Social Impact Heroes Helping Our Planet: Why and How Dr Alex Gold Is Helping To Change Our World

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Alex Gold.

Alex Gold (https://dralexgold.com/), Ph.D., author of Leaving Planet Simple: Embracing Sustainability, ESG, and Resilience to Transform Your Business, is the CEO of the North American office for BWD Strategic, which specializes in corporate sustainability strategy and reporting. Gold has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Amherst College and a doctorate in environmental policy and management from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

I was born and raised in Maryland, in some ways quite conventionally — went to the same school from first to 12th grade and went to college like most others. In other ways, it was unconventional — my parents had seven marriages between the two of them, so I’ve been the best man at three weddings involving one of my parents. This led to a sprawling and inclusive family and a “go with the flow” attitude.

You are currently leading a social impact organization that is making a difference for our planet. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change in our world today?

BWD Strategic realizes that sustainability is fundamental to business. So we’re more of a corporate strategy firm than a sustainability consultancy. We partner with organizations large and small — we’ve had clients in the Fortune 10, small-cap, and private. The reason I say we’re more of a corporate strategy firm is because we usually serve as trusted advisors to executives seeking to transform their business to meet the increasing demands they face. While our services may sound familiar — things like materiality assessment, climate scenario analysis, sustainability reporting — we usually implement the services within an annual retainer budget that gives our executive clients certainty and confidence that we are always there working behind the scenes to ensure they stay ahead of the game.

Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?

The reason I started on this cause is because when I was a teenager, I thought it would be important to learn about how the world worked in case society crumbled. This led to the study of human-natural systems and the discipline of resilience science — which has established how our mindset needs to change if we are to succeed as a global species. So while society isn’t crumbling per se and I don’t think I would survive on my own in the wilderness, I do think I have realized that teenage ambition in a way.

Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest them. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?

I appreciate the sentiment that I just got up and did it, but in reality the confidence and drive built up over time — it was probably a collection of “Aha moments.” Some of the key contributors:

• Great mentorship in my PhD program — I struggled a bit with feeling like my work was “enough” (still do sometimes). During my PhD program, I learned how to determine when my work was “good enough” and persuade others.
• My “sideways move” ends up being a career accelerator — In 2016, I took what I thought was a sideways (or backward) move into corporate. My salary was cut in half. But it was at that time that the Paris Agreement was signed and the drive for corporate climate accountability swept the world. Suddenly, the corporate world had a need for my work. This was another “aha moment.” I had done climate scenario analysis during my PhD, and because I was confident my work was “good enough,” I stepped up to apply it.
• Around two years later, a recruiter reached out with a job description that was short and vague. However, when I saw it, I realized that the organization knew what it wanted (sustainability) but didn’t know how to get there. So the job description explained the intent but was light on detail. Because I had gained confidence that my work was “good enough” in the PhD, I got a chance to apply it in corporate, I felt an “aha moment” that I may be able to execute a program from the ground up.
• Then, after a few years there, I realized there may be opportunity to build sustainability programs not just at one company (while working in-house) but at many companies as an advisor.

Many people don’t know the steps to take to start a new organization. What are some of the things or steps you took to get your project started?

Well, nothing gets done alone. I joined forces with the Heilbuth family, the owners of BWD Strategic in Australia, and we agreed to try a U.S. venture. Then it was all about finding more help. My father was an entrepreneur coach, but he died in 2016. He would have been a great help. I reached out to some of his former colleagues, however, who put me in touch with executive coaches, sales coaches, lawyers, etc. I like to think that Dad was able to help me out in the end in this way.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?

When starting a business, there is an interesting internal struggle. There is a serious imposter syndrome and self-doubt that makes you certain it will all fail tomorrow. But there is also a confidence that you have something that will work. The art is focusing both of these poles into the right kind of motivation: enough confidence to get started, and enough doubt to ensure you’re all buttoned up.

This internal struggle became obvious to me soon after moving back to the USA in late 2020 and launching the business. I had applied for some corporate sustainability jobs but didn’t get any interviews. I still had the thought of making BWD work in the USA, but wasn’t sure. At that time, it was peak COVID and so all the conference and networking opportunities were virtual. This made them cheap to attend, so I thought I would sign up to a forum and see what happened. At the virtual forum, there were panel sessions and then “pop-up” networking sessions where you clicked a button in the forum portal and someone else would just appear on the screen. It was a terrifying prospect, to be honest. I remember doing breathing exercises before pushing the button. The standard “what’s the worst that could happen” self-talk, and so on. I finally pushed the button. And as luck would have it, one of the forum organizers happened to be the other attendee who popped up on the screen. I had a chance to introduce myself and the business I was trying to develop. He then suggested I get in touch with someone at AT&T about their sustainability reporting. A few months later we signed AT&T as our first client.

(For the record, no future virtual networking session went that well. But you really only need one good chat to get things going.)

It has been said, that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a humorous mistake that you made when you were first starting and the lesson you learned from that?

As a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, I’ve maintained a relationship with the Australian Consulate here in New York, as part of our attempt to raise awareness of who we are and our unique position as an American-Australian firm. One day, I had the fortune of being introduced to the Consul General and went into his office for an introductory chat. One of my first questions to him was how long he had been in the post and what his plans were as he lives in New York. He proceeded to say, “That is a very apt, and inept, question.” A day or two earlier, the announcement came from Australia that his posting was soon being terminated. In true Australian fashion, his comment was the humorous form of sarcasm and we ended up getting on quite well.

So no matter how much research you’ve done on someone you’re about to meet — you always want to do one last check at the final hour to ensure it’s still current.

None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?

There are a few:

• Professor Michael Hood of Amherst College, who allowed me a rare opportunity to work as a true biologist so early in my career. To Michael, I owe my confidence as a scientist.
• Professor John Merson of the University of New South Wales, who introduced me to resilience science and opened my eyes to the importance of culture and paradigm on everything we do. To John, I owe my confidence as a philosopher and pragmatist.
• The professional colleagues through my corporate career, who were generous with their expertise and who gave me the opportunity to step up. To them, I owe my confidence as a business leader.
• The BWD North America team, who are so smart and dedicated to working anywhere but have chosen to work with me. I get a bit emotional any time I really stop to think about it. To the team, I owe my confidence as a mentor.
• The Heilbuth family who offered me an unmatched opportunity to take their brand to North America — the most rewarding challenge of my career. They saw potential in me that I have not always seen in myself. To the Heilbuths, I owe my confidence as someone who has something to offer the world.

Are there three things the community, society, or politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Politicians can help pivot the mindset of business by requiring more of a focus on the long term. This is inherently part of any business’s objective but often is allowed to be trumped by short-term thinking. When the focus turns to the long term, it becomes obvious that businesses must account for environmental and social change.

Society can help by voting in politicians who do the above.

How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?

It all starts by recognizing that business has always depended on environmental and social resources. Always has, always will. Businesses require energy, which must be harvested from natural resources (oil, gas, solar, wind, etc.), and they require water — obviously a natural resource. They require capable, engaged human beings to do work. These are not “new” things, and so all businesses already intersect with sustainability in some way.

From this starting point, we can understand that by being more efficient with energy or water, businesses can save costs. By looking after employees, businesses can reduce turnover risk and succeed through high retention.

Then there’s the opportunity side. Rapid environmental and social change means that sustainability brings opportunities. If your customer wants to reduce its carbon footprint, you may be able to innovate and reduce the carbon emissions from your products.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

Business development is not linear — When we’ve presented at conferences or met people, we never get asked for work immediately — or even by anyone we meet at those events. However, they tell people about us, and those people tell other people about us, and then we get an email from someone expressing interest.

If you feel your product can make a genuine difference, you owe it to your lead to make the sale — Sales can bring up images of underhanded tactics and a bad taste in people’s mouths. However, I came to see that many potential clients were truly underwater or receiving poor service from another firm. These potential clients are sustainability professionals needing genuine support, so my effort to “sell” to them shouldn’t leave a bad taste. If I am confident in our work, then my “selling” is actually “supporting.”

Do your research on support needs — If lawyers, accountants, and other similar support is priced cheap, then you risk getting what you paid for. As a solo leader, you don’t want to have to have legal, tax, and compliance issues end up on your plate — so it pays to find the right partners early.

Any content is good content — Don’t worry about making the thought leadership article or LinkedIn post perfect. Just getting content out there is what’s important for staying relevant — and if there is a mistake and someone chimes in to correct you, then that’s “engagement”!

You’re not annoying people with an email newsletter, as long as the content is of value — As someone who finds mass emails irritating, it is easy to assume people would find my mass emails irritating. However, in most cases the email lands and is archived. However, in some cases it is read, responded to, links are clicked, and so on. It’s essential for raising awareness — and in the end more people have wanted to subscribe than unsubscribe.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

I would say that we are all having an impact on the environment, and on each other, all the time. It can be intertwined into everything that you do. And I’m not talking about using less plastic or riding your bike to work. I’m referring to something more fundamental.

• If you’re into economics, you can try to pioneer new measures of “progress”
• If you’re into history, you can look into past crises and help ensure they aren’t repeated
• If you’re into science, you can help us better understand our planet
• If you’re into media, you can help address misinformation

There’s a way to make a positive impact across whatever you do. It just involves challenging the existing ways of doing things and joining together to rewrite the rules.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Martha Stewart. Because she trailblazed a path for herself and never apologized for being herself. And I want to hang out with all of her farm animals.

How can our readers follow you online?

www.dralexgold.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralexgold/

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!