True Confessions

Attendees are given the opportunity to hear from leading entrepreneurs who will share their trials, tribulations and triumphs in creating socially responsible businesses. These personal and intimate “confessions” are instrumental learning moments around the challenges and successes of building businesses focused on a triple (double) bottom line.

John Fluevog, Founder of Fluevog Shoes
John Fluevog is an independent West Coast designer and retailer of forward-thinking footwear, who has been creating ‘unique souls’ since 1970. His earliest customers included The Beach Boys, Alice Cooper, filmmaker Robert Altman and a slew of slightly less famous Fluevogers. After spending a summer hitchhiking down the west coast witnessing the 1960s Social Revolution first hand, John returned to his hometown of Vancouver and began working for Sheppard’s Shoes. In 1970, he joined forces with fellow co-worker Peter Fox to start up their own show store in historic Gastown. The partnership, known simply as “Fox and Fluevog” lasted over ten years at which time the two split amicably, leaving John to open the first John Fluevog Shoes in downtown Vancouver.

Judy Wicks, Founder of the White Dog Cafe
In 1983, Judy Wicks founded the White Dog Cafe on the first floor of her house on a row of Victorian brownstones in West Philadelphia.  After helping to save her block from demolition to make way for a proposed mall, Judy grew what began as a tiny muffin shop into a 200-seat restaurant featuring fresh local food with a national reputation for community involvement, environmental stewardship, responsible business practices, and leadership in the local economy movement.  In 2009, Judy sold the company through a unique exit strategy that preserves White Dog’s sustainable business practices and maintains local, independent ownership.