Is it possible to build a profitable expertise business that is 100% values-aligned and mission driven?

Lucy Flores—who has built a design studio dedicated to co-creating a more just, joyful and sustainable U.S. food system—says yes, with the results to prove it:

Why she niched her business into food equity right from the beginning—and how it played out.

How she thinks about and builds alliances, coalitions and partnerships (hint: she doesn’t have competitors).

Her approach—as an introvert—to investing in relationships and meeting new people in her field.

Why niching alone wasn’t enough—and what changed when she started marketing regularly.

Adopting a mindset of cautious optimism and deciding when it’s “safe to fail”.

LINKS

Lucy Flores Website | LinkedIn

Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

BIO

Lucy is the founder of Studio Magic Hour, a collaborative design studio working to advance equity in the food system, and a former Equitable Design Fellow at Hopelab.

She's partnered with organizations including the California Academy of Sciences, the Fair Food Network, Hopelab, The Nature Conservancy, Plant Futures, Share Our Strength, and the Southern Poverty Law Center to lead design and design research projects, facilitate workshops, and coach in-house design and innovation teams.

Previously, she helped launch FoodCorps, a national nonprofit dedicated to cultivating joy, health, and justice for kids through nutritious food, in partnership with schools and community. She is a member of the Design Justice Network, the Democracy & Belonging Forum at the Othering and Belonging Institute, Equity Army, and AIGA.

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00 - 00:25

Lucy Flores: Being open to learning, right? Lessons learned is a part of what we do. And I think if you go in with this perfectionist mindset, expecting that it either needs to work out or it was a total miss, like that's certainly not gonna serve the folks you're working with and it's not gonna serve you...