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Social Starters: Make changing the world your business
Social Make Changing The World Your Business
is a call to action for anyone seeking meaning beyond the
grind. Do you long to leave the world in a better place than
when you entered it? Are you asking the question ‘is this it?’
about your life and career?
“Andrea Gamson is a brave writer and her wonderful book,
Social Starters, will nourish the spirit of the reader. Written
with a sense of humour, this book will help to arouse the
courage of those who are struggling to find meaning and
purpose in their work and in life. With some inspiring stories
and examples, the book shows that being a social activist is
not just an ideal for the few, but it is a necessary and effective
way to be for the many. With imagination and determination,
we all can be social starters and good leaders in our fields.”
- Satish Kumar
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill business book, it’s for
professionals who long to leave the world in a better place
than when they entered it.. The 30 assignments are more
than stories and coaching tools, they are a blueprint for
business leaders to transform themselves, their careers, their
companies and the world. The life you currently lead does
not have to be it.
is a call to action for anyone seeking meaning beyond the
grind. Do you long to leave the world in a better place than
when you entered it? Are you asking the question ‘is this it?’
about your life and career?
“Andrea Gamson is a brave writer and her wonderful book,
Social Starters, will nourish the spirit of the reader. Written
with a sense of humour, this book will help to arouse the
courage of those who are struggling to find meaning and
purpose in their work and in life. With some inspiring stories
and examples, the book shows that being a social activist is
not just an ideal for the few, but it is a necessary and effective
way to be for the many. With imagination and determination,
we all can be social starters and good leaders in our fields.”
- Satish Kumar
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill business book, it’s for
professionals who long to leave the world in a better place
than when they entered it.. The 30 assignments are more
than stories and coaching tools, they are a blueprint for
business leaders to transform themselves, their careers, their
companies and the world. The life you currently lead does
not have to be it.
328 pages, Paperback
Published July 13, 2025
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 3, 2025
Destined to be on the ‘books you must read before you die (or stop working)’ list
Let me start with a word of caution about this book: it isn’t for everyone. And I don’t mean in terms of writing style, but rather its very deliberately and carefully written for people who have already embarked on their corporate careers, and are able to pause (if only for an hour) during the day/week to take time out to reflect/read/think. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t things of value and encouragement for others; it just means that if you’re not this person, you may struggle with some parts of it. But that’s a good thing, as there’s very little out there for this group of working professionals to appropriately challenge, encourage, nurture, and support them as they figure out where they want to fit into making their respective dents in the universe that will ultimately be of benefit to us all as fellow human beings.
And now for all the stuff about it which makes it a book that (nearly) everyone should read at least once in their lives:
- It’s a collection of over 40 books that you know you should, and want, to read to better figuring out how to use your working life for the better (but never get around too), and which have been seamlessly mixed with lots of rich stories that make you wonder how Andrea is (1) still alive, and (2) not in prison.
- It’s welcomingly frank about the harsh realities of what it’s like to commit to ‘doing good work’ while needing to pay your bills – but with a range of practical strategies and tactics to manage these often-squeaky-bum-moment times.
- Andrea’s approach (thankfully) doesn’t judge us personally, if we feel we’re struggling with any of the ideas or challenges that are set out. It also doesn’t judge the efforts of others for what they’ve created, because it recognises that in this messy world we live in, there are no ideal or perfect choices we can make - there’s always a cost or trade off somewhere, and its up to us in how we approach reconciling these (e.g. profiling a social enterprise as an example of practice, but carefully avoiding highlighting that while their profits are used for good, the product they offer to generate these is one of the most environmentally damaging to the planet…)
- There’s an honesty about the risks and time needed of/to being a social starter: it’s very risky, won’t be quick, and things often don’t completely work out the first time round. But it equally offers lots of encouragements and tools for how we build the resilience we need to help sustain our commitments to keep going, until it does all start to flow. It’s also refreshing to read the recognition that not everything we start should run forever – some ventures and initiatives have a naturally shorter lifespan than others, and we should celebrate these when they end/complete, to help spur us on for the next adventure we embark on.
- In an age when we seem to be encouraged to be saying no to more things, it’s great to read arguments that echo the ones I’ve also shared with others over the years, as to why we should follow Danny Wallace’s historical example of saying ‘yes’ to everything instead.
- It debunks myths and truths illusions to make sure we know the hard truths about why we can’t and shouldn’t assume someone else will pay us to work it all out, and set up our great social idea.
- There’s an important reframing of how we think about ‘profit’ as not only being how we’re paying todays bills, but also how what we’re creating will be of worth and value for those that follow us once we’re gone.
And in delivering on all of the above, it draws on research, studies, and all sorts of other wondrous reference material (including the seminal Father Ted TV show, as well as BDSM dungeons - although I was a little saddened not to see this story being further explored, as I did when I talked about S&M clubs in relation to social enterprise and entrepreneurship my recent book). As such, it shows our brains not only what’s do-able, but must-able.
From a very personal perspective, I felt that there was a small blind spot in the book, based on the understanding of the realities of who the intended reader is of it – there’s no reference to those of us who may have ongoing unpaid caring responsibilities for spouses, siblings, parents, or children with additional health and care needs; and how these influence and constrain how we may be able (or not) to approach a rethinking of our work and how we support ourselves (and others who may depend on us). Given that at some point in our lives we’ll all either need to care for someone (a trend which is currently seeing 600 people a day being forced to quit their jobs), or need care from someone else, this is a perspective which we’ll doubtless start to see and hear more about emerge in the future.
However, reading it feels like having a personal and live-changing conversation with Andrea over a drink of your favourite coffee / tea / gin / cocktail. And that’s always time well spent for anyone!
Let me start with a word of caution about this book: it isn’t for everyone. And I don’t mean in terms of writing style, but rather its very deliberately and carefully written for people who have already embarked on their corporate careers, and are able to pause (if only for an hour) during the day/week to take time out to reflect/read/think. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t things of value and encouragement for others; it just means that if you’re not this person, you may struggle with some parts of it. But that’s a good thing, as there’s very little out there for this group of working professionals to appropriately challenge, encourage, nurture, and support them as they figure out where they want to fit into making their respective dents in the universe that will ultimately be of benefit to us all as fellow human beings.
And now for all the stuff about it which makes it a book that (nearly) everyone should read at least once in their lives:
- It’s a collection of over 40 books that you know you should, and want, to read to better figuring out how to use your working life for the better (but never get around too), and which have been seamlessly mixed with lots of rich stories that make you wonder how Andrea is (1) still alive, and (2) not in prison.
- It’s welcomingly frank about the harsh realities of what it’s like to commit to ‘doing good work’ while needing to pay your bills – but with a range of practical strategies and tactics to manage these often-squeaky-bum-moment times.
- Andrea’s approach (thankfully) doesn’t judge us personally, if we feel we’re struggling with any of the ideas or challenges that are set out. It also doesn’t judge the efforts of others for what they’ve created, because it recognises that in this messy world we live in, there are no ideal or perfect choices we can make - there’s always a cost or trade off somewhere, and its up to us in how we approach reconciling these (e.g. profiling a social enterprise as an example of practice, but carefully avoiding highlighting that while their profits are used for good, the product they offer to generate these is one of the most environmentally damaging to the planet…)
- There’s an honesty about the risks and time needed of/to being a social starter: it’s very risky, won’t be quick, and things often don’t completely work out the first time round. But it equally offers lots of encouragements and tools for how we build the resilience we need to help sustain our commitments to keep going, until it does all start to flow. It’s also refreshing to read the recognition that not everything we start should run forever – some ventures and initiatives have a naturally shorter lifespan than others, and we should celebrate these when they end/complete, to help spur us on for the next adventure we embark on.
- In an age when we seem to be encouraged to be saying no to more things, it’s great to read arguments that echo the ones I’ve also shared with others over the years, as to why we should follow Danny Wallace’s historical example of saying ‘yes’ to everything instead.
- It debunks myths and truths illusions to make sure we know the hard truths about why we can’t and shouldn’t assume someone else will pay us to work it all out, and set up our great social idea.
- There’s an important reframing of how we think about ‘profit’ as not only being how we’re paying todays bills, but also how what we’re creating will be of worth and value for those that follow us once we’re gone.
And in delivering on all of the above, it draws on research, studies, and all sorts of other wondrous reference material (including the seminal Father Ted TV show, as well as BDSM dungeons - although I was a little saddened not to see this story being further explored, as I did when I talked about S&M clubs in relation to social enterprise and entrepreneurship my recent book). As such, it shows our brains not only what’s do-able, but must-able.
From a very personal perspective, I felt that there was a small blind spot in the book, based on the understanding of the realities of who the intended reader is of it – there’s no reference to those of us who may have ongoing unpaid caring responsibilities for spouses, siblings, parents, or children with additional health and care needs; and how these influence and constrain how we may be able (or not) to approach a rethinking of our work and how we support ourselves (and others who may depend on us). Given that at some point in our lives we’ll all either need to care for someone (a trend which is currently seeing 600 people a day being forced to quit their jobs), or need care from someone else, this is a perspective which we’ll doubtless start to see and hear more about emerge in the future.
However, reading it feels like having a personal and live-changing conversation with Andrea over a drink of your favourite coffee / tea / gin / cocktail. And that’s always time well spent for anyone!
Displaying 1 of 1 review