Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Riddell.
Tyler, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My mother and I founded Something Good Consulting Group in late 2017. We’re not sure if the timing of this opportunity was fortuitous or fate. In May of 2016, I finished my undergrad degree and entered a Leadership MBA program in the Fall of 2016. Due to the rigor of the courses, I decided to pick up contract work instead of securing a full-time job right away. Around the same time, my mom wrapped-up a 25+ year career at a major healthcare insurance company. In her final role as an executive, she oversaw Media Relations, Public Relations, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Since we both share a passion for helping businesses elevate their brand with belief-driven stakeholders, we decided it was a perfect time to start a new business.
The name of our company has a special meaning for us. First of all, it represents our purpose – which is to help businesses and their leaders have a greater impact and do something good! Secondly, it originates from something my mother heard as a child. During her childhood, she would watch a TV minister who would say, “Something Good is going to happen to you today!” It stuck with her, and she held on to this blessing. Eventually, she, along with my father, would say this blessing to each other and me. This was extremely helpful during my childhood, especially when I struggled with school. My parents would encourage me to shift my intention and mindset from doubt to optimism. Consequently, this mind-shift shaped me into the person I am today and drives both my mother and me to use our business to make the world a better place.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. Running a business is not easy. My dad also has a small business and laughs sometimes that being a CEO just means you are the Chief Everything Officer! Like many startups, you are initially afraid to say no to any opportunity that may bring in revenue. However, we had to determine what our specific niche was and place all our bets on that. By going through this process, we also identified our target clients and fine-tuned our prospecting and marketing strategies to reach those target customers. These are not the exciting parts of owning a business, but doing it has helped us tremendously.
One of the other things that has not been as fun for me is learning how to use QuickBooks. It is actually not too hard, but I do not like messing with it. However, my mom firmly believed it would help me understand our business and any other business I may be a part of someday. She was right. I can tell you exactly where we stand financially at any given time, and it is really important when you are trying to run a startup. The best advice I would give a new entrepreneur is to fail quickly and forward. It is okay to fail. Failing allows a person to learn. However, an entrepreneur must do it quickly because time is money.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Something Good Consulting Group – what should we know?
Belief-driven stakeholders are demanding more from companies and their leaders than ever before and many organizations are struggling to meet those demands. We help organizations and their leaders build their brand with customers, employees and other stakeholders by aligning their business and social impact strategies.
Many businesses are attempting to do the right thing and give back to their communities, but it is often a scattershot approach. As a result, they are unsure if they are achieving the desired impact on the community they are trying to serve. At the same time, they find it difficult to deliver a message that conveys these initiatives in a way that resonates with belief-driven stakeholders, including employees, customers and investors/donors.
Understandably, many stakeholders are skeptical of corporate social responsibility initiatives, believing them to be nothing but publicity stunts. Historically, employers adopted a philosophy of ensuring they paid their employees enough money to donate to nonprofits and volunteer within the community but felt little responsibility to support the community directly. Over time, however, some employers saw an opportunity to use Corporate Social Responsibility as a public relations stunt where companies were hoping to hide unethical behavior by sponsoring galas and charity balls and donating large sums of money to well-known nonprofits. However, today, Corporate Social Responsibility has been pushed by belief-driven stakeholders into something completely different. Many businesses now understand the economic value of aligning their business strategy with their social investment strategies. Corporations are not only donating to nonprofits and investing in community development, but they are also investing in the future of their employees through policy changes and programs.
Essentially, we want to help companies understand and utilize Corporate Social Responsibility to drive shared value for all stakeholders and create a significant impact, internally and externally. We help organizations develop their strategy and capabilities, tell their authentic and compelling stories with stakeholders and prepare their leaders to have a greater impact inside and outside their organizations. We accomplish this goal for our clients through three service lines: Corporate Social Impact Strategy, Leadership Development, and Social Media Marketing. Under Corporate Social Impact Strategy, we assist clients (mid-sized to large companies) with assessments, strategy, and execution. We can also provide fractional corporate social responsibility support for organizations that do not have the expertise and are not quite ready to dedicate full-time resources.
To help small businesses, startups and social enterprises tell their story and build their brand, we provide a budget-friendly solution that includes social media strategy and content planning, social media management, and LinkedIn Coaching. Finally, we believe that in order for organizations to do something good, they need to prepare their leaders to deliver results and have a greater impact. We offer a wide variety of leadership development programs, including a Leadership and Reputation Academy (LRA). The LRA is a 4-month eight-session course that teaches relationship-building, conflict management, entrepreneurial thinking, media/presentation skills, social responsibility, and a few other topics.
Most Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) companies focus on the assessments, strategy and maybe execution. We believe Corporate Social Responsibility is connected to everything in a business, which is why Something Good looks at it from a holistic approach. We believe CSR should resonate throughout an organization, driven by their purpose and values. Furthermore, we see businesses or for-profits as a vital part of the community. In order to tackle social issues impacting the community, for-profits, nonprofits, and government must work together. Something Good is attempting to help for-profits and nonprofits work together more efficiently and effectively. By doing this, we want to enable the movement towards more collaboration across all sectors.
Something Good is proud to be promoting and assisting the collaboration work, and we want communities to thrive so that every person has the opportunity to thrive.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Entrepreneurs have to enter into a new venture with a learning mindset, and they have to realize they will not know all the answers. My mom and I have been open-minded to learning new things and asking for help, which has allowed us to grow and adapt quickly. We also love what we do and the people we have (and will have) a chance to meet, which is what keeps us going even during the challenging times!
Contact Info:
- Address: 3751 Main Street Suite 600
The Colony, TX 75056 - Website: https://www.somethinggoodcg.com/
- Phone: 9186716379
- Email: tyler_riddell@somethinggoodcg.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somethinggoodcg/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomethingGoodCG/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SomethingGoodCG
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/somethinggoodconsultinggroup/
Image Credit:
All photos were taken by Something Good Consulting Group.
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