Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Hunt Stevens.
Susan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve worked in interactive media and technology for nearly 20 years, but the ideas for WeSpire came about a little over seven years ago. It evolved from a personal experience when my son had a severe reaction to a food allergy. This scary situation forced our family to change everything about our lifestyle. We became more aware of the ingredients in our food and household items, which led to us making more informed and sustainable decisions. My friends began to turn to me for advice and actions they could take to live more sustainable lives. WeSpire was born with the goal to inspire and educate people to make more sustainable choices.
Soon after it launched, companies started calling us asking if we had an enterprise version. We started working with enterprise organizations by helping them to run sustainability engagement programs on our technology platform. Two years ago, we broadened the platform to enable clients to customize and run any type of engagement program that’s important to their organization. It’s been exciting to see that businesses want to use the WeSpire platform to run their social impact, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion and other positive business programs.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The reality is that all entrepreneurial journeys are like roller coasters with extraordinary highs and lows. The consistent high of this journey is knowing that WeSpire is helping people make positive changes in their life that in turn benefit their companies, communities, and society. I also feel incredibly lucky to work with an amazing group of people who are changing the world for the better.
I feel the lows when we struggle to raise capital, or when we struggle to close deals. I also think that one of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur is when you make mistakes that have an impact on the people that you care about most.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
WeSpire is a technology platform that leading enterprise organizations use to design, run and measure their positive impact programs. These programs encourage employees to complete actions that are good for them, good for the company, and good for the world we live in. WeSpire is the only platform that provides organizations with the flexibility to manage all of these programs and measure the impact they’re having on employee engagement in one centralized location for employees
I am most proud of our customers and the amazing work that they’re doing. For a company of our size, we are fortunate to work with some of the most impressive, notable, world-changing companies. I’m also incredibly proud of the fact that we’ve pioneered a whole new category of technology. Recently Gartner created a new category of technology called Worker Engagement Platforms, where WeSpire was fortunate enough to be named a sample vendor. This technology category is defined as systems that aim to boost employee engagement and motivation.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, my parents typically described me as “determined.” From the time I was young, if there was something I was excited about or wanted to do, I would work really hard to do it, regardless of whether I had the innate talent or skill. I remember when I was young I really wanted to go Girl Scout camp. My family didn’t have the money to send me, but you could go for free if you sold enough cookies. The only problem was that I was incredibly scared of dogs, so I refused to go and sell to any house with a dog. It took me twice as long as any of my friends, but I sold enough cookies to go to camp!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.WeSpire.com
- Email: Info@wespire.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeSpire/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/goWeSpire
- Other: www.linkedin.com/company/wespire
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