Minneapolis-based agency donates 50% of profits to use ‘business as a force of good’

To build Latitude into a full-service agency, Carroll hired subject-matter experts and added brand, strategy, creative, experiential and other services. While starting a business amid the Great Recession was “scary,” the prospect of it not flourishing was less dire than what they had seen in Haiti, she said.

“We can figure something else out,” she said.

The beginning of the pandemic, however, proved “really devastating,” Carroll said. Most client work then was in retail event activations and in-store merchandising, and 90% of current and forecasted business went away within a few days. Latitude continued some charitable giving, having put money into a donor-advised fund for that purpose.

“During those layoffs, I was like, full transparency, maybe I shouldn’t have given so much away, even though we were a healthy company,” Carroll said. “But I decided that I truly believe that ‘business as a force for good’ is a worthy cause, and one that is worth digging really deep for. Even though it’s been a really steep climb, I still like the purpose of why we exist. Still gets me out of bed in the morning.”