Chris Hewitt had a problem. Every time he tried to explain his local currency project, people's eyes would roll back in their heads. For six years, he watched potential members tune out the moment he started talking about money, economics, and alternative systems.

In this episode, host John Kane Gonzales sits down with Chris, co-founder and executive director of Hudson Valley Current, a 12-year-old nonprofit local currency that's exchanged over 2 million "currents" across 400+ members. You'll hear how a sales coach taught him to stop explaining money and start talking about benefits, why he built a restaurant and magazine to make the currency actually work, and how he transformed from being 95% grant-dependent to generating 60% of revenue through diversified streams.

"We don't really understand exchange. We know that the dollar works to buy us things, to earn us money for our jobs, but we don't as a society understand money in a complex and deep way and how powerful we are with every dollar." - Chris Hewitt

🚀 Key Takeaways:

Stop Explaining, Start Showing Benefits: A sales coach taught Chris to talk about four benefits—innovative, hyper-local, shifts narrative, saves money—instead of explaining economic theory.

Extractive vs Regenerative Economics: The dollar extracts wealth and centralizes it in corporate headquarters, while local currencies regenerate communities by keeping money circulating locally.

Build the Missing Infrastructure: When not enough businesses accepted currents, Chris built a restaurant and magazine that take 100% currents to prove the model works.

Revenue Diversification Takes Time: Hudson Valley Current went from 95% grant-dependent to 60% diversified revenue over 12 years through eight different streams.

Start With What You Have: You can start a local currency with a notebook tracking barters, then scale to software like Cyclos when ready.

⏳ Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Chris and Hudson Valley Current

01:49 The 2004 conference that sparked the idea

04:33 What is a local currency and how is it legal

06:05 Understanding exchange and how money really works

10:53 Why Chris built Tilda's Kitchen to fix the catch-22

13:52 Why supporting local economies matters

17:38 Regional specialization and the bio-regional economy vision

22:37 The triple bottom line: people, planet, profit

24:58 The sales coach who changed everything

27:09 Extractive economy vs regenerative economy

32:21 From revolutionary to evolutionary leadership

37:45 Revenue diversification: 95% grants to 60% earned income

41:54 Ratcheting your fundraising success

46:10 How mutual credit systems actually work

50:32 Building momentum with the first members

54:33 The marsh ecosystem metaphor for currency flow

59:40 Technology, people, and community building

01:05:29 Proving the model: 40% income in currents

01:12:27 Small gatherings drive currency movement

01:18:55 Why Chris is stepping down as executive director

01:21:22 Staying flexible while avoiding mission drift

01:25:55 It's just money—and it's justice money

🔗 Connect with Chris Hewitt

Website: https://hudsonvalleycurrent.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-hewitt-423a691b4/

🔗 Resources Mentioned

Tilda's Kitchen & Market: 630 Broadway, Kingston, NY | https://tildaskitchenandmarket.com

Midtown Lively (Publication): https://midtownlively.org

🎙️ About SowGood to GrowGood: Hosted by John Kane Gonzales, entrepreneur and innovator. We explore how change-makers and innovators are building sustainable systems for a better future, turning ideas into scalable impact.