When New York life coach and entrepreneur Susan Reimer-Torn founded her company Scentient Beings, she was looking for a business model that fit with her values of social consciousness.

But her product - breathable aromatherapy inhalers keyed to spiritual personal development - seems at first glance decidedly upscale. How could it possibly be used to make the world a better place for anyone other than affluent new-agers? The answer: social entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurship is the new buzz word in the world of self starter businesses. But it's more than a buzz word. For social entrepreneurs like Susan, it is a deeply-held credo.

Nicolas Kristoff recently wrote in the New York Times, “Today the most remarkable young people are the social entrepreneurs, those who see a problem in society and roll up their sleeves to address it in new ways.” More than even a presidential candidate, Kristof says, "these young people can make this planet a better place.”

Typically social entrepreneurship involves a for-profit venture which at the same time ensures a living wage to an indigenous population who provide native goods, resources or services. There is also a concern for environmental values such as sustainability, organic farming, and not depleting resources.

There is another variation on the social entrepreneur theme: providing a product or service at market rates to those who can pay, then donating the same goods or services to an economically disfavored population.

This is the model that Susan Reimer-Torn has adopted. She makes her cold hard cash by selling her product to upscale spas. This gives her the financial capacity to donate product to people who cannot afford them.

How did this all come about?

A few months ago, Susan traveled to the West Coast with the intention of courting a few residential spas. While there, she was introduced to yoga educator and social entrepreneur, Katherine Priore.

Katherine was just getting her own not-for profit under way. It’s called Headstand and its mission is the introduction of Yoga Education to San Francisco inner schools. Headstand, it quickly became apparent, is about far more than exercise.