Designing a Purpose and Strategy with Eric Ressler

This episode of The Purposeful Strategist features Eric Ressler, founder and CEO of social impact creative agency Cosmic. Host Belden Menkus sits down with Eric to discuss the work at Cosmic, what it takes to embrace and stick with a new purpose and strategy, and why doing so is both the toughest and best thing an organization can possibly do. Cosmic aims to move humanity forward through the social impact space, an effort that requires a continually evolving development strategy. Their conversation is filled with insights and lessons learned from Cosmic’s growth journey and Eric’s advice for shaping a more powerful purpose and strategy.

“There’s this transition period that’s really scary, but ultimately if you can bridge that transition, that’s when you start to really reap the benefits.”

Episode Highlights

• The inspiration behind Cosmic’s focus on the purposeful digital experience. [1:37]
• Nailing the impact story is essential in presenting an organization's mission in a compelling and engaging way. [4:55]
• What role does design play in creating positive social change? [6:40]
• The development of Cosmic’s dedicated purpose of empowering other agencies. [8:18]
• Cosmic’s process of moving humanity forward through the social impact space. [13:31]
• Eric details Cosmic’s continually evolving development strategy. [17:48]
• The hardest part of scaling awareness and impact efforts in the attention economy. [21:20]
• The most surprising part of Cosmic’s growth journey. [23:24]
• Lessons learned as he navigated strategic and bold growth. [27:23]
• Eric’s advice for shaping purpose and strategy. [29:04]