It Shouldn't Be This Hard

In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, co-hosts Phil White and Heidi Schoeneck continue their conversation with Matthew McCarthy, former CEO of Ben & Jerry's, moving from the false choice of purpose vs. profit into some of the thorniest territory in modern leadership: anti-woke backlash, the monetization of conflict, and the quiet collapse of trust underneath it all. Matthew opens up abo...

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, co-hosts Phil White and Heidi Schoeneck are joined by Matthew McCarthy, former CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, to challenge one of the most deeply ingrained beliefs in business: that purpose and profit are competing priorities. Drawing on decades of experience leading one of the world's most outspoken purpose-driven brands, Matthew McCarthy argues that many o...

In Part 2 of this conversation, co-hosts Phil White and Heidi Schoeneck continue their discussion with Jeffrey Hollender — Founder of Seventh Generation, professor at New York University Stern School of Business, social entrepreneur, and author of Built for a Better World  to explore the deeper systems, incentives, and leadership challenges that make responsible business so difficult to sustain. W...

What happens when the company you built to change the world starts drifting away from the very values it was founded on? In Part 1 of this conversation, co-hosts Phil White and Heidi Schoeneck are joined by Jeffrey Hollender — co-founder of Seventh Generation, professor at New York University Stern School of Business, social entrepreneur, and author of Built for a Better World — to unpack the unco...

Every year on Earth Day, businesses around the world make commitments, launch campaigns, and announce new sustainability goals. What happens when the Earth Month celebrations pass? Because the real test of sustainability isn’t what gets said on April 22nd—it’s what actually gets done on April 23rd, and every day after that. In this special Earth Day episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard, co-hosts P...

Every April 22nd, a billion people across 193 countries do something for the planet. Companies make bold commitments. Partnerships get announced. And then April 23rd arrives. For businesses building sustainability into how they actually operate (not just how they communicate) that day after is the real test. Because the ROI of Earth Day isn't in the moment. It's in the partnerships that ou...

After a full season of conversations with leaders from Starbucks, Plastic Bank, Earth Day Organization, Philip Morris International, BIGGBY Coffee, Divert, and The Washington Post one theme kept surfacing: If so many people care about sustainability… why is doing the right thing in business still so hard? In this special Season 1 reflection episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard , co-hosts Phil Whit...

People don’t want to “be sustainable”... and Starbucks learned that the hard way. In this episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard, we learn from Amelia Landers, VP of Innovation at Starbucks, for a rare inside look at how one of the world’s most iconic brands is trying to close the intention–action gap for convenient -yet conscious- coffee.  For Starbucks, convenience is everything. Millions of peopl...

What happens the day after Earth Day? In this episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard , we sit down with Kathleen Rogers , President of EarthDay.org , the force behind one of the most iconic and enduring movements on the planet.  This episode is a masterclass in what it takes to accelerate a legacy climate movement that spans 192 countries and activates over a billion people every year. From our deep...

Can a company built on cigarettes build a future without them? In this episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard , we sit down with Jennifer Motles , Chief Sustainability Officer at Philip Morris International , to explore what it takes to transform one of the world’s most controversial industries from the inside out. Jennifer shares her experience leading ESG strategy within a global company undergoin...

Brewing Change: How BIGGBY Coffee Is Using Regenerative Agriculture to Redefine Capitalism Coffee connects us all — but what if it could heal the planet too? In this episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard, we sit down with Bob and Michelle Fish, the co-founders of BIGGBY Coffee and One Bigg Island in Space (OBIIS), to explore how a beloved American coffee brand is leading a regenerative revolution—o...

Rethinking Leadership for Universal Flourishing: Karimah Hudda on Systems Change, Courage, and Impact Leadership is hard. Leading with impact? Even harder. In this episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard , co-hosts Heidi Schoeneck and Phil White sit down with Karimah Hudda , Systems Change Catalyst and Founder of illumine.earth , to uncover how courageous, purpose-driven leadership can overcome the b...

Cancel culture is holding us back from climate action. This week on It Shouldn’t Be This Hard, our co-hosts, Heidi Schoeneck and Phil White, speak to Jenny Morgan, author of Cancel Culture and Climate, to understand how shame, purity tests, and the “angry activist” approach are slowing real progress and what we can do differently. Jenny reveals how empathy, curiosity, and forgiveness can create sp...

Welcome back to It Shouldn’t Be This Hard — the podcast where we dig into sustainability, purpose, and the messy, human side of making change… because the world desperately needs more of it. This week, our co-hosts Heidi Schoeneck and Phil White are joined by David Katz , CEO & Founder of Plastic Bank , the social fintech behind a global bottle deposit program that helps end poverty and stop p...

Welcome back to It Shouldn’t Be This Hard — the podcast where we dig into sustainability, purpose, and the messy, human side of making change… because the world desperately needs more of it. In this episode, we’re joined by the brilliant Hilary Keates, who takes us on a journey from billion-dollar product launches at Gillette to reshaping the food system as Chief Marketing Officer of Divert. Along...

Welcome to the VERY FIRST episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard , where we discuss all things sustainability… because the world ALWAYS needs more of it!  We’re excited to kick things off with a real conversation about career pivots, personal growth, the importance of ethical journalism, and why sometimes the best thing that can happen to you is also the most unexpected.  Meet Kathy Baird Westfall,...

It feels like doing the right thing (and doing things right) has never been harder. Whether you're trying to build a mission-driven business, drive change inside a legacy company, or just stay true to your values while navigating messy realities… it shouldn’t be this hard. But it is. We are Phil and Heidi, and we’re the co-founders behind Grounded. We work with brands, retailers, nonprofits, a...