OUR FEATURED MEMBERS
We believe that standing together, the small are mighty. As a grassroots organization of community-focused businesses, Good Business Colorado is here to bring value to the community through your business. Our members prioritize relationships with other local like-minded businesses and integrate social and environmental impacts into their ventures. Together, our goal is to build a prosperous local economy and a sustainable environment. Making a difference through business isn’t fringe activity anymore, it’s the new standard. And to us, it’s just good business.
Community-Focused Businesses
Collaboration and relationships are at the heart of everything we do. Your business is built on your ideas, plans, and aspirations and Good Business Colorado is a unified voice to amplify all the good you are doing. We want to see a Colorado where small businesses like yours can thrive. Everything we do is in pursuit of that vision, and we keep you informed, so you can focus on managing your business.
As a champion of small business, our organization advocates for local, state and federal policies that elevate our values. We aim to provide an alternative point-of-view to traditional business chambers in the media which includes good jobs, affordable workforce housing, public transportation, affordable education and training, resources, workplace fairness, infrastructure, broadband access and net neutrality. By doing this, we can offer more resources, more value, and make sure the voices of our members are heard at all levels of government.
Conscientious Consumers
Our members believe that business success cannot be measured by profit alone and that true success means that our planet, communities, and bottom lines are all thriving. No matter what your business, Good Business Colorado aims to promote its member’s interests and opinions and connect them to the best possible resources for championing strong independent businesses.
Through programs like The Resilient Restaurants program, an industry specific coalition and working group, we are able to accelerate best practices in sustainability and social equity in the food service industry. This environmentally conscious program not only offers peer support and grants, it offers free programming to dining establishments that care about people and the planet. It’s through programs like this that your business can be about being the change you want to see in the world.
Sharon Hwang: The Wellness Center
After a stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal and a subsequent trip throughout Southeast Asia, Sharon Hwang found herself in India, where she journaled about a future in the wellness industry.
Back in Colorado, Sharon was making copies of her resume when she saw her vision in real life next to the print shop and rushed over to The Wild Oats Wellness Center. Within a day, she was hired to run the front desk; within two years she was the assistant director of the business with locations in Denver and Boulder; and within three years, she was the owner of the Denver location!
With a team of 30 healers and practitioners, The Wellness Center provides massage therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic care and naturopathic medicine inside the Glendale Whole Foods Market. Sharon, her staff and their clients center humanness. In a culture so focused on the bottom line, The Wellness Center is a place that helps everyone slow down, breathe and focus on healing, wellness and interconnectedness.
Good Business Colorado was the perfect place for Sharon to marry her business experience with political action. A founding member, she is gratified to have watched the organization grow from a group of 10 or so business owners to well over 400 because there is power in numbers.
“My hope is we will have more sustainable business practices,” Sharon said. “We need to encourage less waste and blind consumerism and more community. Good Business Colorado feeds my desire to help shape and promote policies that protect our community and create spaces where both employees and clients feel valued.”
Glow + Gather
Glow + Gather creates sustainable and effective beauty and wellness products. As a member of Good Business Colorado, Cofounder Sarita Parikh says they have the opportunity to not only receive support but give back to the community.
glow + gather Cofounder Sarita Parikh says the business was created because she needed a lifestyle change. At the same time, she was looking for a solution to her niece Kerala’s skin issues. “Sometimes life tells you to slow down, and in those moments, businesses like glow + gather appear. We are all about spreading joy, finding simple pleasures, and detoxifying life,” Parikh says.
Parikh, a pediatric physical therapist, utilized her science background to formulate what is now glow + gather’s signature body butter. The body butter worked with many of Parikh’s sensitive patients leading to the creation of the revolutionary beauty and wellness lifestyle brand.
The company, cofounded by Parikh, her niece Kerala and nephew Jaxon, creates personal care products, home goods, and spice blends designed to help its customers embrace their inner glow. It promotes the philosophy of gathering your friends and family to spread joy. All the products are handcrafted in small batches and are phthalate, formaldehyde, sulfate, paraben, synthetic fragrance, dye, and cruelty free.
A member of Good Business Colorado, Parikh says, “If you want to be a part of a community where your values align and you really want to become involved in your local business community, Good Business Colorado is a great place to be. From facilitating in-kind donations to developing local partnerships, if you're going to put forth the effort to get involved in the community, it's really a wonderful platform.”
glow + gather has been exploring ways to be involved with their customers, including online workshops and local markets. They are also involved with planting trees with One Tree Planted and support survivors of domestic violence by donating non-perishable food and necessities to SafeHouse Denver’s shelter with every order placed.
Ship Sunshine
Anna Costello says starting her small business Ship Sunshine was exciting, but overwhelming. Being a member of Good Business Colorado has helped her achieve her community advocacy goals by connecting her with other like-minded local businesses.
Ship Sunshine founder Anna Costello says gift-giving is her love language. She believes that when your heart is in the right place, such a simple act can lift someone’s mood and truly turn their day around. “I wanted to start a company where I could insert my own values into it and wanted to be able to support the community,” Costello says of the gift-giving company that sends local products she describes as a hug in a box.
The goal of Ship Sunshine is to make it easy to brighten someone’s day, whether it be to celebrate life’s big or small moments or recognize that someone’s going through a challenging time. Every Ship Sunshine gift box is designed to bring a smile to the recipient’s face with over 70 percent of their products coming from local and women owned businesses. Every box is sent with a personalized, handwritten note and is hand-wrapped in eco-friendly packaging. This also led to Costello’s offshoot company DropSHIP like it’s hot – both companies Good Business Colorado members – which provides an all-in-one fulfilment center, wholesale distributor, and pack and ship logistics.
Costello says having a small business involves a lot of learning and Good Business Colorado has helped her get the most out of her business goals. “I like the advocacy side of something. I hadn't had a lot of exposure to it before and I'm still learning about it. But I've made so many great connections working with different organizations and non-profits that I've met through Good Business Colorado,” she says.
Ship Sunshine’s committed to giving back to the community, particularly to people and organizations that may need a little extra help. That’s why two percent of every purchase, and all donations, go toward the #SunshineItForward program, dedicated to raising funds and awareness every month for local causes they believe in.
HERBAL HONEY
Good Business Colorado Interview Herbal Honey
“Making Herbal Honey into an actual business wasn’t something I considered, but I was helping people using the knowledge I had, and the business grew out of that,” says Keisha Mathes, Founder and Chief Herbalist of Herbal Honey, a small business in Colorado specializing in teas that provide holistic solutions to everyday ailments.
Mathes understands what can heal the mind, body, and soul. She received a Baccalaureate degree in Integrative Therapeutic Practices from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2014 and holds a Level II certification as a Reiki Practitioner. “We create custom herbal formulations with health and wellness in mind. Our teas, tinctures, salves, and honeys are prepared with primarily organic ingredients farmed and wild crafted around the globe,” she says. “Every tea, honey or tincture we make is a seed sown into the life of a loved one. All of our teas are made with love and your health in mind.”
As a small business in Colorado, Mathes was introduced to Good Business Colorado through a referral and has seen the benefits of membership since day one. “Good Business Colorado has helped us connect with the local business community. It is an awesome space to network with other business owners,” says Mathes. She says that she didn’t realize how important it was for her to connect with other local businesses until she was introduced to them and has since collaborated with a few other businesses like hers.
With the advent of the pandemic, Mathes has seen small businesses around her struggle. “Now, more than ever, we need to protect small businesses,” she says. “They are the heart of the local business economy. Larger corporations are not rooted in the community the way a small business is. Good Business Colorado helps make sure we thrive in our community and have a united voice.”