Figure Out What Your Passionate About

"Find a cause—or be open to a cause finding you, which was kind of the case with me—that you really care about and are passionate about. Every summer, I would do an internship at a fashion house or study design, so I knew I had this interest in fashion design. At the same time, I started traveling with the World Food Program, and I was very interested in development work too, and in particular, in the cause of hunger and how it affects children around the world. FEED initially was an idea that I had in college, and I got the initial idea about the bag after traveling around the world with the World Food Program. You hear about this 'aha moment,' but in my case it kind of was, and I thought I could design a bag that people could buy and that bag could help make a tangible difference and raise awareness for hunger and help feed people around the world. "

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Start Small

"It's easy to get overwhelmed by the world's issues, but if you can break down into tangible bits—and know that by giving one meal, you've made a difference, or by getting one child an immunization shot, you've made a difference—it's easier to find a place to start. Come up with your bite-size idea—something that's easy, clear, and unique, and that others can engage in that will really make an impact on the cause you're wanting to help. Taking a bite-size approach to doing good for the world and building something new was something that really helped me, and is the core of FEED's mission and what we're about. When I first came up with the idea for FEED, I hoped to sell many different products and had even designed a few different bags, but I wanted to see how the first bag did. FEED has kind of been this natural journey, starting with the first bag and now we have 50-plus products."

Don't Be Afraid To Try Something New

"When you're young, it gives you that kind of boldness or confidence, which can be a good thing when you're trying to start something: You don't know the rules yet, and therefore, you're not as nervous to go in and break them and push the boundaries. We started FEED at a moment when social entrepreneur and conscious consumer, and all these kind of buzzwords weren't around. So it's really cool now to see how a movement has formed with a community of folks who are really demanding that of products and product companies now. I'm really proud that FEED was one of the first that helped to start that movement."

Believe In Your Idea

"Know that you're bringing something fresh and new to the table. Perhaps they may not get it right away, but that doesn't mean that you should lose total confidence in yourself or in your ideas. Some people really immediately understood FEED and got behind it quickly, but there was also a lot of confusion. Because the cause is at the forefront of what we do, but we're not a straight nonprofit (the main thrust to FEED is the products and through them were able to raise a lot of money and awareness), many retail stores didn't understand if we were for profit or a nonprofit, and they didn't really know what to do with us. The idea of a product that consumers could buy and at the same time, give back in some way was totally new."

Keep An Open Mind

"Having that confidence in your gut is so important, because you kind of know when something's right or when it's not quite right. Be open to partner, but also willing to stand your ground and build what you want to build. When we were initially launching FEED in 2007-2008, the green movement was really taking off, and most magazines had green issues and FEED kind of fell into the eco-friendly, re-usable bags categories. So funnily enough, that wasn't our intention per se, but in the beginning, we got a lot of attention and momentum through this more environmental-type push happening."

Be Persistent

"I had the idea, designed a bag, and figured out how to actually make it, but then the challenge was where to sell it. From the beginning, I thought Whole Foods Market would be the ideal partner for FEED. When I first approached them, before I even had a sample of the bag to show them, everyone was focusing on obesity, not on hunger. I was kind of discouraged, but I thought, 'let me make a sample, maybe if they see the physical bag, they'll be excited.' Fast forward a year, and I had a physical sample of the bag and a meeting with the CEO of Whole Foods, and I thought 'okay, this could be the moment.' But he referred me to someone else on the team, and it didn't go anywhere. There was just sort of a lack of interest and it was hard to find the key people that would get behind it. Then, down the road, a friend of a friend met the gourmet food buyer for the northeast region of New York for Whole Foods, and that ended up being the person who connected us in and helped to get us the internal support we needed. It took years, but persistence clearly paid off, and eventually, we were able to get more people behind it, and in the end, we were able to have such a great partnership with Whole Foods and donate millions of meals to children in Rwanda through just that one partnership. So that's something I am really proud of. Some no's are no's, and you can revise and evolve. It's knowing when to stand your ground and continue but maybe find another angle, and when to really go back to the drawing board."

Don't Think You Have To Know Everything

"I don't know a lot, and it's very disarming to people when you go in and you're young and curious and willing to learn from those who have more experience. But at the same time, know your value. Have confidence, but don't be overly confident. It's that kind of balance between the two. Believe in yourself, believe in your ideas, believe in your vision, yet at the same time, be open to learning and willing to admit what you don't know."

Take Advantage Of Online Tools

"There are so many great resources for anyone interested in social entrepreneurship now. There are a lot of neat tools and resources for people with great ideas. In terms of getting funding, there's online tools like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Social media—Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. are all free community-building tools, which are great for anyone starting a for-profit or nonprofit, or any type of project."

Photos Courtesy of FEED


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