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Welcome to the Entrepreneurship at DU Podcast. Today’s episode is a little different. We’re reflecting on a recent global immersion course in Guatemala, where students stepped outside the classroom and worked directly with organizations creating real impact on the ground. You’ll hear from students and faculty as they talk about what it actually means to see entrepreneurship, social impact, and business ethics in action. From working with FriendshipBridge to visiting local businesses and community organizations, this experience pushed everyone to rethink what it means for a business to be a force for good. We get into expectations versus reality, what happens when you move from theory to real client work, and the moments that stick with you long after the trip ends. Let’s dive in. All right. To get us started, can each of you briefly introduce yourself and share what drew you to this course and this trip?
Avery Wisehart:
I’ll go first. Hi everyone. I’m Avery. I’m a first year grad student studying global environmental sustainability and pursuing a certificate in global business and corporate social responsibility. I come with a background in my undergrad degree with community entrepreneurship. So when Professor Klaw proposed this class to me, I knew automatically that I had to join. Being able to see how my undergrad studies are happening at the global scale really spoke to me, so that’s kind of why I joined.
Courtney Cassidy:
All right. I’m Courtney Cassidy. I’m a third year marketing major with minors in business ethics and legal studies, leadership, and Spanish. And I’ve been working on a research project with Professor Sebesta for the past about a year about entrepreneurial ecosystems and developing context. So that’s kind of how I found out about the course and it also happened to count towards my Bells minor, which was great. But yeah, I’m really passionate about … I know business is a force for good and both my parents are small business owners, so entrepreneurship is always something that I’ve been interested in. I was at one point an entrepreneurship minor, but I’m not anymore, but I’m still involved. I just took a sprint last weekend. So I really love the entrepreneurship and the Bells programs here at Daniels.
John Sebesta:
We love you anyway.
Courtney Cassidy:
Thank you.
Liam McCarthy:
All right. I’m Liam. I’m Liam McCarthy. I’m an international business major. This was actually my final course at DU, which I’m very grateful for. And what drew me to this course was, one, in the fall and winter quarters, I really found a connection with the entrepreneurship program here at DU. And two, I’ve done some other impactful work abroad that were amazing experiences also through DU. So when Professor Sebesta brought up this course during a different class, it checked both the boxes for me and I had to do it. I couldn’t say now.
Bruce Klaw:
I’m Bruce Klaw. I’m chair of the Department of Business Ethics and Legal Studies, Assistant Dean for Societal Impact at the Daniels College of Business. And I’m co-director of our joint graduate certificate in global business and corporate social responsibility. For me, this class was a no-brainer. John, much like you, I’m a firm believer that business has to be a force for good in this world. It is part of our mission at Daniels. It is part of my personal mission as a professor and an administrator. So the opportunity to take part of our mission and turn it into action through a real global immersion and live client-based projects was fantastic. Plus the opportunity to collaborate with you between business ethics and legal studies and entrepreneurship was just a natural fit. So for me, this was a pleasure.
John Sebesta:
So before we dive into Guatemala specifically, what were you expecting going into this experience? So Courtney, I’m going to start with you since you’ve been doing some research into Guatemala context already.
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah. I’d say that based on our research, I expected more to see all of the barriers because our whole concept was institutional voids and talking a lot about the financial barriers, corruption, all of those kind of negatives, I guess. And I think what really surprised me in such a positive way was all the, I don’t know, incredible, these people that are doing such meaningful things with their work and how they navigate in these issues. And like we go to like El Cubo and Eco Filtro and it’s just incredible facilities with such incredible people. And there’s a lot more positives, I guess, than I expected. I think yes, Guatemala is a developing context, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to be this dilapidated scene where everything’s doom and gloom. It was really incredible.
Avery Wisehart:
I’ll take it in a different lens. Just my expectations going into the class, I think I expected much more of a high level overview of what social entrepreneurship is and what global impact is, but I didn’t really expect the level of depth and real world experience that we experienced, especially through, I think, working with our nonprofit partner, Friendship Bridge, and having a client project. It meant so much more than what a classroom based course could deliver.
John Sebesta:
Yeah. So let’s build on that. So for listeners who may not know the organization, what is Friendship Bridge and why was it such an important part of the course?
Avery Wisehart:
Yeah. So Friendship Bridge is a nonprofit organization based here in Denver, Colorado that provides microfinancing and health services and education to women in Guatemala. A little more information on microfinancing that’s providing small business loans that are traditionally for people that may seem unbankable to larger banks. So it’s providing them the opportunity that they might not have in a traditional financial setting.
John Sebesta:
So how did working with a real client change the way that you approached the class?
Liam McCarthy:
It wasn’t just a class project anymore. It was an opportunity to actually create something that was actionable and deliverable. And I mean, we got to meet with them and talk through what we created and discuss where we might have faltered and what actually held water, which is more valuable than a lot of the class projects that I’ve previously done.
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah. And I think that for me, that’s not a typical class as an undergraduate student. I don’t necessarily get that much experience in working with an actual client. And I was also surrounded by grad students, people pursuing suing an MBA. And that was really, I guess, inspiring for me. And it felt like there was more pressure on the class, but in a good way. I felt like I was actually doing something meaningful and it motivated me to be more involved. And yeah, it was great to meet Tracy, like the CEO of this successful nonprofit, and she was fantastic. And to have her alongside us through the process and even post-trip, she’s reached out to, I think, most of us. And yeah, it’s a really great relationship that we’ve formed in the Bells program, stuff that I’m doing with Corey and stuff. I’m mentioning that, oh, well, I know Tracy Cordiero, the CEO of FriendshipBridge, and I can connect people looking for volunteer work, something with FriendshipBridge because, and I know we’ll get into this, our whole client project was about engaging this youth demographic and us as DU students, now that we have this connection, we can expand that and tell our friends, tell our peers and get more exposure for FriendshipBridge.
John Sebesta:
Yeah. So talk a little bit about what the Client Project was and how that shaped your experience in the class.
Avery Wisehart:
As Courtney mentioned, we were working on a strategic report for Friendship Bridge on how to engage youth donors. We’re looking at what organizations they want to donate their time, their money to, what drives them to donate and why. So we developed our recommendations through primary research, including a survey that was sent out to our peers through the ages of 18 to 35 interviews and focus groups, and then looking at secondary research about what other organizations are this demographic engaging with, what are they doing? How are they drawing in donors? So looking at that and the context of Friendship Bridge and what we knew, the little that we knew at the time during the quarter about Guatemala and about these women, drawing conclusions from that. And then we put together this report that we were able to deliver in person in country to the CEO.
John Sebesta:
Awesome. So like you mentioned, you were developing the report here in Denver and then you showed up in Guatemala and got to see some of the work firsthand. What did you assume going in and how did seeing the work firsthand challenge those assumptions and what things held?
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah. I think that one thing that stood out when we were in the ground of Guatemala was in the trust bank meeting, and that was such an impactful experience to see this group of female entrepreneurs who were in such a vulnerable state. We were in their homes and they were sharing these stories of their past experiences being kind of taken advantage of by the system. And I know that they were talking a lot about these predatory loans and how these traditional banking systems, again, like I said, they take advantage of these women who are perceived as vulnerable, may not be as knowledgeable. There’s language barriers, all the stuff like that. And I think that we knew going in that Friendship Bridge provided more than just financial support. We knew about the education, we knew about the health support, but it was really impactful to see people firsthand like, no, this is not just about financial support.
It’s really this holistic, I don’t want to say like life coaching sounds intense, but really like it is, it’s mentorship. And what Friendship Bridge provides goes so far beyond just financial support.
Avery Wisehart:
I think another thing, just looking at our recommendations, it really, being in country reinforced everything that we put in there, especially looking at younger generations and how they donate, why they donate. One of our biggest takeaways was that they need tangible impact. They need to see where their money goes, what it’s doing, how it’s actually helping these people. So being in Guatemala and sitting in a trust bank meeting and seeing that in person, we were like, “Okay, this is real. This makes me want to scrap up any extra money that I have and donate it to this cause.” So I think our takeaway was Friendship Bridge should really figure out a way to just engage the youth by bringing them down, having them volunteer in Guatemala and using them to do this work to really see how the impact is happening in country and yeah.
John Sebesta:
That’s awesome. And I know that from talking to Tracy that she’s planning to implement a lot of the recommendations and there’s probably opportunity for many to stay involved, which is fantastic. And part of the goal is to move beyond the classroom, both literally and figuratively and maintain some of those relationships. So I love that. But moving beyond Friendship Bridge, obviously they’re a huge part both here in Denver and there in Guatemala, but we saw a lot of other groups as well. So talk to me about what were some of the most important meetings or site visits for you and why? Liam, let’s start with you.
Liam McCarthy:
Yeah. I mean, I think that the whole day we spent with Friendship Bridge was very powerful, but beyond that, I think that La Familia Del Cafe was one that stuck with me because it really shows that they don’t need the business school, the MBA to get it done. They just had the grandparents that started the original business, they just had the courage to take the gift of the two beans that they received after working at a corporate coffee farm, go and take those beans and start a coffee farm and then literally transform the foundation of the town and create the opportunity for the rest of the people in their town to also have a sustainable lifestyle for themselves. And continuing that forward with the co-op, they had the courage to, they thought this is something that will work, let’s put money towards this machine. They just thought it would work.
They didn’t run the finances, they didn’t go through everything and make sure that it was the right thing to do. They just thought it was. And now the whole town is benefiting from that. So I think that that was definitely one that stuck with me for sure. Yeah.
John Sebesta:
You don’t always know. You can’t always calculate the returns and the performance and all of that in advance. Sometimes you got to go with your gut and take a risk. And that’s what entrepreneurship is about, is taking some of those risks and trying to improve both the business and the lives of those around you. And they’re a cool example of that. Avery, I’m curious from your perspective, because you studied community entrepreneurship before this, and I think they’re a cool example of community entrepreneurship and many of the companies that we saw were, how did what you saw on the ground compare to what you learned?
Avery Wisehart:
Yeah. So whenever I tell people I studied community entrepreneurship, their first question is always, “What does that even mean?” And I think even after four years of studies in undergrad, sometimes I couldn’t really answer the question always because I hadn’t seen it in action. And this trip really changed that on a different level. I think we saw entrepreneurship from necessity, from people needing to put food on their family’s plates or entrepreneurship because they lacked institutional support and couldn’t really … There was no option of climbing the corporate ladder, so they started their own business. So I think seeing that really put all of my studies into perspective and I’m like, “Okay, this is what it’s about. ” And kind of on a different side of that, community entrepreneurship, I always thought of it as, “Oh, these are very small businesses uplifting the local community and they don’t really have much scaling impact.” But when we visited Ecofiltro, that was kind of an aha moment for me.
I was just like, “Yeah, this is social entrepreneurship, community entrepreneurship scaled.” I mean, they took a problem like access to clean drinking water. They made a product that solved the issue, but then they were like, “No, we can really turn this into a profitable business and we can scale this globally.” So seeing all of that on the ground really put everything into perspective for me and gave me a completely new understanding.
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah. I’d say that kind of going off of what both Avery and Liam said, the Pomona impact visit was quite impactful for me, talking to Javier and Miguel about what impact looks like because I guess I typically would think of something environmentally focused or like Ecofilter solving a problem of access to water, but what really stuck out to me was that not only were these businesses that they’re funding supporting more philanthropic issues such as access to clean water, environmental issues, poverty, et cetera, it’s providing jobs to a community like Familia Del Cafe. Yeah, like Liam was mentioning, they changed the whole ecosystem in that community, providing jobs, having … I think that one of them mentioned that they were one of the brothers is getting trained in marketing and they’re, I don’t know, provided such like a stepping stool, I guess, to many more opportunities.
And as someone who I previously always thought that I would go into the nonprofit sector, I’ve been volunteering since I was very young and I’m just really passionate about doing work like that. And I think that nonprofits are incredible, but I think that this trip opened my eyes to the impact that for profit companies can have because profit’s really what makes something scalable. And I think that business in general gets a bad rap for just being money focused, money driven, which is true, but money can be used as a force for good to drive meaningful change. And I’d argue that, again, the scalability aspects, having a business before profit probably opens more doors and can increase the impact.
John Sebesta:
Yeah, absolutely. And at DU and at Daniel’s tagline is that we’re in the business of better business and that whole philosophy that business can and should be a tool for achieving positive impact. The profit is a mechanism, not the end. It is a means to achieving what you set out to achieve, which is something greater than finances certainly. Bruce, I’m curious for you, as we wandered around all of these different companies and sites, were there any that stood out, especially to you?
Bruce Klaw:
I think each and every one of our site visits in country was impactful in their own way. I mean, it started with Impact Hub in Antigua, the ability to see two founders who had created a space for fellow entrepreneurs who clearly had spent time in country and had thought through how to create an ecosystem of change to drive impacts for their community, for themselves, for their greater environment. I thought that was tremendously impactful and not for nothing, but it was an incredibly fun space as well. From there, certainly La Familia Del Cafe, I thought was fantastic to see how a family business could scale and be ecologically sound and be profitable at the same time. I thought the site visits to the trust bank with Friendship Bridge was really tangible. You can read about a trust bank, but actually seeing a meeting in somebody’s home and watching indigenous women entrepreneurs share their challenges and share solutions was pretty spectacular.
And then of course, to Jesse and Taco Razon, I mean, that’s a guy who has energy and varied experience and a willingness to pay it forward, take risks, be thoughtful, and really create an environment and a product and a service that were really valuable and fun, I thought was great. So all in all, I mean, I was so impacted personally by the change that each of these individuals and groups were making, and it was just wonderful to give an opportunity for ourselves and for our students to see entrepreneurship in action and to change the way they think about engaging with their communities, right? Communities aren’t just a sort of product or customer base to be acted upon. It is the context and groups that businesses ought to partner with to create something bigger than just one business or one person or one center of profit.
And it really changes how I think all of us think about business and creating value. It really was a spectacular way to lend some tangible insights into what is often otherwise just a academic or classroom based discussion.
John Sebesta:
For our students, how did being physically present in Guatemala change or shape your understanding of opportunity, constraint, and resilience?
Bruce Klaw:
For what it’s worth, I want to offer a thought on that. I was marinating on that for a second, and whether this is recorded or not, doesn’t matter, but we often talk about things like supply chains and some of the challenges associated with operationalizing a business, and unless you’re in a country and in a specific context, it’s really hard to appreciate how challenging it can be to get from point A to point B logistically. Until you’re on a bus that is on a windy road by the side of a mountain, you really can’t fully appreciate like, “Oh, that’s why it’s a little challenging to get supplies from point A to point B, or to reach a bank or to reach a health clinic.” All of those become very tangible when you are on a bus and it is going 10 kilometers an hour and you’re starting to get a little dizzy from the altitude shifts and it really makes for a very tangible insight into what it means to operate a business with logistical constraints and in a country with a different context where people speak 50 different languages, seeing that really reminds you that business is about problem solving in context and providing value to what people actually need.
John Sebesta:
Yeah. When your 63 kilometer trip takes three hours, why?
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah. I think talking to Jen at Impact Hub and her saying that when she wants to go to Guatemala City from Antigua, she gets up at about, what was it, 4:00 AM to make the drive there, to get there by 8:00 or 9:00. To get there for a
John Sebesta:
Nine o’clock meeting, she gets there by 7:00, but that’s the only way you know that you’re going to get there is to leave at 5:00 AM.
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah, I mean that in itself is, I mean, that’s wild. And even our drive from the airport to Antigua was, yep, just stop and go, stop and go, offered a nice opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the highways of Guatemala. But yeah, that’s definitely, that’s a challenge that you don’t really get from Denver.
John Sebesta:
Like you said, Bruce, just like, it is all about opportunities in context and that you have to understand the true place. And so I guess I’m curious, how did that shape or how does that inform your perspective on responsible engagements? When we think about coming from a first world materially wealthy context and wanting to do good, we want to help. How did this experience shape how you think about that and our approach?
Avery Wisehart:
I think it’s really hard to be sitting in a classroom in Denver and thinking about, okay, how would my donation to this nonprofit that’s based in Denver, Colorado, impact a woman’s life in Guatemala? And then when we’re actually in country and especially sitting in that trust bank meeting that we’ve all talked so much about, you pick up on the impact very quickly. I mean, you see the vulnerability and the gratitude from the women sitting there in their house. So I think it’s hard to understand that at a distance sometimes, but when you put yourself out there and you travel, you engage with these less developed countries, you understand how our donations can really make an impact.
John Sebesta:
Well, I think how our donations make an impact, but also the importance of that local context, right? When you look at the Friendship Bridge team, it’s all people from that context and the importance of being there and seeing it. And when we talk about, you mentioned Echo Filter earlier, Courtney, of Philip who’s from Guatemala, but still in order to understand why people weren’t using this great device where they started it as a nonprofit donating them, and yet people weren’t using them. And it was even being Guatemalan, you couldn’t understand why that was. And you had to go into context, into people’s homes and really join in their shoes and their lived experience to get a sense for it. And I think that that’s, like I said, something that’s really hard to get in a classroom in Denver.
Liam McCarthy:
Yeah. I mean, what you were saying about responsibly engaging was something that I really noticed with Friendship Bridge. I mean, I think there’s a delicate balance between coming in and imposing your values and saying, “Well, this is the right way to do things. This is what works for us.” And coming in and listening and understanding the context that we’ve been talking about. And so I think Friendship Bridge is the perfect example of that because they are responsibly engaging with the machismo culture in Guatemala and they’re pushing back against it, but they’re not doing it in a way where they’re saying, “Hey men, you have to stop doing this. ” They’re providing a tangible solution that there’s … Once the women are bringing in more income and they’re realizing, “Hey, there’s more food on the table, there’s more access, more opportunity for our children, maybe not everything has to run through me now as a man.” They’re challenging that perspective without just saying it.
They’re offering an alternative, which I think hits the nail of balancing that, I don’t know, that dichotomy between being the savior and professing your values and actually offering some valuable change.
John Sebesta:
So I think you highlight a really important and interesting complexity of how do you navigate that culture shift, that culture change, what is normal on the ground and in that context again. And at Daniels and at DU, we talk a lot about preparing students to lead in a world that is interconnected, complex, and changing very, very rapidly. Why does a trip like this matter in today’s educational context?
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah, I think that going to Guatemala, we had the opportunity to experience what most often the entrepreneurs in Guatemala have to face where they’re kind of navigating systems that they don’t understand. I mean, talk about a language barrier and in Professor Sebesa and I’s research, a lot of times we talk about all these loans or different educational programs, entrepreneurs looking for international exposure. Everything has this kind of North American context and it’s not the same in Guatemala and you don’t necessarily fully grasp that until you’re there. So I think that was something really valuable about being on the ground in Guatemala. Well,
Liam McCarthy:
I think seeing the world is valuable no matter what career you’re going into, but I think especially nowadays it’s important because when you see the world and you see the problems that other people are dealing with, it really sticks with you. And in my opinion, it changes you for the better. So if we can expose the future CEOs and CFOs to these sorts of issues and make them more well rounded, then hopefully we can see some corporations in the future operating more ethically and giving back to the world that they’re built from.
Courtney Cassidy:
I think something that Jesse from Taco Roson said really stuck out to me. He was talking about how you have to get comfortable not knowing everything and people know more than you on certain topics. And that really kind of reminded me to sit back and listen. And so many people and all the different sites that we visited, Friendship Bridge, Ponent Impact, just all these different entrepreneurs, ecosystem actors doing such impactful things that I would know nothing about if I didn’t just sit back and listen and learn from their experiences because yeah, my experience as a college student in Denver, Colorado is not the same as any of the people in Guatemala that we learn from. And it’s hard in this, I guess, call it a dog eat dog world feeling like you need to act like you know everything and be the expert and kind of think that you’re the best, but you’re really not.
And be comfortable not knowing everything and yep.
John Sebesta:
I completely agree. And it’s fun because I could sit and have Rudy teach me from La Famil del Cafe without an education, a formal education, right? He could teach me a thing or two about how do you, not only how do you grow coffee, but how do you navigate an international supply chain and distribution system? And so I think there’s something beautiful about recognizing that you can learn from everyone. So Bruce, from a faculty perspective, what’s different about when students learn from sitting in the classroom, reading from a textbook, especially about things like social entrepreneurship, societal impact, to actually getting out there and experiencing it firsthand?
Bruce Klaw:
It’s a great question. I think direct engagement matters a lot. It matters for how we actually do affect positive change in a business school setting. It matters a lot for giving our students an opportunity to actually find their purpose. We talk a lot about finding your purpose, but unless and until you actually roll up your sleeves and explore some of the challenges and opportunities in the world, you might not be able to find it in a textbook. You might not be able to find it in a classroom, but I know I saw so many of you really get that spark and realize that, wait a minute, I can make a little bit of a difference. And it can start in a small community and grow from there. I think it’s also about picking up some of those skills of adaptability, of humility, of self-motivated research, because you know you’re about to go into a situation where things are going to be different.
So you better bone up before you get into the country and figure out what you don’t know as best as you possibly can before you get there. And developing, frankly, that empathy that is going to help you identify problems and solutions and ways that you can slot in to the solution and ways that you can collaborate with communities and with each other. One of the really wonderful things that we got to see as professors from the way you all worked was we forced you into a situation where you had to work with a group of students that you didn’t previously know. Some of you were undergrads, some of you were grads, some of you came from a public policy context, some came from a business context, some came from a business ethics context, some came from a finance context. And through that process, you realized that everybody had something to contribute there.
And the process of getting to a solution that is viable and a work product that is excellent is going to be iterative, it’s going to be a little messy, it’s going to require some collaboration with different sorts of people. And that was some of the magic there, I think. And what made it so enriching and what reinforces that some of the things we do at Daniels is a matter of course, like have live client projects, of having challenge driven education, of having purpose driven mission here at Daniels. I mean, some of that really came home to roost in this context. And I think it was something really unique about getting on the ground.
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah. I think this sort of experience, it humbles you in a way. And as college students, we like to stay in our bubble, but that exposure is so, so important. And you learn, I mean, you learn so much from just any type of travel, but in this course, like we were connecting with real people, hearing their real stories and it just inevitably opens your eyes to just this world that you never would have known if you didn’t take the risk or just open your ears to a new experience.
John Sebesta:
Yeah. So one of the things that the intent of this course was to explore the interaction between business, entrepreneurship and societal impact. So I’m curious, did it or how did it influence how you view that intersection?
Liam McCarthy:
Well, for me, I think it reinforced what I had already believed about the relationship between business and entrepreneurship and social impact. My mom has a saying that she always says to me, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” And she is a business owner and she makes social impact. So for me, when I see people that climb the corporate ladder and have achieved professional and financial success and have the knowledge and experience and connections and the freedom to go out and now use their powers for good, but oftentimes don’t. It’s a shame. And I don’t blame them for that because I think that a lot of our society has kind of created this mentality of, you have your problems and they have their problems and why would you, you’ve worked so hard to get to this point, why would you now take your time and money and focus away from all that you’ve built to go and help somebody else?
So I think that something like this is crucial to kind of bridge that gap and show that it is possible and it can be done and there are people doing it. You’re not crazy for wanting to do that. Yeah.
Avery Wisehart:
I think, as you said, this course bridged business, social impact and entrepreneurship. And oftentimes people separate those into three different categories and social entrepreneurship is kind of its own bucket in itself. And I think what I’ve learned through this experience is that social entrepreneurship should really be engraved in all sorts of business models. I mean, that should be the business model that we’re striving towards. I mean, we’ve reached a point in time where it’s not sustainable to just chase financial economic growth anymore. We have to bring in other factors, which is social entrepreneurship’s core values. It’s solving a social or environmental or governance issue and learning how to, I mean, maybe turn a profit out of it and create a business. So I think it’s just an outlook that we need to really hone in on and understand that these things aren’t separate. They can be one and there’s opportunity for that.
And I think, yeah, businesses just really need to incorporate these values more.
John Sebesta:
What is one moment from the trip that will stay with you for a long time?
Bruce Klaw:
There were many, but for me, it wasn’t actually any of the site visits, it wasn’t the plane ride, it wasn’t even the trust bank meeting. It was the informal conversation that we had probably somewhere around midnight outside of the hotel with several of you where we talked about what it really means to have a career of purpose and what it means to make a difference in the world and what it means to actually be authentically successful and fulfilled and what it’s going to take to get there and why the Jews is worth the squeeze and why if there are enough of us who are focused on that same task and goal in our own individual ways, it’s possible to get there. Those are the moments that really remind you why we do what we do and why we work to create this kind of a class and why it was worth sacrificing a spring break for all of us to go, because those are the moments where you get that spark.
And for me, that was the moment of the trip.
Courtney Cassidy:
Yeah. For me, I had a conversation with Adolfo Cruz from Super Resike after his talk. I was at the Good Hotel. It was nice, felt very like an informal meeting. It was so great to hear about what he’s doing with his business, his waste management business, very sustainable. He’s doing great things in the community, but I don’t know how we ended up talking about therapy, but we had a great conversation about our personal lives and how to manage as an entrepreneur or just as a person who cares deeply about anything and everything that they set their mind to, how to manage disappointment or … Because in entrepreneurship, failure is inevitable and it’s your greatest teacher and it’s, yeah, like I said, inevitable. And in life and in business, you run into a lot of situations when you put so much effort into something, you’re so passionate about it.
It’s a lot of times for entrepreneurs, their life’s work and it doesn’t work out or it’s not as well received or people just don’t care as much. And that can be devastating, but you have to separate yourself from that and be firmly rooted enough in yourself and your values and what you’re doing, what you’re striving for, what fulfills you, what gives your life meaning to carry on and keep doing what you’re doing, even if it may not be, it’s the path less traveled. But yeah, he was fantastic to talk to. And I’ve reached out to him since as well. And yeah, it’s just those moments, yeah, those conversations that happen after the official meetings, after the official site visits, that really was such a unique opportunity that’s different from when someone comes in, talks to your class and then leaves right after. We really got to get to know these people on a personal level and just see how passionate they are about what they’re doing.
I think that that was something that was just so inspiring to me. These people dedicated their lives to making such meaningful change and that’s just something that I hope to achieve that one day.
Liam McCarthy:
Yeah. Professor Klaw, that’s the first thing that popped into my head as well, was the informal conversations. That night you talked about defining success and what that means and how you have to do, that’s a personal thing. You can’t really, you have to just listen to your gut. But to switch things up at a dinner, you hit me with a, what motivates you? And that’s kind of still something I’m mulling over. And then we got into a discussion about how early on it, for us, I mean, we’re just going into entry level positions, so it’s hard for us to dictate how our career is going to make an impact or how the company we work for is making an impact. But you told me that just doing something and just having those thoughts on your mind and looking for moments and opportunities where you can make an impact, no matter how small, whether it’s just inviting your neighbors over for something or, I don’t know, anything up to creating a fully scalable, sustainable, socially impactful business, anywhere in between, or like volunteering at a soup kitchen every once in a while.
I mean, just doing something, that’s the first step. And as long as you’re doing that, then eventually we’ll get to the point where we can make bigger and bigger impacts. And so as you were saying, as long as there’s enough people that have that mentality, eventually we’ll achieve some impact and leave the world better than we found it, which is I guess ultimately the goal in my mind.
Avery Wisehart:
Yeah. So mine was another one of those informal conversations probably somewhere around midnight. We had a few of those, but mine was about leadership and being a leader means stepping up when you don’t particularly want to, or when you have this or that on your plate or when you’ve given and other people may have not, but I think I learned this the hard way and dropped the ball in some sense and it really stuck with me that when you’re passionate about something, leadership means finishing what you started, going all the way through and yeah, I don’t know. It was a conversation that really defined, I don’t know, it was a turning point in my academic career, my professional career, and it’ll definitely stick with me for quite some time.
John Sebesta:
It’s one of the things that I love about travel, and I’ve said this throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel in a variety of different careers and endeavors, and it’s in those in between moments that you really get to know people, you really get to know yourself, and I think there’s something beautiful with that, that you can’t recreate in a classroom or even a group project or a client project that’s something truly unique to travel and to getting out of your comfort zone and being in a different context. And so as much as we put effort into the programming and the visits and designing that, it doesn’t surprise me at all. And I think it’s really cool that it’s the informal that really creates those defining and memorable moments. All right. If you had to describe this experience in one word or one phrase, what would it be?
Courtney Cassidy:
I didn’t love this question because I feel like my answer is really obvious, but I’d say impactful in a multifaceted sense because I think that we witnessed firsthand so many impactful businesses and incredible people that are making impacts in their community, but then it was also very impactful for us as students to be able to … This is our first time, I would assume, for most of us doing something like this and not just traveling, but immersing ourselves in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the place we’re traveling to. That’s not something I necessarily think about when I’m going to Belize or something. So I think that, yeah, it was impactful in many different ways. I mean, the class was called Global Societal Impact, so hit the nail on the head with that one, but yep.
John Sebesta:
Give her an A.
Courtney Cassidy:
Thanks.
Avery Wisehart:
I think I have two. One is just an experience bigger than myself and two, a catalyst for change, whether that’s, again, for myself, but also for everyone involved in the experience, whether that’s students, professors, our partners, and clearly the women in Guatemala that our work with Friendship Bridge helped serve.
Liam McCarthy:
I would just say real. Everything about that was real. It was real work being done on our class project that we delivered, real impact being made by Friendship Bridge, and just real lessons being learned that I’m going to carry with me going forward into my next chapter.
Bruce Klaw:
For me, it was business ethics in action. You got to actually see how a purpose driven education, a purpose driven business can really make some change, but you really got to get after it and see it and do it. And that was the magic for this class.
John Sebesta:
Awesome. I want to thank you all for being here. It’s been an absolute pleasure to reminisce a little bit and share some experiences, share some stories. I appreciate you all taking the time to reflect and think about it. That’s a core part of the learning process of settling in with what did we experience and what did we learn and how is that going to shape how I view the world and how I step into it in the future. And I’m personally incredibly excited to see the way that each of you do step into the world. Liam, as your last class and now officially a graduate, you’re stepping out into the world and Courtney and Avery, you’re not far behind. And so I know that you’ll do incredible things and excited and grateful to have the opportunity to be a little piece of that journey and look forward to seeing that.
Please stay in touch. Thanks for being here.
Bruce Klaw:
Thank you, John.
Courtney Cassidy:
Thank you.
John Sebesta:
Thank
Courtney Cassidy:
You.
John Sebesta:
Thanks for listening to this episode of The Entrepreneurship at DU Podcast. What you just heard reflects how much shifts when you move beyond the classroom and experience these environments firsthand. It’s one thing to talk about social impact, entrepreneurship, and global business in theory, but it’s something completely different to see it, feel it, and engage with it directly. A big thank you to everyone who shared their perspectives and experiences from the trip. This podcast was recorded at the media studio at the Daniels College of Business. Our sound engineer and producer is Harrison Tarr. I’m John Sylvesta. We’ll see you next time.