As Founder of Lunapads and Nestworks, Madeleine Shaw Uses Her Journey in the Entrepreneurial Space to Help Fellow Social Innovators Make an Impact
Madeleine Shaw is an accomplished entrepreneur best known for co-founding Lunapads, a multiple-award-winning East Vancouver-based social enterprise that is dedicated to creating sustainable solutions for positive periods. With the help of its customers, Lunapads is responsible for diverting over 20 million disposable pads and tampons from North American landfills every year. But Shaw is not involved in the day-to-day operations of Lunapads at this point.
Instead, Shaw is focusing much of her time on her newest venture, Nestworks, a co-working space that helps families integrate a better work/life balance. As an entrepreneur and mother, Shaw wants to help others find a better balance between their professional and personal lives and to achieve success in both.
She also is working on a book that she considers a “manifesto of encouragement,” targeting potential social innovators who have an idea for how to impact the world through business but aren’t sure how to move forward. Through her experience, she shares stories that she hopes will inspire more people to pursue entrepreneurialism and make their individual impacts for a better world.
In this episode of the Grow Ensemble Podcast, learn more about the meaning and motivation behind Nestworks, Shaw’s experiences as a serial entrepreneur trying to find balance between work and family, as well as key advice she would have had for her younger self (that she hopes can be valuable to others now). She also shares tips for aspiring entrepreneurs, and what she’s doing to inspire and encourage those seeking to make a difference.
Want more episodes that focus on insightful tips for the social entrepreneur? Listen to:
- #44 — Life Mastery: Unfolding Spiritual Strategy & the Hero’s Journey with Tara-Nicholle Nelson of SoulTour
- #39 — Productivity for the Next Generation’s Entrepreneur with Chris Sparks, Founder of The Forcing Function
- #34 — Better Practices: Time Tracking, Achieving Goals, Getting Better Sleep, and More with Co-founder Cory Ames
Bonus Material: Get the Full Show Notes and Extras for This Episode
Lunapads is part of the community of businesses that have used a third-party verification of their impact. Use the free B Impact Assessment to evaluate your company’s impact on all stakeholders, including the environment, your workers, your community and your customers.
Tune in to our conversation with Shaw as we discuss these key takeaways:
- The story behind her newest venture, Nestworks.
- Why she debunks the entrepreneurial lone wolf myth and believes it is possible to successfully integrate your work and family lives.
- How to find the perfect potential collaborator for your business.
- Her life advice for young, current, and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Bonus Material: Get the Full Show Notes and Extras for This Episode
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
Mission-Driven Success: How to Improve Work/Life Balance and Better the World Through Business was originally published in B the Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
