Positive News has launched a new podcast that does something increasingly rare: it asks successful people why they chose meaning over money, and actually listens to the answer.
"The Purpose Pioneers" is a five-part series where host Sarah LaBrecque sits down with leaders reshaping business and culture by building organizations around a clear sense of purpose. The conversations aren't abstract—they're grounded in the specific moments when these people realized they couldn't ignore what they cared about, and the tangible proof that their work was making a difference.
The guests span different worlds. Steve Micklewright runs Trees for Life, a rewilding charity. Stephanie Wheen founded Gympanzees, which makes fitness genuinely accessible to disabled people. Keith Bradbury co-founded Ember, an electric coach company. Mark Constantine built Lush into an ethical cosmetics brand. Mark Clayton leads Triodos, a bank that only finances organizations with genuine social or environmental benefit.
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Start Your News DetoxWhat connects them isn't their industry—it's the pattern in their lives. Each episode traces three turning points: the moment when their sense of purpose became impossible to ignore, the first time they saw their work actually change something, and their vision for what comes next. It's the difference between reading about purpose and hearing someone describe the cost and reward of actually living it.
According to LaBrecque, the series emerged from frustration with vague conversations about sustainability and purpose that never quite land. "What does it actually take?" became the real question. How do you sustain that belief over years? What do you sacrifice? What do you gain that money couldn't buy?
The timing matters. These five conversations arrive at a moment when the gap between stated values and actual business practice feels wider than ever. The series doesn't pretend that purpose-driven work is easy or that these leaders have all the answers. Instead, it treats their choices as worth understanding—not as inspiration porn, but as proof that a different approach to work is possible.
"The Purpose Pioneers" launches weekly from January 20, 2026, across all major podcast platforms. The series is sponsored by Triodos Bank, which financed the project partly because the conversations align with their own model—that finance can be a tool for solving problems rather than just extracting value.
This also marks the return of The Positive News Podcast as a regular series. A previous season, "Developing Mental Wealth," won Best Health and Wellbeing Podcast at the Publisher Podcast Awards in 2025.
