Don't Pull the Ladder Up: Carmen Hawker on Purpose-Led Business and Backing Women (EP#83)

What you do with your money is powerful. For Carmen Hawker, money isn’t the end goal. It’s a tool for redistributing wealth, creating opportunity and building the kind of world she wants to see.  In this episode of Money Secrets, Fi is joined by Carmen Hawker, impact communicator, brand strategist and founder of certified B Corp Carmen Get It, a personality-driven copy and campaigns studio for purpose-led businesses. Carmen is also the co-founder of not-for-profit The Global Women’s Project and financial education platform Ladies Talk Money.   Carmen’s relationship with money has evolved throughout a career grounded in gender equity, human rights and social justice. Early experiences working in women’s health and family violence exposed her to the financial consequences women face when they don’t have access to money, opportunity and financial education. This was the motivation for Carmen to become financially literate.   Fi and Carmen explore what it actually means to run a purpose-led business. Why values need to be lived, not just laminated. And how even the smallest businesses can measure, communicate and grow their impact. They discuss impact reporting, sustainable marketing, productising services and the feast-and-famine cycle that so many freelancers accept as inevitable.     Carmen shares how she went from being “allergic” to talking about money to making financial literacy a major part of her life and work.  Fi and Carmen challenge the story that women are bad with money, explore why women experience risk differently, and make a pact to actively support other women taking financial, business and visibility risks.    Whether you’re building an impact-led business, trying to escape the feast-and-famine cycle or working through your own money stories, this episode is a reminder that making money and doing good don’t have to be competing goals. 🎧 Tune in for a powerful conversation about money, impact, risk and what becomes possible when we show up as part of each other’s village.  What you'll learn in this episode: Purpose-led business is more than a mission statement. Your impact goals should shape how you make decisions. Your values need to show up in action. Measure, demonstrate and communicate what they actually look like in your business. Small businesses can create meaningful impact. You don’t need to be a huge organisation to track and share your contribution. Impact reporting can take many forms. Focus on what matters to your audience and share the wins and non-shiny bits. Feast and famine isn't inevitable as a freelancer. Sustainable, ongoing marketing helps keep leads coming in, even when you’re busy. Productising your services creates predictability. Clear offers help customers feel confident while making your capacity easier to manage. Your money stories shape your business. Unchallenged beliefs about money can become self-fulfilling patterns. Money and impact can work together. Earning more money creates more capacity to redistribute wealth and opportunity. Risk doesn’t happen on a level playing field. Women and marginalised people face greater consequences when taking risks. We can make risk safer for other women. Sharing knowledge, capital, encouragement and support gives others a safer place to land. It’s not your job to be affordable; it’s your job to be valuable. Don’t make assumptions about what your customers are willing to pay. If you want a village,