This short insight of inspiration came to me this morning while getting ready for the day. This is what I believe:
“Respecting the unique individuality of each person–while embracing our collective diversity.
Believing in the great capability of just you or just me–while recognizing the immeasurable potentiality of us.
Living compassionately–the essential glue that binds us all together”
“We need to get back our storyline,” exclaimed John Hope Bryant, the passionate and visionary leader of Operation HOPE, an organization that has empowered millions of lives through financial literacy.
From the outside, I sat still and quiet like the rest of the people in the audience. But inside, my heart was pounding, and my mind was racing. I felt ready to burst–from inspirational overload.
At that moment, I thought about the grand 200,000 year old story of human existence. In my mind’s eye, I pictured a massive book: a record of the history of humanity. In it were pages upon pages of a remarkable journey: on progress, decay, discovery, suffering, triumph, injustice, tolerance, hate, love.
Then within a blink of an eye, I instantly zoomed into the present moment. There I was. Just sitting in my chair, feeling absolutely alive. For I felt in my heart and I knew in my mind that this moment, our moment, my moment in human history possessed an incomparable weight of opportunity like never before. Most importantly, within me churned an optimism that humanity’s best chapters were yet to be written.
Listening to the words of the amazing leaders on stage–John Hope Bryant, Warren Bennis, Bill George, Dean Jim Ellis–it was hard not to believe in the possibility of a brighter tomorrow for our world. Although they may have said things in different ways, the essence of their visions was the same: our future must be led by people guided by love instead of fear, collaboration instead of separation, empowerment instead of coercion–so that we may reclaim humanity’s storyline designed for freedom, happiness, and prosperity for all.
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Now, seven weeks later after attending the leadership discussion in December, I’ve finished reading my copy of John Hope Bryant’s new book “Love Leadership”. Undoubtedly, it has become one of my top five favorite books and a guiding light for my continual journey of becoming a better leader for the sake of others. While reading, I could not stop shaking my head in deep agreement as I absorbed each leadership principle John has learned over the years and through his mentors. Below is a list of these principles and my personal experiences and/or reflections of them:
1) Loss creates leaders - rainbows after storms; I’ve learned more from failing than succeeding, from unsuccessful business ventures to going for my football dream, I’ve built resiliency knowing I can always get back up and realizing when one door closes many more will open
2) Fear fails - fear leads to “short-termism” and can never generate long term following; I like to compare fear-based and coercive versus love-based and empowering leaders, say Adolf Hitler versus Mahatma Gandhi. Look at who has been able to have a lasting following today and will for generations upon generations to come
3) Love makes money - you can do well by doing good, there is nothing wrong with “enlightened self-interest”/”good selfishness”, business is about people not transactions; this is the main premise behind the wave of social entrepreneurship sweeping the business world today–and I’m surfing it all the way
4) Vulnerability is power - when you open up, others open up back; anything great I have ever accomplished happened whenever I recognized myself as a just one humble human being. For in these times, other humans have connected with me and naturally wanted to join arms to move vulnerably forward together
5) Giving is getting - remember the golden question: “How can I help you?”; it’s the universal law of reciprocity, some call it karma, if you give out love, the universe will conspire to send it right back, and more. So many relationships I have built on giving have come back to really help me in some other time or form. Plus, serving others is a gift in itself.
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I cannot put any less emphasis on the amazing opportunities of today’s society to bring the kind of widespread change we humans have dreamed about ever since we could dream. I think about the major advancements of our society–democracy, capitalism, globalization, civil rights, technology, higher consciousness–and cannot help but believe in our potential to write humanity’s best chapters.
When I met John Hope Bryant after the event, I shared with him my dreams for Uncle Clay’s and gave him a copy of the Pure Aloha Oath. He told me, “Bronson, that’s love leadership, right there” then signed my book, “Thanks for having a vision for our world”.
It is a reminder for me to keep moving forward wholeheartedly believing in this vision of Pure Aloha I have for Hawaii and the world by staying fearlessly firm to my passions, making the most of my unique blessings, and always leading with love.
The right tools help you achieve entrepreneurial success: the E-Elixir, the Seal of Authenticity, and the Elephant Suit just to name a few. Check out all ten of my handy tools I’ve equipped myself with to construct positive change in the world through business (click link below).
There are nearly seven billion people who walk the face of this earth. Yet, each person is wholly unique. Every single one of us has walked our own individual journey in life unlike any other.
So when it comes to being an entrepreneur who needs to “differentiate from the crowd”, being authentic is vitally important for success. For when a person is authentic–people sense it, they see it, they feel it.
Being authentic requires taking ownership of the fact that we are each unique, and it requires living life with integrity. To do this, one needs to align the “Three H’s”: Heart, Head, and Hands. Your deepest values and convictions (heart) must align with what and how you think (head) must align with what you do (hands).
Reaching a level of true authenticity is difficult, however it’s a process that can happen over time as we better understand our true selves. And once you get that seal of authenticity, your potential is truly unlocked: you can create unbeatable brands, attract the most loyal customers, and travel YOUR path worth traveling always with a smile.
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Originally posted on “Venture Management E-Toolbox Blog”. Check it out for more entrepreneurial advice and tools from USC senior entrepreneurs!
Advancing Sustainable Global Enterprise: Changemakers, Innovators, and Problem Solvers
November 13/14
Cornell University | Ithaca, New York
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For the past three to four semesters, I’ve been a member of Net Impact: “an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire, educate, and equip individuals to use the power of business to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world”. Started in 1993, Net Impact now has 230 volunteer-led chapters spanning the globe including two at USC (undergrad and MBA).
As a social entrepreneur, being in Net Impact has definitely furthered my passion and sharpened my abilities to enact positive change in the world through business. Net Impact provides a unifying platform that brings like-minded people together; each year, its conference makes this point loud and clear. This year, I had the great fortune of attending this amazing gathering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
The trip to the conference was a short wild whirlwind of exciting experiences. In the end, I traveled 15+ hours to spend less than 48 hours in New York. Four Net Impact USC undergrad members and I caught the redeye on Thursday to make the cross-continental flight. We would return on Sunday morning closed-eye from the memorable and exhausting journey.
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Once at the conference, I attended informative and inspiring keynote addresses, panel discussions, and workshops one after the other. It was hard to pick out my personal itinerary from the over 100 great events spanning the topics of international development, clean energy, design, social innovation, CSR, and self-development. However, by the end of the conference, I truly felt I got the perfect blend that really fit my individual interests:
In every session, my brain engaged in some new thought or perspective through the provoking words from some of the world’s most prominent change-making business leaders: a proven approach to understanding customers at the deepest level, why systems-thinking is needed to find new solutions and to truly make a net impact, how business is changing in landscape and in the minds of man. I plan on blogging on my experience, key take-aways, and deeper reflection on each discussion in the coming week.
Beyond these amazing sessions, the Net Impact conference is designed to connect people. I met some really cool individuals over meals, in auditoriums waiting for events to begin, and at cocktail receptions. It was invigorating to meet so many smart, capable, and driven people. Because Net Impact is around 90%+ MBAs/Professionals, I met many older people who had lots of experiences to share. Further, being in the East Coast, I met mostly Ivy League MBAs from some of the top business schools in the world like Wharton, Sloan, Johnson, and HBS. As fellow Net Impacters, it was so easy to connect with one another being aware of our shared intent of making positive changes in the world.
To me, there are two primary components of my motivation: 1) a desired outcome and 2) a belief in the attainment of that desired outcome.
My deepest motivation in life is changing the world for the better. My desired outcome is a world filled with greater happiness, peace, and prosperity for all. And I believe that one of the most powerful tools for fulfilling this desire is business and entrepreneurship.
At this Net Impact conference, this latter component was most impacted to further my overall motivation for “changing the world through business”. My belief has deepened by learning from individuals who prove day-in-day-out what can be accomplished when caring people align their values with appropriate business models. My belief has deepened by feeling the powerful energy of thousands of people from around the world–the future’s next wave of business leaders–congregating together with the common hope of a better tomorrow. My belief has deepened by recognizing that I, as a continually growing social entrepreneur, can help build a happier, more peaceful, more prosperous world
It’s hard to believe. It’s been three months since India. Sadly, it’s taken me this long to write another post. And now, I face the very formidable task of summing up the past 90+ days in one blog post! So, without further ado, here I go… (gulp)…
India Project Updates
First, an update on the Global Impact Program water project.
I spent 10 weeks in India doing my best to make the most meaningful and lasting change in this tiny window of time. Accordingly, much thought was put into developing innovative solutions that could both sustain and scale beyond my team’s presence. Some key ways we did this were: putting ownership/accountability fully in the hands of the communities we served and implementing business models that simultaneously generated both profits and impact.
Since departing India, the 13-week Health Education Program has successfully run to completion at the Women’s College. We will be receiving evaluations from students and volunteers soon. As far as the the other participating college KIMS, we are still waiting for updates.
For the water filter distribution initiative with partner microcredit NGO Chinyard, we are waiting to see how the sell of the initial lot of filters went. The connection between Chinyard and the filter manufacturer is established, so we hope they continue moving forward together.
Lastly, for the reverse-osmosis water plant, installation has taken longer than expected. It took quite some time to arrange the three-phase power source. However, now with everything in place, the pure water will start flowing very soon. Technicians from EPGL are scheduled to work in Gadag for the final steps of installation on November 8th.
Furthermore, with much excitement, the Global Impact Program has been gearing up for the next group for 2010. There was a lot of interest at a recent info session attended by 30 or so people. For USC students interested in applying, click the prior link and make sure you meet deadline of November 16th.
Back to School: Last Year of College
Every year at USC has brought its own unique flavor for me. Each has been filled with new experiences, new people, and new personal growth that distinguishes it from the other. And senior year has been no exception.
So far, what has truly set senior year apart is the simple fact that I’ve been able to find gratitude and peace in every single day. Part of it is my conscious realization of the amazing gift of college and its quickly approaching end. Walking the busy sidewalks of our beautiful campus, participating in lively organizational meetings, cramming for a midterm, watching USC football games, but most of all connecting with friends, have all taken on much deeper value and joy.
I often think about graduation day: the culminating moment of this magical college journey. And when I envision myself making that final walk across the stage to receive my diploma, I want to say to myself: “I made the most of each day of this gift I received. I lived this experience how I wanted to live it. And now, I am so ready to FIGHT ON into the next stage of life that awaits me with even bigger and better things”.
Some of the highlights of the past two months of Fall semester include: serving at Seva Cafe in Long Beach (gift-economy restaurant), road-tripping to Berkeley with my roommates to watch the Trojans, co-founding Planting Life, and experiencing Parents Weekend for the first time with my Mom and Dad. However, its the simple moments in-between that I think have really made this final year so great.
Getting Focused: Uncle Clay’s
The most common question any college senior will get at any time of the school year is: “What’re you going to do afterwards?”
So, for those who haven’t had the pleasure of asking me “The Question” yet, here’s my answer (with a big smile on my face): “I will be returning back home to Hawaii to continue redeveloping Uncle Clay’s, full-time, all-out. And I’m absolutely pumped up.”
Even with the large barrier of being in Los Angeles away from Hawaii-stationed Uncle Clay’s, I have been able to make extremely exciting conceptual progress that will shape the overall direction of the new Uncle Clay’s:
I will be going home for Winter Break and expect to get a lot established in preparation for returning in the Spring semester. In this final semester at USC, I will be taking only 8-units (half of which go to my “Business Plan” entrepreneurship class) as I really focus in on Uncle Clay’s.
The reality of the vision of Pure Aloha only manifests more and more with each forward-moving step along this amazing journey of changing the world through business. Often, I reflect on how far we’ve come and how much we’ve got to go, and just shake my head with amazement and a sigh of joy.
Thanks to the great help from my artist dad, selected pictures from my journey in India are now available for everyone’s viewing pleasure! Check it out HERE.
In May, just one week before embarking on my India adventure, I expressed in a blog post the following:
“What excites me is the chance to pursue my life passion for creating meaningful change in the lives of others through social entrepreneurship.
Mostly however, what excites me most is knowing that when I write in this blog seven days after all is said and done, I will have gone on an adventure that profoundly changed who I am.”
Now August, just about two weeks after completing my India adventure, I am sitting here in the living room of my home in Honolulu, realizing these excitements fully manifested: meaningful change to others, profound change in myself.
Meaningful Change to Others
My team of “The Hubli Water and Health Project” came to India with the very broad mission of: improving the quality of drinking water and sanitation of local families through education and technology”. With India representing about one-third of the 1.6 million people dying from unsafe water and poor sanitation per year (90% of which are children under 5), we were compelled to seek meaningful change.
We accomplished this through three different initiatives: 1) Water and Health Education Program, 2) Household-Level Water Filter Distribution, 3) Community-Level Water Purification Plant.
Initiative #1: Water and Health Education Program
The first initiative represented the foundation that needed to be laid for anysuccess in improving the water situation. In most development projects, it is only through education (in this case, education about the necessity of clean water and proper sanitation) that communities could truly start eliminating bad habits, embracing personal responsibility, and taking initiative towards improving their circumstances.
In a nutshell, the Education Program aimed to educate primary (elementary) school children from low-income areas about clean water and sanitation through local college volunteer teachers. By influencing the open and developing minds of younger children, we hoped the Program could generate ripples of change emerging from the up-coming generation. Furthermore, by seeking college-aged volunteers, we aimed to empower the hearts of future leaders through opportunities to serve others.
With the curriculum already developed last summer, our team mainly focused on expanding the Program for larger impact. To do this, we successfully partnered with two colleges–Women’s College in Hubli and KIMS of Karnatak Univeristy in Dharwad–and connected their collective 30+ volunteers with six different primary schools. All in all, over the next 12 weeks, about 270 elementary students will learn 12 important lessons like properly washing their hands, how the water cycle works, how germs are spread, and why it is important to respect the environment.
Initiative #2: Household-Level Water Filter Distribution
The second initiative aimed at diffusing a proven yet simple water technology–an affordable household water filter–to as many families as possible. Thus, like most development projects, the biggest challenge was a marketing versus product one. The obstacle to overcome was diffusing a readily available and working technology in a way that ensured long-term and wide-spread adoption.
The highly effective water filter we sought to distribute removes sediment and kills water-borne bacteria through a gravity-fed ceramic filter infused with silver-ions. A single filter costs only USD $5-7 and can produce enough clean drinking and cooking water for a family of five for an entire year (~10,000L). After about one year, the ceramic filter can be replaced at a cost of just $1.
Initially, we thought we should establish a water filter kiosk that would be operated by a local entrepreneur. However we realized a much greater opportunity after an exploratory meeting with Chinyard, a microcredit NGO with an established network of over 3,000 self-help women groups throughout Karnataka. Chinyard was the perfect distribution solution: the organization had direct and immediate access to the right target consumers (poor families who suffer most from water contamination and women who are responsible for the house’s water supply), established credibility within communities, channels to distribute (bi-weekly SHG meetings), and capacity to provide payment plans for those who needed financial assistance. Chinyard was all-aboard in taking this new initiative of water filter distribution that would both improve health of their members and bring in profits.
To launch the initiative, we needed to test the demand, so we requested Chinyard to do product demos then generate a list of people interested in purchasing the filter. One week later, Chinyard presented us a stack of papers inscribed by 270+ names of eager consumers!
With demand secured, we were ready to assist Chinyard and provided them an interest-free loan to purchase 150 of the 270 filters through our project budget. The loan terms were lenient and repayment will be extremely easy for Chinyard. The ultimate aim will be for Chinyard to successfully handle this first order then use profits to build distribution to the rest of the market of tens of thousands of needy families. This certainly has the potential to be the innovative, scalable, and sustainable solution to distributing technology to the poorest of the poor: microcredit self-help group networks!
Initiative #3: Community-Level Water Purification Plant
This third initiative was the focus of most of my other blog posts. So rather than writing more, please have a read of those.
In a nutshell, we successfully installed a 1000 liter/hour reverse-osmosis water plant aimed to bring clean drinking water to 500 needy families in Gadag district. Furthermore, the plant projects to break-even within the next year and has the potential to generate enough profit to finance a new plant every five months. The pure water should begin flowing by August 25th.
Profound Change in Myself
Yet, with all the change I helped bring to others, others helped bring even greater change to me. Namely, it was through selfless service to others that my self-understanding deepened. As the great Mahatma Ghandi, a dedicated Karma Yogi, said: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.
I laid out some of my major life philosophies, or convictions, over a year ago when I established this blog. As convictions, based in reason but ultimately dependent on faith, both my heart and mind have only been fortified through this India adventure.
I am Lucky and with a Responsibility
Watching videos and reading articles about the needless suffering and unbelievably difficult lives of others worldwide was enough to develop this conviction. However, this summer I witnessed this suffering and difficulty first-hand in India.
From the disheveled beggar kids who tugged at my hands for rupees to the personal interactions with locals like: an overworked and underpaid bus driver getting schemed by fraudulent “business opportunities”, a high school dropout teen stuck in low-caste work of cleaning tables for 15 cents/hour at the canteen, and the heartbroken college girl forcefully separated from her true love then arranged to marry an unlikable man and denied her professional dreams.
In result, my belief that my life is abundantly blessed has only deepened, and the luminous fire that drives me to help others only burns brighter.
Furthermore, even as “my” accomplishments grow grander, my humility only grows truer. More and more, I see my truly minute existence within the expansive web of causes and effects. More and more, I recognize that there are simply too many influences that I am lucky to have–people, experiences, opportunities–to ever have room for ego.
We are Equal
As human beings, I believe we all share a fundamental equality based on our inherent human dignity. This human dignity comes from my deepening spiritual belief that every person possesses something beyond the
physical, something Infinite, something divine. As the Bhagavad Gita states, “They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them”. The wise recognize the divine which pervades all people and things. The wise can see the wonderful oneness of reality and can see beyond the illusion of separateness.
Be Myself - Listen to my Heart
Yet, such metaphysical comprehensions of our interconnectedness and the existence of the divine, only compel my mind through logic to believe in equality. Ultimately, believing comes down to being myself through listening to my compassionate heart.
Working tirelessly in a foreign land for complete strangers while also immersing myself in ancient Hindu and Buddhist wisdom this summer, I witnessed and learned about the power of compassion. Compassion supports our fundamental equality and applies universally to every single being. Where there is a violation to someone’s basic human rights, our heart will alert us, and compassion will seek change. My compassion sought to unlock the shackles of poverty that deny the impoverished their right to freedom. My small compassionate contribution was to help as many people in Karnataka, India by eradicating a major contributing factor to their poverty: dirty water.
My Heartfelt Thanks
I hope you made it this far, and if you did congratulations, this is a long post!
For in conclusion, I wanted to send my sincerest thanks to everyone who has followed this blog and traveled beside me on this amazing India adventure over the past three months. Your encouraging comments definitely helped fuel the fire throughout. Simply knowing I had a readership pushed me to authentically share this experience, and to make sure I actually had a good experience to share! My heartfelt gratitude goes out to each and every one of you. Namaskara and Pure Aloha.
Reviewing and negotiating the terms of the tripartite agreement. Concluded to sell @ 15 paise/L for school-children, @ 20 paise/L for below-poverty line card holders, @ 100 paise/L for non-below-poverty line card holders. The brand name chosen as : “Shuddhodaka” (”Pure Water”) sold by the “EPGL-KNS Foundation Karnataka Model” water system.
A done deal! Agreement signed between EPGL (Deepinder), KNS Foundation (Swami Ji), and Financial Funder (myself, as representative)
About 20 community leaders were invited and introduced to the project, including people who would help with implementation (construction, electricity), and individuals who could play crucial roles in future expansion throughoutGadag. Picture shows us surveying the compound for proper placement of the water plant.
Group photo - amazing momentum behind the water plant from the get-go!
After Gadag, Deepinder, Jabashetti, and I drove about 60km to Kukanoor, Koppal to explore another opportunity to plant a reverse-osmosis system in this community suffering from a flurosis problem. Interest was very high - the 2nd community-based R/O system of Karnataka may not be very far away!
Breaking ground - Day One of construction: excavating the ground to lay the foundation for the plant housing. My form was pretty poor to say the least.
Alex, Nina, and I were invited to lunch by a beautiful family who literally live just three minutes away from the water plant. As an above-poverty line family, their living conditions were visibly much better than their BPL neighbors throughout the community. And yes, if you did not notice, I am holding a baby squirrel in my hand.
Progress of the excavation by early afternoon. This lone construction worker blew me away with his endurance and strength, working hour after hour, while I exhausted after just 30 minutes… Every person is vital to the water plant, from planning to implementation, start to finish.
It’s mind-boggling. Just 5 weeks ago, I was first introduced to Deepinder Mohan, CEO of the R/O manufacturing company Environment Planning Group Limited, over e-mail. Tomorrow, I will be spending the entire day with him face-to-face, experiencing first-hand the transformation of an opportunity–to bring clean drinking water to a needy community in India–into reality.
In convenient bullet-form, here is what has happened in the past eight days (since the last post):
And, here are the plans for the next eight days, a furious sprint to the finish line:
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Mahalo!
