Conscious Capitalism: Business Beyond Profit with John Hewitt

**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:17)
Welcome back to the show, everyone. I'm Stephen Sakach here with Mike Liwski. Today, we are diving into Conscious Capitalism, putting people before profits and building financially successful companies because they are driven by purpose and values, not despite it. Mike, tell us about our guest today.

**Mike Liwski** (0:38)
Well, thanks, Stephen. Yes, super excited to have John with us today. So our guest today is someone who not only lived this philosophy, he's built an empire from it. So John Hewitt, he's the founder and the CEO of Loyalty Brands, which many of our listeners are probably familiar with, and the visionary entrepreneur behind both Jackson Hewitt and Liberty Tax, which we know as well many may be familiar. So with over 50 years of experience in franchising and finance, John is known for creating businesses that prioritize trust, community, and mission over those quick wins. So John, welcome to the show. We're so happy to have you with us today.

**John Hewitt** (1:26)
Thanks, Mike. It's my pleasure.

**Mike Liwski** (1:29)
So John, as we dive into this topic of Conscious Capitalism, what does that mean to you? And how did it shape your vision for Loyalty Brands?

**John Hewitt** (1:43)
Well, I think my mission statement at Loyalty Brands is having fun, improving lives.
And I think on Monday morning, if you're going to work and you're not looking forward to it, you're going to the wrong place. So it's not about, it's not about, I mean, life's too short. You have to find something you love to do. And if you live in a life of, thank God it's Friday, then you're living the wrong life. With me, it's thank God it's Monday. And then followed up with that is, you know, when I was a kid, I thought, I knew I was cocky. Before you succeed, you're cocky. And then after you succeed, you're confident. So now I'm confident, but I used to be cocky. Same confidence, but without provenness. And, you know, I thought I would, I thought I would, when I was a kid, I knew I was going to get rich. I was poor and I didn't know how. And I thought I'd just make a few million dollars and retire. And then I realized that, what would I do? And, you know, I've been blessed, incredibly blessed with incredible talent. It isn't about John Hewitt, it's about the talent I've been given and the blessings I have. So the most rewarding thing that I've found in life is improving others' lives. I've created, you know, with the over 5,000 franchises I brought in, a thousand of them become millionaires. And many, many more are, have been set for life and or changed their lives dramatically. So again, there's nothing more rewarding than that. And while I see most people retire and I don't begrudge them that, I mean, I'm at the pinnacle. I'm 76 next month. And I'm at the pinnacle of my knowledge and my career and my expertise. And to go sit on a beach somewhere and not help people is just, it seems blasphemous. It seems, it seems what a waste. I've given all this talent and this experience, and you need to give back, pay it forward.

**Stephen Sakach** (3:55)
Yeah, that's quite a legacy, what, just a thousand millionaires in there. John, when did you come across the, I mean, the idea of the fun part of business? Was that early on or did that take a while?

**John Hewitt** (4:08)
No, I've always, I've always lived the life of fun. The, you know, people ask, I don't vacation. People say, when do you vacation? Well, every day I work and every day I have fun. So I, fun is part of my life. And it starts, it starts with, not just only a sense of humor, it starts with the name of my book is I compete. It starts with competition and, and constantly during the day, if I'm arguing with someone, I bet them a dollar. I know, I don't bet $5 or $10 or $100 or a million dollars. I bet a dollar at a time. And, you know, I was at my bridge partner from for over 50 years. We were at a, we are at a bar waiting to go into dinner. And we were arguing about who's, you know, don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes or something like that and whatever it was. And I said, I'll bet you a dollar. My friend said, no, I'm not betting. And the guy next to us, a stranger said, it's only a dollar. And he said, you don't understand. I'd rather lose, I'd rather lose $20 to him than to lose a dollar to him. So it's a constant, constant competition, constant fun.