Episode 72: Interview with Chuck Slaughter, Founder and CEO of Living Goods

Chuck Slaughter is Founder and CEO of Living Goods, a social enterprise building a sustainable distribution platform for products designed to fight poverty and disease in the developing world. Living Goods operates networks of independent entrepreneurs (currently in Uganda, Kenya, and Myanmar) who make a living by selling medicines and products to poor people that can help improve their health, wealth, and productivity. It uses a successful direct selling model like Avon Products. A recent university study shows that Living Goods’ Community Health Agents are reducing child deaths by 25% for less than $2 a year per person. Living Goods aims to reach 50 million people in the next ten years with its innovative sustainable model.

Chuck has extensive experience as a businessman. He founded TravelSmith and grew it to over two million customers and $100 million in sales. After selling TravelSmith in 2004, Chuck devoted his entrepreneurial instincts to building vibrant enterprises in both the private and social sectors. Chuck currently serves on the boards of The Initiative for Global Development, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Three Day Blinds, and Living Goods, and is a former board member of Spiegel Brands. He is a recipient of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and is a Draper Richards Fellow.