Welcome to logistics with purpose presented by vector global logistics in partnership with supply chain. Now we spotlight and celebrate organizations who are dedicated to creating a positive impact. Join us for this behind the scenes glimpse of the origin stories, change making progress and future plans of organizations who are actively making a difference. Our goal isn't just to entertain you, but to inspire you to go out and change the world. And now here's today's episode of logistics with purpose.
Hi, I'm Kristi Porter from vector global logistics. Thanks so much for joining us for another exciting episode of logistics with purpose. And today I have the absolute pleasure of co-hosting with my team member, Elisa Rodriguez, Elisa, how are you?
Hello, Tracy. Everything great. Thank you so much. Um, thank you for doing this. We are really happy to see this podcast, so thank you so much. And thank you Simon for joining us today.
Yes. So tell everybody who we have joining us and who's, um, amazing story we get to share today,
Simon. Uh, he's a founder and global CEO at solar body, so we are more than happy to have to have you here today. Participate with us on this podcast. So Simon, how do you feel?
Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, uh, I'm very excited to be here. Thank you very much for, um, for inviting me along. I'm, I'm looking forward to sharing some stories and, and, um, and uh, talking about the work we do and, and I appreciate the opportunity to, to, to be on your podcast and, and, and share that. So thanks for having me,
For sure. Absolutely. And we have so many questions to ask you, you're doing such incredible work, so we wanna hear all about it, but before we get into some of the professional side, um, we wanna ask you a little bit about your growing up and your background and, um, how you became, who you are. So you wanna kick us off with that?
Yeah. So welcome again. And Simon, first of all, please tell us second up experience you had while up, what was your type like?
Well, it was my childhood like, oh, um, I was, I had a lovely, very, very precious childhood. I was, I was very lucky. I was born into a, um, a beautiful family. I'm the youngest of four children. Um, and, uh, there's a few years between my elder siblings and I, so, um, it was like I had five parents to be perfectly honest with you. Um, but, uh, in their life at that, um, but I grew up in a Southwest of England, uh, a county called, um, which is very rural. It's very rural part of England. Um, very idyllic, um, lots of old houses in, in old cottages with fated roofs and in beautiful farms and, and whatnot. So, um, so yeah, it was a very idyllic childhood. Um, my father was an entrepreneur. Um, he's retired now, but, uh, back then he was a, he was an entrepreneur. So, um, that sort of entrepreneurship was, was, was put into my DNA and, and, uh, many years later here we are, but, um, but yeah, Southwest England, um, went to university in London. Um, and, uh, and yeah, it was a very, very special childhood growing up.
Sounds like it sounds very picturesque. I I'm picturing it in my mind as you're talking about it with the beautiful batch roofs and everything. Um, I already wanna visit tell us a little bit more about those early years. What is there, um, significant, you said entrepreneurship was something you learned about early on. Is there something specific that stands out to you, a story that now has shaped who you are?
Um, I think, yeah. Yeah, I think, I think there's a few actually, but I, I just remember, um, I remember the transition from my father being a, a non businessman, I working for somebody else and then starting his own business. And, and, um, and, and, and that, the shift that, that had on my family and, and my father, particularly in the hours that he worked and, and the pressure that he was under and the responsibility that he took on, um, not just having people working for him, but their whole families. And, and I remember that vividly, um, as a young boy, 5, 6, 7 years of age where my father would, you know, he, he, he would work extremely hard to, to put, um, a life, a nice life for his own children and a nice roof over our heads, but also took it very seriously that he had a responsibility to do that for everybody that, that worked for him and, and worked with him.
And, and that was probably the most, um, most lasting memory of, of, of that time. Um, there was a lot of, there was a lot of, uh, hard work in, I think that, uh, instilled in me a certain set of values in, in ethics and business that, um, we, we as business leaders or, or founders or whatever, um, have a responsibility beyond the bottom line, beyond our shareholders, but also most importantly for the people that are in our teams and in their, their, their families. And I think that's probably the biggest lesson I learned growing up.
That's a big one. That's a good one.
Yeah. So if you could turn back time and talk to your all 21 year old self, what personal or professional advice would you give,
What personal and professional advice or,
Um, that's a, that's a very good question as well. Professional advice. Um, well, I, I mentioned I went to university and, and this is, this is personally for me and certainly not for everybody else, but, um, I felt frustrated at university. I felt like I was, um, I was like a grey hand in, in a, in a, in a cage ready to go and, and take on the world in, in three years of of study was, was preventing that. And, and, um, so I was building businesses and generating income whilst at university. And, and I think the, the business world is littered with, with dropout university, dropouts that gone on and done amazing things. And, and I think looking back, I probably wouldn't have gone to university. Um, okay. So that's slightly professional and personal, I guess. Um, because I had ideas and plans that I wanted to implement right there and right then, and, and learning about it in a classroom, hasn't been anywhere near as valuable as learning about it in real life.
And, um, and I've certainly learned, learned business in, in, in whatnot, um, through the school of life. And, and that's probably what I would tell my 21 year old self, even though at 21, I was nearly finishing university. Um, so that's probably what I tell my 18 year old self <laugh>, um, from a more personal level, um, uh, maybe try not to do everything at once, just, you know, slow down a little bit, and there's plenty of time and there's a long life ahead of you and, um, and, and stop and take things in every now and then rather than be that Greyhound and, and, and, and run as fast as you can and do as many things as you can just, just slow down a little bit and, and smell the roses, so to speak.
Yeah. Well, moving fast and trying to do it all is practically the entrepreneur credo. So also makes sense from that standpoint
<laugh> yeah, that's right.
Um, well, we definitely wanna get into solar buddy, but you also had a journey from university until you started the organization six years ago. So what did that professional journey look like for you?
Um, so I, I did a, I did a number of things. I, I, I, um, various little projects in various little businesses in the UK before I left the UK. Um, and then I had the great fortune of, um, a few circumstances in my life that, that shaped some of my thinking. And one of those was all the way back to being 16 years of age. I, I, um, uh, it was, it was late 1989, so I'm showing my age there and, um, in the Berlin wall came down and it was coming down and, and I, I, I, I took it upon myself to go and experience that firsthand as a 16 year old boy. And, um, that sort of, um, that comprehension in, in awareness of, of two, um, two nations, but 2, 2, 2 people coming back together again, after years of separation for separation was, was something that really, uh, had a profound effect on me. And then I had, you know, rolling forward a few years. I had the great fortune
Traveling. Let's pause there. If you can't just bring up. I was at the Berlin wall when it was coming down, and then six years later, let's talk. I mean, you were there as part of a moment in history. And of course today, the day we're recording, it was the day is the day of queen Elizabeth's, um, funeral, another moment in time as well. So what, for those of us who like Alyssa was not born yet, and those of us who were watching it on TV as a little kid, like me, what was it like to be there? What was that experience that, yeah. Tell us more about that.
Uh, it, it was, it was incredible. I mean, I, I was, I was at school in the UK and, and our history teacher rolled out the TV, the old, black and white sort of big TV on, on, on the wheels. And, and we were sat there and started watching it on the news and, and I just felt completely compelled. I was fascinated with, with the cold war and the iron curtain in itself in how, how a country, you know, could be divided into, into five and, and, um, sorry, four, and, and then a whole city divided into two and, and big, huge war just divided families. That, that to me is a very young boy, was very conflicting and confronting. Um, so when, when history started happening on TV, I was like, I, I have to be there. I have to, I have to understand this.
I have to comprehend it. And, um, I have to be, I have to immerse myself in, in it, in, in try and understand what's what it must feel like. Um, so yeah, I just, I just basically bunked off school. Um, I'm not advising anyone to do that, but <laugh>, um, uh, bunked off school, um, which is an English term. So I, I skipped school and, um, and made my way from, from the UK to, to, um, Munich in Germany and then, and then up to Berlin from there and, and just, uh, joined the crowds and, and, and, and joined in on what was going on and met some amazing people that I'm still friends with now. And wow. Um, and, and it was a moment in history and, and I'm proud that, that, you know, I, I, as a boy had the, the naivety, but also the bravery to, to go and do that and, and, and experience it.
And what I experienced was families coming back together that, that had been separated and, and people opening their eyes to two different worlds that, that was right next door to each other. And, and back then, you know, east Berlin was literally like going back in time, you know, fairly 40, 50 years. And, and if you were in east Berlin era coming into west Berlin, it was like stepping forward in time 30 or 40 50 years. And to see those expressions in, in the wonder, and that bewilderment on people's faces was actually profound. And, and I still remember, um, meeting a girl and, uh, from east Berlin and, and I took her into a McDonald's for the first time and, oh, wow. And it was, you know, something so simple and, and basic as that. And, um, she, she'd never experienced anything like that. And, um, that still sticks with me today. So, so a lot of that is it, it, uh, sort of foundations of some of my thinking and trying to build bridges between communities and, and we'll getting to that later, but, you know, that's kind of set a, set a foundation of, of some of my thinking and how the world should be. And, you know, there shouldn't be barriers and borders between people and families there should be. And, and, and people generally there should be unity and, and unification and kindness, and in, in a little bit more, um, cohesion, I guess.
Wow, that's incredible. Okay. You can keep going, but I, I could talk about all day. It's just utterly fascinating. I saw when I was in, um, DC at the museum several years ago, they had a piece of the wall and all of that. No's fascinating just to look back and be able to see it, but to actually be there, I can't even imagine. So it's incredible.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I spent the following free summers in, in Germany. Um, seeing seeing the country come, come back together and, and people, you know, again, be reunited and, and whatnot. And, and, and, and as an Englishman, a, an English young man, a boy basically, um, going into areas where they hadn't had any interaction with an English person for, you know, since the, since the end of the second world war, you know, building friendships with people that, that initially despised you, um, purely because of your, your, the country of birth. And, and then, you know, a few weeks, a few months later after, you know, spending time with, with a certain community, they, you know, you're going to the house for dinner and stuff that, that was as a young man, that, that, that helped me formulate my thinking as well. So, yeah,
Certainly some lessons we could use today.
Mm absolutely. Absolutely.
So what happened after, after Germany?
Um, so I, I finished university and, uh, I always knew I wasn't destined to remain in the UK. I always knew I was destined to, um, travel and experience the world and in cultures and stuff. So, um, I wandered around the world for a couple of years. Um, went to some amazing places and met some amazing people and, and learned a lot about, um, the, the, the, the world generally and cultures and whatnot, and, and the disparity of circumstances and, and, and, uh, in wealth based on location in the world and, and whatnot. And, um, and then I ended up here in Australia, which I'm talking to you from now in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, um, and, uh, yeah, met a girl and fell in love and, and, um, had three beautiful children and, and, uh, um, and built a business here, here AF not about a year, two years after I arrived here in Australia, started a business that, that was in the building industry.
Um, I was living in a very small surfing community in, in Queensland. Um, I don't surf my children do that's, that's my daughter behind me, um, who just arrived back from Los Angeles yesterday after a surf trip in California. Oh, wow. Um, but, um, but yeah, I living in a, a little surfing community. There wasn't a lot of business opportunities. There wasn't a lot of, um, a lot of need for, for the, for the, uh, degree that I had in, in the global experience that I had. So, um, so I, uh, I, I built a, I started a building company and taught myself how to build houses and, and developed a building company and, and design houses and, and, um, yeah. Sort of fell into that really, and did that for a few years, um, until, um, until very sadly, very tragically. My, my marriage fell down, fell apart and, um, and there was a lot of heart break in that. And, and so I, you know, needed to find myself again and find a new direction that, that had a lot more purpose and, and, and back to my original values of the world and global citizenship and, and, you know, here we are. So,
Yeah, I'm curious. Um, also you talked about, again, you have, I know there's so many gems in there and you are skimming past all these incredible things that I know we're not even catching glimpse up, but you talked about traveling the world for two years and becoming a global citizen. What that meant to you. Are there a couple things from, um, and awesome places and awesome people, and it sounds like you're very good at picking great scenery. <laugh> um, you, uh, are there a couple things that stand out that, again, just really shaped you or stood with you, um, or that you saw examples of more building bridges that you wanted to kind of continue delving into that type of work?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, so I, you know, I've been to 106 countries. Oh
Which I'm very, very grateful for, uh, to have the opportunity to do that. Um, that's been over the last sort of 30 plus years, but, um, but I think, I think different parts of the world, like in Africa, I saw a lot of things that, that I saw a lot of community love and, and care for each other and, and, you know, things that there's no picket fences, there's no separation of houses. There's no, um, you know, there's no things like that, that that was, was, um, really interesting to me and, and communal living was sort of, so to speak in, in, in non-family members, looking after other fam you know, other, other people within their community. And, and I felt that was, that was, that was an ingrained sort of concept. And I felt that was really interesting. Um, as a young boy, young man, um, you know, Ethiopia, I fell in love with E Ethiopia when I was, you know, very young.
Um, and, and it's still close to my heart in any places like the middle east. Um, the back then were still, um, nothing like they are now, uh, Dubai didn't exist, you know, um, in, and, and places like that was so watching them grow and change over the years has been quite interesting. Um, and then into India and, you know, the different, the different way of living there and, and, um, you know, compared to Africa, that was, you know, again, again, really quite interesting, and then all the way over to Asia where, you know, so many different countries and so close proximity to each other, but they're all very different in their own beautiful way. And, and, um, the different languages and different religions and food and way of doing things. And, um, you know, there was times in Cambodia back then that it wasn't too long after Paul part and Kumar Rouge.
And so there was a lot of, um, there was a lot of pain in, in suffering in Cambodia back then. And, and, you know, that, that taught me other lessons. And then, you know, you go into Vietnam and we're on a million miles after the Vietnam war and, and, you know, the, the travesties of, of what went on there. And so there was a lot of, a lot of things in there that not just the beauty of the world, but, but what, what humans were doing to it as well, and doing to each other that, that I think, um, helped me maybe see the world in, in a slightly different way that, that we don't need to be mean to each other. We can try and be kind to each other, you
Know? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I look forward to reading your memoirs or, and, or your photo book when those come out one day. So keep posted, stop interrupting you, you can go ahead.
<laugh> yeah. So again, well talking about solar body again, and it's mainly focused on fighting against energy poverty. So can you please define energy, poverty, and what do you do to alleviate this issue?
Sure. Uh, I'd be delighted to, um, so for me, I, I, uh, it all started for me with energy poverty, um, on October the 11th, 2011, um, very specific date there. Um, but, uh, I, I read an article in, in, um, in time magazine. I, I was going through the divorce that I mentioned in, I was in a fairly metaphorical, dark place. I was, you know, slightly heartbroken and not seeing my children every day. And, and, um, and that's very hard for the children. It was very hard for me and, and obviously mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, very hard for my, my now ex-wife, but like, it is for anybody in divorce and, and whatnot, but, um, I'm quite an emotional cat and wear my heart and my sleeve. So, um, it, it, I, I struggled with it. And, uh, and this, this idea of, of, of, you know, living how ever after is had gone.
So I was in a very dark place at the time. And, and, um, and I picked up this time magazine in my parents' house, um, and, and just fell, fell open to this, um, article that, that, that highlighted the, the headline of the article was energy, poverty, uh, the world's worst form of poverty. And, um, I was like, whoa, what is this? Um, you know, I, I, I traveled the world. I I've been into so many different places and, and basically I'd lived in energy, poverty, but actually hadn't really comprehended it, you know? Um, so I, I dived into this article and it just absolutely spoke to me. It, it, it, it, I just, it, it was a moment in time where it was profound for me in, in, in really, and I've had the great fortune of meat in the offer, uh, the journalist of that article.
And, uh, and, and it just, it just described energy, poverty, and how it affects so many people purely based on where they were born and, and for no reason. And, and I think we can all describe what water poverty is or water insecurity is in general, economic poverty and different things like that, and homelessness and everything, but, um, energy, poverty back then, and even still now is still such a hard thing for people to comprehend. Um, so, you know, very, very highlight, um, free billion people cook their meals on, uh, firewood every day or every evening. Um, you know, a few years ago, 1.4 billion people. That's just now less than 1 billion people use kerosene lanterns or kerosene oil for lighting every day and every nine. Um, the fumes from, from those kerosene lanterns kills more children in aids and malaria combined every year from, from the fuel that, uh, from the smoke that they inhale.
Um, you know, it keeps hundreds of millions of people in this perpetual cycle of poverty, because they're, you know, they're generally earning between two to $3 us dollars a day, and then they're spending about 40 up to 40% of that on, um, on fuel to see and, and, and cook, um, which, you know, constantly creates this perpetual cycle of poverty. And, and I read this and I was like, wow, okay. You know, I thought I'd knew a little bit, but I actually knew nothing. And, um, and the fact that there was so many people and literal darkness, and I was in a metaphorical darkness, but I still had electricity. I still had a house. I still had running water and food in my fridge and, and a fridge that worked. And, and, and that really, um, was a profound effect on me. And, and from that very day to now, I've devoted my life to, um, tackling this, this issue that we will call energy poverty. So
That's incredible. Um, thank you. That's thank for sharing that that's incredible work and excited to hear, um, more about you. You let's talk about, let's get a little further in, so you've given us kind of the broad strokes of your mission, but how does it happen? How does this, how does energy poverty get alleviated and how does solar buddy in particular, how does that, how do you make that happen and what are these yellow buckets we see all over? <laugh> your social media and website?
Yeah, so we, I mean, um, so I, I, I read this article in, you know, I studied a lot about the issue and, and discovered a few facts and, and whatnot. And, um, I ended up designing, um, I, I was always a, an inventor tinkerer, innovator, or whatever, um, curious mind, I guess. Um, and so I was always, even as a young boy, just, just trying to come up with ideas and concepts that, that may take the world by storm, you know, um, and back then it was about making money, but, but by this point it was about making impact. Um, so I invented, I ended up inventing a, a solution, uh, for refugee, um, humanitarian 10, a solar powered, uh, solar powered light, um, uh, system that, that, that I took to the UN and it got picked up by those guys. Um, and that was my first sort of foray into innovation in solar. And, oh, that's so bad for your
You just wandered over and presented this to them. That's pretty incredible itself.
Yeah. Yeah. That's literally what I did. I, I, I jumped on paint Geneva and, and knocked on the front door at U N H C and said, Hey, how you doing? I, something I wanna show you. So, um, but there's a whole nother podcast in that probably, but yes. Um, but, um, but ultimately that, that entered me into this world of, of, you know, the, the humanitarian world as we call it in, in, in, um, understanding the issues a lot more in, in, in discovering why. So few people knew anything about energy poverty, because the vast majority of us don't live in it. Right. And the ones that do don't have the voice in the, in the platform to, to explain what it's like. Um, so in that world, I, I really UN, unearthed a, a greater knowledge of, of the, and, and build a greater empathy of the people that actually suffer from it.
Um, and during those years, between 2011 and 2015, um, you know, I, I lived in Somalia. I lived in Ethiopia. I lived in Iraq in, in, in Chad and, you know, all these other places around the world that, that are in chronic, you know, energy, right. Um, energy, poverty, I guess. Um, and I started, um, I, I, prior to this, I'd written a series of children's books and, you know, they, they were, they'd done quite well, and they were about keeping children safe in, in, and stuff. So whenever I, I sort of go out and hang out in the communities in, in my curious mind, we'd wanna learn in, in, in watch and listen and, and understand how people live and survive in such such environments. Um, I'd take a bunch of children's books with me and hand 'em out to the kids and stuff.
And, um, and it was at those moments where we'd sit and talk and listen and, and read. And then as the sunset, the kerosene lanterns would come out and, and just the toxic smoke from those lanterns, um, just, and the, the children were so oblivious to that. And they were trying to read and wanting to read and wanting to learn, but like, but the smoke was so terribly toxic. I couldn't sit there for, you know, longer than, you know, a minute or so without coughing my eyes watering my nose running yet, these children were just, it was nothing to them, you know? And, and, um, and that was when I decided to move out of the safety sort of security, a element of, of working with the UN and set up my own charity and, and actually do something that had more of an impact directly for children that, that needed it.
And, and that's where solar body comes from. And the idea, and, and that's still the, the foundations of our idea was if we could develop an education program, um, for children that don't live in energy, poverty, children in America, predominantly children in Australia and elsewhere around the world Europe, um, where they can learn, um, not just about energy, poverty, but about global citizenship, about the sustainable development goals about the environment, um, and about culture and about however people in children live in the world. And then part of that learning is I designed a, a little solar kit, um, that once built by the children, um, that they'd learn about the issue. They, they made the kids, um, and completed it. So it would work. Um, we could then donate those solar, like kids, um, that are completed to children, um, around the world that, that actually lived in energy, poverty.
Um, and if we could do that and we could do that, um, by millions and millions and millions of units, then, um, ultimately we're, we're educating and creating awareness about the problem with, with the next generation. So they're empowered to feel like they can actually solve it, um, along with providing tools for children in energy, you know, in energy, poor countries to study have a better education. So then they feel in, in are aware enough to be able to know that they can help solve it as well. And it all comes down to education and awareness and, you know, a challenge, anyone to read a book in, in the pitch black cuz you can, and, and we all know knowledge comes from books, um, and maybe podcasts and a few other bits and bobs now. But, um, but that's the essence of the idea. And in, uh, I mapped out on my dining room table in late 2015, and we, we went live in, in early 2016 and six plus years later now, we're we operate in 52 countries.
We've donated lights all across the world to millions of children and, and all those lights are stacked in those little yellow buckets that you see. And, um, and there's 50 lights in each bucket. And then once those lights are handed out to, to the 50 children, those buckets are, are then converted to water filtration systems. So they sit in each classroom and, and pur and purify the water, um, for, for the children in the classroom. And, and that's what we do. And, you know, we do it well. Um, I often joke that we are a logistics charity. You know, we, we, we have factories that supply our DC centers and then those DC centers send buckets of lights across the world to classrooms, to corporate conference rooms, to, uh, you know, big events. And then they, um, and then they get sent from there once they've been quality controlled and checked, um, to the last mile, very remote communities, all across the world in Africa, the jungles of Papua New Guinea and we're all India and the islands of the south Pacific. And, you know, when you look at it like that, we are basically a logistics charity, you know, um, and that's the hardest part of what we do, but, um, but it's around, you know, the, I call it book end goodness. But ultimately we're, we're educating hearts and minds, both, you know, with children and people, adults that don't live in energy, poverty in, in connecting them, connecting them with, with the bridge of a light, um, to children that, that do live in energy, poverty.
We know yet you already expand your operations. Uh, what are some of your future projects like,
On the horizons. Okay. Um, lots and lots and lots of things. <laugh>
<laugh> we, we, we have a, we have a little book coming out, little children's book. Um,
So that's our first one of 18 that we're currently, we we're working on another 17 children's books to tell the story of, um, amazing children in the world that help other children with, with some of issues of, of the globe. Um, so I'm really excited about that. I I'm a, you know, I'm a, I'm a big grown up child basically. So,
And why write book when you can write 18?
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I, I did 12 in my first series. And so, um, go, go a few more on this one, but, um, but yeah, so we're working on that. Um, but there's, you know, we're constantly innovating as much as we're an education charity or, or a logistics charity. We're also, um, at our core an innovation charity. So, um, we, we're constantly developing new products and new solutions to, to lift more people out of energy poverty, um, from, from student body, which is, is now live, which is, uh, a more powerful solar system that will, um, that operates as a room light, uh, also as a torch, but also charges mobile phones. Um, we provide them to predominantly young teenage girls, um, so they can feel safe walking around their village at night. Um, they don't get taken outta school to go and charge, uh, mobile devices in, in other villages, so they can stay in school.
Whil those devices are charged at home with their new student buddy, um, which protects them in, in very, you know, various ways. Um, I'm working on, on a cook stove, a renewal energy powered, cook stove, and a renew energy powered refrigeration system. Um, we do, we do community lighting and sports lighting. So children can play sport after, after the sunsets and remote parts of the world where it's very hot during the day mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, we, uh, so that's a, you know, product pipeline, I've developed a, a carbon trading platform, um, which feeds into our community projects. Um, we we've created a, a corporate engagement program where, where, uh, people learn about solve the 17, uh, uh, they learn about the 17 sustainable goals in certain, um, light real life experiences in, in examples of that. And then they have to innovate solutions as part of their, um, as part of their team building and, uh, um, uh, day. And, um, we've developed that and that's going really well. Um, and, and there's lots and lots and lots of other things we do, but, um, just
A typical Tuesday for you. Yeah. <laugh>.
Yeah. But, um, but we, I, I have, I have unbelievably passionate, capable in an inspiring team that, that, uh, works with solar buddy and, and, you know, we, we, we attract some amazing people to come and join our journey and, and, um, and I'm very, very, very lucky and, and grateful for, for the hard work that they do and, and the passion and that they bring to the table every day. So, um, so that's, I'm very lucky in that sense.
Yeah, that's incredible. Thank you. Um, I'm curious, you've mentioned of course, a ton of things. It all came from, you know, one idea or one initiative and springing out of that. Um, of course, I'm sure there were a lot of challenges along the way. Would you mind sharing some lessons learned, um, you know, either mistakes that you made or something you just couldn't anticipate that you had to pivot for perhaps like a pandemic <laugh>. Um, okay. But, uh, just a few things you've learned, learned along the way, especially as a tinker, an inventor, a guy who sounds like he's always got, um, you know, juggling a bunch of ideas at once and, and trying to be, you know, bring a team and, uh, onboard to this and expanding into multiple countries.
Yeah. It's, um, I mean, nothing, nothing big and audacious is easy, and that's why, um, they're big and audacious and not everyone tries to do them, you know? Um, you have to have a little bit crazy. Absolutely. <laugh> um, I, you know, my personal life has definitely taken a back seat, um, for the last 10 years and probably will for the rest of my life. Um, and that's because my personal life and my professional life is so intertwined, um, that, that I live and breathe what I do. And, and, um, so, so lessons learned, um, that if you think you've, you've, uh, you've got to the finish line, um, in fact you've just started pretty much, you know, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, um, you have to constantly be ahead of the curve in, in always thinking into the future whilst working on the present. Um, you know, I work in, in five years in advance in, in, in some of the things that we're doing and then, and then build the, the steps to get there.
Um, but, um, but I think that the lessons I've learned from, you know, I I've started many companies in, and I currently run a, a bunch of social enterprises as well as charity. But, um, the thing for me from a charity point of view is it's incredibly tough, um, to, as a businessman, but also a CEO of a charity across that divide between, um, how to make money and how to, uh, um, raise, um, donations. And there's a, there's a real, um, interesting sort of dynamic for me that I've, I've witnessed firsthand of so many amazing business leaders and, and successful business people. Um, don't look at, um, founders or, or people that run charities or work in charities with the same, um, the same business respect, if that makes sense as they do their peers within the business world. And that, that to be perfectly honest with you annoys me.
Um, we, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm able to say that because I, I see in both both camps, um, and, and I've been successful in both, both camps. And the thing that I see all the time is if I'm having a conversation with somebody that, that comes from the business world, and they don't know that I also own businesses and run businesses that are successful, then there's almost like a, you know, you're doing good work well done. Um, but do you really know how to scale? Do you really know how to do this? Do you really know how to do that? And that to me is, is moderately patronizing to, to the industry, not to me, but to the industry. And, and there's this concept in notion that people that start charities are only doing it because they have such big hypes and, and, and they, they wouldn't survive in the business world.
And yet running and growing and developing and expanding a charity is a hundred times harder than running and growing and developing and building a business. Um, you have no equity to, to slice off. You have no, um, you, you know, you, you are constrained by vibrator and far more powerful government bodies than, than, than a bus than a business, a private businesses. Um, you know, you, you have to justify and explain every single dollar that is donated to you rightly so completely fair. Sure. Um, but you, but to invest that dollar into hiring the best staff that can make that dollar $10, which means more people's lives are, are changed, then that's, that's frowned upon. But if you, you know, if you make $10 million in your business and you hire the best staff around, then, you know, that's, that's well done, that's congratulated because then you're gonna make more profit.
Whereas, you know, the, the, the concept in charity is you have to do everything on a shoestring, but you have to do it. You know, you have to do more and bigger. And the problems we're solving are far more complex and far more challenging than, you know, running a, a business that is selling widgets to a market that wants widgets. And, um, that's the lesson I've learned. And, and I continue to learn that, um, and I've managed to work my way through that. And, and, you know, I'm not, I'm not this isn't a Carlan sort of business is bad. And ch you know, this is a, this is just a reality of the mindset is even in the grant space, you know, you, you apply for a grant as a charity. And, and they're amazing, you know, the people that pay for the grants and donate the money and, and the philanthropists they're phenomenally superb and beautiful human beings, but there's, you know, it costs money to apply for a grant.
It costs money to report on the grant. It costs money to, to manage the grant. It costs money to impact in, in, in, in, in, in, and implement the grant. But then the, the, the desire is to a hundred percent of the funds that you receive, go to exactly what you know, to go to go to the mission in, in the, the notion of overheads in salaries and, and scale are just totally thrown out the window. And that's the, without doubt, the biggest lesson I've learned, um, I enjoy it now, it's, you know, six years in, it's like, bring it on, you know, um, I, I, I sit with a, you know, sit with some amazing people and it's like, look, we know what we're doing. And they're like, yeah, we know, you know what you're doing. So that's, you know, that's been a, a, a nice outcome, but there's so many, so many amazing charity leaders, charity managers, um, charity finds that, that are doing such great work on such short, low budgets, and they don't get credit for it. And, and they should, you know, they really, really should, um, from a business perspective, they really should.
Yeah. Agree. That could be a whole other topic one day <laugh>.
Yeah. So, um, when you're think about the idea of giving life to do those who need the most where, well, I have been working in just one quotation, <inaudible> from sexist to Dominican republics. So where do you currently ship and how do you make the decision to focus on that specific areas? I understand that you have like the product and you consolidate everything in Texas, but I not sure if all your, like, are there
A big need? How do you decide where it goes? Yeah,
Yeah, yeah. I mean, if we could grow 10, 15 times tomorrow, then, you know, hopefully we could sort that out, but ultimately we, um, as, as a charity, um, and again, this goes back to some of the governance in, in, in government sort of requirements that we have to fulfill. Um, we, um, we have to turn away a tremendous amount of local, um, NGOs or, or small charities that are registered in certain countries around the world that don't have international or, or, or Western char Western registration. So if they're, and, and that's not because we don't want to work with them at all, quite the opposite it's because we can't work with them because our governance and our registrations won't allow us to work with small grassroots, um, organizations that don't have rec they're not recognized within the United States or Australia or elsewhere, which is incredibly frustrating in, in, in heartbreaking to say no to people, but we are inundated every day from, from amazing, amazingly passionate in, in kind people that just want to help their own communities and their own countries.
Um, so that's our first filter, um, is, you know, can we work with an organization that has, um, amazing knowledge in, in understanding and, and cultural sensitivity awareness, um, of what goes on in, in the countries that we wanna work with and support. Um, and if they do, are they registered in the appropriate jurisdictions that, that, that align with our governance requirements? Um, and then we build, we build a commitment with them through, through, um, through due diligence and hard work in, in agreements where we can, um, supply them with what we have and, and want to supply them with. And then they have the tools and the skills and the capabilities and the support from us to distribute the systems is, is easily and as sufficiently and as cost effectively as possible. Um, and then their, their responsibility to us is to, um, share, share the stories and share the impact and share the, um, the evaluation of, of the solutions that we've donated to them.
Um, so currently we donate, um, to the Dominican Republic, um, primarily outta the United States. And that's because, um, it's a close neighbor of yours in, in the us, in, in there's, there's a, you know, um, uh, a, a neighborly way of thinking, um, when it comes to circumstances like, so, you know, here in Australia, a lot of donations are, are requested to go to Papua New Guinea or, or to south Pacific, because, you know, we have a lot of connections with those countries as we should. And so there's a lot of awareness that we need to do more and, and that's, that's where the pool comes from. Um, but we, we donate lights to, you know, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, um, India, wow, Cambodia, um, you know, all, all over the world. And that's a network that we've built up over the last six or so years, and, and it continues to grow, but, um, it's extremely difficult.
Um, extremely hard to manage the logistics, extremely hard to justify the cost of the logistics to, to our donors. Um, we've worked for six years trying to reduce our logistics costs. We've worked for six years to try and build partnerships with the, you know, the big courier and freight companies, um, because of what we do. Um, and it is without that being the hardest thing we've had to do within, within the charity. Um, there's, there's, uh, yeah, it's a, it's a tough call. Um, and hopefully our relationship and our partnership can blossom to start solving that, that problem.
Where was, um, I'm curious, where was the first country you, you shipped to, um, outside of Australia and what country were you you the most excited to get into?
Um, so the very, very first, um, the very, very, very first test we did was, um, out of a very, very prestigious, um, very expensive private school in Shanghai, um, wow. To a very, very, very remote, um, impoverished school in Somalia. Mm. And we did that. Um, primarily we, we did that for two reasons. One are our, our, like at the time were made in the factory just outside of Shanghai, but the, the Chinese culture isn't necessarily very charitable. And, um, we felt that if we could prove the concept in a country, in an environment and in a school that, um, was so alienated from, you know, the, the, the rest of the globe from, from that perspective, and then deliver lights to one of the most hardest, most remote, most underserved communities in places in the world, if we could do that, then we could, we can, we can build on, you know, so we, we took that as the hardest challenge and, and, uh, some amazing stories and impact came out of that. And that was late 15, I think, um, early 16, and then the very first proper, um, media coverage, uh, story was, was out of a school here in south Brisbane. And we sent lights to pap new Guinea, our, our closest neighbor. Um, and that was all over the news here in, in Australia, um, for a long time. And, and that generated a huge amount of momentum in, in, um, and, and awareness and, and, um, that, that sort of propelled us forward quite quite well. So that was the first one.
Well, that is exciting to stories. Um, so Simon, please tell us how can connect with you so, or more about you.
Um, so we, they can, anyone can go onto our website. Um, it's solar buddy, S O L a I B y.org OG. Um, and there's everything you need to learn about what we do, why we do it, how we do it, um, on there, they can donate on there, which obviously would be very, very grateful for people to do that. Um, in, in every donation results, in, in a light being donated to a child, um, somewhere in the world, you can select where that, where you want that light to go. Um, I have my own website, which is Simon doble.com. I do speaking in, in whatnot. So if anyone wants a book me as a keynote, then, then I'm more than happy to turn up and, and have a chat about this on stage. But, um, my whole, all my fees go are donated to, to the charity.
Um, and, um, yeah, follow us on Instagram, uh, solar under school, buddy. Um, we have a campaign coming out for Christmas to provide, um, birthing lighting kits across, um, across Southern Africa, but there's thousands and thousands and thousands of, of, um, remote birthing suites in sub in, in, in Sub-Saharan Africa, that, and elsewhere in the world, um, where, where children are born, um, in the most extreme circumstances where midwives are holding phones in their mouths to use the torch from the phones whilst they're performing operations to deliver children. Um, so, and I, I, you know, I've been aware of this issue for many years, but this Christmas we're running a, a big campaign to send as many birthing, uh, lighting kits as we can to, to, to the, to the places that need them. So children can be born in a, in a safe environment. So when
That kicks off? Uh mid-November I believe. Okay. Um, so, you know, keep an eye out for that. Um, more, the more support for that, the, the more, the more children will be born in a, in a healthier environment. Um, and then every mother that gets, uh, is born, um, every child is born and the mother gets to take home a, a little solar light for their, for their child as well. So, um, just little things like that, but that's gonna be a really nice Christmas campaign and hopefully it's very successful. Yeah. Um, but yeah, just, just go to our website, follow us on our Instagrams, um, Instagram and, and social media, um, share this story, you know, tell people about energy, poverty, and, and, and what one light can do for a child to get a, um, be able to do their homework, feel safe and, and, and go to go to bed, turning that little light off is the last thing they do feel safe and secure, and just share that story, you know?
Yeah. Um, so one more thing before we let you go, um, which we could talk all day. I already can tell, I have so many more questions. We'll have to do a follow up at some point, but, um, so what's one thing. Our listeners, obviously you're a nonprofit, so we would love people to go on and donate. Um, otherwise, what is the one big ask that you would, that you would ask of our listeners to be able to take action on your story? Is it something you need something they can do? Um, what's your big ask?
Um, uh, so many, no, um, I think, you know, we, we, we, we, we survive off donations in, you know, the more donations we receive, the, the more impact we can have and the more stories we can tell and the more children's futures we can illuminate, but I think, you know, messages, stories, um, explanation, it's still such an unknown issue. Yeah. Um, that just, just sharing the knowledge, just sharing the story, sharing the facts that this actually exists in as organizations, not just us, but other organizations as well, um, that, that, that are determined to end this once in for rural. So, um, everybody's born into a, into a safe, toxic, free environment. And, and, um, you know, not only is it helping people right now, but it's absolutely helping the climate, um, you know, the more renewable energy solutions that are put out there, um, helps, helps the environment instantly. So, um, so just sharing, sharing the knowledge, um, I mean the two things we exist for is awareness and impact, and, and if you can donate to create impact, then we will love you forever. But if you can share a story to create awareness, then we we'll love you just as much. So, you know, that's all I can ask for.
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for your time. Um, Alisa, thanks for joining me this round, but Simon, thank you so much for being here for sharing the solar buddy story and for everything you're doing to create impact and awareness around the world about energy poverty. So we appreciate you being here. Um, and we look forward to keeping up the relationship with you.
Awesome. Thank you very much, guys. It's been great chatting to you. So have a nice day.
Thank you. Thank you for sharing your story and thank you for letting us know how you being here. And you're like our example for everyone here. So thank you.
Thank you very much. That's nice to hear. It's beautiful to hear. All right. Take care, everyone.