Interested in to know more about the power of business as a force for good? Love adventure? Having now crossed two continents, and spent time in Cape Town before returning to the UK have a read - here (Part One) - about some of the tips we picked up from our nine months of adventure and meetings with over 80 entrepreneurs, mentors and investors.
Now we’ve finished, it’s time to get started - 13 lessons from 22 000 miles of adventure
On 13 February 2017, we stepped off Argentinian soil and boarded our plane to Cape Town. This was to be where we would spend our last few weeks meeting social entrepreneurs and investors before returning to the UK. After eight months on the road, the MacroAdventure journey was at its end.
In June last year, as we said goodbye to our families in Gatwick Airport before we departed for Alaska, we had one thought in mind - how elated we would feel to have completed this journey and reach the finish line in Argentina.
How different the reality was.
Instead, we found ourselves in Buenos Aires, both quietly proud and grateful for the journey we’d completed, but subdued by the thought that our epic adventure was almost over.
For the last eight months our goal had been clear: to meet and share the stories of as many people using business as a force for good across the Americas as possible, and reach Argentina by mid-February 2017. This very tangible goal always kept us moving forwards. It galvanised our sense of purpose.
But, as we’ve said before, the journey was never about the destination.
Having now travelled across 22 000 miles over eight months, and having met and interviewed over 75 incredible entrepreneurs, we’ve collected almost as many lessons about life and entrepreneurship as the number of miles we’ve travelled. We’re hoping to hold onto as many of these ‘Macro-isms’ as we can as we transition to life back in the UK.
Here are the 13 lessons from our journey that we most wanted to share:
Boot strap - When we started in Alaska, we were still accustomed to our London way of living and our London salaries. A stable income was one of the hardest things to give up and we had to make our savings last eight months until Argentina. This was a huge lesson in sustainability for us, and also a question of priorities. However, once we had learned to manage our spending more effectively we realised we were happy with less, with the few sets of clothes we carried on our backs and with our healthy one-pot dinners made over the campfire. We still like to treat ourselves when we can, but we have found cheaper substitutes. Instead of going to the gym, for example, we enjoyed exercising outside more - hiking, surfing, swimming, running - all things we wanted to do in the UK but often couldn’t find the time for. Taking conscious control of every aspect of our lives allowed us to break free of our previous habits and start to shape valuable new ones.
Endure the tough stuff and persevere - It’s the hard times that make it all worthwhile. We found that it’s only when you reach your breaking point that you’re forced to adapt, to learn about yourself and to figure out how to keep going. So, be grateful for the hardships - they’re your biggest teacher and make you appreciate the good times. Our breakpoints were often financial, but also emotional. Like starting a business, travelling for a long time is an endurance challenge - we were with each other every day, we were tired and far from home and routine, we didn’t always want to think about the next place we had to get to and how we were going to get there. Sometimes you think about giving up. When you feel like that, just make sure you always take another step forward, no matter how small. Having a partner in crime helps, and often Jo and I were able to motivate each other through the toughest parts of our journey.
Have faith - Both in yourself and in those around you. Surround yourself with a community of good people and, if you’re on the right path, the world will often conspire to help you. It won’t always be easy and your conviction will be regularly tested, but trust that help is usually found when you least expect it. We were overwhelmed by the completely unsolicited help we received throughout our journey - strangers invited us into their homes, prepared meals for us, paid our taxi fares, and connected us to friends who could help us along our route. Trust those that offer genuine help and learn to share your knowledge so others can trust you in return. Life is richer for the ups and downs. Our journey taught us to trust that one will always follow the other, and to trust that you always have the ability to make a plan.
Listen! - Our most valuable lesson. When travelling, interviewing and starting a business, this was the most important skill of all. We often sat up late talking to other travellers who would give us advice about great places to visit, cheap ways to travel, and dangerous places to avoid. We listened to each other and learned to be mindful of each other's needs, but also listened to our own internal voices and what the journey was teaching us. We listened intently in our meetings to what people do, how they can help others within the community and what they needed themselves.
In Oregon, for example, we learnt how Hatch Innovation is changing laws to pioneer crowdfunding for equity share. In contrast, we were shocked when we found even traditional crowdfunding was effectively outlawed in Colombia. However when we met Fundacion Capital in Bogota we learned that they were setting up their own crowdfunding platform called ‘Little Big Money’ - it was only through in-depth discussion that we learned about the different cultural challenges they faced and how they overcame them. Listening has enabled us to spot where we can share knowledge that will catalyse growth for people building businesses for good, and has allowed us to refine our own role in this community.
Consciously take time to disconnect - One of the great things about travelling in today's age is that you can be connected all the time, but that poses its own challenges. So many of us get caught up in the echo chamber of our digital world and we forget to look at what’s going on around us. We actively took breaks from being online while on our journey, which helped us to more fully appreciate the experiences we were having. When we actually take the time to reconnect with our surroundings, people, nature, and design, we open ourselves to new inspiration and allow room for new ideas.
Always ask questions - Be inquisitive. Don’t just accept. Ask: why? We spotted many differences and similarities on our travels and always asked ourselves, why is this as it is here? Why are there barriers to crowdfunding in Colombia, whilst Oregon is so innovative? Why is there so much homelessness in San Francisco, but not in Guadalajara? Why does this idea work here, and not somewhere else? It’s only when you question in depth that you can get to the core of a problem and start to figure out the answers.
We also took time to question ourselves and the life choices we had made until this point. Why did we believe certain things about work and how we wanted to live our lives?
Keep an open mind - Open yourself up to new points of view, differences in opinion, new smells and new surroundings. We were initially distraught after the pound crashed post-Brexit and smashed our budget for the year, but saving money by spending more time camping provided some of our most treasured moments. Allow yourself to adapt - we found it made us the richer for it.
Stay Healthy - There’s no point in doing any of this if you’re not healthy enough to enjoy it. It’s not always easy, but Jo and I made a conscious effort to try and maintain a healthy diet whenever possible. We could also be found running through parks, doing sit ups in our room, and skipping on tiny roof terraces across the Americas. We found that a good blast of exercise at least a couple of times a week helped clear our minds of accumulated clutter, and bring focus back into our mission. For long-term motivation and energy, staying fit and healthy was one of the most important aspects and a vital stress-reliever!
Chose consciously how you spend your time - Whilst it is great to have a mission, life shouldn’t be all hard work. For us, this journey was all about balance. We would work hard for a few days and then play hard for a few. The last eight months have been a huge gift to us both.
One of the hardest things was deciding how we each wanted to use this time we were giving to ourselves. It is very rare in life that we give ourselves time, and when we have it it can be quite daunting deciding how best to use it. Ask yourself where you will get the most value. It can be hard to push back against the voices around you telling you that you always have to be productive, but we made a conscious effort to do things which life in London hadn't allowed us the time to do - to read, to spend time with each other and new friends, and to spend time in nature, exploring mountain hikes in Canada and getting pummeled by steep waves surfing in Nicaragua.
Have fun - Just remember to enjoy life. Having a break, an adventure and a laugh is good for the soul, and good for you. Make time to enjoy the things and people you love.
Passion - is one of the most effective motivators. We consciously chose to uproot our lives and dedicate time to finding what it is in life and business that feeds us. It was a big challenge for us to make the leap but we are also conscious that many people don’t have the luxury of choosing. Make an effort to find something you’re passionate about and if you’re lucky enough to have found it, do everything you can to nurture it. Passion is a powerful force that will help you share your vision with enthusiasm and endure the challenges you’ll inevitably face as an entrepreneur and as a person.
We are so lucky that we had the ability to do this and will always be grateful that we did.
When it comes to society and the environment, It’s everybody’s business - We’ve met so many people on our journey and had so many discussions about business as a force for good, the environment, education, energy and politics. Every one of these issues affects us all, some now, some in the future - but we are all stakeholders in this planet and the society that surrounds us.
We’ve seen so many ways people are creating businesses that do good, from people like Francisco Torrealba and Juan Andres Camus who are completely reshaping Chile’s energy landscape with Valhalla, to Pato Bichara who is making Harvard-quality education accessible in Mexico with Collective Academy. We’ve met incredible entrepreneurs who are helping to build communities in Buenos Aires like Lisa Besserman with SUBA at Area Tres, and those who are bringing clean drinking water to people in need like Philip Wilson with EcoFiltro. If you want to make a difference, there have never been more ways you can do it. You don’t even have to start a business for good, you just have to vote for them by buying their products.
The biggest lesson we’ve learnt is how much knowledge is out there to be shared. If we can raise awareness, expand the circle of influence, and bring these people together we can catalyse the growth of world-changing ideas.
So, where to from here?
Since we’ve been in Cape Town we’ve become acutely aware of the huge social and environmental challenges this region is facing. The vast chasm of social inequality is immediately evident as you drive past the townships and through the streets of the CBD. We were also stunned to learn that the city is rapidly running out of water. With its reservoirs at 20% Cape Town only has about 100 days of water remaining. But there are also huge and unique opportunities here, particularly for social entrepreneurs. We were lucky to continue the MacroAdventure project while we were here by meeting some passionate, hardworking people who are using business to help solve some of these huge problems.
We met entrepreneurs like Debbie Harris from Arumloo whose innovative toilet design is well-timed to help Cape Town tackle its serious water shortage problem. Further still, Arumloo could help save lives in the townships where women and children currently risk becoming victims of violent abuse when they leave their home in the middle of the night to use one of the hundreds of communal loos.
We spent time discussing the huge need that exists in South Africa for problem-solving businesses like this when when we met Max Pichulik. Max believes passionately in the power of business to solve some of Africa’s greatest challenges, and with his accelerator Impact Amplifier is catalysing the growth of social entrepreneurship.
We also met with Dave Hutchison from Sexy Socks, which is not only helping normal folks drastically up their sock game, but is taking the cross-subsidisation model one step further. For every pair of socks they sell, they give another pair of school socks to a child in need. Not content to just put socks on feet, they are now using their platform in schools to promote social enterprise in Africa, and inspire young people that they can make a difference and empower them to work towards improving their communities. Truly powerful and inspiring stuff!
We have been blown away by the greatness of people we’ve met and the stories we’ve been lucky enough to share. We have built an incredible network of game-changers and are now putting all our energy into developing plans to continue building this community with MacroAdventure Phase Two. We’re excited to see where this journey takes us next and welcome ideas and inspiration - do get in touch with us if you’d like to chat about collaboration.
We have been so lucky to have been surrounded by a wonderful community of partners on our journey. To Virgin Unite, CleanSpace, UpEffect, WakaWaka and all those who believed in our dream and supported us, we are enormously grateful.
In the last nine months, we’ve summited the peak we set out to climb almost a year ago, and, as we stare out at the vista, can see a whole new collection of adventures stretching out in front of us. It’s beautiful and we’ve earned the view, but we know crossing this next collection of peaks will bring a whole new set of challenges. Luckily we now know how to climb.
Dom Meredith Hardy