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P.H: Have you or your co-founder Jonathan ever considered working on the NGO side of the project? You've had an education in business, but have you considered crossing to the other side?

Thum: Well, you've raised the salient point. The two of us are trained business people. Jonathan worked in the government, and I've done some volunteer work and worked to help raise money for nonprofit organizations but am certainly by no means as well experienced as the engineers or executive directors or staff of nonprofits and NGOs. There are existing organizations that need money and the ability to build capacity more than they need another person to come and help run one. We're doing what we can do most effectively, through Ethos, to try and help those organizations not only raise money but also raise awareness.

P.H.: How much do you think the aesthetics of the bottles enhance sales? Did you have a hand in how it looks?

Thum: It's an interesting question. The business is a halfbusiness, half-mission. It's sort of a mission with a business. That's really what Ethos is, a mission with a business. We have customers and we have to compete against other brands, so the appeal of the package is definitely important and the uniqueness of the package is important. We hope that people come to associate that bottle and the Ethos Water logo and all of the other things on that bottle with the mission that we're pursuing. And yes, we actually did all the focus groups in our houses, living rooms, and apartments. The bottle that you're looking at is the bottle that we ended up coming up with, done by a friend of mine.

P.H.: Do you have any advice for socially minded entrepreneurs?

Thum: If you have an idea, if you know what you really feel passionate about, if you know what you really care about, whether it has to do with work or your personal life or whether it has to do with your friends or your family, go do it. Don't do anything just because someone else tells you to do it. Do the things that you think and feel that you want to do. If you have an inkling of an idea of what you really like, pursue it.
And buy more water.