Joel Solomon is a financial activist and co-founder of a mission venture capital firm called Renewal Funds. He is also the author of The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism.

In this episode, we explore many a wide range of topics. Here are some of the things that stood out for me.

How do we make money a force for good?

The question can seem so simple. It is loaded. In our conversation, Joel and I discuss the notion that money as a force for good should be the status quo. For example, his company invests in clean food, nontoxic households and climate. I love that he is walking the walk and trying to bring others with him. On his journey, he spends time ensuring that as many people as possible can do things that matter, something they genuinely care about and invest in businesses or organizations that do things that matter.

It all starts with his story of origin.

When I asked Joel how he got into the work, he talked about early life experiences. He admitted that early childhood experiences of seeing African-American’s hosed in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He also referenced the Vietnam war and hoped for a career in creating a kinder and gentler world.

The Golden rule vs The Platinum Rule.

Joel and I talked about how his life has been informed by “do onto others as they would like have done onto them”. We discussed the Platinum Rule, do onto others as they would like done onto them. These rules have informed both our lives.

The prospect of death can give us great perspective

Joel told the story of how he was diagnosed with a genetic kidney disease. The diagnosis was, he could die soon, or he could live long. And there’s not a lot that he could do about it. Having to live with that from an early age greatly influenced him. Joel described how it caused a certain kind of awakening in him. He was keenly aware that time was limited. A question he posed was who you would like to have been? Ib considering that question, it became salient for him that death was around the corner. I ask the silly question, what it was like to be living in a way where death was always imminent. Joel reminded me that it was true for all of us. We just live “as if” it could not happen to us. When death becomes salient, it becomes influences our choice and our perspective of the world.

The inner work is the most critical.

Joel admitted that he works with four different professionals who help him do inner work, reflection, and seek insight. For him, some of the most critical work is to be questioned by experienced, intelligent people who work to support him. The goal for him is to move from challenge-based seeking help to anticipatory practice. For many of us, we seek help when trauma, fear or other challenges arise. It is an important question to ask, what if you instead worked from an anticipatory lens?

How did I get to be who I am and how I am?

I thought this was simply a wonderful question to consider.

What is the role of purpose and vision in capitalism?

Joel describes himself as a financial activist. He believes that capitalism can bring out humans’ very worst aspects without a clear motivation and purpose. For him, the goal of merely accumulating money without a clear purpose is an empty choice. We all die someday, and we cannot take all with us. In my own words, I understood his comments to mean that some questions require deeper or continuous reflection. Questions like, how much is enough? Why am I here? Are not questions that can be answered quantitatively. For Joel, he prefers to have influence, especially to influence positive outcomes in the world.

We are ancestors of what’s coming.

His fundamental belief is that we can do better. The goal for him is to choose a path he can be proud of on his deathbed. A few question he posed in our conversation were, “How do I want to be thought of, felt, and known when I die? How did I impact the world? How did I first find myself? Joel considers his job to be a good ancestor. The test for him is when he walks into a room, how does the room respond? In this is grounded in his belief in the inner work.

The tragedy of the under-examined human species.

When we have not taken the time to examine ourselves, we are driven by emotions, reactions, responses, and interpretations of the world that generate unhappiness, poor health, poor relationships, and harmful practices. How do you work on yourself, so you become proactive about how you respond to the world

Disrupting by being.

I found this idea to be powerful. One quote that stood out for me was, “the inner work leads to the ability to, first of all, choose what must be disrupted and then ultimately not even to choose it, to just be it.”

For Joel, he has come to the stage of his life where he would prefer to be disruptive in subtler and gentler ways. Ways in which the advances and success we make, make us inherently disruptive.

Learn more about Joel you can visit his company website and his personal website:

https://joelsolomon.org/

https://www.renewalfunds.com/