Growth without a sense of responsibility is a recipe that can lead to many problems further down the road. Whether it be for a business or for a wider-reaching area of impact, sustainability and principle-led scaling of businesses should be a higher priority as we move into the future. Here on the show today to talk about this mission and how it is embodied at New Hope Network is Eric Pierce! Eric is the Vice President of Business Insights at New Hope and his passion for the intersection of marketing, psychology, and creativity, coupled with a desire to build a better future has manifested itself perfectly in this role, at this company. In our conversation, Eric unpacks some common mistakes from the world of marketing, how he managed to maneuver his weaknesses into becoming strengths, and how to really listen and understand the sectors of the market you want to serve. Listeners will come away with a newfound clarity on the responsibility attached to growing a business of the future, as well as how to avoid the common pitfalls of scaling an organization.Key Points From This Episode:The roots of Eric's passion for ideas and creativity, working at a local store and at college. Building a company culture that values and listening to consumers with a strong email list.The specific services that New Hope provides for brands and how best to connect with them.Landing at New Hope and the life choices and events that informed this career move for Eric.Better research practices for brands; Eric weighs in on how companies can up their game.The goal of greater health and responsible growth for companies as they scale.Eric's style of learning and how he managed to play to his particular strengths for conceptually solving puzzles.Eric's thoughts on the future of natural products and his big-picture perspective on the present.A few of the jobs that Eric had in marketing research and the important lessons he started learning.Eric's time at the Wisconsin School of Business and his family connection to the area.Consulting and advisor work that Eric has done with other companies and organizations.The power of testing hypotheses for solving business problems and making decisions.Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:New Hope NetworkEric Pierce on LinkedInEric Pierce on TwitterAmariFindaway AdventuresKiss the GroundModern SpeciesGage Mitchell on LinkedInEvolve CPG