Starting now.
Commonalities where guests find
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all the topics your grandmother told
you not to discuss with friends.
And now your host, Matthew Dowling,
and today's guests on commonalities.
Thanks for joining us on Commonalities
Today. I'm your host, Matt Dowling,
alongside a wonderful guest we have today,
Tracy Alexandria Lynch. She's
an entrepreneur, an author,
and a coach. Um,
she has a lot of experience
in a wide range of fields.
Everything from healthcare,
operations, finance,
post-secondary education, nonprofits
and social services and telecom.
She's a proven influential
leader who has mastered business
mentoring, coaching strategy, funnel
development, fundraising strategies,
forecasting and business model design.
And she's a critical thinker,
natural entrepreneur,
creative innovator with an
expanding and global mindset.
Tracy, thank you so much
for being with us today.
Thank you for having me, Matt. Appreciate.
It.
I want wanted to give you the opportunity
here at the start of the show to do a
little bit of a self introduction.
I know I hit some of the bullet
points from your biography,
but why don't you tell us and my listeners
a little bit about yourself, Tracy?
Well, I am originally from
Illinois, from Aurora, Illinois.
Um, I was born and raised there, and, um,
grew up in a, a modest home, um,
that taught me a lot
about gardening. And, uh,
I think my father was an
original ecos and, um,
recycler even before we
knew what that was. Um,
I loved education from
the very, very beginning.
I taught myself to read when I
was three or four years old. Um,
so I've always loved the written
word. I love teaching, sharing, ideas,
innovation, invention,
and I'm just getting to the point of my
life after I've, you know, I have, uh,
I went to college for, uh,
communications and I took a,
an MBA as well. Um, and I've, like you
said, I've worked in a variety of fields,
but I've always been on a path where I
kind of just did the next logical thing.
And it's just now that I'm
getting around to my passions
and living this life the
way I really want to do it.
And that includes accomplishing
what I was actually set here to
do, not just the next thing.
So I'm excited to have been the
recipient of this information,
and I'm so happy to be passionate about
it because I think it's really a timely
message.
So today, I know we're going
to be talking about, uh,
a new book that you have
out, and that is Dono, uh,
creating a sustainable experience.
And for those that aren't well
versed in Latin, like myself,
Dono is Latin for, uh, for
gift. So we're talking about,
uh, gift giving, gift giving,
and creating a sustainable
experience through that. Um,
why don't you tell me why you decided
to write this book and why you're so
passionate about, uh, about this issue?
Well, um, my husband and I, we share
a, a green mindset, and my son,
who's a co-writer on the book also as
well, and he was raised that way. Um,
I'm not exactly sure how
I stumbled into this exact
concept, but I'm wired to solve problems,
provide simple solutions to big problems.
And somehow my concern about this,
it just morphed into this book.
And I began to study and we
began to bounce ideas around,
and the problem was so much
bigger than we thought.
And I think it's bigger
than most people think.
And when I started talking to
people about it, they're like,
they had no idea of the
magnitude of this issue, um,
this. So I think that that's why, um,
it's so important. It's so
important to me because the,
the act of gift giving the way it
is today is non-sustainable for the
planet.
Back in the days of settlers and Little
House on the Prairie and Laura Engels
Wilder, when Paul got a
hat and Laura got a trust,
and mom got a handkerchief wrapped
in craft paper with a piece of
twine.
We have come so far from that
not providing what people need
or even exactly what they want,
but we shop with the idea
of surprise in mind of,
of creating a wow factor. And
a lot of times that falls flat.
And so the only way to
fix the gift giving issue,
which causes the planet
so much havoc and waste,
is to collect our consciousness
together and co and do one thing
that solves the problem. Um,
logistics is designed, go ahead.
Oh, no, no, no. I, I
didn't mean to cut you off.
I was just going to say kind of an
example of what you're talking about, um,
in sustainable gift giving. Um, you know,
I'll give you a good
example and a bad example.
I have a nine year old and
a 10 year old that, uh,
both got cell phones and
they got their second laptop.
They're now on their second laptop.
They've got, their first ones about five.
So now we have old laptops that have to
go someplace. They have to be discarded,
and they're really not of any
value anymore. Um, you know,
so maybe that's an example of
non-sustainable gift giving where we're
buying these things that,
you know, are once, but it's,
it's not really good
for the environment, um,
that we live in afterwards.
I, I think maybe a,
a good example of sustainable
gift giving is, uh,
is something my wife has started to
do, and I, and I love these gifts.
She has a cricket,
and so she makes household goods for
a lot of our family members that are
personalized in some way. Yeah. Um,
but it's something that that individual
probably would've gone out and purchased
on their own or would've
used, uh, otherwise.
So it's not something that's
just grandiose and out here and
extravagant. It's an item
that, uh, that's personalized,
whether it be a cheeseboard or
Right. You know, a, a little cup.
We did cheese Your bathroom to hold
Your, your stuff, things like that. Yeah,
we did those for Christmas
know, so those are, yeah.
So we, we took out the, uh,
the hobby of wood burning. Uh,
so we cut out the stencil and the cricket
and then used the wood burner on the
cheese boards. I'm not sure if you
did that a similar way, but, um,
but so those are some examples of the
good and bad, as far as I see it in,
in gift giving. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
So I didn't mean to cut you off.
There. Oh, no worries. And I think
you're, you're absolutely right. Um,
and we wanted, wanted to
be careful in this message,
not to step on people's
toes and, and tell,
and send the message that we
don't want you to be consumers.
We don't want you to have the
things that you want and need.
That is not the message. The message
is not to stop shopping to not,
it is not to, um,
to buy the things that your
children and your family needs.
That is not the message.
Our message is gifting is
a wonderful experience.
It's built on tradition,
it's fun, it is enjoyable,
and we want to keep that going.
We just want to do a better job.
88% of people think that when you buy
a gift and someone takes it back to the
store,
that they are gonna put that on the
shelf and resell it to the next consumer.
This is false.
Most of those returns are
going to end up in a landfill.
There are so many,
there's five, let's see,
5.8 billion tons of returns end up in the
landfill every year. So that's, that's
almost 6 billion tons of returns.
There's 16 million metric tons of
CO2 that are used to produce those
gifts that end up in the landfill.
And there's another 16 million
metric tons of CO2 used
just to move them to the
landfill. That's incredible.
These gifts are made out
of glass, metal, plastics,
natural goods, plant
materials, animal materials,
and they're going straight
into the landfill.
There's some gifts that
can never be resold,
but the problem with this is,
and then I'll tell you what,
what I think sustainable gifting
is, the problem with this is,
is logistics was designed
to move from one,
from the manufacturer to the consumer.
It was not designed to
move from the consumer back
to the manufacturer, not
even back to the seller.
Once you do that,
imagine everyone driving
to work on the highway,
and except we're all driving backwards.
Imagine the energy, the fear, the concern,
how slow that would happen, the accident,
and would we get the end
result that we're looking for,
which is to arrive at the destination
safely that we intended at the time we
intended to, is almost impossible.
So we know that it costs a ma, uh, seller,
66% of the sale price of
that item to go through the
return process.
So it many times is cheaper for the seller
to simply say, keep it discarded,
or they'll take the return as far as the
warehouse, and then they'll discard it,
and then they will simply ship a new one,
because it takes manpower at every
step of that rever reversal to make it
happen. Does that make sense?
It, yeah. In, in my, my, uh,
listeners that shop on Amazon on a
regular basis, like I tend to do,
um,
they are probably have received a return
message at some point in time when
you try to return something because it
comes in incorrect or it's not exactly
what you were looking for, where
the seller is saying, Hey, you know,
that's great, we'll refund
you, but just keep the item's.
And it's because of the issue that
we're discussing right now. Uh,
and really we're getting to
the topic of reverse logistics,
but we have to get to our first
break. So when we come back,
we'll be talking more about reverse
logistics and sustainable gift
giving. Stick with us.
You're listening to commonalities
where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
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and media buying services,
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service to many happy businesses and
homeowners.
Bright Stripe is the premier provider
of seal coating or pavement ceiling.
The process of applying a protective
coating to asphalt based pavements to
provide a layer of protection from the
elements, water, oils, and UV damage.
They also specialize in driveway
and parking lot. Crack ceiling.
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commonalities. Online.
You're listening to commonalities
on five 90 w MBS 1 0 1 0.1
fm, and any place you download your
favorite podcast, I'm your host,
Matt Dowling. My guest today
is Tracy Alexandria Lynch.
She's an entrepreneur, author, and coach,
and she is a recent book out Donna,
creating a Sustainable Experience.
And we're talking about sustainable
gift giving. And this is, uh,
this is kind of a,
an appropriate time to talk about this
because we just went through the holiday
seasons, whether you
celebrate Christmas or, uh,
or if you're Jewish and
celebrate Hanukkah or even, uh,
those that celebrate,
uh, Kwanza, et cetera.
There's a lot of gift giving that
happens in the month of December.
So January becomes the time when
a lot of returns are taking place.
But, and, and I know we're gonna
get to this in a moment, uh,
January is not the only time of
the year when returns from gifts
are a problem. So I'll let you
get to that in just a moment. Uh,
before we went to the break,
we started talking about the
buzzword reverse logistics,
and that's really all operations
that are related to the upstream
movement of products and
materials. So, uh, Tracy,
tell me a little bit more about
your vision, uh, your book,
and the idea of, uh, of
sustainable gift giving.
Okay, awesome. So we were,
we briefly touched on,
uh, sustainable gifting and
what components go into that.
And I, one, when we wrote this
book, we wanted to keep it short,
punchy to the, to the facts,
and we didn't wanna have a lot
of fluff in it so people would,
it would be easier for
people to download and adapt.
And even with a sustainable
gifting experience,
we want that to be easy as well.
We don't want one more thing that people
have to do to make this happen. Um,
people spend about 15 hours
shopping for Christmas gifts. Um,
if they follow the principles in the book,
they can save about 75% of that time.
There's all types of psychology
that goes around gift giving.
I don't know what to get. I don't know
if they're gonna be happy with it.
I don't know how much I should spend.
I'm buying because they
bought me something. There's
so much that goes into it.
But the bottom line of
sustainable gift giving is this,
know your audience.
Know what the person
you're buying for wants.
And, uh, we, we, um,
talk about this in the book by
using the folklore Santa, right.
And we know that Santa is folklore,
but Santa had it going on a little bit
because he did two very important things.
He asked you exactly
what you wanted, right?
And then.
So you made your list, and he had it.
And he had it. He knew the
brand, he knew the size.
There was no getting this wrong.
He doesn't like Polkadots,
she doesn't like stripes. That's
not what she asked me for,
even if it's on sale.
So he ch he asked what you want,
and then he checked his list,
and then what did he do? He
checked it twice. Okay, period.
But then, but then you run into
the problem as, as an adult,
when Santa is taken out of the
equation, and now I have adult siblings,
two sisters that I need to buy for,
and I wanna get them something
that they want, that they need,
that they'll appreciate mm-hmm.
<affirmative>, um, you know,
but my mind works different than
theirs. So, you know, how do you,
how do you suppose we have a crystal ball.
I know you're saying know your audience,
but do you have any tips on telling
us how to know what gifts are good
gifts to give for people?
Oh, absolutely. So it's, it's
very, very simple. We ask them,
Santa doesn't surprise when those
kids get that they're not surprised.
They're what? They're delighted.
They're delighted that Santa listened
and they're excited to receive the gift.
That's delight,
surprise is trying to give
somebody something that
they would not expect you to
get them. That's where
we are missing the ball.
Anytime you hold up something on
your way out of TJ Max and you say,
I wonder what they like this,
you have already put it down,
sweetheart. You have already
<laugh> gone too far.
Do not take that to the register with
you because there's a maybe in it.
So we have worksheets in the book that
help you to get to know your person.
And so in your, we're building a app
that'll have the same platform in it. Um,
and it'll be your circle that's
around you. So you just keep your,
your worksheet. It'll tell
you their colors. Fragrances,
this is great for husbands who
can't remember their wife's sizes.
They can't remember that
wonderful flower that she loves,
that she has to ask her sister
and her friend. Well, is it a,
is it a a rose or is it a,
you know, uh, hydrangea,
no. He, he will already
know what fragrance.
That just got, that just got me in
trouble because I said to my wife,
do you know so-and-so's favorite
flower is, uh, a daffodil?
And it is. And, and I know because this
person always buys on daffodil days,
um, you know, an absurd amount of
daffodils for the cancer society.
But my wife then said to me, well,
we've been married for over 12 years,
what's my favorite flower? And,
and I didn't know that's, there
you go. You know, so there you go.
So this would help me.
And then, then what's her, what's
her favorite fragrance? You know,
is someone allergic to some things?
Um, if you have nieces, nephews,
children keeping their sizes,
so grandma's not calling your,
your sister saying, Hey, what,
what, um, size do you think? Well,
I think he might wear, there we go,
because we can't continue to
use Amazon. And online is our,
is our testing site for gifts.
We can't continue to use Amazon as our
dressing room, our virtual fitting room.
Because when we, there's people
that will buy three different sizes.
Grandma will be like, here,
I'm gonna buy three sizes,
whichever ones you don't
need, send 'em back them back.
The planet cannot sustain
that, that that activity.
What we can sustain is creating
demand for what we actually want
and will actually use. Because
as we talked about before,
most of those gifts, those returns
are going into the landfill.
So there's more birthdays on the
planet than there are that, that, um,
we purchase for than we do at Christmas.
Christmas is just the
biggest time of the year,
but there's 8 billion
people on the planet, right?
So if you have a percentage of them and
your people are buying gifts for them,
then that really is the biggest
holiday is our collective birthday.
So you have birthdays, you have
Mother's Day, father's Day, right? That.
We need to, so that's why this
isn't just a problem once a year.
This is a bigger problem than people
even can take into scope at this point
in time, because you're constantly
buying a gift for, you know,
I'm thinking baptisms,
communion, um, you know,
those are just some of the things
we've been to recently. Yeah. Weddings,
wedding gifts, um, engagement
parties. You know, there's,
there's a lot of times when you want
to, when you want to give a gift. Um,
but that's very difficult. And,
and as we keep having this conversation
about sustainability, I go back to,
you know, my childhood in the na
1980s and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um,
at that point in time, before
recycling was where it is today,
we would talk about, you know,
the three Rs, reduce, reuse,
and recycle mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
And so how can we be sustainable, uh,
within that scope with the gifts that
we're giving to other individuals?
Well, for one, um.
And, and I think that's the problem
that you're trying to address.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
And I even say in the book,
one great way to contribute to
sustainability is to buy things that will
last. My family still has my father's
tools from when we were children.
They still work. They didn't, the
handle didn't come off the hammer.
Nothing happened to those tools
cuz they were made to last.
I think that we live in a more, get
me a temporary fix for right now.
I'll get the $2 hammer that
the head's gonna fall off.
And then when that happens, I'll just
get another one. I like to tell people,
once you've purchased
something, you've created a,
you've created a demand for it. And
that demand is your responsibility.
And once you buy that
item, you own it forever,
no matter where it goes. I don't
care if it's a plastic bag,
something you got at the
dollar store, aluminum foil,
a gift, an electronic, whatever it
is, you're responsible for that.
And so we can buy more sustainably,
meaning things that are, are sourced,
uh, through recycling or
natural goods. We could do that.
Everybody doesn't have to do
it. That's not everybody's jam.
But what you can do is you can
be a responsible gifter by asking
what people want, what they truly
desire. And on the flip side of that,
you have to be a gracious gift receiver.
How many of us are just not gracious?
Hey, what do you want for
Christmas? Oh my gosh,
you don't have to get me anything.
You know, they're gonna go do it,
but yet you resist. Why
don't you just say, Hey,
these are some things I've been looking
at over the past year in a wide range of
prices so that they feel comfortable.
But also these are some everyday
things I use, like I use natural,
um, cleaning products. I could always use
a basket of natural cleaning products.
I use the same moisturizer day in and day
out. Hey, why don't you
get me some glow recipe?
You know what I mean? It's
wonderful to say, to be,
you know, falsely modest and say,
oh, you don't have to get anything.
You don't have to spend any money on
me. But when you know your father,
your mother, your sister,
your brother, your child,
your friend wants to serve you in
love and service through a gift,
then be gracious to tell them what you
want versus letting them guess about it.
And then you're like, man, has she
ever seen me in a purple sweater?
I've never worn a purple sweater.
Why did she get me a purple sweater?
Because she got it. Because you wouldn't
tell her what she really wanted.
And so that's an aspect
that gr that graciousness is
the aspect of being able to
reciprocal give in a
sustainable way as well.
So we've talked about being a
gracious individual, accepting a gift,
and we talked about being
a, uh, responsible, uh,
gift buyer in thinking about
the sustainability of the
gifts that were gifting
to other people. Um, we've
briefly touched on and,
and we've kind of rode the wagon
around it a couple, uh, times.
That's the problem of
reverse logistics. And, uh,
as I was reading a little bit before
the show on reverse logistics,
I found that, uh,
that there are five Rs and I just talked
about the three Rs of sustainability,
but there's five Rs to reverse
logistics that people talk about,
and that's return,
resale, repair, replace,
and recycle. Um, let's talk
before we go to the break,
we only have about a minute,
but let's talk about the
problem of re reverse logistics.
Why doesn't it really work for the
retailers like Amazon or Walmart that are
out there?
It's too expensive. That's the bottom
line. It's too expensive. Like we said,
it takes, um, the average, um,
return process process costs
about 66% of the cost of that
item. So in many instances it is not, um,
advantageous for a seller
to do that. And also.
Um, so it's, it's, it's just good
business that they're not doing.
Absolutely. It's good business. And, um,
sadly this is going to create further
problems by passing those costs onto
us, right? Because if we
continue with these practices,
those costs have to go
somewhere and they're gonna
get, uh, passed on to, to us.
Um, there's even the,
the kit that they're gonna take from
something I call cyber shoplifting,
which means there's certain
businesses that will tell you,
go ahead and donate that item.
Go ahead and keep that item.
When people start to ingest that
information, there's gonna be a remnant.
And right now we're at about 6%
of people returning gifts.
There's nothing wrong with it.
They're just saying there's something
wrong with it that's cyber shoplifting
because they know they're
gonna tell them to keep it.
So I won't advertise those companies,
um, at all because I don't,
I don't like mentioning
them at all. But they're,
they're great companies and they're
trying to do the right thing.
Sure. But we as the
consumer end up paying the,
the final price because they have to
mark up the goods and services that we do
pay for to be able to take
care of that. Hey, Tracy,
we have to get in our first break, uh,
or our next break will be back after
these messages and we'll continue the
topic of sustainable gift
giving here on commonalities.
You are listening to commonalities
where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
We'll be back after this brief
break to recognize our sponsors.
Is your business using analog
strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca
Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we
bring in-depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides
digital marketing, paid ad
and media buying services,
web design, social media
management, video production,
and more for businesses, organizations,
and political campaigns
with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can
help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world. For a no
risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12 or
visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com.
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Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
Founded in 1991,
bright Stripe has succeeded on the
premises of quality work done right at an
affordable cost. At Brights Stripe
personal service has always been a must.
We strive to be the premier
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company in the region.
Matt George, the owner
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brings experience from his
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service to many happy businesses and
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Brighttree is the premier provider
of seal coating or pavement ceiling.
The process of applying a protective
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elements, water, oils, and UV damage.
They also specialize in driveway
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Crack ceiling is the process of applying
a protective coating to asphalt based
pavements.
Bright stripe also abides by all safety
laws and standards in line striping and
layout. For a no obligation
estimate, contact Bright Stripe at
7 2 4 4 3 7 6 0 9 0.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should
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I'm your host Matt Dowling, alongside
an entrepreneur, author, and coach.
Uh, really an expert in her field
that has written a recent book about
sustainable gift giving. Her
name is Tracy Lynch. And Tracy.
Uh,
before the break we were talking about
reverse logistics and how it just
doesn't make any sense for big
retailers sometimes to accept the
returns. Um,
and we started to talk a little
bit about the solution, uh,
making the decision.
Is it just one more thing that
will take up people's time or is
this a, a good gift that we should,
we should gift to those we love?
So why don't we pick up
the conversation there.
Well, this is not something
that's going to take up more time.
We were very careful with that. This
is something that's gonna save time.
It's also going to be something that
allows you to understand those that you
care about more, what makes
them tick, who they really are.
A lot of times we think we know people,
but we really don't know really
their style or anything about
how they live their lives.
But as we get into the needs and
wants of people and use those to
sustainably gift, we are gonna get
to know people and their brands.
And we're traveling our journey with
these people that are close to us.
We're traveling this journey with
our families and our close friends.
So why not get to know them
better and not go for surprise,
but go for that gift that's
really going to mean something.
It's going to add to their
life. And more than anything,
it's going to be used Just because you
give someone a gift and they say they
like it, doesn't mean
it's going to be used.
If they tell you they
need it and they want it,
then that is when you know it
will be used and cherished. So,
like I said, it's one simple
idea. Find out what people,
find out what people want
before you spend money. Um,
it's the best stewardship of your dollar.
It's the best stewardship for, um,
the, um, recipient, and it's the
best stewardship toward the planet.
So that's, that's a gift for everyone. Um.
So if, you know, doing this
really doesn't take up, uh,
a whole lot of extra time.
It's not extremely
onerous or burdensome, um,
to put in place and to do it
does take a little more time,
um, or brain power to
think about the individual,
to talk to the individual and ask
them what they want. But you know,
whatever trade off you have for having
to do that kind of brain work mm-hmm.
<affirmative> or that mental math
as to, uh, what the person wants,
it's going to be a more
appreciated gift. Yes. And, uh,
and so ultimately I think that makes it
great not to mention the fact that it
makes you a good steward to the
environment and, uh, you know,
to the world that we live in
because we're not just filling, uh,
landfills with additional trash. And and
if you think of it that way, you know,
do we want to give trash to those we love?
Or do we want to give them a gift that
is really sustainable and wanted and
needed and going to be used?
That's exactly right.
You could have written a book because
that's really <laugh>. That's,
that's really what it's
about. Um, I'll say it again.
The way we are currently giving gifts
is not sustainable for this planet.
Not when over half of all gift
recipients are returning one
to two gifts a piece. That's
unreal. That's unreal.
That is now, now when we get to
the end of the day, uh, you know,
we have to talk about practicality
in all things. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
you know, can we really
correct this problem?
Is this something that we can fix? I
mean, it, it's gonna take just you and,
you know, not just you
and me can go out and,
and fix our individual problems and this
whole problem go away. It's gonna take,
uh, discussions and education and, uh,
a large number of people being involved.
But can we at the end of the day,
accomplish the goal of being
more sustainable gift givers?
I love this question. I think
it's my favorite question, um,
because I have all the hope in the
world that this can happen, um,
with 8 billion people on the planet
believe that there are enough
people that care enough to do
at least one thing.
And we're asking you
to do one simple thing,
know what your recipient wants before you
buy it, period.
With the goal of 100% satisfaction,
um, every time, the only time a gift
really should be returned nowadays,
um,
once we decide to accept
this concept is when
it malfunctions that hair dryer
you got, it just was a dud.
It didn't work. The screen was
cracked, it arrived damaged.
Those are ju justifiable
reasons to return a gift.
Not you didn't know the
size and you guessed at it,
not you were filling in gifts
with fluff. And most of them,
they're not gonna use. Um, I have, like
I said, all the faith in the world,
um,
I borrow from Malcolm Gladwell in
the tipping point that as we begin
to infiltrate our consciousness
with these ideas and we
connect it to the sickness that
our planet is enduring right now,
once we it comes, once we are able
to settle with that information,
I believe there are enough people that
are willing to do one simple thing to
change this. And I believe
that that will, um,
spread throughout, throughout America.
I think that we're some of the biggest,
I don't think we are
some of the biggest, um,
gift givers in the world,
and I know it can be done.
Um, I had someone contact me and
he said Christmas was a success.
We had zero gift returns. I didn't,
what he would do is he would fill in the
gifts with fluff because he wasn't sure
if his wife was gonna like him.
So just in case he got her these
other things he said, he brought,
he bought no fluff and
he was really excited.
And if that's all it takes is one
person to tell another person,
um, even if they just tell them,
this is what I want and this
is what I don't want, you know,
it's not a tremendous amount of
time. If I give you the worksheet,
you could fill it out for me. I don't
have to fill 'em all out. Like, Hey,
can you fill this out for me?
I wanna get you a gift Who's not gonna
fill the sheet out? Like, yes. I love,
um, hikeys and I love
Vanilla Candles. I mean,
telling, telling someone what
we want is a gift to the planet.
Being vocal, being truthful.
In, in taking care of the planet is, uh,
something that we do for others.
And as we are approaching
Martin Luther King Day here,
I I know that one of your favorite,
uh, quotes or life themes is,
uh,
life's most persistent and urgent
question is what are you doing
for others? And by being
more sustainable gift givers,
we are doing something for others.
We're taking care of our planet. And,
and I think that's the crux
of the message that, uh,
that we want to get a acrossed in
today's episode. You know, and, uh,
on a re recent episode, I had the, uh,
young ladies from the
Fayette Chamber of Commerce,
and we were talking about local retailers
and where you could go get last minute
gifts. This was on an episode that
was, was just before, uh, Christmas.
But you know, if, if you put
that thought into it, um,
this doesn't disenfranchise
any of those retailers.
It doesn't mean that we're necessarily
spending any less money. The, uh,
the country's gross domestic product
will still be the same. That's correct.
We are just being smarter in what
we are purchasing. And, you know,
I I I think about things that, uh,
that don't go into the landfill that we
could purchase through some of our local
retailers and, uh, and to support
small business and the economy. Yes.
Uh, there are ways, there
are ways to do this.
We're down to just about three
minutes left in today's program.
And before we go, I wanted to, uh,
let my listeners know where
they can purchase your book. If,
if this conversation has kind
of wet your appetite and you're
salivating you wanna know more, um,
as well as I believe your book includes
some of those example worksheets.
Am I correct? That's correct
in saying that, you know, yes.
So if they wanna purchase your
book, where can they find it?
They can go straight to
amazon.com. It's don,
it's like donut except with the m uh,
creating a sustainable gifting experience.
And the funding from this book
goes to create the Don app,
which will have all of the worksheet and
the questionnaires at your fingertips
with it housed in there forever.
It's like your own personal,
um, gift registry that
never dies and people can,
will be able to purchase from you
for you straight from that app.
So we're working on the app
now. And then everything from,
uh, that we work on,
a portion of that goes into local
communities and charities that
serve children with learning
disabilities. So, um, we,
our vision is to solve, um,
local problems by solving big
problems and just keep it going.
Just be going right around in a circle.
So let's serve others
by serving the planet.
Let's serve the planet by serving
others. I think we, we can do it.
Absolutely. And you stole my final
transition from me. I was going to say,
now tell me more about this app. So we've
already started talking about the app.
What's the anticipated, um,
deadline that you have out there for
having the app ready? And when it's ready,
will it be available, uh, in the app
store on, on mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh,
Google, and uh, also on your iPhones?
Yes, it'll be available on both.
We're looking to have a beta
test ready by, uh, March.
Um, and if that goes well, we'll
proceed from there. Um, the,
all the pages have been built out
all of the selections and choices.
It's kind of like Facebook met,
Pinterest met the Amazon wishlist,
and it's a beautiful app where
all your choices will be in there,
the people in your close circle. This
will only be for your close circle.
So you won't be, you won't have 500
users. You may have 30 or 40 colleagues,
friends, family, so forth. And, um,
the initial app to keep
your registry will be free.
And then there'll be a charge for the
app if you want to include your tribe,
which I think that that's
what it's all about. So, um,
we're looking forward to
that. And this is a great way,
this is a great way to b build
funding for something like that.
I'm excited.
That is, it is, uh, a very
exciting, uh, prospect to look into.
And honestly,
before you brought this to my attention
before you were a guest on my show, um,
you know, sustainable gift giving wasn't
something that was on my radar, but,
uh, I think our conversation today has
pointed out how important it really is.
Tracy,
I want to thank you for being on my
program today here on commonalities
and, uh,
I wish you the best of luck
and success with your new app.
And, uh,
for those of you looking for
Tracy's book again on amazon.com,
you can uh,
search for Dom creating
a sustainable experience.
Thank you.
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ground through uncommon conversations.
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