In this episode I sit down with Kim De Coster to explore how purposeful partnerships can help you turn passion into profit—without losing sight of meaning. We talk about Kim's compass of passion, purpose, and profit, and how to navigate its four quadrants: from the Profit Trap that keeps us stuck, to the Power quadrant where passion meets impact. Together, we dive into finding your right crowd, knowing your values and non-negotiables, and the difference between a simple collaboration and a true partnership. You'll also hear how to test partnerships safely, have the money and vulnerability conversations that matter, and why profit is about more than money—it's about joy, energy, and freedom. This conversation will inspire you to create aligned, impactful partnerships that strengthen both your business and the change you want to see in the world. In this episode we discussed: The balance of passion, purpose, and profit – the trifecta for meaningful work Kim's compass with four quadrants: Pitfall, Profit Trap, Progress, and Power Why the Profit Trap feels safe but keeps you stuck, and how to move out of it The importance of being in the right crowd and finding your people The difference between collaborations and partnerships Knowing your values, principles, and non-negotiables before stepping into partnership How to test partnerships with small experiments (like co-hosting an event) The role of vulnerable conversations around money, concerns, and expectations Why profit isn't just money—it's also joy, energy, time, and freedom The reminder that good people making good money creates more positive impact Practical first steps: start with your existing network, ask for introductions, or join/create the right "room" -- Speaker 0: hey, kim. it's good to hang out with you and talk about Speaker 1: passion, profit, and partnership. Speaker 2: hello. it's great to be here. thank you for the invite. it's always a pleasure. Speaker 1: yeah. um, we're here because you're part of the humane marketing circle community. and during our last expo, you proposed a great workshop, which i missed, but luckily there was a replay. so i got to see that, um, around this topic of passion, purpose, and profit. right? it's kinda like this trifecta, those three things that, uh, go together. and, um, i yeah. i just thought it was such a great topic and it fits my seventh p of the human in marketing mandala, which is partnership. and so i thought it'd be really great to talk about it here on the, on the podcast. to people will be listening. and so you just have to kind of explain the four different components of this compass. Speaker 2: um, so for me, first of all, the compass is kind of before you start going into partnerships and so on and so on. i think the first very step is where am i currently at? and that's what the compass is for, to kind of see where do i start from. so you have, um, two things we'd be measuring somehow, which is on the one hand, you have passion on the lower end, and then you have purpose. and, obviously, you can work low on passion, or you can work high on passion. and then the same thing for purpose. low on purpose or high on purpose. before i explain, like, the four quadrants we've made, i do wanna make it clear what i mean with purpose and passion. so purpose for me because you hear the word a lot and also passion, they're a bit overused probably. but, um, purpose for me is not just what is my purpose, it's a positive impacts purpose on planet and society, so on planet and people. right. and because i'm all about sustainability. so that for me is, are you working alone? does it have not really an impact, a positive impact on planet or society, on humanity, or does it really have a high impact? so that's where the purpose lies. and then passion, we can all be passionate about stuff and let's be honest, everybody that has a business or has a job, there's always things even if you're passionate about what you do, there's always things you like more and you like less in every single job. but let's say that, like, 85% of your time, you're working on something that you really, really like almost to that effect that it doesn't feel like you're working because you enjoy it so much. Speaker 1: that's yeah. Speaker 2: the feeling that's passion for me. Speaker 1: yeah. so Speaker 2: there's four quadrants. one is low on passion, low on purpose, which is i'm not really doing what i'm enjoying, and it does not even create a positive impact. um, that one is called, um, the pitfall. and then you have the right next to it, which is you're still low on purpose, but you're really high on passion. you love what you do, but it doesn't have that positive impact on the rest of the world, let's say, like that. Speaker 1: so it's kind of missing also that meaning for you. right? like, it doesn't give you meaning. mhmm. Speaker 2: so you do like doing a lot of people say how is that possible, but i can give an example later on of how that is exactly possible because i've been through that. and that for me, and i've seen it in more people, is an absolute profit trap because it makes you money. it pays the bills, and you actually like doing it. and then what i hear about some, uh, from some entrepreneurs are kind of like, how do i move from here to working with impact? because i seem to be stuck. well, yes. and if you go there, you'll get stuck for quite some time. Speaker 1: mhmm. Speaker 2: and when there's the top two quadrants to say it like that, there's the progress one, which is actually the one you wanna be in to get to the power one, which is the one i love what i do, and i'm creating a really good impact on planets and people. the progress one for me is not exactly entirely excited by the actual job or tasks that i'm doing, but it does pay my bills, and it does create an impact at the same time. now there's a reason why i'm saying that the progress quadrant is the one you wanna be in to move on to the the power one. um, on power as well, i know it's a word with a really negative connotation. and in general, this is a a side mark. i use a lot of words, even prophets. like, in our realm, they're not used a lot. and for me, i decided to use them specifically because i want people to give them another meaning. like, they are what they mean to you, and i decided to give them a positive meaning for me. so being in it's all about empowering. if you're in your power, creating a lot of impact, making money, uh, working on your passion, then that is a perfect quadrant to be in. Speaker 1: it's also why why we're talking about this and we know each other because as you might remember, passion is my first p, and then personal power is my second p. but, yes, i hear you. you know, people think, oh, personal power, is that, like, too strong? is that over no. you have to stand in your in your personal power, and that's what makes you unique. and and for you, uh, it is that powerful position where you know who you are that you can go into trustworthy relationships and partnerships as well. Speaker 2: exactly. yeah. exactly. Speaker 1: love that. yeah. yeah. okay. so those are the four quadrants. um, what came up during the, uh, the workshop? where did you see that most people were at when you asked them? Speaker 2: to be fair, a lot of people were in the power quadrant already, but that is because of the audience, obviously. um, as i said, this was during the the humane, um, export that we did together. so, obviously, there's people in there that are already more aligned, um, that already are really clear on their purpose. they've worked through this and so on. so for me, i think they were mainly there to kind of figure out, oh, wait. the partnership thing in whole of this, what where does that take me? now there was a couple of people, i think, that were, um, leaning more towards the progress one, and then maybe one person that was a little bit in doubt as in, am i stuck in a profit trap? kind of. so but i said, it depends on the audience you have, and it was really nice to hear that a lot of them were already in that power quadrant, actually. Speaker 1: yeah. it's really good to analyze that for yourself to think about, uh, whether you're in the wrong crowd, because that's something that comes up quite often in the marketing. like, we're human program where people are like, yeah. but whenever i look around, i'm not seeing that kind of way of showing up in the world. and and often it's because, yeah, they are in the wrong crowd. and so it feels very it feels lonely to be in the wrong crowd. right? if you're the only one who cares and everybody else is talking about how to make a million dollars in three days, then then you feel very lonely when you think, yeah, but is that really what i want? um, and so i think i think it's this journey of a creating this awareness and knowing, okay, i might be in the wrong crowd. how do i work my way towards a different different audience? and and i'm actually doing that right now a little bit as well, um, with the inner development goals. i, i, i really saw that these were my people. uh, and so i started and this has been three years in the making. i started, you know, being there, connecting. and now last year, i created a new community with someone else. but it's like this slow, steady, this is where i want to be and these are my people and then working towards that, i think. yes. yeah. that's why it resonated so much with me to to see, oh, yeah. this is this is the journey, right, through these quadrants. yeah. Speaker 2: it is. that's why i say the profit trap is where you get stuck because you love what you do, but you're not in the right room. yeah. um, so you won't it's really hard to move from that one to the progress one. it's actually easier to go from the pitfall one, which is low passion and and low in purp
