Episode #155
What Does It Mean to Vote With Your Dollar? with Erin Fangmann and Kate Marsh Lord
Send us Fan Mail Every purchase you make is a vote. The trouble is, most of us never stop to ask who we're voting for when we're just trying to grab a backpack, refill the soap, and get the birthday gift in the mail on time. In this episode, we have Erin Fangmann and Kate Marsh Lord, the co-founders of Little Blue Cart , a platform that connects conscious consumers with values-driven small businesses. Inspired by a conversation after the 2024 election, they built Little Blue Cart around their kitchen table with a mission to make it easier for people to support small businesses that reflect their values of democracy, equality, and freedom. As military spouses with more than 30 years of combined experience as small business owners, Kate and Erin understand the resilience, creativity, and determination it takes to build a business through constant change. Building on that mission, they recently launched Little Blue Market , an online marketplace where small businesses can sell directly to shoppers. Together, Little Blue Cart and Little Blue Market help independent businesses grow while empowering consumers to make a meaningful impact through their everyday purchasing decisions. What does it mean to vote with your money? Every purchase is a decision about whose values you are funding. When you spend, you are choosing which businesses and which principles get your dollars, so where your money goes ends up being a clear reflection of what actually matters to you. How do you start ‘shopping your values’ without feeling overwhelmed? Start with one thing. No one expects perfection tomorrow, and it is not realistic to swap 100 percent of your spending overnight. The next time you are buying a birthday gift or back-to-school supplies, pick one purchase to make intentionally and get it from a small or local business. Once you think intentionally about one purchase, it starts to become a habit for the next. Does shopping your values actually cost more money? Not necessarily, and that is one of the biggest misconceptions. Some sellers offer free shipping once you hit a certain amount, and while a values-aligned marketplace is not built like the giant platforms, the idea that spending with your values always costs more simply is not true. Why does it matter where you shop, not just what you buy? 68 cents of every dollar you spend locally stays in your community and goes toward things like your schools and local resources. On top of that, small businesses keep a far bigger share of each sale than they do on the big platforms, so who you buy from changes how much of your money actually reaches real people. What is the difference between Little Blue Cart and Little Blue Market? Little Blue Cart is a directory of progressive, values-aligned small businesses, both product-based and service-based, that works like a searchable yellow pages you can sort by category or by state. Little Blue Market lets you shop those small product-based businesses directly, all in one place. How do businesses get listed on Little Blue Cart? Little Blue Cart is completely free to join. Businesses fill out an application, agree to the community guidelines and value statement, and go through a quick vetting process. There are optional one-time add-ons for linking socials or featuring a listing, but a free listing gets just as much love and attention. Join us for the next Money Talks “Aligning Spending with your Values”. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! Follow & connect with Little Blue Cart: Little Blue Cart Little Blue Market Instagram Facebook Threads TikTok Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! Follow & connect with us! Website Facebook Page Facebook group Instagram TikTo k LinkedIn YouTube Reddit Resources Have questions? Click this to check out our expert Q&A for tips from industry experts, tailored to help women address their most common financial concerns. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive financial tips delivered weekly here ! ...
