Purpose-Driven Business After 50: Profit + Impact

Many women carry a quiet tension into a new year: "I want to grow... but I don't want to lose myself in the process." In this encore conversation, I sit down with author and business coach Melissa LaPlante to explore what it really means to build a purpose-driven business after 50 - one that honors people, values, and the planet AND still creates real profit. Together, we talk about leadership without "boxes," how to recognize the gifts inside your team (and inside yourself), and why intention-led businesses aren't just kinder, they're often stronger. You'll also hear a grounded, relatable take on intuition - how to tell the difference between inner guidance and fear, and how to move forward even when your mind wants a guarantee. Expect a blend of spiritual perspective and practical energy: equal parts heart and "here's how." Transcript Key takeaways: Redefine “purpose-driven” as being intention-led: sustainable, socially conscious, and people-centered. Learn how to hire and lead “boxlessly,” looking beyond titles and degrees to real strengths and lived expertise. Recognize fear for what it is, and practice distinguishing fear from true intuitive guidance. Discover “abundance banking,” a way of leading and serving from what you do have: skills, wisdom, and presence, rather than scarcity. Normalize the rise-and-fall rhythm of business growth: big wins, recalibration, and returning to faith and self-compassion. Why this episode matters now Midlife has a way of refining you. What used to “work” may feel heavier now. All the hustle, proving, and pushing through. And as priorities shift, you may feel that spiritual tension that says, “I’m ready for success that feels true in my body and true in my spirit.” This conversation meets you right there with a reminder that your impact doesn’t require burnout, and your integrity doesn’t have to be the price of growth. If this episode speaks to you, especially that pull to lead with purpose and trust yourself more — listen all the way through, subscribe, and share it with one woman who’s building her next chapter with heart. Your share might be the exact nudge she needs right now. Resources: Join the Soulful Women's Network: https://www.facebook.com/groups/soulfulwomensnetwork Receive daily inspirational email messages: bit.ly/LoveLightNotes Need support? Go to engagewithgloria.com to schedule a call. Connect with Melissa LinkedIn & Instagram: @Boxlessbusiness Website: boxlessbusiness.com Connect with Live Love Engage: Send Gloria Grace a message ☕ Support the podcast ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating LinkedIn: Gloria Grace Rand Facebook: Gloria Grace Rand YouTube: Gloria Grace Rand TRANSCRIPT - Purpose-Driven Business After 50: Profit + Impact  An Encore Conversation with Business Coach Melissa LaPlante Introduction: Why Purpose-Driven Business Matters Now Gloria Grace Rand: A new year is upon us, a time when many of us set goals for our life and our business. And that's why I thought this would be a great time to present an encore episode of my interview with business coach Melissa LaPlante about building purpose driven businesses that make money and make a difference in the world. So stick around for a fascinating conversation. I am Gloria Grace Rand, founder of The L.O.V.E. Method and author of the number one Amazon bestseller, Live. Love. Engage. - How to Stop Doubting Yourself and Start Being Yourself. In this podcast, we share practical advice from a spiritual perspective on how to live fully, love deeply, and engage authentically so you can create a life and business with more impact, influence, and income. Welcome to Live. Love. Engage. Namaste. For the first time in six years on this podcast, I'm actually taking a break over the holidays. And when I come back in January, Live. Love. Engage. will be known as Design your Life, Your Way - empowering women over fifty to live life on purpose. And that's why I am actually replaying Melissa La Plante's episode today. Her message about merging abundance with impact, science with, spirituality and purpose with profit is exactly what many of you have told me you need to hear right now. So whether you're building a business, contemplating your next chapter, or simply wanting to show up more authentically in the world, this conversation is pure gold. Melissa and I dive deep into how to trust your intuition and business decisions. Why giving from your abundance creates more success than taking, and how that little voice inside of you, your own inner wisdom, is often trying to guide you toward something extraordinary. So grab your favorite beverage, get cozy, and let's revisit this enlightening episode. And remember. I'll see you in the New Year with Design Your Life Your Way, where we'll continue exploring how you can boldly live life on your terms and live fully, love deeply, and engage authentically along the way. now let's get into my conversation with Melissa. Welcome: Meeting Business Coach Melissa LaPlante Melissa LaPlante: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here and I'm just going to give you a super fair warning. I'm at in my home office and my dogs are in a conversation apparently, so apologies if you hear that in the background. But yes, I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Gloria Grace Rand: Well, I, I'm glad that you're here and I'm glad the dogs are here too. You know, they'll probably add to the, they'll add to the atmosphere. It's always good. And I'm a dog lover and a cat lover, but I did close my door. Melissa LaPlante: I have both. Yeah, I love me some animals. Defining Purpose-Driven Business: More Than Just Serving a Need Gloria Grace Rand: Absolutely. So I thought we'd start off because I do want to dive into this, this topic because I think it's so important. But what, what exactly does a purpose driven business mean to you and how did you kind of discover your own alignment between, you know, making money, which is great, but also having an impact. Melissa LaPlante: You know, purpose driven. To me, and that's, I love that you started with that question because it's a, I think it's a misunderstood term in some degrees. I think that, you know, when you think of purpose driven, you think of, oh, my company has to be doing something for consumers that have a need. It has to be, you know, servicing a need. And that's not necessarily the case. Purpose driven is more about being intention led, knowing that, you know, you are showing up sustainably, socially conscious, you know, that you have. And sustainability is not just environmental sustainability. It's are the hours you're working your employees sustainable is the wage you're giving them sustainable, is the way they're being treated sustainable. And so, you know, purpose driven really means just understanding your effectiveness effect in the world and on your consumers and, and you know, and showing up in a positive and giving way versus what can we take? Right. And you know, I, I've always been, I'm a serial entrepreneur. I started my first business when I was 13 walking dogs ironically. And so, you know, it's just always been important to me to flourish in business. But as a person, my moral compass also leads me to be intention led and purpose driven. And I just became really good at that paradigm. Sustainable Business Practices: Beyond Environmental Impact Gloria Grace Rand: Well, I love that and I'm glad that you also clarified the difference between yes, maybe a purpose of being to earn a profit or to serve your customers, but really to have a much more deeper impact and not only, as you say, not only on the environment, but also your employees too. What? I've got, like, lots of questions, but one of the first things that popped into my head actually while we were talking about that is what are some of the benefits actually of having your business be that way, you know, have that specific. The Profitability of Purpose: Why Sustainable Businesses Earn More Melissa LaPlante: I love that you asked that question. You asked the best questions, Gloria. I love it. So, so there are so many benefits aside from, you know, all of the positives of the things I just listed. Harvard Business just did a study that businesses that are showing up sustainably are 400% more profitable than their unsustainable counterparts. And I don't know any CEO out there, myself included, who wouldn't love a 400% raise. So, you know, and so there's, you know, also when, you know, I'm known as the boxless business coaching consultant because so many years, you know, I've been coaching for almost 15 years in leadership and development in one way or another. And people always tell me, oh my God, you think so far out of the box. And I'm like, I don't have a box. There's no box. And so, you know, that's why I developed boxless business, because it shows up, you know, looking at the different aspects of the business in a way that is cohesive. Right. And I'll explain that a little bit more when we get into more of that. But, you know, I think the benefits are having dedicated subject matter experts that care, that want to show up because they're, they're being valued properly. Right. You know, you have increased profitability. I teach one to one problem solving. So, you know, I'm an autistic and ADHD individual. I, in a corporation, do not expect a corporation to educate every employee in the whole building on autism and make everything as autism friendly as possible. I would prefer that they just came to me and said, melissa, what is your actual struggle in this environment and what can we do to meet that need, period? They don't need to be dumping millions of dollars into one size fits all initiatives to directly meet the needs of their actual employees. So, you know, there's a lot of benefit to showing up this way....