Author Archive for Justin Folger

Shya Designs: Affecting Change, One Bag At A Time

Posted by Justin Folger 
· Wednesday, December 11th, 2019 
· 1 Comment

Nestled in the corner of a white-walled room in North-East Ohio, a small shelving unit made of detachable plywood boxes stacked cockeyed contains colorful, unique bags, laptop cases, and pencil pouches. Keyboards clack and mouses click as students glaze over screens bearing WordPress, InDesign, and various word processors or spreadsheets. One group of students package these same colorful bags and jewelry into grey plastic shipping pouches. A young, wild-haired man bounces around the room from group to group, answering questions and helping them acquire needed resources, all in a fashion very different from a typical teacher stereotype. Believe it or not, this is in fact a classroom and the apparent chaos these students are engaged in is part of their curriculum. This is Shya Designs, the crown jewel of the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (CVCA) School of Business and Entreprenership (SOBE) program.

Five years ago, CEO of Valmark Financial Larry Rybka, traveled to Rwandan and encountered a group of widows of the Genocide who created these beautiful handcrafted bags to support themselves and their children. Because of his ties to CVCA, Rybka brought several hundred dollars worth of the product to the SOBE chair, Eric Ling (the aforementioned “young, wild-haired man”) to see if there was any way his students could get involved. Thus, Shya Designs was born. Shya Designs is a non-profit business that imports, markets, and sells handcrafted Rwandan bags made by widows of victims of the Rwandan Genocide. This allows these women to be self-sufficient and send their children to school. Because Shya Designs is completely student-run, it allows us to have an incredible hands-on business learning experience, while dramatically impacting the lives of women halfway across the world. This program, started by student entrepreneurs supports women entrepreneurs in an mutually beneficial partnership. Since this non-profit began five years ago, because of increased sales in the United States, the Rwandan co-op has been able to hire three more women to their team. This is three more families provided for and three more sets of children now able to attend school.

Because seniors in high school don’t stay that way forever, Shya Designs is a legacy business. Every year, the up and coming junior interview for roles like CEO, CMO, Director of Public Relations, as well as many others. The seniors choose their successors, and thus the business lives on through this changing of hands. This win-win relationship is not only a creative solution to a problem, but one that has proven year after year to be successful!

1 Comment
Categories : Education, Online Companies, Redemptive Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, Uncategorized, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Lin Manuel Miranda and the Business of a Broadway Show

Posted by Justin Folger 
· Tuesday, December 10th, 2019 
· 3 Comments

Lin Manuel Miranda was born of Puerto Rican decent in New York City in the early eighties and was raised in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Washington Heights. After completion of high school, Miranda attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut. It was here that he would get his beginnings as a playwright. He wrote and performed the first draft of his first successful stage musical, In The Heights, during his sophomore year in college (1999). The musical is a fictional story, based on Miranda’s childhood neighborhood (Washington Heights). After graduation, he met director Thomas Kail and the two of them revised the show, leading to a successful off-Broadway run and eventually opening on Broadway itself, casting himself as the main character. The musical was a hit, receiving 13 Tony Award nominations, four of which they won, including Best musical and Best Original Score.

After brief stints on television shows and various other song writing projects, Miranda struck what is now considered theatrical gold, his most well known work, Hamilton: An American Musical. This show took him over half a decade to write and revise and stage, but it was well worth it in the end. The show premiered off-Broadway in the Public theater in January of 2015, again with himself cast as the leading role. It’s since opened on Broadway in the Richard-Rodgers theater (the same theater In The Heights showed in). Miranda hosted daily performances outside the theater entitled Ham4Ham in which attenders would have the opportunity to enter a ticket lottery for a chance to see the show in the first row. In addition to having an incredible show, it was engagement with his audiences, both formal and general, that made Miranda so successful. The show still runs full time in New York City as well as Chicago, London, and San Francisco, and it also has two national tours. With each of these performances, Miranda receives a 3% royalty fee which, as you would expect, has lined his pockets quite nicely. He’s used this platform for political activism, especially calling for faster and increased aid to his hurricane-devastated homeland of Puerto Rico. The cast of Hamilton frequently raised money for various causes after shows (a practice they still continue today). These actions and interactions with the media, other celebrities, and even the common american, has helped build show brand that is not only incredibly profitable, but is beloved by the world.

Since leaving his Hamilton project behind, Miranda has starred in the Disney movie “Mary Poppins Returns” as well as writing the music for “Moana,” the upcoming live action “Little-Mermaid” remake, and even the new Star Wars trilogy. He continues to add value and personality to every project he touches, which in turn continues to make him as successful as he’s been.

3 Comments
Categories : Art, Celebrities, Male Entrepreneurs, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Music

The Building Blocks of A Better Future: The Tegu Story

Posted by Justin Folger 
· Tuesday, December 10th, 2019 
· 2 Comments

Chris Haughey and Will Haughey were born on the other side of the world in the island country of New Zealand. When they were both still very young, their family moved to the Saint Louis, Missouri. Growing up in the United States, the Haughey parents put great emphasis on international mission trips to impoverished nations. Many of these trips included every member of the family together. It is likely at this time that the brothers began to develop a heart for the impoverished peoples of the third world. Upon receiving a degree from Stanford University, Chris Haughey joined the Boston Consulting Group which allowed him to travel extensively through Central and South America. On a business trip to Honduras, Chris was able to reconnect with missionaries he knew from previous trips. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central America with one of the highest murder rates in the region. According to World Fact Book, over half of the population lives in poverty, creating a serious problem. Through his interactions with them and his immersion in the Honduran culture and people, Chris decided that he needed to be a part of solution in Honduras.

After a year of extensive market research, Chris left his position at the Boston Consulting Group to found Tegu, a magnetic block company made of Honduran wood, in 2007. Tegu gets its name from the capitol of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, which is also the city in which the toys are made. The company employs two hundred Hondurans, and provides for over three hundred more that rely on their income. Chris’ brother, Will, after a brief but successful career in investment banking, came on full time with Tegu. Together, the two brothers now run the company and every day strive to have a tangible impact in one of the poorest corners of the world.

Are there cheaper ways to make toys? Yes there are. Could these brothers be making more money elsewhere? Absolutely. But is Tegu making a tangible difference? Yes it is. And that’s enough for the Haugheys. To see them utilize their God-given business capability and know how, not to line their own pockets, but to instead develop the economy of one of the poorest nations in the world is an inspiring story indeed. Their story is a testament to the fact that there’s more to business than money. To the Haugheys? Ultimately its about people.

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Categories : Great Ideas, Male Entrepreneurs, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Redemptive Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, Uncategorized

The Homestead Hilton: AirBnB and Revolutionizing the Overnight Industry

Posted by Justin Folger 
· Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019 
· 2 Comments

Even as late as the early two thousands, the only options for overnight stay were classic Hotel, Motel’s and Inns. People chose from the Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn, Marriott, Motel 6, and the like. All of this changed in October of 2007 with a man named Brian Chesky. Born in Niskayuna, New York he grew up under his mother and

Brian Chesky, CEO of AirBnB

father, both social-workers. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design and earned a degree in Industrial Design. He then moved to Los Angeles and later San Francisco for his job.

He was living with his friend, and would be business partner, Joe Gebbia. The two of them were unable to pay rent that October of 2007, and decided to get creative. Luckily for them, the Industrial Designers Society of America was hosting a conference in San Francisco that month. This is when the genius concept was born. Inflating three air-mattresses on their living room floor, they opened their very own “Airbed and Breakfast” with three guests staying on their first night of operation. These three airbeds helped give the company its name, “AirBnB”. This small scale lodging service continued for several months.

In February of 2008, they adopted Nathan Blecharczyk to the team. Between the three of them, they were ready to begin launching. However, the trio lacked funding to make the launch happen smoothly. In order to obtain the money they needed, they created their own lines of cereal that corresponded with the 2008 presidential candidates: Obama O’s and Cap’n McCains. Impressed by these breakfast endeavors, a seed investment fund took interest them and eventually their concept of AirBnB. With the funding they needed to launch, it didn’t take them long. In its first year, the company could already go international, and was eventually valued at $20 billion by 2015.

The concept of renting out your home on the short term is not a new one. However, back in the late 2000s, there didn’t yet exist a platform to connect guests and hosts. Chesky capitalized on this huge but hidden

opportunity, and was immensely successful because of it. It goes to show that you don’t have to have an amazing invention to start a successful business. You could simply create a more efficient way of doing something, in this case, connecting renters and guests. Because Chesky could effectively serve as the more convenient middle man in this already existing market, his business endeavor was wildly successful.

2 Comments
Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers

Love and Hope Children’s Home: Breaking the Gang Cycle in El Salvador

Posted by Justin Folger 
· Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019 
· 3 Comments

 

Gang presence, violence, and even autonomy is something common throughout the majority of Central and South America. However, the issue is particularly profound in the small Central-American country of El Salvador. Home, to the notorious MS-13 gang (present all over the world now, even here in the United States), has practically run the country since the country’s civil war (1979-1992). As expected in a country run by gangs, the capitol city, San Salvador is notoriously known as the murder capitol of the world. A problem of this magnitude is certainly not solved over night, and my seem unsolvable all together, but, as it is so often said “you have to start somewhere”.

Rachel Sanson was born in Cleveland, Ohio to a christian family, where she attended Christian school. In her teenage years, she made her first trip to El Salvador working at a state run children’s home called “Shalom Children’s Home”. Here she saw an overpopulated and understaffed home which barely provided for its residence until their 18th birthday, when they were thrust into the real world. Seeing this kind of need, Sanson felt a call to start a children’s home in El Salvador herself. On another trip, while working in the community of Nejapa, she started her children’s home. In October of 2003, Love and Hope Children’s home officially opened it’s doors. Since its opening, it has moved twice, once to Los Planes de Renderos (outside of San Salvador), and finally to the capitol itself.

What makes the home so unique is its thoroughness. Instead of trying to provide the bare minimum for hundreds of children, they fully support a more segmented number of children. In providing shelter, safety, food, and education to the children, Love and Hope Children’s home provides the children with opportunists to do more than simply join the gang when they reach the age of 18, thus furthering the problem. Many of the children who have gone through the home have even had the opportunity go to university after leaving the home, giving them a job that they can use to provide for themselves, their eventual spouses, and one day kids, thus breaking the gang cycle. Currently the home hosts 20 children of all ages, and resembles more of a family than an orphanage. The children celebrate Christmas, have picnics, and have game nights. It doesn’t just keep the children alive, but really helps them thrive. Obviously, there is more work to be done. There are more than twenty children in the country of El Salvador. However, this model provides the clearest path to breaking the cycle that has plagued the poor country for years. This is simply the first step, the beta-test of the next step forward, if you will. More information about Love and Hope Children’s Home can be found at this link.

3 Comments
Categories : Charity, Kids, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, Social Justice, Uncategorized

Beauty From Ashes: John Gasangwa and Arise Rwanda Ministries

Posted by Justin Folger 
· Sunday, September 15th, 2019 
· 2 Comments

John Gasangwa was born and spent his early childhood in a refugee camp nestled in the country of Uganda. Before his birth, his family had been kicked out of their home country of Rwanda, and forced to take refuge in a foreign land. Throughout his time in this refugee camp, Gasangwa witnessed rape, murder, and even the starvation of two of his sisters. At the age of 13, he traveled to Rwanda to learn that his father had been killed in the Genocide of 1994. The rest of his upbringing would be within the walls of one of the many Rwandan orphanages. Against all odds, he completed not only his secondary education, but earned a college degree as well. After graduation, Gasangwa began work for mission-oriented organizations like World Vision, Opportunity International, and KIVA.

In his time with these ministries, he learned a new way to combat poverty. Eventually, in 2011, this experience coupled with a MBA in Global Social Sustainable Enterprise, enabled him to found a ministry of his own. Thus Arise Rwanda Ministries was born in Boneza, Rwanda. It’s modeled after the cliche, “give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime”. In his own words, Gasangwa says they’re providing “trade not aid”. The ministry focuses on three main programs: education, clean water, and community development. These three threads of ministry, weave together to break the poverty cycle and foster a strong, self-sufficient economy. In providing education, Arise Rwanda Ministries allows children the opportunity for employment in more than just subsistence farming. Microfinancing local entrepreneurs and training the youth in profitable trades empowers community members to provide for themselves and no longer rely on aid. Even digging wells for clean water has an economic impact, creating jobs in well maintenance and providing much-needed clean water for local business endeavors.  Together, these three unique but united goals have transformed the community they service. The Boneza of today is drastically different than before, and the whole community has benefited. Kivu Hills Academy (est. 2015) provides education beyond the eighth-grade level for the first time in the community. Coffee shops, basket weaving and sewing co-ops, and other endeavors provide jobs and in turn additional income for households that desperately need it. Many of these products are even being sold in US markets. Kivu Hills Coffee, grown in the Boneza Community, is exported to Schuil Coffee Co. in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it is roasted, packaged, and sold. The Amahoro sewing co-op exports its handcrafted bags to North-East Ohio where high school business students market and sell them under the name Shya Designs. Instead of just giving his fellow Rwandans a fish, so to speak, John Gasangwa has helped teach them to fish, empowering them to help rebuild their country. More information on how to get involved with Gasangwa and his vision can be found at this link.

2 Comments
Categories : Africa, Ministry, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, Uncategorized