What motivates us to do good? Reflections from Lives Well Lived

What does it mean to do good? And why do some people dedicate their lives to making a difference? These questions were at the heart of a recent episode of Lives Well Lived, a podcast co-hosted by Peter Singer and Kasia de Lazari-Radek.

In this special episode there wasn’t just one guest but three. What do they have in common? They all run companies that dedicate the entirety of their profits to charity. Through their personal journeys, we explore the motivations behind doing good and the evolving understanding of what goodness really means.

The search for meaning and ethical progress

Josh, co-founder of Humanitix, shared how his journey started from an early existential fear. Growing up in a somewhat religious household, he was preoccupied with the idea of getting life "right" in a moral sense — an attempt to secure a place in the afterlife, regardless of which religious tradition had the correct guidebook.

“I had a lot of anxiety around that as a teenager - it wasn’t ruining my life but it was a serious consideration for me. I remember having thoughts like what happens if I’m wrong? Given a lot of religion is about the afterlife and how to live your life, I was worried that I had the wrong manual. So how could I spend my life doing something objectively good so that if I was wrong, whatever creator, if there is one, would give grant me a ‘ticket to heaven’?”

This led him to explore the idea of goodness beyond religious doctrine.

"So I got interested in the concept of good, and I thought, does good change over time? Maybe if I was born 400 years ago to a wealthy family I would have had slaves. And maybe in a relative sense, someone who is good in those days was good to their slaves. But who is someone who is great? And someone who is great is maybe fighting to end slavery.”

This thought experiment sparked a lifelong curiosity: what are the ethical blind spots of our time? What do we take for granted today that future generations will look back on with disbelief? One stark example is global inequality—millions of people still suffer from preventable malnutrition and disease despite the world's immense wealth. The realization that small shifts in resources could radically change lives became a key motivator in his work.

“We live in immense abundance, and there is nothing wrong with abundance. Except we live in a world where there are people dying from malnutrition; children are dying from very preventable diseases. Hopefully in 500 years we will be in a more advanced place where that’s not the case, and they’ll look back and think wow, it’s quite amazing that we lived side by side by that, and didn’t divert more resource to completely solve that… So I thought if I could spend my life on something like that, then irrespective of whether I’ve got the right answer, I’m doing something good with my life; I can face whatever that afterlife is.”

While fear may have been the initial driver, over time, it evolved into conviction.

"Now, I've let go of the fear, it’s not my primary motivator but I have a lot of conviction in what I’m doing and I actually like that philosophy on how to apply my time. Directionally, as long as I am throwing myself towards something that is hopefully pushing society forward ethically, whether I’m successful or not, I want to know that I spent my life working towards something that truly matters."

Josh, Adam, Peter Singer and Andrea La Mesa, co-CEO of The Life You Can Save at the Humanitix office in 2024

Privilege, heritage and responsibility

For Alex Amouyel, the President and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation, her drive to do good was shaped by both privilege and heritage. As the daughter and granddaughter of refugees, she had an acute awareness of how unpredictable life could be — and how unfairly opportunities were distributed. She was also deeply aware that she had choices that many others did not.

"From a very young age, I think I had a motivation to do something good in the world. And I probably put that down to both the immense privilege I had, to have a choice with what I could do with my waking hours, which is not something that everybody has. And then there’s also my heritage. I'm the daughter and granddaughter of refugees and immigrants from various parts of the world. And so I always had a sense of wanting to do good in the world, and that things could happen to you that stopped you from realising your full potential.”

Alex Amouyel on stage at TED delivering her talk 'Can salad dressing transform capitalism?'

Her career path initially led her into corporate consulting, but she soon found an outlet for her deeper purpose — pro bono work with Save the Children. That experience reaffirmed her belief that with privilege comes responsibility: a responsibility to use one’s skills, resources, and energy to create opportunities for others. She ended up jumping ship and working for Save the Children, and this launched her into a rewarding career path that was driven by social impact.

A life well lived: the inspiration of a grandfather

For Adam, the other co-founder of Humanitix, doing good was inspired by his grandfather, Henri Rubin — a brilliant engineer and inventor who lived with both fierce ambition and gentle kindness. His contributions, like the invention of the trip switch (which prevents electric shocks), showed how ingenuity could directly and tangibly improve people's lives. But it wasn’t just his professional legacy that left a mark — it was the way he balanced work, family, and kindness that set an example for Adam.

Adam's father, mother, grandfather (Henri Rubin), Adam and his wife Natalie at the Humanitix launch event in 2016

"He just made immense contributions back to society and at the same time lived the most well-lived life, still to this day, I’ve ever seen anybody live, and I was fortunate enough to witness that… He played the most graceful balancing act, with a foundation of understanding that contributing in your professional life is great, curiosity is amazing, and let’s find ways to live a well-considered life whilst being a kind and gentle person.”

That legacy of both innovation and humanity drove Adam to explore new models of business that serve society, like Humanitix.

“That really set me on a footing that I am incredibly grateful for, it’s why I named my first son Henri after him. It then complemented itself with coming across organizations like Newman’s Own and other Profit for Good companies that to me really sparked my own curiosity in business… to participate in a frontier of sorts, to start to experiment and be curious about the ways different models can serve us all much better, including myself.”

Henri Rubin and Adam McCurdie

So, what is ‘Good’ anyway?

The stories shared reveal a profound truth: our understanding of goodness evolves. It may start from a place of fear, gratitude, responsibility, or inspiration, but ultimately, doing good is about recognizing our place in the larger arc of ethical progress.

It’s about asking: What will future generations say about how we lived? Will they look back at today’s preventable suffering with the same disbelief that we look at past injustices? And if so, what can we do now to be on the right side of history?

For those at Humanitix, the answer lies in using business as a force for good — redirecting profits towards helping solve the world’s most pressing social issues, levelling the playing field, and ensuring that access to opportunity isn’t dictated by the lottery of birth. Because in the end, a life well lived is one that leaves the world better than we found it.

Newman’s Own and Humanitix are the founding members of the 100% for Purpose™ Club, a growing movement of businesses that exist to maximize impact.

You can listen to the full episode of Lives Well Lived on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.