<![CDATA[Looky Here]]>Looky Here asks a simple question: in late stage capitalism, are there still glimmers of humanity? Every episode looks for the answer in brands that actually give back, whether that's a donation, a cut of every sale, or something else real. Some weeks that's a conversation with the people running one of those brands. Other weeks it's just me, working through why more companies don't do it. I'm Alyssa. I also run Good Looks, a marketplace built around brands like that, and this is where I get to talk about it instead of just building it.

]]>https://www.shopgoodlooks.comRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Sun, 08 Nov 2026 07:05:38 GMTTue, 15 Sep 2026 16:10:28 GMT60Alyssa @ Good Looks<p>Looky Here asks a simple question: in late stage capitalism, are there still glimmers of humanity? Every episode looks for the answer in brands that actually give back, whether that's a donation, a cut of every sale, or something else real. Some weeks that's a conversation with the people running one of those brands. Other weeks it's just me, working through why more companies don't do it. I'm Alyssa. I also run Good Looks, a marketplace built around brands like that, and this is where I get to talk about it instead of just building it.</p>episodicAlyssa @ Good Looksalyssa@shopgoodlooks.comno<![CDATA[Ep. 2 | Doing Good Should Look Cool: Inside Boom Impact Company]]>Keith and Phil had been selling cause-driven shirts as Happy Bombs for nearly ten years when a test print of one design kept getting the same reaction. Whenever they wore it to the gym or out, strangers would walk by and say “boom.” Around 2020 they took the hint, dropped the old name, and rebuilt the brand around that one word.

Phil Henson and Keith Manning met 17 years ago as a writer-and-designer team at a Boston ad agency. Both were tired of putting their creativity toward selling other people’s products, so they started building Boom Impact Company on the side, mostly on midnight calls between two coasts. Boom makes streetwear-style graphic tees designed by artists, and its model gives 10% to the artist, 10% to creators, and 10% to a nonprofit partner. If you’ve ever wondered why most cause merch looks like a free shirt from a charity walk, this episode covers what they borrowed from streetwear drop culture to change that. It also covers how they vet nonprofits and the parts of their process they’re still rethinking.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How a meeting where everyone compared their Livestrong bracelets planted the idea, and why they wanted cause merch to be cooler than a pink ribbon
  • The 10/10/10 model, and what finance people ask when they hear it
  • Why strangers saying “boom” at the gym convinced them to scrap a brand name they’d been building for nearly a decade
  • How a writer and a designer with three kids each and full-time jobs divide the work
  • What Saturday morning runs past the streetwear drop lines on Melrose taught them about community, and why they designed the logo as a blank shell for artists to fill
  • How they find their artists, including one whose entire style is drippy pizza, and why artists now reach out to them first
  • The filter they use to choose nonprofits, why “we raise awareness” doesn’t pass it, and what made Active Minds the partner for their mental health collection
  • Why they’ve always launched a collection before securing the nonprofit partner, and why they’ve gone back and forth on flipping that order
  • How having no budget for photoshoots became part of the site’s look
  • What’s next: a relaunch of the Fight Hunger collection, a clean water collection after the holidays, and an “impact board” of influential people from different communities

RESOURCES MENTIONED
Boom Impact Company: https://boomimpact.co/
Boom Impact Company on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boomimpact.co
Boom Impact Company on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@boomimpact.co
Active Minds: https://www.activeminds.org/
Good Looks: https://shopgoodlooks.com/

CONNECT WITH GOOD LOOKS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodlookshq
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopgoodlooks

]]>8ec80a1d-c53a-4a52-a006-868d0d3f0b66Tue, 27 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT<p>Keith and Phil had been selling cause-driven shirts as Happy Bombs for nearly ten years when a test print of one design kept getting the same reaction. Whenever they wore it to the gym or out, strangers would walk by and say “boom.” Around 2020 they took the hint, dropped the old name, and rebuilt the brand around that one word.</p><p>Phil Henson and Keith Manning met 17 years ago as a writer-and-designer team at a Boston ad agency. Both were tired of putting their creativity toward selling other people’s products, so they started building Boom Impact Company on the side, mostly on midnight calls between two coasts. Boom makes streetwear-style graphic tees designed by artists, and its model gives 10% to the artist, 10% to creators, and 10% to a nonprofit partner. If you’ve ever wondered why most cause merch looks like a free shirt from a charity walk, this episode covers what they borrowed from streetwear drop culture to change that. It also covers how they vet nonprofits and the parts of their process they’re still rethinking.</p><p>IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:</p><ul><li>How a meeting where everyone compared their Livestrong bracelets planted the idea, and why they wanted cause merch to be cooler than a pink ribbon</li><li>The 10/10/10 model, and what finance people ask when they hear it</li><li>Why strangers saying “boom” at the gym convinced them to scrap a brand name they’d been building for nearly a decade</li><li>How a writer and a designer with three kids each and full-time jobs divide the work</li><li>What Saturday morning runs past the streetwear drop lines on Melrose taught them about community, and why they designed the logo as a blank shell for artists to fill</li><li>How they find their artists, including one whose entire style is drippy pizza, and why artists now reach out to them first</li><li>The filter they use to choose nonprofits, why “we raise awareness” doesn’t pass it, and what made Active Minds the partner for their mental health collection</li><li>Why they’ve always launched a collection before securing the nonprofit partner, and why they’ve gone back and forth on flipping that order</li><li>How having no budget for photoshoots became part of the site’s look</li><li>What’s next: a relaunch of the Fight Hunger collection, a clean water collection after the holidays, and an “impact board” of influential people from different communities</li></ul><p>RESOURCES MENTIONED<br />Boom Impact Company: <a href="https://boomimpact.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://boomimpact.co/</a><br />Boom Impact Company on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/boomimpact.co" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/boomimpact.co</a><br />Boom Impact Company on TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@boomimpact.co" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.tiktok.com/@boomimpact.co</a><br />Active Minds: <a href="https://www.activeminds.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.activeminds.org/</a><br />Good Looks: <a href="https://shopgoodlooks.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://shopgoodlooks.com/</a></p><p>CONNECT WITH GOOD LOOKS<br />Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/goodlookshq" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/goodlookshq</a><br />TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@shopgoodlooks" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.tiktok.com/@shopgoodlooks</a></p>no01:07:512Ep. 2 | Doing Good Should Look Cool: Inside Boom Impact Companyfull<![CDATA[Ep. 1 | From Bar Napkin to Bestseller: Inside Windy City Comfort Project]]>Jon looked at the numbers, saw every bill paid with money still in the account, and whispered, "I think this means we're profitable,". That moment is the story behind Windy City Comfort Project: steady, deliberate growth, built one order at a time.

After 20+ years in corporate retail operations, Jon left to build a blanket and towel brand with his wife, Cheryl. For every item they sell, they donate a blanket. It's a real blanket, not a percentage of revenue - they are shipped in bulk to partners like A Safe Haven and Family Shelter Service. If you've ever wondered whether "gifts that give back" do what they claim, this episode walks through the real mechanics: the math, what shelters ask for, and the products they've turned down because the give-back numbers didn't work.

IN THIS EPISODE,  YOU WILL LEARN:

  • Why they chose one-for-one over a percentage of sales, and why Jon thinks percentage models "get lost"
  • What the donated blanket is, why it's different from the ones they sell, and how one shipment ended up serving six different uses
  • How they picked their first shelter partner from a shortlist of three, and why their second came from the first running out of room
  • The 0% APR card that got them through their first year
  • How a bar napkin sketch became their bestselling summer Turkish towel, made by a manufacturer who DM'd them on Instagram and followed up six months to the day
  • Why they say no to some product ideas even when customers are asking
  • What it sounds like when a customer tells you the shelter you support once helped them

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Windy City Comfort Project: https://windycitycomfortproject.com/

Windy City Comfort Project on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/windycitycomfortproject

A Safe Haven: https://www.asafehaven.org/

Family Shelter Service:https://www.metrofamily.org/FSSofMFSD/

Good Looks: https://shopgoodlooks.com/

CONNECT WITH GOOD LOOKS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodlookshq

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopgoodlooks


]]>adb237df-8994-49f1-9310-c7d8f3c260f9Tue, 22 Sep 2026 17:22:29 GMT<p>Jon looked at the numbers, saw every bill paid with money still in the account, and whispered, "I think this means we're profitable,". That moment is the story behind Windy City Comfort Project: steady, deliberate growth, built one order at a time.</p><p>After 20+ years in corporate retail operations, Jon left to build a blanket and towel brand with his wife, Cheryl. For every item they sell, they donate a blanket. It's a real blanket, not a percentage of revenue - they are shipped in bulk to partners like A Safe Haven and Family Shelter Service. If you've ever wondered whether "gifts that give back" do what they claim, this episode walks through the real mechanics: the math, what shelters ask for, and the products they've turned down because the give-back numbers didn't work.</p><p><b><strong>IN THIS EPISODE,  YOU WILL LEARN:</strong></b></p><ul><li>Why they chose one-for-one over a percentage of sales, and why Jon thinks percentage models "get lost"</li><li>What the donated blanket is, why it's different from the ones they sell, and how one shipment ended up serving six different uses</li><li>How they picked their first shelter partner from a shortlist of three, and why their second came from the first running out of room</li><li>The 0% APR card that got them through their first year</li><li>How a bar napkin sketch became their bestselling summer Turkish towel, made by a manufacturer who DM'd them on Instagram and followed up six months to the day</li><li>Why they say no to some product ideas even when customers are asking</li><li>What it sounds like when a customer tells you the shelter you support once helped them</li></ul><p><b><strong>RESOURCES MENTIONED</strong></b></p><p>Windy City Comfort Project: <a href="https://windycitycomfortproject.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://windycitycomfortproject.com/</a></p><p>Windy City Comfort Project on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/windycitycomfortproject" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/windycitycomfortproject</a></p><p>A Safe Haven: <a href="https://www.asafehaven.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.asafehaven.org/</a></p><p>Family Shelter Service:<a href="https://www.metrofamily.org/FSSofMFSD/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.metrofamily.org/FSSofMFSD/</a></p><p>Good Looks: <a href="https://shopgoodlooks.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://shopgoodlooks.com/</a></p><p><b><strong>CONNECT WITH GOOD LOOKS</strong></b></p><p>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/goodlookshq" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/goodlookshq</a></p><p>TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@shopgoodlooks" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://www.tiktok.com/@shopgoodlooks</a></p><p><br /></p>no00:56:271Ep. 1 | From Bar Napkin to Bestseller: Inside Windy City Comfort Projectfull