There comes a point in all of our lives, when we look back upon the days that have gone and think about everything we have done so far. How many people we have met, how many lives we have touched and all the good that we have done.

Well, we all do some good in our lives here and there like helping an old lady crossing the road, donating money or clothes for the homeless, supporting our favorite charity and so many other things that define social good.

But in case you want to do more, then you must visit The Union.

The Union is not  just a regular online marketplace, it's more than that... it's a unique website that sells products that support different social causes like Fights for peace in Congo, Job Creation in Northern Thailand, etc.

The Union hosts products that support social causes, the money generated from the sales of each product is donated to a specific cause that the product supports. Currently, there are over 185 products hosted on the website from 25 different companies.

The Union follows the motto -  Everyday goods, doing good. Every day. And very true to their motto, they work!

Apart from selling all sorts of products that support causes, The Union also shares the stories in the process like the impact created, the good done. According to their website, "Each product tells a story, a story of true lasting, sustainable, disruptive change. We're talking about families; generations; governments; individuals".
To know more about The Union read on our exclusive interview with its founders Mitch and Ben.

Happy Reading!

1. Hi Mitch and Ben, please introduce yourselves to our readers.

Mitch: Hey everybody! I'm Mitch Ahlenius, Founding Partner of the Union Co. Ben Juhlin is our Chief Creative and man's pretty much everything on the design and website front of the company.

Ben: I do a lot of the behind the scenes work: Adding products to the site, handling any customer service issues when it comes to the user experience, that kind of thing. Mitch is all about the outreach—constantly trying to connect us with new vendors and get us the exposure we need to drive traffic to the site.

2. What is 'The Union' and the concept behind it? What prompted you guys to come up with it?

The Union is an online collective of brands that provide products that support causes and tell powerful stories in the process. We have everything from necklaces refashioned from bombs that support bomb clearing efforts in Laos, to watches building water wells, jackets that also clothe refugees, and even condoms that fight against AIDS in Haiti. Everyday goods doing good, every day.

Products are storytelling items and when you link commerce to cause, you get a very simple and fertile way to address a problem.

Mitch: I spent some time abroad in South Africa where I worked with a team to launch an entrepreneurial program for local impoverished artisans, kind of at the forefront of this movement of social products. I also got to work with a furniture manufacture in Kwazulu-Natal where I got to hear some cool stories behind products like patio tables and chairs; stories like Ernest Zondi, a 53 year old man who supported 8 children with his income and had dreams of building a house closer to work so that his income wouldn't have to be spent on transportation.

We had a conversation this last December, after over a year of planning, and decided that we didn't need to have everything figured out. We needed to just run with it and take the punches as they come. 35 brands later and sales all over the world, I'm glad we did.

Ben: I worked for Habitat for Humanity on and off for five years and visited to El Salvador with them to build houses and create connections with the locals there. We spent time getting to know those we were helping, and I was able to see the true results of my efforts. But even before that, I knew I wanted to do something that would better the world—start a company that supported a cause. I was having trouble tying down one cause that I wanted to promote and service, so I thought the best thing to do would be to support as many other companies as possible—ones that already supported causes. I figured that was the way I could help the greatest amount of people possible, all at the same time.













What we mean by a 'new kind of commerce' is that products are not ends in and of themselves, but beginnings; that each product would extend well beyond the end user and end up initiating a ripple effect of social good. You change one life but that life in turn will impact others. Good begets good.

4. How is 'The Union' different from other online marketplace like Fancy and Copious?

We love the Fancy and Copious! Super cool concepts. We're different in that we are not user-curated per se, but we have the criteria for products to have an intimate connection to the good they promote. We try to stick to products that specifically try to remedy a social ill. Once 'socially-conscious' products become more prevalent, user-curation would become a necessity... a day I cannot wait for!


























Social good is broad in scope but specific to each product. We generally just try to look for products that go beyond what is expected and find ways to make lives better for people. The problems of this world are immense, complex, and diverse, so creating as many inputs as possible is important to us.

We are different than 'charity' work because we are not 501(c)3 in structure and are strong proponents of the for-profit social revolution. Check out Dan Pallotta's TED Talk 'The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong'. I think it embodies a lot of the mantra we are going for. Profit shouldn't be stigmatized but instead utilized. Otherwise we are just hamstringing our own efforts.

6. Please explain your monetization model to us.

We essentially work as another sales wing out of each company we partner with. We capture an amount of sales and use that to generate digital assets and PR for each of our brands so that we can further evolve this conversation of social good in the public, and draw all the more people to their mission.

A lot of these companies are small teams of dedicated individuals and we work our hardest to make sure we are adding to what they are already doing. It is very much a collaborative effort.

7. I read somewhere on your website that you guys want to travel to all your missions and document the good being of the people done. Have you guys started doing that and what inspired this thought? (Personally, speaking it's a very noble thing to do)

Mitch: Yeah, Ben and I aren't great at working behind a desk. We love being out in the field and hearing about the great work being done. I think that is something that will have to wait until we have scaled appropriately, but yes we want to help communicate the stories of good being done back to the consumer.

Ben: We eventually want to visit all the places associated with our vendors, or at least as many as possible—to see the difference being made around the world. It’s really important to us that we see how all of these vendors are handling the way they do business in support of their causes.

8. What sort of traction are you guys are seeing as far as members are concerned? What is the biggest compliment that you have received for creating the website?

In our first month we have gotten over 10k people to the site and orders all over the world from Brazil to Beijing, to Saskatchewan and Sweden.

9. How are you guys promoting 'The Union'? What do you think is the ideal mix of social, online and offline promotion? What about word-of-mouth promotion?

Anything, everywhere, all the time. Every moment is an opportunity made or lost in this industry. Word-of-mouth is definitely the most powerful and most indicative of the fact that what you're doing is on point. Right now we are focusing on pushing out through trending sites and blogs to attract the most interested consumers to our site. Social is great for keeping your company real, personal, and accessible.

10. What is the fondest memory that the two of you have of the process, from conceiving 'The Union' to having it up and running? What issues/difficulties did you face initially?

It sounds cliche but we're constantly thrilled every time we bring on a new brand or customer. We're always checking our phones for new notifications and it's fun to see them pop up. It is just so validating because when you're pursuing a dream everything is just so unknown.

Every day is a new challenge and constant problem-solving. From building the site to drawing people to it, to making sure it is still working towards what we initially envisioned, it is a constant process of trial and error. I think we really enjoy that challenge.

11. What sort of activities do you guys like to pursue in your free time? Which of these do you find to be most de-stressing? 

Mitch: I have to go on a run or read a book or just go out in the city. It is less about de-stressing and more about creative inspiration. We have put so much into the Union and it is important to realize that you have to be filled up elsewhere from time to time as well.

Ben: I really enjoy the outdoors; whether I am running or hiking or even just walking around the neighborhood I live in, being active outside gives me to time to think and clear my head. Mitch and I are really dedicated to The Union and are working as hard as we can to make it be as successful as possible, but sometimes we just need to step away and unwind so we can come back fresh. It’s the only way we can ensure that The Union is as influential as we want it to be.

12. If both of you could have one superhero (or magical) power each, what would it be and why?

Mitch: Transportation. That way I could talk with everyone face to face...and it would keep travel costs low ;)

Ben: Honestly, I would want to fly, for similar reasons that Mitch would choose transportation—it would make things a lot easier. But I also think flying would also be really exhilarating and a great way to see the world.

13. What are your future plans for 'The Union'? Any new feature(s)/enhancement(s) in the pipeline?

Mitch: We definitely want to pursue our partnership with Neighborhood Film Company and Conscious Minds Productions (my former job) in earnest. And I think the site still has a way to go to reach what we envisioned for it in terms of storytelling and communicating tangibly the work done, but you have to start somewhere!

Ben: I’m constantly tweaking the site and finding ways to make it more engaging and aesthetically pleasing. We just really want it to represent the brand the best way it can so it can communicate the level of quality we’re striving for. Our dreams for The Union are huge—we eventually want to encompass a wide range of services to help the vendors we work with be as successful as possible, whether that means providing marketing or design assistance or anything in between.

Thanks Mitch and Ben for taking out the time and working with us for this interview. We'd like to wish you both and your team at The Union the very best for the future.

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