April Tam Smith was inspired by the CEO and founder of Share Hope, Cynthia Petterson, a single mom who mortgaged her home to launch the business. “I told my very new husband – husband of like a week at the time, because we spent our honeymoon there with her: ‘If she can do this, we can do this.”

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Back in New York, she and her business partners poured their time, energy … and a significant amount of money into their dream: an upscale vegan restaurant that would donate all of its profits to organizations committed to disrupting the poverty cycle. And, more than that, one that would offer a hand up, not a hand out, to those in need by providing real jobs.

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“It took us two and a half years to open,” she says, “and there was a point, a year-ish in, when we’d poured so much of our life savings in, and there was still no restaurant. Some really, really caring people in my life who truly believe in our mission were asking me, ‘Are you sure you want to continue? Maybe it makes sense to just cut your losses.”

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PS Kitchen finally opened with chef Gary Barawidan at the helm creating dishes including their famous PS burger, buffalo maitake wings … and mixing a mean old fashioned behind the bar. She somehow combines her work there with a day job that sees her in the office by 7.45am.

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“People think about work-life balance,” she says, “but I feel that my day job, my night job, my board … this is what encompasses me as a whole person. And I feel very comfortable with the idea that I might never be as passionate about finance as I am about the work that I do outside.”

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Which brings us back to the why “I think my purpose statement, if there’s such a thing in life, is about affirming significance and inspiring hope,” she says. “I just love that moment I get to tell someone who feels like they’re not worthy, ‘No, no, no, that’s a lie. You’re more than worthy, you’re important’ And that’s who I want to be.”