We first posted about The Buried Life this past Fall, when we shared how these four ambitious guys embarked on a journey to check off all of their Bucket List items. They told us, “In the course of The Buried Life, we’ve been dishwashers, bartenders, promoters, oilmen… the list goes on and on. The trick is balance. Like TOMS – it’s One for One. Work hard and do what you deeply want to do. If it’s music – play music. If it’s writing – write. You don’t have to quit your job to start those things.”
Many of you wrote in telling us how inspired you were by their story (it’s one of our favorites too), and now we have an exciting update for you: the guys of The Buried Life just released a book, “What do you want to do before you die?” and they’re signing all copies ordered from http://theburiedlifebook.com!
Act fast – the offer ends tomorrow, Tuesday March 27! Read more
James Marshall Reilly is the author of Shake The World, a new book described by the Los Angeles Times as the perfect gift for an “anxious 21-year-old.” “Just don’t be surprised if they then ditch their plans to take a job in accounting, head off to dig irrigation ditches in Haiti, tweet the results and apply for the next round of TED fellowships.”
I first met Blake Mycoskie in 2008 when I was working as a speaker’s agent. He told me the story behind TOMS and I was duly impressed. As he explained his “One for One” business model that harnessed consumer dollars to solve a health and education issue halfway around the world, I became understandably inspired. I can honestly say that hearing Blake’s story actually changed my life in a very profound way.
I soon realized that many young social entrepreneurs like Blake are accomplishing these extraordinary feats outside the “traditional” channels to do so. Many of them are innovating and delivering results in arenas that they aren’t particularly qualified – from the standpoint of education and experience – to work in. At least by conventional measures. In fact, none of the social entrepreneurs I’ve met over the years had the “right” to expect that they would succeed at what they were attempting to achieve. And yet they were succeeding. Often on a global level. And that planted the idea in my head that we, as a generation, have a lot more power than we sometimes think we do. Read more
“One of the first things I did,” Blake writes in his book, “was to place an ad for interns on craigslist.” And ever since, the internship program has been a crucial part of TOMS. Interns are tasked with a tremendous amount of responsibility. Tthe intern application page states, “You will be important, essential, and you will create change in your world you can point to when you’re done.”
Some interns find their place at TOMS HQ as full-timers, while others go on do amazing things outside of the TOMS family.
The letter below is from a recent internship program alumni, Matt. While climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, he had a “sobering” conversation with his group’s porter, Benson. “As we hiked down, I learned he earns between 1 and 2 dollars a day – not enough to put a child through school.” Read more
“Basically, it’s called Buy One, Build One. For every home I sell, I build a home for someone in need.”
Patrick Lockman is a general contractor and implemented a “One for One” model to his Atlanta-based business, Lockman Home Building, about a year and a half ago. “The TOMS model has always fascinated me and was definitely instrumental in getting this started,” he told us.
His desire to help began long before he encountered the simple TOMS alpargata. In his twenties, he spent time in Kenya and Brazil. He saw the difficult living conditions many families endured, and it stuck with him. “My travels changed me and I was committed to do my part in helping the world around me.”
Patrick identified an organization in Guatemala to help with construction of the “Build One” homes. On his first construction trip to Guatemala, Patrick said, “We quickly got to know the families and their stories. As a father, I was shocked to see the children living under tarps and drinking dirty water. The elements took their tolls on these young children and mothers. They were continually sick and in need of dry, warm, solid, place to lay their heads. So we got to work. There were 10 of us…2 days to build 2 homes, and change the lives of those women and children forever. The families were also given water filtration systems for their new homes. As you know a home is more than wood, mortar, and clean water. A home is the building block for a society. If mother’s can lock doors and feel safe they can sleep well and care for their families well. If children can stay warm and dry they can thrive and become creative citizens in their own countries.” Read more
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We’ll round up the best and share with you later this week!
