Social Impact Leaders — Interview w/ Liza Streiff
Liza Streiff is passionate about helping people reach their potential and thrive. As CEO of Knopman Marks Financial Training, Liza gets to explore the intersection of learning, wellbeing and performance. Whether it’s brainstorming with her incredible team about how to unlock student potential, advising financial firms about how to empower their people, or working with students directly to help them overcome obstacles, Liza brings innovative approaches to training in the financial industry. Liza is focused on building a future where more people have the training, tools, and mindset that enables them to thrive.
REMINDER: The key to performance in any industry is optimism and grit. Whatever you’re after today, believe you CAN do it and keep going.
Social Impact — What meaning do you personally associate with this term?
There are different ways you can interpret it. Social impact is just impact, at the end of the day. I simplify it: it’s anything from large initiatives that we hear about in the news to the seemingly insignificant interactions at work, the way that we treat somebody when standing in line at the coffee shop. The tiny moments are ways we’re impacting the world around us everyday, and they add up. When I think of social impact, I think of large and small — all the big things we work towards, but also the really tiny interactions, how you treat your kids, your team, a stranger. Those interactions really matter.
Social Responsibility — What is your best practice to integrate it into your daily life?
In some ways, very similar to the above. At face value, it’s a very simple concept: let me be responsible (socially, how I live my life, acknowledging repercussions for others). In practice, it is very difficult to live out day to day. Think back to the tried and true lines we know, like treating others how you want to be treated. These are the basic human principles we want to live by. They seem simple, but they’re not easy. We have to take responsibility and ownership that our actions today play a role. Put a filter into your daily practice. Check in with yourself throughout the day — is this helping others? Am I treating others the way I want to be treated? What am I sending my kid to school with today — double checking in those moments. It’s not only about business decisions. If we’re in a vacuum that it’s only about me, my team, my business, we’re not thinking beyond, to where the impact lies.
Conscious Living — Why is it important to live our life consciously? And how do our actions influence and affect each other, and therefore connect us?
The opposite of being apathetic — defy the thought that it doesn’t matter whether I recycle, order online with a ton of shipping materials. Own that we are all connected; my little action does have an adverse reaction. It all matters. The little things matter as much as the big ones. It builds — every little thing goes into the next decision and daily practice.
Change — What do you personally think needs to change — from a consumer perspective and within the corporate world?
Try not to be negative. Don’t be judgmental. We all need to change. For sure there’s a state of overall greed, in the Western world that there’s never enough. We’re being whisked around, thinking “I have to do this, I have to go there, I need to accomplish that,” more, and now, and faster. There is a never-ending thread of the news cycle, notifications, leading to a materialistic way of existing and always thinking about conveniences. It’s over the top. We are very connected to the corporate world. Consumer to corporate is losing its distance. We live in a culture of instant gratification. In our work at Knopman Marks, we are INTERRUPTING that hamster wheel of the corporate world. If we’re going to move forward in anything, we start at the beginning. As we train you, we want you to learn, grow, advance. We start careers from a place of calm and peace and wellness. If we operate at our best, we learn and grow from that place. Get in touch with your why. Be intentional about showing up today. It should be a pull that propels you, vs. pushing yourself to do things you have to, or should do. Find meaning in what you do; take a step back. Focus more long-term vs. now/convenient/short term. Be intentional with our actions and where we want to go. Finally, think about how this impacts others down the road!
Is there anything you would like to share that we have not asked you here?
We can’t change the world from a state of hate and anxiety and stress. It’s important to own your opinions, stay authentic, and be intentional, if not spiritual. There is more to life and existence than, “did I get that thing that I wanted to order on Amazon that came with tons of packaging but was super convenient and exactly what I thought I needed?” We must focus on the broader reality that we don’t fully understand the world around us, but knowing what we don’t know makes us aware, and more likely to solve problems. Make life better for others and bring more love into the world. There is no world peace until there is inner peace!
THANK YOU!
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Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on Social Impact:
Hello! I am a serial entrepreneur practising conscious entrepreneurship. This is an interview series about social responsibility and the best practices in incorporating it into our daily lives.
Every day, we make an impact consciously and subconsciously. It is implemented through our actions.
A great example of this is the practice of our Purchasing Power where we can actually direct our impact by consciously deciding which brands and companies we nourish.
I interview change advocates about best practices for incorporating social consciousness into our daily lives, and practices in the business world that need to change for the benefit of social responsibility.
With this interview, we invite the reader to reflect their every day actions. We all have an impact, and if we are consciously aware of that, we can be empowered to start the change for a better future.
Thank you for being the change. I’m looking forward to learn from each one of you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
