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Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Andreotti
Hi Lindsay, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?There are honestly two reasons that gave rise to the idea and creation of Imaginal Ventures. First, the notion that in the business world, we must evolve and move away from the practices of caterpillar ideas (linear, competitive, and measuring only financial success), to butterfly world (fluid, collaborative, and measuring emotional, physical, and spiritual success as well). We felt it was important to be an organization that could serve the newly emerging butterfly companies and their teams who are creating the new world of business. These leaders are who we call Imaginals, and we wanted to help them take flight with mentoring and education.
Second, the world we live in now is replete with stress, anger, frustration, and division. Where has all the kindness gone? When did people stop looking at each other and instead avoiding relationship? We decided that to create a new world for business, we would have to find a way to install cultures of kindness and collaboration that would bring more positive change and better environments for employees and customers alike. We wanted to simply call out that “Kindness is the Way” for any imaginal business that wants to be more holistically successful . Our program, ImagineKindness, is building and sharing the tools for the imaginal communities who want and recognize the value of installing cultures of kindness.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?I’m not sure I have ever heard of a smooth road for a start-up! (ha ha). Most of them are quite turbulent, but that’s also what makes it fun! As a start-up non-profit, we have struggled with all of the ‘normal’ things that entrepreneurship entails. Lack of sleep. Lack of enough funding to do more for our imaginal companies. Big gaps in sales because we didn’t have the right brand ‘story’ at the right time. etc.., However, the most surprising challenge we have endured on our road included deeply learning that not all philanthropists are kind, and not all kindness is really valued by people.
It’s been remarkably difficult to expand kindness into many places. It’s like people desire innovative, creative, amazing, artistic products or projects, and they nod their heads a ton in support of the effort, but in the end, they don’t support this kind of thinking with their funding. We believe in the principle that everyone is One-of-a-Kindness ™ and we are looking for ways to help and support teams of these brilliant individuals to form next generation companies that do business more collaboratively and kindly.
I recently did a little research on what programs receive top dollars from philanthropists. And this is what I discovered: The top 10 things Philanthropists support include:
EducationHealthcarePoverty AlleviationEnvironmental ConservationArts and CultureSocial Justice and Civil RightsDisaster ReliefCommunity DevelopmentScience and Research
What’s so interesting to us at Imaginal Ventures is that in all of these arenas, Kindness is the one thing that would serve them all. We know that it’s how we behave as humans that will allow a new kind of business world to emerge, and we need imaginal businesses creating for the future what will actually solve many of these issues that are seen as problems in society. That is why our programs and specialities serve the core of the teams and artists actually starting and building next-generation businesses that features their brilliance as an artist and is based in kindness.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Imaginal Ventures?Our mission is really simple: Share The Imaginal Way© through mentoring, growing, and supporting next generation leaders, inventors, & ideators, to create a world where their businesses support humanity and the earth in kind, respectful, and collaborative ways. We use education, mentoring, and events to accomplish our mission all around the globe.
Our current imaginal companies are primarily focused in the music and entertainment industry, filled with artists, performers, and product makers who
We don’t know of any other non-profit out there who is building a social venture fund to allow us to offer free mentoring, free courses, and to support our events we want to host globally with international artists. This is new, and we are excited to be working on this project while serving as many imaginals to grow their businesses as we can, in advance of this fund coming to fruition. Imaginal Ventures has been self-funded up to this point, and while the results have been amazing, we’d like to go even further with the help of other like-minded philanthropists who see Kindness as the Way to making our world even better.
Our current programs include:Imaginal Mentoring for New & Growing BusinessesKindness Crew Club Development and TrainingCulture of Kindness Business TrainingAmplify Kindness Concert and Event Series
One of the things that does make us really unique is that we have also invented “Kindness Currency” which is an actual coin that we share with members and the people we meet who are exemplifying the principles and characteristics of kindness. This program has been really well received and tends to be one of the ways we get more people interested in being intentionally kind!
Other exciting things we have in the works include that we are collaborating on an Imagine Kindness book series as well as a Kindness Conference that we hope to host on a cruise ship in 2026, bringing together as many purveyors of kindness who want to share stories, best practices, and find one another for collaborations.
We just don’t believe there can be too much intentional, thoughtful, creative kindness in our world, and it will be imaginals who collaboratively invent this new business world we all want to be part of.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?This is always such a difficult question to ask, because my journey has been rather long, and the lessons just keep coming. If I had to distill it all down into one thing, the greatest lesson has been to listen to and trust my inner voice. I keep following that intuitive nudge, with love and surrender, and so far, I have been led to my personal passion and purpose in astounding ways. It hasn’t all been ‘rosey’ but it sure has been fun! And the lesson is to accept it all exactly as it is, and keep feeling my way forward to the better version of myself and those around me.
The second most valuable lesson I’ve learned along the way is that every entrepreneur, imaginal, and creator is a sovereign being, with their own unique histories and stories that inspire them or distract them from achieving their greatest goals. As a mentor to many people who have started and built companies, I have really learned to support them as themselves and not try to make them into someone they are not. What makes companies amazing is when the leaders find their own secret-sauce and put it together with other secret sauces, and it just comes out like the best sauce anyone has ever tasted.
As an example, one of my clients in Los Angeles, Giovanni Loria, is the creator of Black Volt Amplification. He’s a musician, a builder, a songwriter, and a cultural creative who cares deeply about the environment for humanity. This magical mix of backgrounds, skills, and an undying curiosity, has led him to create the world’s best amplifier (that also is a piece of art), made out of reclaimed wood and textiles. They are quite literally the answer to any musician’s dream on so many levels. Black Volt has a certain, “secret sauce” that could never be replicated, and it’s what will make this company even more sought after. Imaginal Ventures is here to mentor and serve people like Gio, so they and their businesses can grow into their fullest capacities. It’s not only an honor, but it’s so incredible to watch.
Another example I can share is a company that has been started by 3 GenZ college graduates who all have experiences, talents, and strengths in core areas of entertainment. O’sky and Blake Lochmandy are from Orlando, but now reside in Culver City, CA. Julia Green is from Virginia, but also now spends all of her time with the Orlando twins. Together they are called BirdBath Entertainment, and they have put together an entire ‘squad’ of creatives who can solve content-creation challenges. They write songs. They produce music. They launch and promote music. They create commercials and videos. They build games. I’m 100% sure there is nothing they can’t do when it comes to giving wings to uplifting content creators. They came to me in the very beginning to find out ‘how’ to build the organization together, because they knew they were more powerful as a group than as individuals. In under 6 months they had their first clients, and they have been busier than they ever imagined. Imaginal Ventures simply mentored them on team dynamics and strategy, and off to the races they went. This is a business that I feel like will be one to watch!
So my personal lessons have been many. My professional lessons have been even more. All I know is that companies don’t become companies without first having people. And if the people start off on the ‘right foot’ they will excel beyond their wildest dreams.
Pricing:
Strategy Accelerator – $3500
Mentoring Teams – $500 – $10,000
Kindness Culture Install – $varies by client
Donations always accepted to help us keep costs low to future imaginals.
Kindness Cruises – Vary by location visited
Contact Info:
Website: www.imaginalventures.org or www.imaginekindness.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imaginal1/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/imaginekindness
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