WHAT IS BIG HEARTED BUSINESS, AND WHO DOES IT HELP?
It’s pretty simple really: Big Hearted Business is here to help tell a much truer, more powerful story about what is possible for those of us who do business in the world today. We’re build to be the kind of resource we wish had existed long ago, and it all centres around this here little website, which is home to an exceptional and free collection of “Inspiration Bombs” (aka master-class film and sound collaborations between artists, thinkers and teachers).
Big Hearted Business is, essentially, a website and now a micro-movement which supports and educates big-hearted people from all walks of life in the art of making a living doing what you love, while taking care of yourself AND contributing to the world in some meaningful way. We don’t pretend this adventure is simple, or easy: in fact, quite the opposite (“Livin’ on the edge!”). We know these challenges intimately because we share them. Wouldn’t swap it for quids.
HOW DID BIG HEARTED BUSINESS BEGIN?
Big Hearted Business was founded in early 2013 thanks to Australian musician Clare Bowditch and the generous support of her family, friends, colleagues, and the 304 people who turned “the BHB idea” into one of the most successful crowd-funding campaigns in Australian history.
In short, Clare was tired of seeing talented, big-hearted people struggle to build successful long-term careers and businesses in sustainable ways, simply due to a lack of support and knowledge about how to make the most of our times. She first began mentoring “creative-types” over fifteen years ago as the leader of a “Musician’s Self Management and Promotion” course at her local community house, and considers BHB as an extension of that.
And here you have it: a hub to encourage those who wish to use business and creativity as a vehicle to contribute to “the solution” (aka, building a world where we care about each other) than to the problem (short-term thinking, and a lack of care).
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF BHB HOLD?:
Since it was established in 2013, B.H.B. has had busy years with lots of staff and events and courses and adventures, and quieter years where not much happens at all. It’s yet to be determined what kind of year 2019 will be, but we suspect, a relatively chilled one (because we are, after all, working artists ourselves, and sometimes, you gotta walk the talk!). You’re always welcome to email us and share your ideas.
For the record though, we are now five years in and our prediction all those years ago – that there is no better time in the history of history to be a big-hearted, independently-thinking, “sensitive creative type” who wants to make a living doing what they’re good at – seems to be coming true! GO GO GO!
HOW DOES B.H.B. HELP PEOPLE?
There’s a whole page dedicated to this on the B.H.B. website (click here) but in short, we offer;
- Intelligent, good-looking educational resources (such as our free Inspiration Bomb Library) focusing on the opportunities that exist today for individuals and businesses who care about stuff.
- A fresh type of “Live Event” (such as our B.H.B. (un-)Conference, Creative Retreats, Morning Teas, and in-house workshops which are built to appeal to people who are bored with the usual model). To date, every one of our events have sold out well in advance (how cool is that!).
- To tell a truer, more powerful story about what we are capable of when we put our hearts into our businesses, and dare to “Give A Shit”. Simple.
IS B.H.B. A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?
Not really, no: we’re a big-hearted business. It means that we know how to run a GUN of a business, but we also make sure to attach social and community benefits to every thing we create in the world. For example;
- Our Inspiration Bombs feature people and ideas worth emulating. We create our educational resources with the understanding that we’re all sensitive, vulnerable human-beings in the world trying very hard to do our best.
- Our 2014 B.H.B. (un-)Conference turned out to be one of the largest waste-free food events ever run anywhere in the world (thanks to our collaboration with Joost Bakker).It was also one of the most extraordinarily affordable two-day business events in the history of the world (ask anyone!). And because it was such a sell-out success, we were able to offer 5% of our attendees a B.H.B. Scholarship to allow them to attend for free.
- Our beautiful B.H.B. Creative Retreat in Ubud donated 10% of it’s profits to Foundation 18
WHAT EXACTLY IS “A BIG HEARTED BUSINESS”?
In short, we think of a big-hearted business is an enterprise that solves more problems than it creates. In general, these businesses are headed and peopled by independent thinking, creatively-inclined or big-hearted individuals who want to spend their working lives doing more of what they love, living well, and using their good-fortune to positively contribute to the world (even just a little bit).
If there was ever a time to take a somewhat-broken model and re-invent it, this is that time, and B.H.B.’s are the people doing it. We’re proud to have been a part of that story.