Better Business

The PRISM awards recognize excellence in business in terms of their heart and lasting impact on the community. The 2025 awards ceremony occurred on July 17th at the Meanwhile Block. The awards are presented by the Southern Colorado Impact Group which is led by the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado’s CEO, Jonathan Liebert. The Impact Group promotes doing business better and champions businesses that have a purpose beyond profit.

Beginning in 2018, the PRISM Awards have highlighted entrepreneurs and successful businesses with missions to lift up the underserved, to provide inspiration and resources, to empower others and to build a sense of community. Each of this year’s winners is successful in business and impactful in the ways they serve others. Together they contribute to a more inclusive, sustainable and creative Southern Colorado while inspiring others to pursue meaningful, lasting impact. The measure of their bottom line is the good that they do as well as the totals on a spreadsheet.

<b>SOCIAL IMPACT STARTUP OF THE YEAR: WHEALTHY UNLIMITED</b> The Social Impact Startup of the Year Award recognizes a rising business that is less than three years old with a bold vision, a strong impact model and a creative approach to solving social challenges. WHealthy Unlimited received this year’s award as a business rooted in empowerment, healing and community care. WHealthy Unlimited was recognized for redefining wellness and economic empowerment through community-centered financial literacy and coaching.

Juaquin Mobley, Senior Vice President of CommunityWorks and CEO of WHealthy, conceived of WHealthy as part of his role with CommunityWorks in Colorado Springs. He deliberately played with the phrase “health is wealth” when christening WHealthy. In his life experiences and his work, he has seen firsthand how personal wellbeing and health can positively or negatively affect a person’s economic health and life stability. This is especially true in justice-impacted and underserved communities that lack access to opportunities and spaces that support wellness and provide mentoring. WHealthy is designed as a resource hub for participants to get back on their feet and become community contributors.

WHealthy offers a donation-based gym open to all, a juice bar, retail and co-working spaces as well as career-focused fitness training. Juice bar sales help to support the gym as do contributions from donors. Located downtown at 121 E. Bijou St., WHealthy is a central gathering place accessible to diverse neighborhoods such as Southeast Colorado Springs, Broadmoor and Rockrimmon.

WHealthy incorporates career development into wellness programming. Participants can train as fitness professionals through structured HIIT and weight training programs. This approach blends health, education and job-readiness. WHealthy also offers financial literacy programs, peer recovery coaching and nutrition education. WHealthy is kid friendly, wheelchair accessible and welcoming to everyone.

WHealthy hopes to scale up its impact and the reach of its wellness programs, especially in corporate and social entrepreneurship settings. Their “Corporate Helping Community” programs and “Wellness for All” initiatives create relationships between corporations, employees and communities. Through partnerships, they provide comprehensive wellness services to employees which allows them to also address the needs of underserved populations. These partnerships are investments in workforce health and contribute to an equitable society.

<b>SOCIAL IMPACT BUSINESS OF THE YEAR: RED LEG BREWING COMPANY</b> The Social Impact Business of the Year Award honors an organization that has been operating for over three years and that consistently blends purpose with profitability to create lasting, measurable change.

Red Leg Brewing Company is this year’s recipient for its deep commitment to community building, veteran support and creating a thriving hub for local events and makers. Founded in 2013 by veteran Todd Baldwin, Red Leg Brewing Company has the heartfelt mission to serve those who serve. The company opened on July 4, 2013, in a 2,000-square-foot brewery and now occupies a 14,000-square-foot facility on 2.5 acres with outdoor space at 2323 Garden of the Gods Rd. From supporting local makers, veterans and nonprofits, to building an inclusive outdoor venue for music, food and family fun, Red Leg Brewing has grown along with the scope of its impact.

The brewery takes its name from the distinctive cardinal stripe worn by Union Civil War artillery soldiers on their pant legs to show their location on the battlefield. This nod to visibility, courage and service connects with Baldwin’s own military service. He is a decorated former U.S. Army artillery officer. After leaving the military, Baldwin found passion in homebrewing. Eager to serve in a new way, he turned his hobby into a business with meaning. Red Leg Brewing Company was born at the intersection of military pride, community service and craft beer enthusiasm.

Red Leg Brewing hires veterans, collaborates with military units to create beers named for them and donates proceeds from those special brews to support Family Readiness Groups and service-related causes. Their Angel Run fundraiser supports children of fallen military and first responders with sports, music and art activities.

Baldwin co-founded the Veterans Beer Alliance to help other veteran-owned breweries by pooling purchasing power and distribution resources. He also mentors veterans considering entrepreneurship, offering experience and guidance and emphasizing that military discipline and leadership translate well into running a business.

By 2025, Red Leg Brewing had given back over $100,000 in charitable contributions. The list of fundraisers and activities Red Leg hosts to support nonprofits, community organizations and environmental stewardship is extensive. Among the new offerings at Red Leg Brewing, they have begun hosting a quarterly networking series with panels of local experts on topics such as veteran connections, small business connections and animal welfare connections.

<b>SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR: JAMES PROBY The Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award honors an individual who blends innovation, leadership and purpose to create measurable impact through a groundbreaking business, a new service model or as a changemaker within their field.</b>

James Proby received this year’s award for his trailblazing work in workforce development, men’s fashion and dignity restoration for underserved communities. Proby founded The Men’s Xchange, a social enterprise in Colorado Springs that provides affordable professional attire to men, removing financial barriers to dressing for success.

Proby started being very thoughtful about his dress while in middle school, and people started coming to him for his ideas and opinions about fashion. As an adult and recent college graduate, he saw that many men who wanted to dress well simply could not afford to. Proby joined fashion with social impact when he founded The Men’s Xchange as a business that carries donated dress clothes for men of all ages. The clothing is dry cleaned and then affordably priced. The Men’s Xchange’s mission is to help men show up better by dressing better and that leads to more confidence, dignity and success.

Proby’s father, Reverend Doctor Milton E. Proby, was a civil rights leader, and his mother was one was of the first African American teachers in School District 11. He says their guidance taught him how to help others grow. His family taught him that there are moments in everyone’s life when they need a hand up, not a handout. His work through The Men’s Xchange reflects that legacy.

Proby offers one free outfit to a member of the community for every nine customers who shop at The Men’s Xchange. Proby collaborates with CASA of Pikes Peak to offer a free outfit for foster teens with a referral, with Oxford House to provide dress support for those re-entering the workforce and with Mt. Carmel Veterans Center who refer veterans for interview-ready attire.

Proby recently relocated The Men’s Xchange from downtown Colorado Springs to 4651 Centennial Blvd. He has expanded his inventory to include brand new suits for weddings and any other special occasion so that a person can feel confident and well-dressed on those important days.