The Good Business Podcast

Kim Lim from PichaEats, Cooking Up a Recipe for Resilience

In today’s episode of the Good Business Podcast I am talking with Kim Lim who is the Co-Founder of PichaEats, a food business rebuilding lives for refugees in Malaysia.

PichaEats has a simple mission - to serve you great food. But as you enjoy your meal, you are also providing an opportunity for refugees in Malaysia to start a new life. Their chefs have all been forced to flee to Malaysia for a variety of reasons and PichaEats specialise in delicacies from the homeland of these chefs – from Iraqi Falafel, Palestinian Hummus to Afghani Dumplings & Syrian sweets.

Through PichaEats, refugee families who are forced to flee to Malaysia can get a chance to rebuild their lives, regain their dignity, and provide for their family.

In this episode I talk with Kim about what caused her to establish PichaEats with her co-founders, we will hear the stories of the refugees they are helping and the many challenges she has faced along the way.

Show notes available at www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Lauren Bukowski from Hey Tiger, Guilt Free Chocolate with a Mission

As we all buckle down to ride out this Coronavirus pandemic it is more important than ever to remember that there are some amazing businesses doing amazing things in the world.

And as we come out the other side of this pandemic, and we will come out the other side of this, there will be no shortage of issues that will need to be addressed by change-makers just like you.

So I hope that the conversations we have here on the podcast keep you motivated for all of the amazing impacts we can create together because solving the environmental and social issues facing our communities is a team sport and we can achieve great things by working together.

With that having been said, today I am talking with one of these change-makers, Lauren Bukowski who is the Impact Director at Hey Tiger, a social enterprise chocolate company.

Hey Tiger is a premium, handmade, Australian chocolate brand and social enterprise, on a mission to make change in the cocoa industry and partner with the Hunger Project to positively impact cocoa farming communities in Ghana, one chocolate block at a time.

A do-er by nature with a passion for fair, Lauren is drawn to projects and work with meaning.

Lauren has been with Hey Tiger since it started 2017 and she is currently the Impact Director working to make Hey Tiger a gold-standard impact business. Lauren is a new Mom, a nature lover, and is always up for a good laugh or a chat with a friend.

In this episode we talk about the very beginnings of Hey Tiger from the initial idea through to the excitement of the very first sale. It is a good business story to help inspire you during these exceptional times.

Show notes available at www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Kimberly White, A Good Disruption to Online Media with The Planetary Press

In today’s episode of the Good Business Podcast I am talking with Kimberly White who is the Founder and CEO of The Planetary Press.

The last time I spoke with Kimberley was a little over a year ago after she had just launched The Planetary Press so I thought I would check in to see how it was going, what lessons she has learnt along the way and her hopes for the future.

The Planetary Press is an international news source focused on reporting in sustainability, environmental advocacy, corporate social responsibility, and climate change. They highlight sustainable solutions around the globe that inspire others to make a measurable difference.

In this episode Kimberley and I discuss her background growing up in Alaska and Florida, how she is trying to reshape online media by focussing on good news stories, the challenges she is facing in creating a new online news service, and how she wants to be part of everybody's hope budget - oh and Steve Irwin gets a mention also.

Show notes available at www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Kelly O'Shanassy, Leading from the front with the Australian Conservation Foundation

Our guest today is Kelly O’Shanassy who is the CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The Australian Conservation Foundation is Australia's national environment organisation. Their more than 600,000 members speak out for a world where forests, rivers, people and wildlife thrive. They embody the philosophy that “The power of the people is greater than the people in power”.

Kelly is at the helm of this dedicated movement. Growing up as the daughter of a police officer and a teacher, Kelly learned early on not to judge people for where they are in life. If they want to do better; she doesn’t judge and sees her role as helping people change - this applies equally to an individual who wants to make a difference in the world to the CEO of a billion dollar resource company.

In this episode we hear about Kelly’s upbringing growing up in a fairly tough neighbourhood where people had little money but were rich in courage and community spirit and how this shapes what she does today. We also talk about the lessons she has learnt in trying to move the dial on big businesses performance on protecting the environment and what she does today to get businesses to be part of the solution - and it is not what you think..

The show notes are available www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Paul Warburg, From Church Planting to Launching a New Sustainable E-Commerce Venture

Today’s guest is Paul Warburg who is just getting ready to launch a new e-commerce company, Wendigo that is focused on sourcing sustainable products.

Paul has been starting small businesses since high school. Prior to founding Wendigo, he owned an eBay consignment business, ran a small digital marketing agency, and has been a church planter, founding a small church in his hometown.

Now, he's looking to combine his passions for business and charity by building a business that has sustainability as a natural part of its everyday operations. Paul believes that the best way to tackle the world's problems is to build self-perpetuating movements that combine profit and purpose.

When I interviewed Paul he was just 2 weeks away from launching his new business - in fact the business was planned to go live around the time this episode goes live. So this interview is the first of two- this one is before the launch and then we will check in with him in a few months to see how it is all going.

In this episode we talk about his background and what is driving him to set up a new sustainable e-commerce business, we discuss church planting (seriously this is a thing), we talk about the challenges he has faced so far and his expectations for the future.

Show notes available at https://www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Tony Rinaudo, The Forest Maker

Today’s guest is Tony Rinaudo who is World Vision’s Climate Action Advisor, but he is more famously known as The Forest Maker because Tony helped transform millions of hectares of dry land in Niger it what has been described as "probably the largest positive environmental transformation in all of Africa".

You see over 25 years ago, with the help of the local farmers in Niger, Tony began implementing a conservation farming system which is known as Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) which basically involves growing trees as an integral part of agricultural land. This approach has been so successful that it has been applied in at least 24 African countries.

For many people, Tony is certainly an environmental hero, after making a positive impact on food security, and environmental sustainability and resilience for thousands of vulnerable communities around the world.

In this episode we talk with Tony about his 'mindscaping' super powers, the challenges of getting farmers to change their practices in Niger and how he overcame them resulting in the growth of 200 million trees on five million hectares of degraded farmland in that country alone.

This episode is about how to engage with communities to create positive change and proves that not all superhero’s wear capes.

Show notes available at www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Paul Dunn, Harnessing the Power of Small with B1G1

One of things we like to say here at the Blue Tribe Company is that every-time someone does business with us that something great happens in the world. And one of the reasons we can say this is because of today’s guest.

In this episode I am talking with Paul Dunn, who is the Chairman of B1G1: Business for Good, which is a Global Giving Initiative that’s enabled businesses to create over 200 Million giving impacts globally.

Not only is he an all round good guy but Paul is also a 4 times TEDx Speaker and award-winning entrepreneur. He has received a stack of honours for his work.

He’s a Senior Fellow of one of the world’s leading business think-tanks and is now a Fellow of Singapore’s Social Innovation Forum – an honour he shares with film-star Jet Li and Walmart Chairman, Rob Walton.

He has been featured in Forbes alongside Sir Richard Branson in a global feature on disruptors in business and he is even the recipient of a Global Lifetime Achievement Award for Service to the Accounting Profession – and he is NOT even an accountant!

In this episode we hear about how a humbling moment associated with the 2004 boxing day tsunami led Paul on a mission to create a movement that harnesses the power of small.

To access the show notes visit www.bluetribe.co/podcast

John Pabon, Sustainability in the Asian Century

In this episode I am talking with John Pabon, who is the Founder and Chief Advisor at Fulcrum Strategic Advisors.

Now I would describe John and as an expert on China but as you will hear, John would say that if anyone tells you they are an expert on China then you should run the other way because there is just so much to learn about this 5000 year old culture.

Before founding Fulcrum Strategic Advisors he worked with the United Nations, McKinsey, A.C. Nielsen, and as a consultant with BSR, the world’s largest sustainability-focused business network.

He is passionate about the opportunities in China and for the past decade he has chronicled the societal impacts of China’s economic rise in his blog, John’s Little Green Book and has been named one of the world's top 100 voices on modern China. He is a regular contributor to major magazines, and speaks to an array of global audiences on issues of sustainability, policy, and societal change.

In this episode we hear about his journey from dreams of a career in music in California, to his move to China and the opportunities he sees for business and sustainability as the world pivots for the Asian Century. He is also a gladiator for good (although as he says a very pragmatic one) and so he fits in here perfectly on the Good Business Podcast.

Shows notes are available at www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Jeremy Meltzer, Weaving Philanthropy into Everyday Purchases

In this episode I talk with Jeremy Meltzer from i=Change. Jeremy is a social entrepreneur and advocate for women’s rights globally. He created i=Change to help accelerate the impact of extraordinary development projects, focused on empowering women and girls.

As you will hear in this episode,As a young man, Jeremy was moved to action while living in Cuba where he was shocked at how violence against women seemed accepted and was even considered 'normal' across Latin America. This left him with a burning question... Why is such abuse so common in some communities while abhorrent in others?

This question led him on a 20 year journey to develop a solution which lies in engaging men, challenging the dominant versions of masculinity, modelling respectful relationships to children, and funding best-practice NGOs.

Part of that solution was the creation if i=change that is weaving philanthropy into everyday purchases.

From refugee camps to retailer leadership summits, Jeremy shares a journey that has crossed continents. We discuss disruptive models of business, the business of giving back, and how investing in women and girls will be the greatest drivers of growth and stability this century.

Shows notes are available at www.bluetribe.co/podcast

Team P2X, Three Engineers and a ElectroCatalytic Oxidiser (A Love Story)

In this episode I talk with three young chemical engineers who are literally at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey to change the world.

Constantine, Bijil, and Kushal recently formed team P2X to compete in the Peter Farrell Cup, the University of NSW's most prestigious competitive ideas program that has helped to fast-track the next generation of entrepreneurs and start-ups for the past 19 years.

The cup culminates in a final pitch competition where participants get the opportunity to win a share of a $20,000 cash prize pool to help take their ideas to the next level.

As part of the competition teams get allocated industry mentors who volunteer their time to help the teams develop their ideas and I was assigned as the industry mentor for P2X.

Whilst the outcome was not what they expected, my conversation with the guys is a great example of how to craft a compelling message to get people to buy into your ideas.

So if you have ever had an idea to change the world but didn’t know where to start or you have ever been frustrated that people just don’t get it or you have struggled to get people to support your idea then this episode is for you.

In this episode we find out what happens when you mix three young eager chemical engineers together with an electrocatalytic oxidiser, some explosive gas, an entrepreneurship competition, a no BS industry mentor (that would be me), and a vision to change the world - what could possibly go wrong?!

To access the show notes visit https://www.bluetribe.co/podcast