid to post that stuff on Glassdoor, on Indeed, to be able to say, I was almost in a way bamboozled thinking that the culture was this, but in the reality it wasn't, or that it was kind of like a rules not for me type of mentality. And so it's important that organizations have to truly build it into the ethos of who they are and live it out.

[00:07:58] Logan: It has to be a daily conscious decision to think about humanity, and us as individuals versus just another transaction or just another employee. And you will see most of those organizations that don't hop on board and figure out how to blend that together, they get lost behind, they're at the very back of the pack.

[00:08:14] Logan: These, they can't find talent, they can't find , individuals to join their board. They can't find folks to be able to sell to because you get a bad rap. And once you build that trust and then destroy it from one area or from falsehood, it is almost impossible to gain that back without some truly authentic change. I've seen that with massive organizations that have had major turnover because they don't treat individuals just as that, as a human being, as a father, as a husband, as a sister, as a brother. They treat them only as somebody that comes in and does the work for them.

[00:08:45] Logan: And so the authentic key to that is how do you build that in from the very start of that first interaction? When you're talking to a potential individual, how are you making sure that they know that what they're doing is not only groundwork for where the organization is going, but you are a pivotal component to that work.

[00:09:01] Logan: And you feel valued, and you feel that when you're there, whether you're in person, you're hybrid, you're online, you are truly feeling like you're part of moving a mission forward, whether that's getting quality product in the hands of people, whether that's providing a service that ultimately blends professionalism with creativity and you pour your heart and soul into that and that, you know, at the end of the day, what you're doing is truly driving change and you can feel confident that that's not just one singular person or the owner or the C suite, but that it's the entire organization, regardless of what your role is, then you know that you're going to feel like this is an organization and a group that I want to represent.

[00:09:32] Logan: And so we focus heavily on that within our organization, because as a brand marketing agency, there's like 5, suppliers that are out there of every kind of textile, every kind of pen mug. I always joke when I'm on calls, I say we're a four quarters, not a 100 pennies group. You know, we have to think ahead for organization as to what they ultimately represent both from an internal and an external perspective.

[00:09:52] Logan: If we partner and bring to the table groups that don't have transparent supply chains or don't pay fair labor or, have wishy washy practices then is representative of the brand and the logo that you put on that product. So we within our organization have to really check, cross our T's, got our eyes to ensure that we're also walking the walk and talking to talk when it comes to authentic leadership, authentic product representation and showing how you can really blend business to be that force of good while you also keep that profit going.

[00:10:21] Hector: It seems like a lot of it is leadership and culture, keeps coming up, at least in my head. I don't know if you're saying it, what I'm hearing. And that perhaps is some of the most challenging things to build, and because people are like, well, how did you do that?

[00:10:35] Hector: And so, we're gonna get into it after that quick break, but I think that is the, I don't know, the million dollar, the two million, the 10 million, whatever millions of dollar question that people have. And we're gonna get into that right when we get back.

[00:10:47] Hector: Hey y'all, today's episode is brought to you by Amplify Media, and we are a podcast and content production company.

[00:10:52] Hector: Well, we like to think of ourselves as like the media arm for your company, because chances are, if you're listening to this, you probably have a product, a passion, a mission, a message, a service, something you're trying to get out to the world. You might not have the time that, team or the tech skills to be able to tell people about it.

[00:11:04] Hector: Well, if that's the case, we can help go to amplify media. com. That's A M P L A F Y media. com. You can also check the show notes for the link. And with that, let's get back to Logan.

[00:11:14] Hector: So Logan, I'm curious when it sounds all hunky dory now, and Kumbaya, and we're sitting around a campfire and it's amazing, and there's awards and there's plaques and all that sort of stuff. I'm curious, was there ever a time throughout this whole journey where you guys were like. really questioning whether or not this was going to work out or whether or not this was something to keep going.

[00:11:34] Logan: Oh, man. The amount of times, I'd run out of hands, I'd run out of fingers, I'd run out of toes to count. The beautiful thing about being an organization that's driven by social impact is that you have the opportunity to not only fail, you fail fast and you learn fast and learn how to be able to create and adapt.

[00:11:50] Logan: And that's one of the things that I think a lot of other brand agencies that are out there really struggle against, is that they're very much narrow targeted, they're at the end of the day, trying to create a singular product or service. And when things don't go well for that, they get into some very, very tricky waters, as an organization across the board, you have to be able to look at what can you do to pivot? How can you listen.

[00:12:10] Logan: For us as an organization, like I said, we were a brand marketing agency, when the COVID pandemic hit, where did all of that go? Every event was canceled, everybody was in their homes, everything that you could ever think of that was needing branding was gone. And so you think about that, like where are we going to get our revenue?

[00:12:25] Logan: And I remember we sat in March of 2020 as an organization, and we looked around the room and we said, I don't know what tomorrow holds. I really don't. We're just gonna pray and hope that we can figure out what the need is and we're gonna be that solution provider.

[00:12:37] Logan: And I remember when I heard that from my CEO, how we can be a solution provider, how we can solve problems. My mind immediately went to whatever the need is, we're gonna figure it out. And at the time we were very fortunate enough to have some pretty strong and strategic relationships with some of the largest healthcare organizations on the planet, not only from branding, but from administrative work and things of that nature. And so when the opportunity presented itself, they said, listen, we are really struggling to get authentic real PPE, personal protective equipment. And we have exhausted all of our resources and we know that you do strategic sourcing overseas. Is there anything you can do to help us?

[00:13:09] Logan: And when that initial call came to me, through one of my partners that had been part of one of the largest organizations in healthcare. I said to myself, well, we're a branding agency. I don't know a lick about medical grade equipment that's going on hospital workers to potentially save lives, but I'm going to learn.

[00:13:25] Logan: And what we did in that moment was we figured out every little nuance about medical equipment and we connected our strategic teams that were overseas to be able to go and vet factories. And when all was said and done and we were bringing in product, it was to the tune of 20 million face masks that were all approved by the FDA. We had to go through the White House task force, the FDA Customs and Border Protection. I remember losing so much sleep at night, I ended up getting on anxiety medications because it was so daunting of a task from a branding agency to figure out how you were going to charter planes and book vessels, and do so when you know that potentially lives were at stake.

[00:14:02] Logan: But where I'm getting at is that you have to listen to what the need is and be that solution provider. Because if we didn't figure that out, I don't think doing it works would be here today. And I know personally, a lot of agencies and organizations that have an amazing product and an amazing service that are no longer here because they didn't think outside the box into listening, what the need was.

[00:14:22] Logan: I fielded that call and first thing I heard was we need equipment. My thought was, what are we going to do to make that happen? From a person that is known for putting logos on products to we're going to get materials that have all of the different types of needs that met from all the regulations to doing that, and from a mission perspective, because as I said, we're a fully for profit entity, we funded a lot of initiatives that just didn't work.

[00:14:43] Logan: As I mentioned at the very beginning, when we realized that connecting young people to jobs wasn't the avenue, we could have just crossed our arms and said, well, darn, we tried. I guess we're onto the next thing, but we didn't sit back and let that deter us. You said, well, what exactly is the need of young people?

[00:14:59] Logan: And when we came together and figured out that in talking to directly with individuals that have had lived experience instead of just trying to guess and talk to organizations and see what they knew it was, let's go right to the source. Let's talk to individuals and say, like, what could you have had when you were in the foster care system, that you desperately would have needed to be in a different place right now.

[00:15:18] Logan: Or you were able to get there. What were people that were in similar situations, not able to get, and how can we figure out bringing that all together? Because solving and supporting the foster care system is not a one size fits all. It's not like trying to cure cancer, it's not like trying to find the cure for Alzheimer's disease.

[00:15:35] Logan: Success in an individual that has been in the foster system would look totally different than their best friend that was also in the foster system. And we had to figure out what that looked like. So after time and time again, failing in providing tangible impact. I mean, we spent tens of thousands of dollars investing in programs and support, and trying to get in with the community college system and providing masterclasses and the intentions were all there and the data was all there, but the adoption was so hard to come by.

[00:16:03] Logan: We could have just said, I don't know what more we could do, but because we sat back and we listened and the consistency was resources, resources, resources, said, we're going to figure out a way to create a resource hub. And we're going to be the only group in the entire United States that has a singular place, a singular community for individuals with lived experience in the foster care system to engage with one another and get resources all under one roof.

[00:16:23] Logan: And that was what we said, we're going to try. We failed at everything else in an essence. We did some amazing work, we spent tens of thousands of dollars and we did a lot of impact, but it wasn't where we wanted to be. And until last year, it was like last February of 2024, I said, we need to build an app, there isn't one out there.

[00:16:38] Logan: We need to build a community around supportive of the foster care population, whether you've had one day in the system or you spent most of your lifetime. And regardless of your age, we want a place where people can be in community, be in mentorship, be in the ability to get any resource, so we built it ourselves.

[00:16:54] Logan: And it was a lot of trial, and we spent months and months getting it right. But then when we got it right, it took off, and within 11 months, we went from no users to over 110 50 individuals with lived experience in the foster system in the app, engaging, asking for help, asking for where they can get resources.

[00:17:10] Logan: And we partner with an amazing organization that has over 500 individuals that are constantly vetting resources and building a database, and so we've built that into our site. So no matter where you are geographically in the US you could be in Alaska, you could be in Miami, if you need help finding housing or how to fill out your FAFSA for school student loans, you can type in your zip code and what you need, and up will populate all of the resources, who to call their hours.

[00:17:35] Logan: Long ago where they vetted and it's all done under one place. And it's been an advocacy component and we've built thriver content in it. And I can't begin to tell you when that was like the light bulb went off, that after all of the trials, figuring out what it was going to take to just have sat back and listened and built something, it has gained some tremendous recognition, which that's all great.

[00:17:55] Logan: We love the fact that we've hit so many milestones, but what is most important is when we have people emailing us from the system saying, I was able to get a roof over my head for my family, I was able to provide food for my family because I had a resource hub and it was through foster greatness, which is our organization internally, that is that community and it was all funded through business.

[00:18:13] Logan: I get to tell that story to major organizations, major people that at the end of the day, when they're buying their merchandise that you have funded like change, and that's where it really is that perfect bridge because you tangibly have the impact and you also have the ability to tell how that business transaction was by far and away the best you ever had.

[00:18:30] Logan: And have we not failed? I don't know if we would have had nearly amount of impact as we have today.

[00:18:34] Hector: It's an amazing story that maybe one day will be a book or podcast at least. But my curiosity is that you guys have established these values and you haven't really pigeonholed yourselves into doing one particular thing, one particular way, you remained nimble in that regard and agile is probably the better word to use.

[00:18:54] Hector: In my experience, I found that that requires people. You know, the business is really just a collection of individuals, it's a collection of people, and it requires the people to be agile and nimble, and versatile or more than anything willing to work for the cause and not for the widget.

[00:19:11] Hector: And so my question, if there is one, if there was some secret sauce, is it in the fact that you guys were attracting the right talent? Is it that you were retaining the right people? Was it developing them? Was there something in the sauce there internally that allowed you to have the right people when things sort of hit the fan, if you will?

[00:19:30] Logan: Oh yeah, I'm gonna give you three words, lead by example. The beautiful thing about our organization and the reason why our turnover has been so low and we've been able to implement such incredible employee retention is because it starts from the top and goes all the way to the newest hire. That everybody in the organization is on board that have bonded the mission, realizing that whatever talent they have, what they were brought on board for is clearly notated that you are making a difference.

[00:19:58] Logan: Whether you operate on the business division, whether you operate on the mission division, whether you work in sales and customer service, or whether you work in the warehouse, that every component of our organization is to support creating outcomes. And you show everybody in an authentic way, just how that's being done. And you give praise and you give people recognition, and you give them empowerment and the tools. Then you have people that truly believe into it. We began with a 10, 20, 30 model, 10 percent of all of our revenue was going to go back to supporting the mission. We don't falter from that. It's usually very hot, much higher.

[00:20:29] Logan: We have 20 percent of our entire time as an employee base outspent volunteering in the community. Whether you're a court appointed special advocate, whether you want to go serve in a nonprofit, no questions asked. Go do what fuels you and then the 30 percent which it's honestly about 60 percent right now, is that the organization is comprised of individuals at least 30 percent that have had lived experience in the foster care system.

[00:20:51] Logan: We're right now at 60 percent and what that's showing is that we're comprised of people that care about seeing change. And for those that don't know and have never had experience in the foster care system, I'm one of them. When I met our co-founders, I had known about foster care. I didn't really know about how dismal the outcomes were.

[00:21:07] Logan: I had served at some of those things, but when you get to hear about the dismal statistics that are changing because of the impact you're doing in your role, and you are felt and appreciated for that, it is like the passion button, is just being pressed nonstop, that light is illuminating more than you could ever imagine, and you have to ensure that that's done at every single level. Our founders are not afraid to hop on a sales call to be able to talk through and even go make a delivery.

[00:21:35] Logan: I myself run a team of almost a dozen individuals. I have no issue being and waving my hand and saying, whatever you need, I am a resource and I want you to know that I am in your corner. You are not simply an employee, you're a change maker, you are a storyteller and you have the ability to leverage your talents to create impact.

[00:21:52] Logan: And what we have seen has been this sheer empowerment of figuring out how to get it done. I'll give you a couple of case studies. I have a couple of individuals. I have one gal straight out of college, the most incredible mind. She got her degree in event planning and we got connected to her through one of our other colleagues and said, I think you got to talk to this gal, she's incredible.

[00:22:09] Logan: I remember sitting on the phone with her and telling her the story about what's going on in the foster care system, it brought her to the sense of just like I want to get involved. I want to be a part of that. When we brought her on her whole role was to be able to go out and tell the story and bring in business through the brand marketing side, through the event planning side.

[00:22:27] Logan: She was able to bring in over a million dollars of sales in the branded merchandise world within her first 12 months in the industry. That caught the attention of 40 to 45 year reps in the brand marketing industry that caught the winds of the actual industry itself and saying that can't be right, that is not a normal statistic.

[00:22:45] Logan: An individual out of college that has no industry experience is doing a million dollars in sales. I say our biggest asset isn't knowledge of the industry. It's knowing how to tell people that their budgets and their marketing dollars can support creating massive impact and being able to tell that story is what shows businesses and organizations that it's just that easy and they're willing to buy into it.

[00:23:08] Logan: And when they see that it's a darn good business transaction that's coupled with that environmental and human transformation side of things. Then you've got customers for life and you've got people that have had no knowledge of that, feel like they're at the top of their game. They're getting recognition after recognition and I get people asking me, well, how do you guys do it? How do you not only have an incredible talent that are thinking so strategically, but don't have 20, 15, 10 years of experience?

[00:23:32] Logan: I say it's because we truly teach them how to leverage what is driven from within and that drive to show people how they can make a difference. And when you do that, anything can be taught, but you can't teach heart.

[00:23:42] Logan: And so that's driven such an incredible way for us to keep our employee engagement high and people thrilled with what they do because they know they're a part of something bigger and more organizations need to figure out how to be able to support that type of recognition.

[00:23:54] Hector: This has been such a great conversation, Logan. If people want to find out about you or Doing Good Work, where's the best place to go on follow up?

[00:24:01] Logan: Well, I would highly suggest the first place you go is to our website, which is doing goodworks. com. You'll learn a lot more about our overarching mission, how we began, our biographies. You'll also learn more about how to get connected on our branded side called DGW branded. So that's our brand marketing side.

[00:24:17] Logan: You can also learn more about our mission driven side, which is our foster greatness, nonprofit initiative. You can also subscribe to newsletters from that. You can get connected to me specifically, learn more about what we do and how we can support.

[00:24:28] Hector: Cool. And we'll link all that up as always in the show notes. I want to thank all you listeners for hanging out and being with us today. Go get connected with Logan, check all the links as well, and we'll see on the next one. Better y'all.