The Shin Fujiyama Podcast | Social Entrepreneurship | Nonprofit Organizations | International Development Aid

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57: Monrovia Football Academy is changing lives in Liberia through soccer—with William Smith May 23, 2018

Show notes

While traveling in Liberia as an undergraduate research student, William Smith played in 7am pickup soccer games. As the captain of the varsity team at the College of William & Mary ('14), he needed to stay in shape. Little did he know what would happen next. William's foot skills impressed Sekou "Georgie" Manubah, a former national team player. A few days later, Georgie invited William to play a friendly game at the national stadium. But it was no ordinary game. It was the Liberian Peace and Reconciliation match where JJ Okocha, Samuel Eto'o, Patrick Mboma, and Roger Milla had been invited. The organizer of the event was the legendary George Weah, Africa's only FIFA World Player of the Year (and Liberia's soon-to-be-President). 35,000 fans—including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—came out to watch the game. William was the only non-African player on the field. Though he lost the match that day, William gained an important insight that summer: The potential of football to change Liberia's failing education system and gender inequality. Liberia's challenges were staggering. A devastating civil war had killed 250,000 people of its 3.5 million population. The GDP per capita was $455 (compared to $2,300 in Honduras). It was the least electrified country in the world. In 2013, 25,000 high school graduates in Liberia took the university entrance exam and every single one failed. Then Ebola broke out in 2014. In November 2014, William asked himself a simple question: "What about a football academy? What if we use this passion and energy that young people have for football as an incentive for kids to improve in the classroom, to break down gender barriers, and to ultimately prepare students to lead positive change?" He reached out to Georgie and together they wrote out a plan for Monrovia Football Academy. He began raising money in London while pondering their next steps: "What does the concept actually look like? How many students do we start with? What ages? How many boys? How many girls? Where do we do this?" There was no time to waste. 58% of 15-24 year olds in Liberia were not completing primary education. "We jump in when ebola finishes," they said to each other. It was a tough time to start an NGO. People couldn't shake hands, hug each other, go to school, or play soccer for an entire year because of ebola. In 2015 when ebola subsided, they opened MFA—the first football academy in Africa with a principle of 50/50 gender equity. William was full of self-doubts. "I had no idea how I was doing any of it," he said. "You'd be a fool to think you have all the answers." He tried to convince himself to try and be okay with the prospect of failure while being obsessive about not letting it fail. He woke up early each morning asking himself, what was next? How do we get better? How do we improve? He gave a fundraising pitch at Saracens Rugby Club but that was not enough. He was asked to do a second and then a third presentation. Finally, they awarded MFA $45,000 for seed funding. Crowdfunding campaigns, meetings with potential donors, and events followed. Like pre-season training at an elite soccer camp, the pace was grueling. But his persistence began to pay off. Now in its third year, Monrovia Football Academy is showing great promise. President Sirleaf visited, as well as US Women's National Team coach Jill Ellis and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris. Results from preliminary impact studies demonstrated academic and athletic improvements. Word began to spread. In 2017, 1,062 students applied for the 21 spots available at the academy. "We're trying to be the best school in Liberia," said William. "That's our goal." William Smith Reading List Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York City by Jonny Steinberg The Starch Solution by Dr. John McDougall What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-smart Executive by Mark H. McCormack Edge: Leadership Secrets from Football's Top Thinkers by Ben Lyttleton William Smith Show Notes Will grew up in Connecticut and played soccer his whole life He studied political science at the College of William & Mary and worked at Capital Hill during a summer but did not enjoy the experience William took a course on African Studies which fascinated him He went to Liberia for three months to do a research project with the US Embassy during his final summer as a college student Liberia's history is intertwined with the US In the early 1800s, the US had The American Colonization Society which identified freed black Americans and slaves to see what to do with them. They decided to send them to Africa. In 1821, the first ship of these former slaves arrived in Liberia In 1847, Liberia became the first free republic in the African continent Monrovia, Liberia's capital, was named after James Monroe The Liberian flag is very similar to the American flag The country was named Liberia because liberty is an important value for the US Liberia has the fourth lowest GDP in the world, $455/year Honduras' GDP is $2,300/year Liberia has been unstable for the last 38 years, since the coup d'etat in 1980 In 1989 a devastating civil war broke out that killed 250,000 people out of a total population of 3.5 million In 2003 a ceasefire was put into place and the former President Charles Taylor stepped down In 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first female President in Africa after an election Ebola in Liberia was at its height in 2014-15 Liberians on the ground were vital to stopping ebola The Monrovia Football Academy started in 2015 when Liberia was not ebola free William was not able to shake hands with anyone because of the ebola threat While preparing for his final season of college soccer in Liberia, William was playing pickup games at 7am William met Sekou Dgeorges Manubah "Georgie", a former Liberian national team player, during one of those pickup games They had a similar philosophy around how the game should be played so they exchanged numbers William was an intern for the State Department at the time "Will, do you want to play with George Weah's team against the Liberian national team right now?" George Weah is the only African ever named Fifa World Player of the Year. He was essentially in 1995 Leo Messi. Will played the game at the national stadium. Though they lost, "it wasn't bad." Former players who played at Arsenal and Monaco were on Will's team that day. Though still had the game in them despite being in their 40s At the time Weah was the Peace Ambassador for Liberia and so he organized a Peace & Reconciliation Match where he invited legends from the African continent like JJ Okocha, Samuel Eto'o, Patrick Mboma, Roger Milla Will, a center back, was invited to play in the game as the only non-African 35,000 fans attended the game as well as President Sirleaf 25,000 high school graduates in Liberia took the university entrance exam and every single one failed. The education system in Liberia was a mess Will took back three important lessons: The transformative potential of football, the failing education in Liberia, and gender inequality (he never saw girls play) "At the time I was a kid who had been studying this stuff for less than a year. I had no idea what to do. So I started reading as much as I could." Jonny Steinberg taught African Studies at Oxford William wanted to study under Steinberg so he applied and got into Oxford's Masters program in 2014 There was so much football talent in Liberia but not enough coaching William was the only foreigner who had such an extensive network with Liberian footballers "What about a football academy? What if we use this passion and energy that young people have for football as an incentive for kids to improve in the classroom, to break down gender barriers, and to ultimately prepare our students to lead positive change?" The idea was born in November, 2014 William reached out to Georgie to turn the idea into an organization despite the ebola breakout "What does the concept actually look like? How many students do we start with? What ages? How many boys? How many girls? Where do we do this?" William moves quickly. He began raising money in 2015 in London "We jump in when ebola finishes." Kids missed an entire year of school during the outbreak People could not hug each other, shake hands, nor play soccer It was more difficult for NGOs already operating to continue, whereas those who hadn't started (like Monrovia Football Academy) could wait things out Monrovia Football Academy was the first football academy in Africa with a principle of 50/50 gender equity In 2015, less than 37% of Liberian girls ages 15-24 were literate vs. 62% of boys were literate There is a gender disparity in most indicators William's mission has been: to help Liberian children thrive and reshape/redefine the relationship between US and Liberia to make it more just, equitable, and rooted in collaboration Of 18 staff members, William is the only non-Liberian. He hopes to one day make it 100% Liberian. They started with 16 boys and 11 girls The kids are with them from 8am-6pm five days per week The academy has a holistic approach They get breakfast (8am), life skills lessons, computer literacy courses, meditation, yoga, football class (9:30-10am), 10-11:30 professional football practice They have 5 coaches at the moment Liberia is still discovering the type of football it wants to play In the afternoon, they shower, have lunch, and return to classes They still operate in rented facilities, including the fields and classroom space They hope to build their own facility soon President Sirleaf came to visit the academy at the end of the first year 700 students applied the second year and they grew to 47 students The US women's national team coach (Jill Ellis) and goalkeeper (Ashlyn Harris) visited Monrovia Football Academy in 2016. 1,062 students applied in 2017 for 21 spots They now have 68 students from grades 3-6. They are adding one grade each year They are not a football factory that measures success by the number of professional football players produced The kids have health insurance and medics at Monrovia Football Academy Many sport academies look for football talent more than anything else At Monrovia Football Academy, applicants take an entrance exam and has a football tryout "School first, football second." They must pass the written test They interview the top 75 students (along with their parents) They invite the top 50 applicants to summer camp where they are carefully observed for football talent, character, academic excellence, commitment, "it" factor They then choose the 5 best footballers, 5 best students, and 10 best student athletes The school community that way becomes well rounded 14 of Liberia's 16 ethnic groups are represented at Monrovia Football Academy 85% of Liberians are Christian, 15% Muslim. The academy sees similar percentages in their student body The household income of the students are diverse, 70%+ come from poverty. Early on, they did not have enough policies, structure, procedures in place It took at least 18 months of iterating to develop a strong structure They had decided to start with ages 9-11 They had no way to see if a child cheated during the entrance exam. They did it at a school cafeteria but were short on staff "The key for our success was our willingness to adapt, adjust, and take chances." Instead of failing out the lower-performing students during the first year, they created a lower grade to keep them in school 9 out of the 11 low performing students are now excelling academically "We're trying to be the best school in Liberia. That's our goal." Less than 5% of teachers in Liberia have bachelor's degrees. 100% at Monrovia Football Academy have a bachelor's degree Average salary in Liberia is $180/month. The teachers at Monrovia Football Academy make at least $300/month "I had no idea how I was doing any of it. You'd be a fool to think you have all the answers." Humility and bringing in experts They have pro-bono experts from all over the world who offer advice and support "It's been so much fun. Waking up everyday, it doesn't feel like work." "You wake up in the morning and ask what's next? How do we get better? How do we improve?" Saracens Rugby Club from London was one of the first major donors William has many relatives from the UK William needed to do three, different pitches to get the $45,000 seed funding from Saracens They then raised $12,000 through crowdfunding and did several fundraising events Board members help make introductions for Will to meet potential donors Their donor base is increasing steadily William spends half of his time in Liberia and the other half fundraising in the US and UK They use Quickbooks for their accounting They have a development and evaluation officer who is a Liberian studying at Princeton It cost $99,000 to run the academy its first year. The second year, it was $124,000. The third year, it will be around $170,000. It costs $2,500 to sponsor one child per year Liberia has the lowest level of public electrification in the world The biggest budget item is salaries for their incredible staff members Their staff get health insurance, good pay, vacation days, paid maternity leave, etc. "On our website, you will see my face very little. We want this to be a Liberian initiative." They try to show an authentic image and accurate representation of Liberia's true realities They break down the sponsorship program if people cannot give the full $2,500 They write for www.goal.com each month Their meals are very nutritious and often include Power Gari for breakfast They get a snack after practice, usually fruit They eat a lot of (red) rice in Liberia The Liberian cuisine is heavy on the starch, maybe 80% rice-based The students also have classes on Saturdays from 9am-1pm Blessing is a six grader at the academy. Only 8 girls showed up on the first day of school. Of 1,000+ applicants, only 60 of them were girls! They went to West Point, the poorest community in the area, too look for girls who played soccer to enroll more girl BBC did a story on Jessica, one of the students at Monrovia Football Academy Blessing is the second best student in the 6th grade and typically starts on the team with the boys "The sport-for-development sector is full of this romanticized rhetoric about how sport has the power to change the world. But there is very little statistical evidence." It is very important for us to show impact, in things like academic proficiency, their attitudes toward gender & violence, their pride in Liberian identity, potential for leadership They designed a quantitative analysis study 4 students from William & Mary came down to do the pilot study Their students performed 12% better academically than a control group after the first year Professors from William & Mary and Oxford are helping carry out the evaluation The impact studies have cost very little for Monrovia Football Academy They evaluate soccer metrics mostly based on passing and decision making They want to improve on their tactical awareness "I see myself as the entrepreneur in the background." William currently manages the fundraising, accounting, legal work, marketing, public relations, background administrative work, etc. He juggles two different worlds: one in Liberia where he's having one-on-one meetings with his students to resolve typical 8-year-old problems and then meeting with wealthy, potential donors in New York the following week To cut tr…

Full show notes at the publisher

56: How Kentucky students raised $25,000 in one night—with Jacob Dietz Apr 17, 2018

Show notes

During his senior year at the University of Kentucky, Jacob Dietz made it his mission to raise $25,000 for Students Helping Honduras. He and his classmates wanted to build a school in La Lima, Honduras, where 400 children lacked a middle school building.

Jacob asked himself: "Do I have the ability and time and self-discipline to do this?" It all seemed daunting. The previous year, they had raised $11,000—less than half of what they hoped to raise this year.

He called up his SHH chapter at the university for a meeting. For him, the group was "a team in the utmost sense." They studied and discussed how other chapters had succeeded in different cities. A few days later, they decided on an event that had been carried out in New York and Maryland. They were going to organize a gala to raise $25,000 in one night. It would be called Brick By Brick, Kentucky.

Jessica Schilling, a fellow student at Kentucky, worked alongside Jacob as the co-organizer. The two had gone to school together since kindergarten. But for Jacob, he would have never imagined such a partnership with Jess. In fact, he never talked to her when they were kids. "Jess was always the smartest student in the grade. I failed 4th grade math," he said. A shared mission turned them into an unstoppable duo.

The two of them spent hours handwriting invitation letters. They drove around endlessly, talking to businesses to find sponsors. They faced one rejection after another. They created videos for social media but they kept stumbling over their words in front of the camera. When things felt overwhelming, Jacob closed his eyes and imagined the night of the event where all his friends would be there. His parents who planned on missing work to be there. His brother Josh who had tirelessly helped him that semester.

When they paid the down payment to reserve the venue, they knew there was no turning back. One challenge after another awaited Jacob and his team. Guests waited until the last minute to register. They found typos in the posters they had printed at Staples. A video Jacob had spent hours on crashed on the morning of the event. He had to decide, "Do I put the work back in? Or do I scrap it?"

Did Jacob and his team prevail? Find out how the night unfolded by listening to this unbelievable podcast episode.

55: Lessons on impact travel—with Rich Johnson from Spark Ventures Apr 04, 2018

Show notes

Rich Johnson is the co-founder of Spark Ventures, a nonprofit focused on international community development in Zambia, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Along the way, Spark Ventures began to facilitate engagement trips for the mutual benefit of supporters and partner communities abroad.

In this episode, Rich discusses his past challenges, fundraising, creating a separate business venture called Ignite, Board development, trends in impact travel, voluntourism, and more.

Rich Johnson Reading List

The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change The World by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan

Rich Johnson Show Notes

In 2006 Rich Johnson was hanging out with two friends when they decided to go to Africa
They went to Zambia and found a community organization there called HOPE that was helping children affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis
Previously, Rich had been doing marketing consulting with Fortune 500 companies
Shortly after, Rich returned to Zambia with 16 students at the university where he worked
HOPE lacked resources so Spark began to raise funds back in the US
"What is it do you need? How can we support you?" they asked HOPE
Spark Ventures helped HOPE with strategic planning, leadership development, and capacity building
A friend become a major donor
They organized a fundraising bar night where 300 friends showed up
They raised $25,000 at the event
"What systems and process can we put into place?" They started with weekly calls, monthly reports, quarterly visits, annual audits with their community partners
In Nicaragua, they spent too much money on buying land that they ran out of money to start the farm project they had intended to start. They struggled because they lacked expertise in agriculture
The farm in Nicaragua now has 70,000 plantain trees and 40,000 cacao trees. Disease has been a problem
Rich was running Spark Ventures part-time for four years before it became full time
In Nicaragua, many children were devastated during the civil war. Las Tias was an organization that helped them in the city of Leon.
Las Tias didn't have just one leader. They used a co-leadership model with 3 leaders.
During their ten year anniversary, Rich did an internal asset audit and re-examined trends in the social impact industry
Over 500 people had traveled with Spark during its first 10 years
Companies and friends wanted to participate in impact travel, adventure, and cultural exchange
Rich Johnson created Ignite, a separate business that specializes in impact travel.
The separation prevents mission creep and also allowed him to invest more into marketing and sales
A portion of the trip fees for Ignite go to support the partner organizations
60% of the trip fees are poured into the local economy
Ignite raised money in the beginning to make the initial hires
Some nonprofits are better geared for grant fundings. Others are more geared towards corporate funding or government funding.
Many grassroots organizations working in international development aid, like Spark, focus on individual donations
Spark has learned to focus on their major donors
More than 50% of the funding for Spark comes from events and individual donations
Spark supports students in Zambia who can't even afford the "free" government schools
Ezran, a child in Zambia, walked two miles to school every day and passed a cemetery where his relatives who had died of AIDS were buried. Spark recreated that 2-mile journey in a warehouse in Chicago using images and provisional buildings
The event raised $40,000 through ticket sales and donations
The Board of Directors at Spark has played a critical role
Many Board members want to be engaged with the mission and not only in the fundraising. The challenge is, the work is being done in another country. Spark encourages Board members to travel to partner countries.
Spark has a Board job description that requires attendance to three meetings and one major event. They also have fundraising expectations
What started as a "friends and family" Board evolved over the years
Rich Johnson was reluctant to use the word "volunteer" because it is loaded. There has been a backlash against volunteering and voluntourism. Some of it is well deserved.
Spark doesn't try to go in as western saviors. It's always been about partnerships and learning as much as giving
Rich's preferred word is "community engagement." It's more about joining and learning.
He uses the word "traveler" instead of "volunteer."
Volunteering can sometimes disrupt a partner organization
Rich mediates each morning and exercises. He goes on retreats to the ocean or for hiking
Rich Johnson uses Insight Timer for his meditation

54: How to raise $25,000+ with a charity gala, step-by-step Feb 12, 2018

Show notes

Alex Altman and Zeke Copic are longtime supporters of Students Helping Honduras. They have been organizing a charity gala each year in NYC called Brick By Brick to benefit SHH. In this episode, we discuss what it takes—step-by-step—to organize a gala that can raise $25,000+ for your favorite nonprofit organization.

Show Notes

The first thing to do is to understand the audience
One of the biggest costs is the event venue
They wanted to make sure the cost was as low as possible
A friend of Zeke organized a charity casino night but ended up spending way too much for the overhead cost
Brick By Brick has gotten the event venue spaces donated
Sesame Corporation donated the space in 2016 and 2017
Venues need to be reserved months in ahead
They had a leadership council made up of 6 volunteers who had been down to Honduras and were dedicated
Alex Altman and Zeke Copic did the first Bricky By Brick without much help
It's hard to hit a broad social network if all the organizers come from the same place
The marketing happened mostly via email
The invitation email was sent out 30 days before the event. They have done it 60 days in advance in the past
They created a Facebook and LinkedIn event
Zeke emailed all of his friends directly with a personal note
Zeke was obsessed with checking Classy
About 90 people showed up to the event
Most people waited until the very last week to buy tickets. It was "harrowing"
They charged $75 per ticket for presales and $100 at the door
Only 3 people bought at the door
The event space had a cap of 100 people
Almost all of the guests were colleagues from work
Many relatives donated auction items
Many people have come to the event three years in a row
There is a short presentation about the cause during the event
It's important to keep the email lists from each year
The first Brick By Brick sold tickets at $50 but people had to pay for drinks
They had food and an open bar at the event. The food was donated
"Do your silent auctions yourselves."
It's not a good idea to have a company run the silent auction because they take the vast majority of the profits and will likely have items that won't sell
There was a diverse price range for the silent auction items ($20-$300)
They bought 40 cardboard bricks from the internet and sold them. 20 of them had a prize hidden inside. They had come up with the idea just a few days before the event. The bricks sold for $20 each
Someone from the leadership committee walked around selling bricks
Alex was focused on the logistics during the event, like making sure there was a coat check and making sure the food was changed, video was prepared, etc.
Zeke went around spending time with as many people as possible even though it is hard for an introvert like him
$7,000 came from ticket sales, $14,000 came from a few large donations, and the rest came from item sales
Corporate matching grants were important
People don't realize that the companies they work for may give match grants
They used www.Doublethedonation.com to find out if their companies gave match grants
Getting corporate sponsorships can take a lot longer than you think
Sending thank you cards after the event is important
Donors love seeing update photos from Honduras, which sets them up to donate for the next year
The organizers can expect to absorb some of the costs to run a gala

53: How nonprofits can leave the treadmill of financial survival in 5 steps - Kathleen Janus Jan 10, 2018

Show notes

Countless nonprofit organizations are stuck on the treadmill of financial survival. Most of their energy is spent trying to make payroll at the end of each month—which means less time is spent maximizing their impact. Does that sound familiar to you?

For five years Kathleen Janus traveled the country to find out how successful organizations like Teach for America, City Year, and Charity: Water broke through their barriers. She conducted studies and interviewed 200 social entrepreneurs.

She documented their secrets to success and wrote down the five patterns that got them there. Soon, a playbook was created. In this episode, Kathleen talks about her new book, Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up and Make a Difference. She is a lawyer, lecturer at Stanford, and founder of Spark. Kathleen Janus Reading List

The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout by Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman

Kathleen Janus Show Notes

Kathleen Janus grew up in Napa, California and began volunteering at a very early age
Her parents sat on many nonprofit Boards
She noticed early on how nonprofits struggled to survive financially
Kathleen in her twenties got together with her college friends and started SPARK to support gender equality
They organized a fundraising event in San Francisco and raised $5,000 to help women in Rwanda
$5,000 seemed like a lot of money at the time
SPARK doubled its revenue every few months
Kathleen was a practicing lawyer at the time
They were able to hire an executive director when they hit a certain size
The organization hit a wall
When Kiva went on Oprah, they raised $11 million overnight
Of the 300,000 nonprofits in the US, ⅔ of them raise less than $500,000 per year
There is a desert of failed pilot nonprofits because they were unable to sustain themselves
A nonprofit that raises $2 million per year has likely hit financial sustainability
Organizations that scaled quickly first went into a quiet phase where they tested different strategies to get proof of concept
"It's about improving the model as you grow."
"Innovation becomes a part of your organization's DNA."
Wishbone was started by a school teacher who asked her low-income students to write essays about their passions. She forwarded those essays to family and friends to raise a few thousand dollars to give these kids summer experiences. She updated the donors and decided to scale.
Wishbone now allows students to raise money on their online platform
"Impact measurement is absolutely critical."
Measuring impact allows an organization to collect data and figure out if a program is working
"It's not just about proving your program is working. It's about improving the program.
75% of the nonprofits surveyed collected data. But only 6% of them felt they made "good use" of their data.
An organization needs to figure out what indicators to measure, such as attendance rates of a scholarship recipient; feedback from students' mentors, etc.
Such data gave confidence to donors and can lead to seed capital
Some randomized control trials can cost six figures
Very few nonprofits carry out randomized control trials early on
You can give incentives to survey participants (including control participants), like gift cards
Many nonprofits test earned income programs.
Hot Bread Kitchen provides job training for low-income women looking to enter the food industry. They created a cafe and also sold their produce to local markets
Hot Bread Kitchen started to provide childcare to their participants by raising funds. They now operate on 65% earned income and 35% philanthropy capital
"We tend to revere celebrity heroes. Steve Jobs. Mark Zuckerberg. Mohamad Yunus."
"It's actually not about the leader at the top."
"Senior leadership was really critical for them."
Only 15% of Boards are involved in fundraising for their nonprofits!
Many nonprofits complain about their Boards not doing enough.
Nonprofits should examine the written expectations of Board members and modify them if needed. And then hold Board members accountable.
Some organizations create Board engagement plans for each Board member
Some Board members have great connections with foundations. Others have great connections with wealthy individuals. They all bring different things to the table
One Board member sets up 12 coffee meetings per year for their Executive Director
"Great storytelling comes with practice."
"You will never create a movement without a great story."
Some TED speakers prepare for six months
Some organizations have storytelling roulettes and staff had to tell stories. Or they practice telling their story to groups of ordinary people.
Very few social entrepreneurs have books out
Op-eds and speaking opportunities add up
Having kids helps you set boundaries for your personal life
Kathleen Janus does yoga and meditation. She prioritizes spending time with her kids so she doesn't work around the clock

52: How to fundraise $45,000 on campus for your favorite charity - Steve Sexton Dec 27, 2017

Show notes

"Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong," said Steve Sexton. His first major fundraising event as the chapter president of Students Helping Honduras at UMD—a 5K— was a, "disaster that barely broke even."

"I wanted to deflect the blame at first," he said, "But I took a long look in the mirror and said it is my fault. I can't let this happen again."

He dusted off and said to himself, "You can't let some naysayers put you down. You gotta keep going!"

Steve wanted to improve the team's unity and morale. Soon, barbecues, rollerblading nights, and paintball outings were organized. His biggest focus as the leader was simple: "to look out for my friends in the chapter."

In this episode, Steve deconstructs how they raised $1,500-$2,100 per day selling Krispy Kreme donuts at metro stations and through their campus thrift shop. "Every waking moment I had to do something," he said, "Planning, organizing, talking to somebody."

During the spring semester of 2017, the UMD chapter raised $45,000 to build two schools in Honduras. In this episode, Steve Sexton explains step-by-step how it was done.

Steve Sexton Show Notes

Steven Sexton found out about Students Helping Honduras at UMD's First Look Fair
Students Helping Honduras was Steve's first experience volunteering abroad
Steve got many of his friends to join SHH
When Steve was elected, he asked himself, "can I do this?"
"I have a lot to do," he said to himself and got to work
"We had to plan ahead and be prepared," he said at the beginning of the year
The UMD team created a calendar of events, deadlines for tasks, and small milestones
"What would differentiate our table?" he asked for the First Look Fair
They gave out juice bags at the First Look Fair
When they organized a 5K, "everything that could've gone wrong, went wrong." They had problems with the t-shirt orders, signups, and delays. "It was a disaster and we barely broke even."
He realized that a lot more planning had to happen
Upon returning from Honduras, the UMD team started fundraising immediately
Steve spent many hours organizing weekly meetings for the general body and for the exec committee. He also held many one-on-one meetings with his officers.
The team organized barbecues, parties, rollerblading nights, and paintball outings to keep the group united and engaged
He mixed down-to-business meetings with fun activities
The Students Helping Honduras chapter focused on selling Krispy Kreme donuts at metro stations each week. They started with four stops but eventually were selling in ten stops simultaneously
A box of 12 donuts cost the chapter $4. They sold each box for $8-$10
The first Krispy Kremes sales day was "chaotic"
They bought $1,000 worth of donuts
They woke up at 5am to start selling. They need supplies like tape, tables, Square credit card readers, etc.
The chapter organized one, large event per month like a thrift shop, gaming tournament, soccer tournament, Easter egg hunt
They chose the metro stations through trial and error
The best stops had the best foot traffic
They always went in the mornings. They would meet up at 5:30am and drive to their respective stops. They were out selling by 7am and be back on campus by 11am
Friday was the best because members had less classes
Thursdays were the best selling days since on Fridays some people don't work
The chapter made $1,500-$2,100 per day selling donuts
At the height, they had 17-18 people participating per day
"You can't be afraid to get a no."
Many people ignored them but others are super friendly and ask about the cause
"You can't let some naysayers put you down. You gotta keep going!"
Sometimes after the Krispy Kremes sales, the team went out to celebrate at the local Denny's for a family brunch
Steve helped set up fundraising pages for his members and held letter writing workshops.
During one week, the UMD-SHH chapter had the campus-wide easter egg hunt AND the thrift shop during the same week
For the thrift shop, the chapter gathered clothes and random stuff (snowboard, telescope, toys, etc.) and spent four days organizing them
They took the items to the Student Union and set up the thrift store for three days
Steve needed to coordinate the event, making sure the event was well staffed and organized
The easter egg hunt was done in honor of Kayla Libby, a former Students Helping Honduras volunteer who passed away a few years ago. Participants had to look for clues and find the eggs.
"I was constantly thinking I was forgetting something."
"Every waking moment I had to do something. Planning, organizing, talking to somebody."
The chapter raised $500 from the easter egg hunt and $2,500-$3,000 from the thrift shop
The other members kept Steve motivated
At one point, Steve wanted to do the thrift store outside. But one of his members, Taylor, wanted to do it indoors. The team got into a healthy debate and ultimately decided on doing it indoors. Steve was convinced by the long pros and cons list.
"I wanted to deflect the blame at first. But I took a long look in the mirror and said it is my fault. I can't let this happen again."
Some people have a hard time thinking for themselves, solving problems on their own
When giving instructions, you have to be very specific
Steve gave a short speech to his church and raised $2,000
"Try new fundraisers. Branch out."
"Don't be afraid to ask for a donation."
"Look out for your friends in your chapter."
Steve wants to thank Max and Taylor Judge for their hard work last year

51: Using standup comedy & improv to help war veterans — Sam Pressler Oct 05, 2017

Show notes

While studying at the College of William & Mary, Sam Pressler learned about the post-traumatic stress disorder war veterans were facing as they reintegrated into civilian life.

So in 2015, he started Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) to help them re-enter and thrive in their communities. ASAP, based out of Washington DC and Hampton Roads, VA gives veterans a voice by doing something completely unconventional… By offering them free classes and workshops in stand-up comedy, improv, storytelling, and creative writing.

But the entrepreneurial journey for Sam Pressler was no joke. He bootstrapped with just two other employees—and during the same week, they both quit. "That was rock bottom for us. I thought we were going to implode," he said. "How the heck am I going to do this?" he asked himself. Yet instead of quitting, Sam kept pushing forward. "Time stopped and I immediately went into survival mode."

He asked himself one question, "What is the first step to take to get out of this?" and then created an insane schedule for himself—4:30 am workouts at the gym and 6-10 am focused solo time at the desk. "I ruthlessly prioritized my time, segmenting every minute of my day," he said. Sam's hard work paid off and ASAP was asked to organize a show at the White House. "It was surreal," he said.

Since 2015, more than 450 students have taken classes, and there have been over 700 performances in front of an estimated 40,000 audience members.

Sam is an Echoing Green Fellow and was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurship.

Sam Pressler Reading List

Mastery by Robert Greene
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger

Sam Pressler Show Notes

Sam Pressler studied political science at the College of William & Mary

Back in high school, Sam lost a close family member to suicide

Humor and laughter are universal languages that can connect us

Growing up, Sam's passions were service and comedy

Sam read Jerry Seinfeld's biography

Sam's father went to the same gym as Tina Fey. Tina Fey agreed to have an hour-long lunch with Sam!

20 military veterans commit suicide each day in the US

Suicide rates in the US are rising

Older veterans are seeing the higher rates of suicides

Less than 1% of the population has served in combat, so veterans have very few people who understand them when they return home

Veterans can face identity issues when returning to civilian life

Identity and purpose are important

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger

The military gives soldiers a strong sense of community. When they go home, they are abruptly stripped of this community and social bonds.

Social clubs and community groups are on the decline

At William & Mary, Sam started a writing group and comedy club for 65 veterans from Williamsburg

Sam got help from George Srour and Cosmo Fujiyama (my sister) and received a prestigious Echoing Green grant.

For Sam, the very first comedy boot camp workshop was terrifying

Seven veterans showed up to the first boot camp

Two of those original participants now hold positions for Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP)

Many participants become best friends and even invite each other to their evenings

Sam doggedly reached out to veteran service organizations, veteran clinics, student veterans, local military bases, etc. to find participants

The very first performance was held at William & Mary

World War II veteran Joe Bruni read a poem about a friend who was killed at the Battle of Iwo Jima. He expressed survival guilt in the poem.

One participant shared his story of being homeless as a veteran and then eventually going to college

The stories are full of tragedy, triumph, and humor

Sam moved to Washington DC upon graduation

Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) is not an art therapy program, though some of their art programs can be therapeutic

"Don't ever say I, say we."

Hundreds of people are behind Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP)

"A village of people were supporting us. Teachers, administrators, students."

Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) has three staff members and 30 instructors

Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) generate funds from ticket sales from their performances, corporate sponsorships of their shows, fundraising performances at conferences, grants, private donations

Standup comedy generates the most revenue for Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP). Improv shows are mostly given for free

They can reinvest the revenue generated to expanding their programs

In October 2016 Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) carried out the first ever veteran's comedy show at the White House

"It was surreal."

People are interested in the comedic process and behind-the-scenes knowledge

Sam's family was at the crowd in the White House, along with family members of the participants

Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) was overextended during the first months.

One week, his only other employee suddenly and the volunteer CFO quit. Simultaneously, a good friend became suicidal. Deadlines were missed.

He saw immense operational difficulties of the startup phase

"That was rock bottom for us. I thought we were going to implode."

"How the heck am I going to do this?"

"Time stopped and I immediately went into survival mode. What is the first step to take to get out of this?"

He felt the imposter syndrome

The difficulty forced Sam Pressler to think more deeply about his work and his deficiencies

"It was terrifying and very difficult."

"I ruthlessly prioritized my time, segmenting every minute of my day."

"It taught me to rely on other people."

The co-founder, Ryan, volunteered for three months to help Sam rebuild

Identifying the right people at the right time is the key

"It's about building the personal and organizational resilience."

Many veterans didn't commit suicide because of Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP)

"The shiny end-state that you see with the awards and all, those are just snapshots in time and things can change very quickly."

Sam Pressler still has a flip phone!

He listens to NPR and complains about the weather like an old man, lol

Quarterly and monthly meetings to set the north star with staff are key

He uses a composition notebook to write down his priorities and tasks

Sam Pressler "calendarizes" his time around his peak periods

Sam Pressler wakes up at 4:30 am every day and works out

6am-10am is quiet work time for Sam where he does uninterrupted work.

Sam does meetings during the day when he is a bit more tired

Sam gets 7 hours of sleep, going to bed around 9:30 pm every night

Sam reflected on the question, "What is your life task?" upon reading Mastery by Robert Greene

Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) is now working with the Veterans Affairs office

Joe Bruni was one of the first participants and joined near the 70th anniversary of Iwo Jima. He was 92 at the time. He wanted to simply survive until the anniversary.

Joe Bruni wrote "Ode to Joe" about his friend Joe Esposito who fought alongside him

CNN sent a film crew to cover the ceremony that Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) organized to honor Joe Bruni. The segment was released on Memorial Day, 2015

Joe Esposito's nephew saw the segment and called Sam.

Joe did another reading of Ode to Joe in Norfolk. Sam didn't tell Joe that Joe Esposito's family was going to be there.

The family left a scrapbook with letters and photos from Joe and Joe. Joe Bruni realized that he had written some of those letters 70 years prior. He started crying. Everyone started crying. "They're here?"

Joe Esposito's nephew gives Joe Bruni a huge hug and they start talking.

"If nothing else happens through our programs, that alone was worth it."

50: What are RCTs and how will they transform development aid? With Noam Angrist Sep 26, 2017

Show notes

Today's guest is Noam Angrist, the founder of Young 1ove, an NGO providing sex education to 35,000+ young people in Botswana. Sex-ed is a complicated issue, and over the decades it's been hard to tell what worked and what didn't. In Botswana, where 22% of the population has HIV, much of it hadn't worked.

But when Noam used a tool from the scientific community, he could actually tell what interventions worked. Like a scientist, Noam discarded the interventions that didn't work and focused on the ones that did. Soon, teenage pregnancy dropped by 28% in the communities he worked with, and he had the evidence to prove it. The tool that Noam used was the randomized control trial (RCT).

In this episode, Noam talks about his experience carrying out RCTs and discusses their limitations, challenges, and financial costs. He faced countless personal struggles along the way, like using his personal savings to fund the startup years, not having funding as launch day neared, government officials obstructing the program, and having to make 11-hour drives through the dirt roads of Africa.

When things got tough, Noam reminded himself to, "stay fiercely optimistic," and "push through even when things are collapsing around you."

Noam's goal is to provide sex-ed to a million youth in southern Africa in the coming years. For his work, Noam Angrist has been named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurship.

Noam Angrist's Reading List

Noam Angrist Show Notes

Noam Angrist studied math and economics at MIT

He took a class at MIT with Esther Duflo, one of the founders of The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). The Poverty Action Lab popularized the Randomized Control Trials.

Randomized control trials have revealed that most interventions don't work

Noam Angrist was influenced by an article he read in Esther Duflo's class: Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya By Pascaline Dupas

Noam worked for the World Bank and J-PAL upon graduation and realized that many research studies produce papers but not programs

Noam did a project at the World Bank about Botswana. He went to the University of Botswana to better understand the situation.

The university students give free tuition and provides student stipends. But when stipends run out at the end of the month, they become sugar babies.

According to the study by Dupas, the unprotected sex with sugar daddies was infecting many young people with HIV, but the research paper was not being turned into a program

Noam went out into the field with a team and turned the research into an actual program

Doers need plans that are simple, clear, and actionable but research papers are usually complicated and long.

The topics of sex and sugar babies are taboo

Noam and his team organized sex-ed workshops with the college students and found out that what the facilitators did or said affected the results greatly

Small, five-minute ice breakers at the beginning of the session changes the whole dynamic of the workshop and people talk more. Or when someone contributes a comment, everyone snaps and creates an environment of positivity and enthusiasm

The workshops are more effective when the facilitator is also a youth. It is truly a youth-to-youth model

Young 1ove now focus on girls ages 12-16

Women in areas with high HIV rates tend to have multiple, concurrent sexual partners

Due to the nature of the HIV virus, the disease is easier spread when less time has passed between sexual intercourse with different partners. That is why having concurrent partners is so dangerous.

45% of 40-year-old men in Botswana have HIV. 5% of young people have HIV. So the inter-generational sexual partnerships is infecting the younger generation.

Noam Angrist won $20,000 from D-Prize, a foundation that funds new entrepreneurs who increase access to proven poverty interventions.

Young 1ove carried out a second program (that had been proven to work in Kenya ten years prior) in Botswana, funded by J-PAL, Baylor HIV Clinic, and the Ministry of Education

Noam wanted to know if what worked in Kenya would work in Botswana

Noam thought he would become a development economics professor before the opportunity to run Young 1ove had came up

He had been offered a full ride to go to graduate school in the US but instead became a social entrepreneur

"Why do research when you can use it to make a difference?"

There was a gap... the good research was not being used

"It's not the lack of good research. That exists. It's the using and adapting of it that interested me."

J-PAL and World Bank have hundreds of studies showing what works and what doesn't, but the studies are not being used enough

NGOs should ask themselves, what do you need to do an RCT for? Is it to demonstrate impact to get more funding or is it to understand if an intervention is actually working to adjust or scale your programs?

If you want to do the RCT to give you more credibility and better branding, then you should hire an expensive, credible third party like J-PAL to do it for you

But if you want to do the RCT just as a learning tool for your own organization's internal purposes, you don't need to spend much money

Currently, kids are being told to abstain, which has not been very helpful.

Simply encouraging young people to date other young people leads to safer sex

Mechanism matters

90% of girls think younger men have a higher HIV rate than older men. But when you reveal the truth, it changes the cost-benefit-analysis for the girls

Botswana is really good about distributing HIV medication. So now the cost of having HIV is lower. So the messaging for sex-ed has to evolve with the changes of cost-benefit-analysis of the situation

A lot of universities now have centers that perform RCT.

Reliable organizations that do RCTs: J-PAL, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), World Bank, ID Insight, The Busara Center for Behavioral Economics in Nairobi, Kenya

You should build into your organization's fiber to always look to improve and constantly iterate

The original studies in Botswana produced ambiguous results. They measured more factors than the study from Kenya and had three groups instead of two that they studied

They were not ready to scale at that point

They tried different strategies, like instead of focusing on talking about the risk of HIV (now that the cost of having it is less), they experimented by focusing on the risk of pregnancy. Or by providing follow-up meetings to remind people

There is the temptation to do more and more research and not take a stance/position or move forward until one is 100% sure. But we are never 100% sure!

There is less evidence as to what works across countries and over time

MTV, The Ministry of Youth, and The Global Innovation Fund started to help

They delivered their programs to one third of the country in forty days

Young 1ove's commitment to evidence-based interventions has attracted many donors

Most of the original staff members were volunteers

They applied for funding from Evidence Action and many other groups to find funding

Noam Angrist used his personal savings to withdraw cash out of ATMs in Botswana to fund the beginnings of Young 1ove

Everything was bootstrapped in the beginning. They operated lean, and shared computers at the university

During one 11-hour drive, Noam received a phone call from J-PAL about funding for a quarter million dollar RCT. They awarded the money and Noam was ecstatic and called his staff immediately. They received the funding one month before everything needed to start

They needed to get permission from the Ministries of the Botswana government. When ministers advocating for Young 1ove change jobs, it can complicate matters

They learned to get buy-in from EVERYONE in the government and so called and updated the stakeholders so much that they were told not to call so much

The marginal cost of changing what the workshop facilitators say is very low. The benefits could be huge.

Young 1ove is now working on a remedial education program

One of the best ways to prevent HIV is to keep kids in school

Noam describes his team as fiercely optimistic

"Push through even when things are collapsing around you. Stay fiercely optimistic."

"You should be able to do good and do well."

Salaries for nonprofit workers should be competitive

"What a pleasure it is wake up and want to go to work."

The documentary, Broken for Good talks about the poor salaries in the nonprofit industry

Big Bang Philanthropy is a foundation that funds big but meddles/dictate little. They trust the organizations to make the right decisions. Getting donors like that is key.

"Stay crisp and simple, but internally brace for a lot more complexity. Juggle that tension and be aware of it."

49: Providing health training to 90,000 people in the hospitals of India, with Katy Ashe Jun 07, 2017

Show notes

Katy Ashe is the co-founder of Noora Health, a tech NGO in India. When she visited the hospitals of Bangalore as a graduate student, she saw a sea of people sitting around in the hallways. Who were they? They were family members of the patients—and they were scared, bored, and lacked basic health information. Many slept outside the hospitals, waiting for days. They had nothing to do but wait.

The incredible waste of time was tragic. But Katy and her cofounders saw opportunity amidst the tragedy.

The cofounders asked themselves, what if these people sitting around in the hallways spent those hours learning about health, physical therapy, and disease prevention? After all, some people didn't even know what a pulse was, and at least 40% of the patients had diabetes.

Noora Health began by showing one health video that they filmed in a parking lot. To the surprise of the founders, patients and their families loved the video. They wanted more. But there was a problem: the founders had no money. Yet something inside Katy kept saying, "We need to go all in and become an organization and throw our lives into this."

For months, Katy lived in garages, attics and tents to make ends meet. She worked part time bartending and babysitting while she built up Noora Health with her professional soulmate, Edith.

The founders grew the nonprofit organization and created countless health workshops. Now Noora Health operates in 16 cities in India. They have provided training to 90,000 people and impact studies have shown a 36% reduction in post-surgical complications.

Fast Company rated Noora Health as one of the most innovative companies in 2016. They've been recognized by Y-Combinator, Echoing Green, and Ashoka. Katy Ashe was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for social entrepreneurship.

Katy Ashe's Reading List

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
Any book written by Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh

Katy Ashe Show Notes

Katy Ashe did an undergraduate thesis project in the Amazon rainforest in Peru

She accidentally began studying environmental contamination for mercury in the illegal gold mining industry

Noora Health started out as a class project for a at Stanford's School of Design

They utilized the Human Centered Design Practice for their project to find out what was happening in the hospitals of India

Katy Ashe discovered that the patients and their family members were not ready to go home after they were treated due to uncertainty

In India, many family members accompany a patient to the hospital. They wait and camp out outside the hospital for days

Communication between patients, family members, and medical personnel was lacking

Medical personnel rarely explain to the patients and family members follow up procedures

Katy Ashe and her team decided to train and educate the family members who were waiting around and bored

40% of the patients going to the hospital had been diagnosed with diabetes; many others probably had it but were undiagnosed

The majority of the people Katy worked with had never been to a hospital or a health class

Some people didn't even know what a pulse was

Katy Ashe and her team were actually determined NOT to start an organization through the class project

Then they used a point and shoot camera to make a video. A nurse in India showed the video to teach a class to the bored family members

A huge line of people showed up to watch

The video showed people how to walk after surgery, physical therapy techniques, basic diet advice

The impact numbers were surprisingly positive; infection rates were lowered, satisfaction levels for the hospital increased, people didn't need to go to the hospital as much afterwards

The Amazon rainforest project had gotten too dangerous for Katy Ashe. The gold mining mafia wanted to kill Katy

Two of the co-founders had moved onto medical school

Katy Ashe went to India for a couple of weeks but ended up staying for nearly a year

Living in India is very affordable, but Bangalore is a tech city and costs are increasing quickly. A ramen at a ramen bar in Bangalore can cost $15!

The hospital asked Noora Health to do their programs in their other hospitals

"We need to go all in and become an organization and throw our lives into this."

The founders did not want the project to fade away

They gave themselves three months to get things going

Katy Ashe was living in a friend's garage to make ends meet

Edith, the other co-founder, was job searching

Katy nor Edith could find jobs that were as impactful to the world, and they are impact-aligned people

They wanted to turn the dial using their lives

Katy Ashe was looking at IDEO, getting a PhD, becoming a researcher

Katy Ashe and Edith consider themselves "professional soul mates"

They started Noora Health without any money or funding

They made pitches about Noora Health everywhere they went

In the beginning, the founders didn't know how to tell a story

At the tail end of the three month deadline, they were accepted by Y-Combinator, an accelerator for tech startups (Air B&B, Dropbox, etc.). They create a community for the entrepreneurs and create a space for accelerated growth

Katy had part-time jobs (bartending, babysitting, odd jobs) while starting Noora Health, just getting by

Katy had unusual housing arrangements to make ends meet, such as attics connected with ladders, tents, garages

At Y-Combinator, nonprofits are treated the same way as everyone else

Noora Health was the second nonprofit ever to be accepted by Y-Combinator

Y-Combinator lasts 3-4 months but you become part of the community forever

Katy Ashe went into Y-Combinator without knowing too much about it, without expectations

Noora Health shot out of Y-Combinator "like a cannon ball"

"We've been trying to keep the cannon ball in the air."

Katy had to learn how to hire people, create a team, create a culture

The four founders had started the class project without naming a leader or CEO

"Every couple of months I rewrite my job description."

Katy Ashe is currently focusing on external communication, such as writing articles and sharing their impact study data sets

Katy Ashe loves to travel, kind of like Dr. Who, to go to conferences and make pitches

She was rarely in one place for longer than two weeks

Noora Health now works in 16 different cities in India

Excessive traveling can make you confused and lose your center

The original nurse in India that helped show the first video is now Noora's Director of Training!

Noora Health now sets up schools inside the hospitals and provide the staff with videos, flip charts, take home materials, everything they need

Their material is largely visual since many of the beneficiaries are illiterate

Noora Health has more than 30 employees now in the team

Noora Health has filmmakers and designers on the team and they create the curriculum

They are currently trying to change 5-10 behaviors

Noora Health has trained more than 90,000 family members

"You should be paying competitive wages."

Noora Health sometimes give full time jobs to their volunteers

Being indispensable and adding value are keys to finding jobs

Katy Ashe considers herself a messy person

She is always starting new projects, reading more books, adding more tasks onto her already busy life

She considers herself "too curious"

Noora Health wants to take their model to all of India and eventually to other countries

The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to be advocates for world peace while working on ourselves

48: How Annie "The Jackfruit Lady" Ryu built a health food company in India instead of a nonprofit Apr 27, 2017

Show notes

While volunteering in India as an undergraduate student, Annie Ryu fell in love at first sight. What she saw at the market wasn't tall, dark, and handsome. It was a spiky, green fruit she had never seen. The huge fruit she was looking at was the jackfruit, the largest tree born fruit in the world.

Fascinated, she researched the fruit and ate them. Many of them. So much so that she'd soon be known "The Jackfruit Lady." The jackfruit, which tastes different in its various stages, has many nutritional benefits. It's high in vitamin E, magnesium, fiber, potassium, and manganese.

It also tastes great! The jackfruit is incredibly fibrous and has a meaty texture similar to pulled pork. When ripe, Annie describes it as, "a combination of pineapple, banana, and mango." That sounds delicious!

The meat industry is the second largest contributor to global warming. The problem is, many meat alternatives don't taste too great. But what if someone could create something that did?

Annie Ryu had an epiphany shortly after: by marketing the jackfruit all over the US as a meat-alternative main dish, she could create jobs, fight global warming, and improve human health. When she returned to campus, she said no to a Fulbright scholarship and no to medical school. Instead, Annie created The Jackfruit Company.

She figured out how to start a company in India, though she had zero knowledge of the food industry. She contacted farmers, local providers, and vendors to create a supply chain for the jackfruit. She bootstrapped the operation for years, concocting flavors in her own kitchen. The flavors that Annie now offers includes: Teriyaki, Curry, Tex-Mex, and BBQ. More are on their way.

But it hasn't been easy for Annie. "I was working all hours of the day," she said, describing her early days. "Initially, you're doing everything," she expressed. Her first three shipments were disastrous and had to be dumped. As she hired people, she realized how little experience she had as a manager. "Becoming a good manager was a whole new learning curve," she said.

Yet Annie Ryu kept pushing her limits. "I had the conviction that what I was doing was the right thing to do, even though there was so much more to learn," she said as she thought about all the benefits the jackfruit would bring to the world.

The company grew and grew, and they now run a factory in India and is generating jobs for 50+ locals.

Annie was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for social entrepreneurship. In this episode, she also talks about her relationship with her Korean father, her aspirations, personal struggles, personality test results, and why she decided to start a social enterprise instead of a traditional nonprofit organization.

You can buy The Jackfruit Company's products online or near the tofu and meat-alternative sections in Whole Foods, Wegmans, Safeway, and other supermarkets.

This episode is sponsored by Tikker, the death watch that counts down your life (and tells the time). Use the promo code SHIN at the checkout to get a 10% discount on your purchase.

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