Season 2 Episode 007
Linda Cohen
Can a culture of kindness actually improve your financial bottom line? In this episode of the Women’s Million Dollar Conversation, Alice Tang sits down with longtime friend, professional speaker, author, and Oregon’s Global Kindness Ambassador, Linda Cohen (known to many as Your Chief Heart Officer).
Together, they break down why kindness is far from corporate “fluff”—it is a critical, measurable driver of business sustainability, employee retention, and personal freedom.
"Find people to support you who believe in your possibility."
Alice Tang: Good morning everyone. It’s Alice Tang from Portland, Oregon. I am the host of Women’s Million Dollar Conversation, where we interview guest who has earned, made, or saved a million dollars. And sometimes I got the pleasure to interview good friends from the past. Today, we have one of them in front of us. Her name is Linda Cohen. Highly demand for speaking and, author, of two books. So welcome, Linda Cohen. what do you do? Can you tell us a little bit about you?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Thank you so much, Alice. I am a professional speaker and a consultant. I’ve written two books on the topic of kindness. The one is The Thousand Mitzvahs & The Economy of Kindness book. I consult with businesses and organizations and I am going to be named the Global Kindness Ambassador for the State of Oregon from Kindness Worldwide this year, and I’m really excited to be able to see how that opens up collaborative opportunities as well in this space.
Alice Tang: Very good. She is the kindness ambassador. She is the agent of kindness. to kick things off,we like to ask the typical question. Did you earn, save, or sell the first million?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: I would say earn, and it was, alongside my husband. My business was alongside his business as well, and together we have earned and saved, our first million.
Alice Tang: Very good. I’d love to go a level deeper. How long does it take for you to get to that million? Our audience will receive that goosebumps because, you know, it’s a real person.
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Yeah. I mean, for me, I was slow-growing. I definitely was in my own business, so it was probably a decade for us to be able to do that.So not overnight success. And it was also on a shoestring and bootstrapped, at the beginning.
Alice Tang: Very good. So talking about your business, actually, I feel very special that I was there. At National Speakers Association, Oregon, who put together Influence Oregon, and I guess at that time we had maybe 70 to 100 of us in the room. And, I think the emcee asked us to talk about something, and of course, I didn’t have the guts to do anything. But Linda was the first person who ran up the podium and talk about a thousand acts of kindness, So can you just tell us about kindness how it, all kicked off and why is it important to you?
Alice Tang: Very good. So talking about your business, actually, I feel very special that I was there at National Speakers Association, Oregon, who put together Influence Oregon, and I guess at that time we had maybe 70 to 100 of us in the room. And, I think the emcee asked us to talk about something, and of course, I didn’t have the guts to do anything. But Linda was the first person who ran up the podium and talk about a thousand acts of kindness, So can you just tell us about kindness how it, all kicked off and why is it important to you?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: I wanna just say that at the time that I stepped into that Thousand Mitzvahs project, and the word mitzvah is a good deed, it’s an act of kindness in Judaism, in, in Hebrew, and it was this idea of taking that project on after my father passed away. At the time that I took that project on, I had no idea where the business was heading. I was simply grieving for the loss of a parent, trying to find some way to move through that, and that was 2007. That was, you know, a blog. I was writing about it. I was speaking about it, but not in a professional way quite yet, more like for schools and houses of worship that wanted me to come in and speak. And I don’t think at that time I knew the vision of where it was heading until I joined the National Speakers Association and realized that there was actually a profession of speakers. Like, that was actually something you could do. I used to get in trouble for being too talkative growing up. So it was the culmination of this project I had taken on and this idea that there is a profession of speakers, and there’s a need for it. And so that was the beginning of the, “Okay, this is what I wanna do in my next chapter,” was start a speaking business.
Alice Tang: Now going into the business, I’m sure that many, new entrepreneur would love to know about, the following things that I personally want to know. we loved, talking about smart operation. You’ve built a highly agile, low overhead model, using independent contractors. How do you scale your proprietary kindness framework globally without taking on massive overhead of a traditional and heavy agency workforce?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: So how did I do that? I was cheap at the beginning. I mean, I remember you need like a headshot, you need a website, and my website was WordPress, and my headshot was a family friend coming to our house, standing in our backyard, who was like an amateur photographer, putting a cookie sheet with his wife and my husband holding it under my head so I would have lighting, It was not having an office, and not having people who were helping me initially as I figured out who wanted this message, who was interested in kindness.
And I will say that when I started in 2013, I didn’t know the answer to that.I didn’t know who was gonna be interested initially beyond schools, and they didn’t necessarily have money at that time to, to pay a speaker, you know? It was figuring that out and figuring out how to,learn things that were needed to be able to grow a business, and also surrounding myself with people who had already built a successful speaking business, a million-dollar business, attending a national conference with national speakers so I could see the breadth and possibility of this business.
And that really started blowing my mind about what was possible, if I stepped into this, and not only became a speaker, but consultant, and be able to consult with companies and businesses around why this mattered, why this idea of building a culture of kindness really mattered to them. And, it’s gotten even more clear as the years have gone on how important that is for your workforce.
Alice Tang: Yeah. Well, you know, kindness is, could be seen as just fluff, right? so, you’re going into companies to help them to see, you know, this is an important part of it.
Alice Tang: So, a lot of companies, especially the Western companies, are driven by, you know, the return of investment.
And if you are in a room with a CFO who focus on just numbers and bottom line, how would you, share your story or convince them the ROI of kindness is not only important, but essential as the structure of the business?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: First of all, some of the industries I speak in, they’re having retention challenges. They can’t keep their employees. They might not even be able to recruit them. So those two things together, how do you onboard?
How do you, make sure your employees like where you are working? Especially if there’s a staffing shortage. If you get great talent, you wanna keep them, and all of that is based on how do you treat them. That culture of kindness is my employees feel empowered. They feel seen, they feel valued, and they feel recognized that they are a part of this bigger organization.
If you look at your middle managers and you treat them like they are the most essential people in the organization, they’re gonna do the same thing for their employees. So I feel like kindness hits absolutely every piece of productivity, employee morale, being able to recruit great talent and retain them.
All of those have dollar value. So kindness might not be on the spreadsheet, but if you think about all those other sections, kindness is what’s gonna impact it in a positive way
Alice Tang: When you, talked about the, retention and, the health, the mental health, of employees, I, out of the blue, have a thought in my mind and I’m going to share. And a lot of times, I think we run our life too fast, that might negatively imply to people that we don’t care. And especially, when we are driving to a point, you know, somebody who’s taking five minutes to tell me the story, the point, and how can… the person who’s getting a little frustrated to still execute the kindness and say, “I see you, but I need you to get there faster because really, I don’t have time”?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Okay, I have two thoughts. First of all, your words matter so, so much. How you say that, you know, “I love what you’re saying. This is a really important point, but right now I can’t listen as clearly as I would like to. Let’s schedule a time. Let’s make an appointment.” I mean, if you have someone who is a slower talker than you are, you may have to learn the skill to engage with that person in a way that’s going to allow them to speak the way they do. I think as a manager, you have to meet people, where they are, and one of the things I know you were gonna ask me one question, which is,What’s, the first thing you can do? And I would say it’s to get to know your people, to really get to know your people, and you may have to allot more time with the person who’s getting to the subject a little slower.Time is a huge piece of how we engage in, in kindness with somebody that we are working side by side with. So maybe there’s a little give and take both from the leader and the employee. Maybe you ask it in a nice way,but I think ultimately if the end goal is that we wanna have productivity get to the same point, you have to be able to at least be kind in the way you’re saying what you need.,
Alice Tang: yeah, I am so, thrilled that you, said that, you know, because, you know, if I feel frustrated, let’s say I’m the person, the short temper leader, in front of an employee, at the beginning of my life journey, I mean, business management journey, I always feel that how can I change them?
But today, I so absolutely agree with you. I can’t change others. I can only change me. So one of the, little giggle story I have is I did have to ask an employee to come into my room closed door because that’s the best way to share, and the first thing I said was, “I need your help.” I just show cards. I’m a short, fuse person, and looks like I don’t have time, but I do care. I need your help to help me to get to what I need in my mind when you are sharing a piece of important information for me. So think executive summary, and then I’m gonna lead you to tell me like your five pages story if I have 30 minutes. If I have five minutes, me to the coffee room and keep telling me.
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Yeah. I mean, I think that is you being a leader asking for what you need, and some of what I talk about in communication, hard communication is something that people ask me about a lot right now. How do I have the difficult conversations I need to have with an employee who is not performing, or maybe we need to let go?
How do I do that with compassion and kindness? And that has become something that I get asked about regularly, because I think a lot of people are short-fused, and if we think about it, we’ve all been programmed with our phones and our, technology to also need things quickly, I think that’s a collective challenge. So how do we do that? I think it goes down to being human beings. We show up at work. We’re still holding everything else that’s happening outside of our world, and so we have to give each other grace, and forgiveness, and understanding, and if those things are not things you’re cultivating as a leader, your team will feel that. If they’re things you are actively working on, your team will also feel that.
Alice Tang: Crazy good answer. I love it. Now, fear keeps so many women, from taking the leap into entrepreneurship.
Alice Tang: To the woman who’s listening right now who has a great concept but paralyzed by her next big financial or professional step, what’s your advice since you’ve been there?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: I mean, a couple of things I thought of. Number one is find people to support you who believe in your possibility. I did not have a particularly supportive family when I stepped into this work. and so I I created a mastermind group of other entrepreneurial women who I thought could support me as I grew myself. So that would be the first thing, find people who believe in you, maybe even before you believe in yourself, and surround yourself with them, or at least try to make regular conversations with them. You have to jump first before you know what the whole outcome will look like. So I would say find people who are doing what you wanna do and are already successful at it. And I remember sitting with a few of those people from NSA, some other women who were already pretty successful in their own, you know, consulting and speaking, and they believed that I could do it, too. And so they supported that possibility for me. and then I would say, you know, spend your money on personal development, professional development, whatever that looks like. And for me, that was showing up at those conferences, those national conferences year after year to, rub elbows with people who were already doing the work I wanted to do. And even if I had to, you know, on a shoestring, share a room, save and scrimp to be able to get to that conference, show up so that I could be there to be able to, learn what I could learn and take the little nuggets to improve my business.
Alice Tang: Wow. I, want to thank you for, being so transparent or emotionally naked, there is a term there, in sharing, some of the things that you have done because a lot of people, in general, when you say, “How are you? How’s business?” The answer from a man, I mean, no criticism there, but standard, they are more confident. They would say, “Business is good. I’m so good.” For me, the best moment when I, feel like I am growing is when I accept and admit that I’m not doing really well. This one year in September, I would say 15, 20 years ago, I am, you know, 20 to 30% off my year target sitting in September.
Every year I have my target and my goal in order to be evaluated. I ask for help. I just said, you know, “I didn’t know what I did wrong, but I can.” So many people come and help, and I just finish. Barely hit the line, but I did.
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Ask for help, that is so important. I mean, in my world, leaders are getting a little bit more authentic and transparent, and I think talking about what is hard in their businesses. And of course, we’ve had eco- economic changes, so I think people are okay with, “Maybe this year I’m struggling,” you know?
And I know as speakers, people were really honest about that in the last six years, how things had been bumpy for each, for each of us. yeah, I think it’s really important to be honest and ask for help. I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness at all. I think it’s a sign of you being a human being, and I will say we’ve had some bumpy seasons when my husband had medical, you know, challenges, and all I could think about was caring for my husband in a time where I’m trying to grow a business I’m having my own kind of midlife crisis or whatever.
So how do you get through those seasons and come out of them stronger?
Alice Tang: Yes, yes. Linda, I like to, you know, use your word kindness here. you just inspire me. Think asking for help is being kind to yourself. ‘Cause a lot of times, when we don’t ask, it’s like I don’t want to look bad, I don’t want to be perceived as a weak.
Alice Tang: I encourage leaders when I’m talking about kindness to self, it’s your role modeling. You’re role modeling that asking for help is okay. You’re role modeling that creating boundaries and life balance is okay, taking your PTO. If you don’t do that as a leader, your team will not think they can do that either. And I took a sabbatical, Alice, last winter in December. I’ve not taken a sabbatical…
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Actually, I took a sabbatical when my dad died, and I called that a spiritual sabbatical. That was myown personal thing. But this was, I’m closing the business. I’m not gonna be posting on social media. I didn’t have any clients, and I basically took an entire month off at the behest of a coach, a spiritual coach who was advising me, a business coach. and I was terrified. I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, what’s January gonna look like if I take my foot off the gas?” I am so glad I did that. It was absolutely what I needed after a couple of years of, you know, healthcare challenges and stuff going on in our own family, and it was refreshing.
Like, I came back in January totally filled up my bucket. And so I would encourage people… And I came back thinking, “I wanna help other leaders do the same thing.” I don’t think sabbatical and rest should be the thing you do when you’re, going to the doctor ’cause you’re having a health emergency.
It should be what we put into our lives as a regular thing. And in the United States, that is not what we do. You know, vacation is, such a secondary thing in the US, and I think we have to change that. So that’s another piece of my kindness work as I move forward in this next chapter that’s gonna be rest, maybe sabbatical, maybe time off that’s okay and sanctioned by the organizations
Alice Tang: Yeah, there is a lot of, return on investment, for, taking time off. This morning I was talking to another friend,it drives clarity, if nothing else. When you put your mind off, not for a hour, not for a day or a week, but a longer time, out of the blue your mind has a lot of information. You are giving your mind time to connect the dots, and maybe you should not run to the current goal or the current direction. And how did you know that you need to course correct? You have no time to think about it.
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Exactly. Exactly. And I would encourage people, you know, December is actually a pretty great time for a sabbatical because if you take Thanksgiving off anyway and you get a couple days for New Year’s, I ended up with like six weeks closed down and It was fabulous, yeah.
And so I thought last year, “Ooh, could I do this again in December?” I had decided to do that sabbatical literally three weeks before December last year. It was more like I had hit a wall and felt like I was burnt out so deeply that I needed that, not checking email, which for an entrepreneur could feel terrifying, you know?
And I set up a system so that my digital gal behind me could check my email if I wanted to. Guess what? There were like a couple of emails that I actually needed to respond to. Everything else could wait till January.
Alice Tang: Awesome. Well, on Women’s Million Dollar Conversation, we talk a lot about ultimate tipping points. When you stop trading time for money and start using your money to buy back your time, where are you on that spectrum today, Linda? And what is the ultimate luxury or personal freedom that your business success can buy you right now? Because what’s money for is, to serve an end, right? To serve a goal
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Exactly. I think it is, I think I am on the upswing of that. I think that I’ve gotten to the place where together collectively with my husband, who I’ve been married to for 33 years, we are deciding how to live our life, which means getting to the sunshine every winter, and we’ve been doing that now for several years now that we have no children in the house. I actually made a decision I was gonna have a car service going to the airport for all of my work, opportunities. A couple years ago, I just felt like, “I know that a male CEO would do that. Why am I waiting for the Uber or the taxi?” And so I started working with a car service here, and it’s so luxurious to get picked up by a car service that knows me, and they’re waiting for me at the end of the airport after I come home from a trip.
And it is just, it’s really changed my mindset. even traveling with a higher mindset. I wanna sit in business class. I feel like that allows me to think like I am a million, you know, like a millionaire,
Alice Tang: Yeah, yeah. So funny that you said that. So I look like a millionaire, but she is. Yeah. When it’s all said and done, and you’re looking at the ripple effects of your business and really your good deed, this, because you’re doing what you love to do, which is awesome, what is the ultimate legacy, you want to leave the world, or how would you like to be remembered?
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: I feel like my legacy is already, it’s already here. I raised two fantastic children with my husband. I’m so proud of them and watching them blossom. I know people think of me as the kindness catalyst. I mean, I get emails every week from somebody who hears a story and thinks of me. So whatever I have done, and I will thank my father because I feel like there has been divine providence in this whole journey, since his passing in 2006, to propel me to this next part of my life and using the skills that, he and my mom gave me to do work in this world that feels really important.
Alice Tang: Wow. What a beautiful closing. thank you for sharing the time with me and our audience, and your, living example and role modeling to the world definitely has made a huge impact to many, including me. You were kind enough to come into an event that we host and, helpwoman, who learned about kindness and about your story of, the economy of kindness.
Alice Tang: Linda, we love you. We thank you
Linda Cohen, Your Chief Heart Officer: Thank you, Alice.
Linda Cohen is an international keynote speaker, author, and consultant who believes kindness isn’t just a feel-good idea, it’s a powerful strategy for
leadership, culture, and connection.
Known as The Kindness Catalyst, Linda brings warmth, humor, and decades of lived experience to her programs. Her work is grounded in the belief that when people feel seen, appreciated, and supported, they do their best work; whether they’re leading teams, serving customers, or caring for others.
Her journey began in hospitality and long-term care, deepened through
motherhood and volunteer leadership, and took center stage when she
launched her first book, 1,000 Mitzvahs: How Small Acts of Kindness Can Heal,
Inspire, and Change Your Life. That project sparked a movement and led to a
TEDx talk, national media appearances, and the kind of speaking career she
once only dreamed of.
In 2021, she published her second book, The Economy of Kindness: How
Kindness Transforms Your Bottom Line, bringing her message to the heart of
business strategy and organizational culture.
Today, Linda shares the ROI of Kindness with audiences across industries
including healthcare, senior living, education, government, financial services,
and more through keynotes, leadership training, and consulting and executive
coaching. Her programs are practical, filled with real life stories and examples,
and deeply rooted in helping people build better workplaces through small,
consistent acts of kindness.
Whether she’s guiding a leadership cohort, speaking to 1,000 middle schoolers,
or consulting with a CEO, Linda helps people see that kindness isn’t weakness,
it’s what makes strong teams, meaningful work, and lasting impact possible.