Annie Wechter

Annie Wechter is an inspirational woman who you might say "grew up" career-wise at Tesla. She joined the company in 2012 straight from university and spent the first seven years of her professional life furthering Tesla's mission in California and Europe. 

In this conversation we talk about what she learned in those seven years, and how those lessons inform her approach to life and work now. We discuss the impact of aligning your work with your personal purpose, finding flow in the work you do, travelling, meditation, her volunteer work in Brazil's largest favela and how Annie came to launch her mission-driven bikini brand.

Annie is now Head of Partnerships and Business Development at Arrival Fintech, a role she took up since we recorded this episode.


This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by the Aquilae Academy. At the Academy we turn professional development into a team sport. We bring together small groups of leaders of comparable seniority from non-competing organisations to learn new concepts and grow together. They share experiences and challenges, support each other and hold each other accountable.

For more information visit www.aquilae.co.uk/aquilae-academy


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References:

Instagram: @pipocaswim and @awechter
 www.pipocabrazil.com
The Second Mountain, David Brooks, Penguin

Episode recorded on 16 October 2020

Transcript

Andy Follows: 0:01

Hello, Annie,

Annie Wechter: 0:03

Hi Andy.

Andy Follows: 0:05

Welcome and lovely to see you virtually at least.

Annie Wechter: 0:10

Yes.

Andy Follows: 0:12

I think we first met virtually I think it was around this time about six years ago. And I was in New Zealand. And I think you guys, the Tesla team were in Austria, the Financial Services team were possibly on an off site in Austria and

Annie Wechter: 0:35

we were, we were in a cosy. We were in a cosy Hotel in in the mountains. And these two funny, quirky British guys were calling in from the Middle East and New Zealand, I think David was was in the Middle East, right.

Andy Follows: 0:53

Yeah.

Annie Wechter: 0:53

And, and from day one, you guys were just funny. We had, you know, we had Germans in the room, we had Americans in the room, it was it wasn't the liveliest crowd, and then you two called in. And I think it, t changed the whole, the whole tmosphere in the room. It was a ot of fun.

Andy Follows: 1:12

Yeah, that was it was a shocking connection. I remember that much. It was really challenging. And I was trying so hard. It was my first interaction with the new team, I was trying so hard to make a good impression, and struggling to hear. But that was the first time we met. And then I had the absolute delight of working with you for 2015 and 2016, in Europe, in the financial services business with Tesla. And that was amazing. And I was so inspired by your energy and your talent and your enthusiasm and the amount of work you could get through which was just insane. You did the work of five people at a million miles an hour and were always bright and smiling. And I just loved working with you. And I always hoped that we'd get to work together again, somehow. And you know, I've tried in the meantime, and this is the next best thing at the moment is to collaborate with you and have you as a guest on this conversation. So thank you very much for joining. And welcome again. And where are you? Where are you speaking to us from today?

Annie Wechter: 2:14

So I come to you from sunny Florida. This is this has been my COVID quarantine home base for the last five months, I came from almost a year of travelling the world. And when all of the COVID restrictions started to go into place, in March, I flew to Florida where I have my sister, my older sister, one of my sisters, and she's based just outside of Jacksonville, Florida. It's in the northeast, right on the the Atlantic Ocean. And I've been house crashing here working on some projects, which will we'll get into and having some great family time with my sister, her her husband and my three nieces and nephews.

Andy Follows: 2:58

That sounds lovely. And I know you have got one or two siblings and maybe the real number might come out. I hope, I hope that we hear a bit about your family. And I'm sure we'll talk about Tesla a little bit. But I am more interested in you as a person and your growth journey that you've had. That's what these conversations are about the people and the events that have contributed to you being who you are and where you are right now. And I like to use the analogy that life's a book. And to some extent, we get to write the chapters in that book so that it gives a little bit of structure, especially for people who are not watching this or listening to this and trying to think how these things hang together. So let's look at it in terms of the chapters of your life. And those chapters are just exactly how you see them. There's no right or wrong. It's just what constitutes a chapter for you. And so where would you like to start? And what chapter would you would you start the story with?

Annie Wechter: 4:02

Yeah, I mean, it's not a it's not, you know, a comedic chapter, you know, a super exciting chapter. But the the place I'm at right now is definitely characterised by curiosity and accepting the the events that come into my life with wide open arms. So obviously, everyone is going through a lot of change now in the middle of this pandemic, and adjusting to a new reality, maybe trying some new projects on maybe looking for work or just trying to get through the grind every day. And it was interesting that the, the previous chapter of my life, which was taking a year sabbatical away from Tesla in the corporate world, travelling the world and then ending up here Florida during during COVID really sparked this chapter of curiosity. I had purposefully chosen to leave a very cosy fulfilling corporate job to travel the world because I wanted to learn what I did not know. And and so often in life, as soon as we start feeling confident on one subject or in one job, or one aspect of our life, something comes along that totally spins this out of control. And we realise how much we don't know about ourselves about our partners about our best friends about the job that we're doing. And we have to adapt. And I was getting quite comfortable, quite complacent in my corporate role. And I said, You know, I need to shake things up, I need to get out of my comfort zone. And I need to travel to countries I've not yet been, I need to speak with people who live a life completely differently than myself. And I need to be challenged both have my comforts challenged language challenges trying to get around foreign countries without knowing the native language. I want to build I want to build projects, I want to see where the skill sets I do have can can help somewhere in the world. So I had I had some ideas of what I wanted to achieve is the wrong word. But what I wanted to come across in those travels, but mostly I entered that that 10 months of travel with just a very curious mind. What am I going to find? Who am I going to meet? What am I going to do? fully expecting to stumble get lost, lose money lose, hopefully, you know nothing more than losing money and missing a few flights along the way. But, but I just knew that I wanted to be nothing but curious for the next 10 months and life take me where it wanted to take me. So that took me to those 10 months took me to well first started with a road trip across the US in my parents Tesla Model S so at least I sold one car in seven years. Maybe but you know for for 74 year olds without a cell phone. This was this was a feat getting them a Tesla. But I borrowed their car, they graciously lent it to me I drove it across the US from Michigan to San Francisco, shipped their car back to them and then headed to Singapore went to Indonesia where I got my scuba diving certification and spent five months just diving almost every day went to Japan ate amazing food hiked to the the old old trails between Tokyo and some of the other kingdoms at that time. went to South Korea where I have I call my Korean brother we my family had exchange students growing up. So from all over the world, so I had a Korean brother in Seoul went and stayed with him, visited him. went to Nepal had an amazing spiritual experience in Nepal doing meditation course, hike the Himalayas with a very good friend of mine went to Uganda and Kenya where I was doing some volunteer work and and then did a short trip through through London where you and I had a delicious afternoon coffee and talked about life. jumped over to Amsterdam, which was my my home for about five years to see some friends. And then I landed in in Brazil for two months where I continued some volunteer work in the largest favela in Rio that I'd worked at previously, about two years ago. So I did some work with them. I celebrated Carnival in February. And as my time in Brazil was unfolding, I was watching the global news about COVID. And, and that is ultimately which which ended that that 10 months around the world. When I bought an early ticket home back to the states to to shack up with family and figure out what the next move.

Andy Follows: 9:23

Wow. So if anyone was wondering when I introduced you and I said you get a lot done. Thinking they probably think Oh right. Okay, see what he means now. It wasn't just hype. And you said you wanted to get out of your comfort zone. And where were you Where did you find yourself most out of your comfort zone during those 10 months?

Annie Wechter: 9:46

Well, I would have to say Uganda, okay, and I have to preface that because I grew up in a family of 12 kids. Okay, we grew up in rural Michigan. And we didn't have internet, we didn't have TV, we had two dogs and cornfields around our house. And we played outside. You know, my siblings were my best friends. I grew up squashed in the middle of three brothers. Even though I had seven sisters, it was the brothers that I grew up with. So, you know, we, we were messy, most of the time we were wrestling and, and playing sports outside, and just, you know, having this wonderful, simple childhood. So I didn't grow up with a lot of luxuries. We didn't have new cars, we always had, you know, secondhand cars or cars, we ran into the dirt until they were backfiring when we got dropped off from school, which was funny and horrifying, all at the same moment. We had road trips where we were laying, we would fold the seats down because you know, in an old Toyota van, you could do that. And we would sleep like sardines, all 12 of us, with our bags shoved into the the wells by the doors. And we would make peanut butter jelly sandwiches and our vacations would consist of driving cross country to all the national parks. So we didn't have a luxurious upbringing at all. So I thought, okay, going to, you know, rural Uganda, I had signed up for two different volunteer programmes for two weeks each. And they were to help some NGOs, focus on education, to help them with their fundraising, help them with some project management, get a few of their training courses underway, help them with their social media, how could they spread their story and fundraise through global giving and LinkedIn, create a social media account on Facebook, Instagram, etc. and preceding the trip to Uganda, I had been hiking in Nepal, in the Himalayas, with a friend from university. So American friend from we met in Arizona, where we were both studying photography. And I was telling her about my, my next, you know, phase in my trip where I'd be going to Africa. And she said, You know, I quit my job. You know, I've just spent two months in Italy. And we've just spent one month together in Nepal. Could I come with you to Africa? And I said, Well, you can but I just want to warn you, you know, I'm going to rural Uganda, I'm doing volunteer work, I'm, I'm might do a safari in there, but I'm going there to work and I don't know what the conditions are gonna be like. So she said, Okay, well, you know, I trust you. I trust you. I want to I want to come along. And this is a friend who was a single child, who grew up in Silicon Valley, literally in the gated community across the street from Oracle. And I don't think has ever travelled to had travelled to Asia or Africa before this, this trip to the to the Himalayas. And so that's why I was giving her fair warning. I said, I think I'm tough enough. I have tough skin, I can handle, you know, anything that comes my way. But I said, you know, just Just be aware, this might not be a really comfortable, you know, trip for you. She said it's okay, I can I can handle it. Okay. So we we fly to Uganda. We get picked up by the the woman who is the head of the NGO she's, you know, young, really vibrant ball of energy. Her name is Bernadette. And she picked us up from our Airbnb and, and she says, Okay, we're so happy to have you you're our very first volunteers. No other volunteers have agreed to work with us yet. So we're so grateful that you're here. And my friend Morgan is looking at me and she's whispering Did you did you look up any reviews on this, this organisation? And I was like, Oh, they didn't have any reviews, but it's fine. I saw some pictures. It's gonna be fine. She's like Okay, so we're driving maybe an hour outside of Kampala, dirt roads, really rough roads, but that was sort of typical from our our couple days in Kampala, so weren't too worried about that are getting further and further outside of the city centre. And we're seeing less and less on the side of the roads, basically, and you know, sort of rural jungle setting and we arrive at we arrive at Burnett's home, which is made of cinder blocks and has a dirt floor and it's it's mostly built. But definitely, you know, missing some doors. Missing a floor. There was no running water. The bathroom was a cement, cement room inside the back of the house without a door. I think that a curtain over it. And, and we got a tour of the house. And it was okay, you know, for your shower, you'll take this, this jug, and you'll go out to the rain catcher and you fill it up. And then you pour it over your head. And you'll use a bar of soap and there'll be your soap and your shampoo, and then and then use your towel. And then and that's it for internet, we don't have internet, but we have, you know, a little travel internet that you can use to to connect and do the work for our organisation. And you live here right here with with, you know, myself and my, my twins, my son and my daughter. And they were so sweet and, and welcoming, and just so grateful to have us there, it was hard to, to you know, be I don't know, negative about the experience, but I was just holding in, you know, like a huge giggle because I just knew what was going through my friend's mind at that time, she was just like taking everything in with like sheer panic. And until finally that night, so we get through the introductions and learn a little bit more about their NGO. And we're lying in bed two twin mattresses, which is just foam basically on top of a on top of cinder blocks, we're sharing our room, and, and I just look over and I go, Morgan you Okay? She goes, I'll get through it. I go. So I'm guessing you wish I had looked at reviews now huh she goes, we'll talk about this tomorrow Annie, and she turns over and goes to bed. It's, you know, it's definitely that was one of the moments where you know, you're getting through two weeks where you're showering from, from a plastic container, you're, you're you have a squat toilet outside. So even in the middle of a rainstorm, you're you're squatting outside, but you get through it. And I tend to find that even in those most uncomfortable moments in life, or the times that really try us. When you look back on those times done down the road, you tend to kind of bundle it up and remember the good things and maybe you remember some painful parts. But the funny things that happened or the sweet moments that came out of it, you tend to remember those stronger. And so I knew we were gonna get through it. And I was actually very grateful to have a friend that I could kind of have these these funny memories with and laugh about it during during those couple weeks. And afterwards as well just became one of the one of the best memories of our entire three months travelling together that we still look back on and chuckle about. So yeah, that was that was one of one of those moments.

Andy Follows: 17:41

Yeah. And you said, you're also looking to sort of explore and test your transferable skills or how you what you knew what you didn't know. And so what what sort of things did you discover from along those lines?

Annie Wechter: 17:58

Yeah, so I learned it at Tesla, I came in very green, I started at the company when I was 23. And and sort of morphed into the Financial Services team with you really by a lot of trust and and graciousness by by our boss by Georg and, and my my mentor and boss, Tom. And the the entire team, all of your leadership really taught me everything I knew about that financial services role specifically. But the the skills I developed that I realised I had always had within me that then carried over to the travel and to my my current work that I'm doing now is I learn, I learned how to get things done with very little information on hand, and without a blueprint. So as long as as a new idea or travelling to a new country starts with a general idea and a few a few, you know, high, let's say a few really high achieving goals, without the direction or blueprint to achieve those goals. I do really well with that, because that allows me to use my creative brain to think of all these possible solutions and then start drawing lines that connect Okay, well, what's practical, what's practical in a short amount of timeframe at Tesla everything was you know, needed to be done yesterday. So, you start to look at the possibilities and either a scope of time or scope of cost or looking at the the materials and the people that you have available to accomplish that. And that helps you sort of narrow down your decision tree and come to a solution quite quickly. That can be acted upon immediately, with the flexibility to to pivot and redirect along the way. And Tesla really helped me to practice and perfect those skills. Because we were given that grace to get to an 80% completion on most projects, right. And it's okay if you make a mistake, as long as you don't lose the company too much money, I think that was sort of the general philosophy. And as long as you fix your mistake quickly, so I took that philosophy to my personal life to my travel and to the projects I am working through now, to give myself a little bit of that, that same grace and say, okay, make the travel plan, sign up for the volunteer opportunity, or sign up for this course, or just register that the the business, which is what I'm working on now. Just get that step and then take the next step. And then the next step, and before you know it, you might be at 50%, you know, completion or 80% completion, it's okay, if you may never reach the 100%. And that's probably a good thing. Because then you have flexibility to, to pivot and adapt with. With the country you're in, maybe you miss a flight and your your whole travel plans reroute to go to a different city, and that opens up a new adventure, you meet people along that path that you hadn't expected to meet. So I look for the the freedom to have a plan, but not be so committed to the plan's completion, that you close all these other doors for opportunity that are going to open themselves along the way. And that brings us back to the chapter of curiosity, then I like to have a plan. I think most humans like to have a plan for their life. We all talk about our five year plans and our bucket lists and this, but to be curious that maybe life has a better plan for me. And maybe the the thing that seems so terrible that just happened today is actually an opportunity, an opportunity for me to seek out a new job or meet a new person or have an interesting conversation that you hadn't planned for. But it's actually even better than the plans you had set up for yourself.

Andy Follows: 22:21

So I had not thought I must have thought this. I can't believe I didn't think this but to you Tesla was normal. That was your first experience of a workplace. Yeah. Was it at 23? So and Tesla was an unusual, it's very special environment. And maybe we'll touch on some of the other topics, but how did you? I don't want to spoil your flow, Annie, but I'm fascinated by this idea that you you grew up if you like in Tesla from a career point of view, and how well equipped then you were for a curious, spontaneous, adaptable journey around the world. afterwards. That's what I'm hearing. How did you get into Tesla? Can I ask you now? Or will I be jumping chapters? If I ask you, how did you come to join Tesla?

Annie Wechter: 23:18

Yeah, no, no problem. Um, so I came to join Tesla at a very unorthodox fashion. I was like I said, I was studying in Arizona, and I had, I had a passion for the arts for photography. My dream job was to be a photojournalist at National Geographic, and because I wanted to combine that travel from, you know, from the beginning. And just so happened that my university dropped the photojournalism programme after one semester. And they said, you can join, you can either have a photography major, which is a fine art major, or you can go into journalism, and said, Well, I'm not I'm not a journalist, I don't want to be a journalist. And you know, fine art photography degree makes me a little bit nervous, because I want to have a job, I want to have a paying job after school. And, and so I decided to apply for the business school. And I thought, well, you know, I could do a business minor, but again, I want to have a job after school and I think a business major would look better. But there was no photography minor, so that I really had to take on two majors. And I calculated out okay, if I take the maximum number of courses each semester, you know, can I do this in four years and turns out is closer to five. But in five years, I left university with two degrees in business and in photography. And I was looking during my last semester, I was working at a golf course we have this really wonderful profession called a beer cart girl, which was my my university profession for a solid two years, which basically I don't think it exists in Europe, but basically, basically constitutes driving around in a golf cart. A large golf cart with a cooler attached to it. Where I was selling beer and sandwiches, you know, beer at eight in the morning, and sandwiches and Bloody Marys and snacks to the golfers as they golf.

Andy Follows: 25:14

I think this could work in the UK. If we don't have this, I don't know if we have it. I think I could work.

Annie Wechter: 25:17

I have pitched I have pitched it. Let's do it. Let's do it Andy because one, the workers made great tips. golfers are way happier, even if they lose. And the the course makes, you know, has a new revenue stream. So I think I think we're onto something. But so I was doing this job. While I was finishing my last year of university and I worked with a woman, I'll protect her identity, although I'm not sure she deserves it. But I was working with a woman, an older woman who who started working, I was training her for this job. And we got to talking she also came from a large family, she had nine or 10 siblings. And was recently divorced, had four children of her own. And it was we started talking, I was telling her that I was applying for jobs and marketing, mostly marketing jobs in Arizona, but I really wanted to get out to San Francisco that was sort of my, my, my main goal, I wanted to work ideally in tech or some startup in Silicon Valley. And she said, Oh, that's so interesting. I just left an advertising job with Fox with the Fox network. And if you like I can make some connections for you and see if there's anything available. And I said, Well, that's great. Definitely I sent her my, my resume. And she got back to me really quickly within a day or two. And said oh I I eached out to my old boss h's a producer at Fox, and he's looking for an exec tive assistant. He looked over your resume and you know, he r ally would would like to speak with you. I said, great, you now, can you can you connect s by email, said no problem. So bout a day later, I get an email from this, this man at th Fox network. It's from his per onal email. But he says, you k ow, I've known I've known Kim f r a long time. And you know, she was like family to me and my w fe. And so anyone that she recommends, I really, I re lly trust. And so when I'm loo ing for this EA role, would lov to have you join the Fox fam ly. Let's talk work out the deta ls. I know you're graduating in ay, if you come out to San Franc sco in in June, we'll get you all set up. So this, t ese conversations, by email wen on for about two months, I h d a couple other interviews th t I was going through whi h I cancelled. I told my fam ly, hey, I have this job. It's g ing to be with Fox, it's going t be in San Francisco. It's check ng all my boxes. I'm going to tart as his assistant, but he is going to, you know, train me to you know, be on the product on team or advertising or what ver I want to do after that. A d the best news is, is I'm g ing to move out to San Francis o in June, and they're go ng to put me up with a co pany car and temporary compan housing until until I g t my feet under me. So everyone as pretty happy for me except y dad and my boyfriend at the time were quite sceptic l. And rightly so they they said Well, have you seen a contract Well, have you talked to him on the phone or had a, you k ow, conference call or anyth ng? so well? Well, no, it's ll been through email. We've tried to have a couple ca ls but then his schedule changed and we had to reschedule or can el a call. But you know, I'm he s promised me that HR's going o send me the contract, you now, this week? Oh, no, it's n xt weekend. And then he writes m and says, Annie, I'm so sorry My wife has just, we've jus found a tumour. And now w're going to start going thro gh chemo. So can we push you your move to to July or maybe even August. And at that oint, I was faced with a decis on. So I've already told my fam ly, I've told my company my j b that I'm leaving. I'v ended my For all intents and purposes, I'm moving to San Francisco. And, and I told my family and I told my boyfriend at the time. And I said, I said whatever happens I'm going to I'm doing this I'm not staying in Phoenix anymore. One I had some shame that I you know, potential was being lied to or, or part of a scam. But I didn't want to graduate from university and still be in this job with a golf course, especially after telling everyone I got this great new job. So I said, Okay, I'm packing my bags, and I'm and I'm going. I'll figure it out when I get there. So I had I think I had $2,000 of savings. So I packed I packed my bags, I rent. I rent a van or a truck or something. And my my boyfriend at the time said, Well, I'll drive with you. It's 12 hours from Phoenix to San Francisco. I'm gonna drive with you. I'll stay there with you for a couple days. I'll take a couple days off of work, make sure that you're settled and then I'll come back. And we're packing up and my my roommate, who happens to be Morgan from Nepal and Uganda, says, Annie, my family, my parents live, right outside of San Francisco. Like I said, across the street from Oracle. They live outside of San Francisco. It's like 25 minutes by by the train. I'm gonna call them go to their house, just in case it's all a scam, go to their house, and, and if everything works out from there, great, but at least you have a place to go someone to watch out for you. I said okay I really appreciate that. So I never met her parents before, we had only been friends for maybe a year. And so I drive to her parents house, they welcomed me in they give me her room to stay her childhood room to stay in. And over the next two weeks, I'm unravelling this, this basically these lies amd this scam by this woman I worked with that there was no job at Fox, I found through, you know, a series of connections found numbers for a few high level people at Fox called no one had ever heard of this man's name. tried to get in contact with this woman again, she stopped answering my calls, answering my texts, basically sent one last communication to her. That said, You know, I bet I had been to her house. In Arizona, I know where you live, I have your contact information. I've shared it with my family. I'm safe, I'm going to be just fine. But I really, I really, you know, have compassion and pain for you and your children that they're growing up with a liar. And that something has happened in your life, which has caused you to create this, you know, this illusion and these lies that are intended to hurt a 22 year old I said, I don't understand your motives. But I know that I'm going to be just fine. And you're never to contact me again. So I closed that chapter with her. Fast forward until last year, actually on my travels. Someone from that that golf course, sent me a link on Facebook and said Annie, you know, she got what she deserved. we're so proud of everything you've done. And she was arrested for about 20 accounts of fraud, embezzlement. And she was running all these different scams in Arizona, involving fake car sales and some pretty complicated stuff. But when I went back to the like the first case she was arrested for I'm like, Oh, I must have been her first victim or her first you know, scam trial which, nothing really material came out of that for her anyways. But but that's how I landed in San Francisco. And so I was living at my friend's parents house, unravelling the scam I just been a part of and applying like crazy for everything for Airbnb and for Tesla and for Apple and for Google and any role. I think I applied for facilities, you know, associate or something and, and executive assistant positions and front desk positions and and, you know, product specialists and all these things. And I got a call from Tesla one day, recruiter, and they invited me in for an interview. First I had a phone interview, then they invited me in for an interview. And the interview was for a customer experience specialist, I think so customer service. And I went in and I think it was about three months of interviews. I went I was interviewing for this customer service role. And they said, Oh, actually, we filled it already, but you might be good for our inside sales team, which is phone sales. And I said okay, sure, whatever you think so I interviewed for that role for another few weeks. And then I get to the end of that interview cycle. They said Okay, everyone gets vetted through our global VP of Sales wonderful man named George Blankenship who was his claim to fame was that he designed the Apple retail model. And Elon had pulled him out of retirement to design the Tesla retail model which closely resembles Apple's and so I was like, Okay, cool. I get this interview with George Blankenship. I don't even care if I get the job at the at this point, I just want to have you know, even a 20 minute conversation with this guy so this is great. So I go in for my interview. And 40 minutes go by and we're talking about photography, and we're talking about Brazil, we're talking about everything except for the job. And so finally, someone comes and knocks on the door says George, we have another meeting. So he's like I should probably wrap this up. Hmm. But Okay. Do you have you know, anything? We heard? You know, you've talked a lot that you've been following Tesla for the last year. Can you send me you know, any writing you've done or any work you've done, you know, around your passion for EVs and Tesla and I said we're actually in a marketing internship I had I wrote a blog about the future of electric cars. And I mentioned Tesla in there. I did a little write up on Tesla on the Roadster, he said, Oh, that'd be great. I write all of our blogs. Can you send it over to me I said sure. So I left the interview, dug up, I was looking through all these websites to try to find this blog post I wrote, I found it Luckily, and emailed it over, thanked him for his time, etc. I got a call from the recruiter a couple days later and said, No, we know that you've been interviewing for, you know, variety of sales and customer experience roles. But George actually really likes your writing style. Would you come in and speak with our head of marketing and communications? I said, Oh, here we go again. Third, a third role in three months. Is that okay? Sure. Of course, I'll come in. So I sat across the table from the director of marketing in the Director of Communications, both wonderful women who I still one of them, Collette was our Director of Marketing. Still speak to her this day, wonderful, wonderful human. And I sat across the table from them, and they said, okay, Annie. So we really like your writing style. And George is looking for someone to help him author, the first draft of all the blogs and customer communication that goes out. And we think you'd be good for that role. We just have to let you know that we've overlooked the fact that you spelled Tesla as telsa, all the way through your blog. Inside I was like, dying, I was just like, no, the anguish No, what have I done, but outside, I kept it super cool. Like I like I knew the whole time. And I said, you know, yeah, I was I was pretty, you know, I was pretty ashamed of that when I was looking through my files for to provide George with this writing sample he asked for but you know, I really believe that I can, you know, be a great asset to this company. And, and the blog was written a year ago. So I hope you'll forgive me for the, you know, for the oversight, but I promise I'll never spell the company's name wrong. They hired me as you know, a fresh hire out of college, for a writing role that was going to the global customer database, having spelled the company's name wrong in my interview, I knew I knew that this was a great company that really valued, you know, its people over a skill set, and, you know, achievements. And so that's why, you know, that that was the environment that I was entering into in 2012. And I think it was that energy in that, that faith in the company and the people that the company hired, that gave me that that energy and that passion to tackle each project with, with that with the energy and fervour just to say, Okay, I'm going to do my very best. And I trust that the people surrounding me and guiding me and mentoring me are going to help me stay along the right path and not screw up too badly. But But if I do, they'll also be there to help me pivot and fix the problem. And that was true up until the very day I left so I think it was the ultimate growth experience that a new graduate could have ever entered into, you know, no other company, I don't think or experience would have given me those opportunities and sort of helped build the person that I am today.

Andy Follows: 38:18

That was a huge opportunity to try things and to try things yourself a lot of autonomy.

Annie Wechter: 38:26

Yeah, absolutely.

Andy Follows: 38:27

And as you say, 80% was good enough. So you had all of the right letters, not in the right order, but you had all of the right letters of telsa. Has 80% there, that's good enough. Let's move on.

Annie Wechter: 38:46

I've heard it said I mean, sorry, I can't attribute it to the right person. But uh, you know, even when you're afraid to start something, just start you know, you don't have to have it planned all the way through you don't have to have your your nine month business plan, just start it's better than not starting at all. It's just start and things are gonna happen. So that's been I think that's something Tesla also taught me but that's definitely my guiding force in starting any new project is just start and and the rest will follow.

Andy Follows: 39:20

As you explained with your story there, you went to San Francisco anyway. And found found a job. found a great job and a job that lasted from being 23 until just recently, really?

Annie Wechter: 39:37

Yeah, I left. I guess it was 30 31. I spent seven, seven years there. So I think the formative years in your in your 20s were that was an amazing time to be part of the global team of Tesla and we work together and across the UK and the Netherlands. I moved, I took that job, which was relocating from San Francisco to Amsterdam. Having never touched foot in Europe in my life. I think my passport had four stamps in it. I had been to Mexico, I'd been to Brazil once I'd been to Canada and that was it. And, and when I was offered the job I, I said, Okay, well, when would I start? And they said is two weeks okay? Enough notice? I was like, Yeah, okay, let me just tell my family, my family and pack my bag.

Andy Follows: 40:33

That's so good. So I I erm. And that's the next you know, you were moving from from from San Francisco, then to to Amsterdam? And how old were you then?

Annie Wechter: 40:45

I just think I, I flew on my 25th birthday.

Andy Follows: 40:50

Yeah. Awesome. And a great example of how Tesla works and how people will will do things that was my experience, the lengths, people would go to the discretionary effort that people brought to their work. And still do, I'm sure. I'm just aware, I haven't been there for a little while. But also to be there seven years is quite, quite impressive, because Tesla years are a bit like dog years, I think. Because the pace of things, the pace there so

Annie Wechter: 41:27

yeah, and it brings it brings people together in a special way. I mean, even both of us now being outside of the company, we both have strong relationships and still are working with some some of our colleagues. And it just it brought people to that experience brought people together. In a way I don't think any other, you know, sports team, or other job or you know, school club, or whatever other social communities you have, they don't bind you together like even two years at Tesla binds you together. Because you go through some you go through some heavy times, you spend probably more hours with that group of people that you're working with than your own families. And, and you're working towards something bigger than yourself, you're working towards this really powerful mission that just, you know, sucks it in one hand it sucks holds energy from you to get these projects done so fast and so well. But it replenishes your energy stores as well and gives you hope and gives you that sense of fulfilment when you've hit those milestones. And you see that the company the next quarter has now sold X number more cars because of the programmes you put in place. And what that's doing to the emissions, the co2 emissions in the world. And so it's it gives you that high that it's very difficult to leave when you when you do but it keeps those relationships, those friendships intact, even when you go.

Andy Follows: 42:53

Let's talk a little bit about the purpose and the mission. And that fact that when you're doing fulfilling work, it replenishes your energy supplies as you as you put it, you can wear yourself out doing that work, but you find it fulfilling. So what would you say about that then that sense of mission and the sense of purpose of as you put it, you were doing it for you? It was a bigger goal it was it was something bigger than than yourself or the company? What would you say about that?

Annie Wechter: 43:26

I think since the beginning of time, everyone has been searching for their their larger purpose. And the book that we've both been reading the second mountain by David Brooks, it talks a lot about the human tendency to early on in your life's start working towards certain self self focused achievement. So it's career, it's building a family, it's making a good income, maybe it's buying a house, a car, building your social network. building that that bigger sense of self, which we we also call ego. So a lot of ego centred decisions are being made. And you get to the top of the mountain at some point by being in your 20s might not be until middle age or maybe when you're retired and you you turn around you look at the top of the mountain you see everything around you and and something opens your eyes to say that this isn't enough. You know, it's the the career or the the millions of dollars I made, or my you know, my fame on Instagram, whatever it is, it's not enough. And either you you realise that intrinsically or maybe you lose your job or you go through a divorce, or you go through a death in the family, something that causes you to topple from that from that first mountain, and you end up in this valley. And in the valley you're looking for, what was that meaning what was that purpose that you were missing in the first part of your life. And so I think that at some point in our lives, everyone goes through that. And the important thing is, is, is accepting that, okay, all of that other stuff, all those other achievements, and the things I thought were important, are not going to bring me the real joy and peace in life. And to find that real joy and peace, I need to find my my purpose by climbing a second mountain. And on the second mountain, David Brooks talks about having an other centeredness approach so that's commitments to others, that is service to others, that is making your mark and playing a part in the larger role of life and in our world. And so I, I think I'm in the the foot, the foothills of the second mountain, I think I, I've been realising the work I need to do and realising that the path ahead is going to be a difficult one a different, much different one, than in my 20s and early 30s, it's going to be more difficult in the sense that it's not going to be as easy to achieve those feelings and the fulfilment that I want to achieve, it's not just going to be getting a job or increasing my salary or buying a house, it's going to be it's going to require a lot more work. And that work is going to be emotional connections and physical and emotional support that you give to others that can be friends, family, an organisation, a charity and, and that takes a lot of those energy stores from you. So you need to find work that if you're if you're designing your life, and it's another book, but design your life, you have this sort of Venn diagram about you know, if you can match your your skills, with work that you're really passionate about that, that gives you that energy and that passion and makes you excited to get out of bed every day. With a the third circle being a purpose driven work, something that's going to make the world a better place, or make life inherently better for a group of people, then you really have that trifecta, which I think brings ultimate joy and fulfilment. And so I'm figuring that, that out I'm figuring out that mix right now, right to find out what is my real purpose, but I know some of those hard skills that I'm good at I think those strengths include able, being able to push projects forward without a lot of fear or doubt I can, I can, you know, set a goal for myself and start working towards that goal. My my joys, my passions are connecting with other people, especially on an international or global level, understanding how people work what they need in various economies, how can we, you know, finding solutions for making life better for all people in terms of health care and healthy food and clean water, and opportunities to build up their life get an education, build their business for themselves. I'm passionate about that. And that also serves a higher purpose, which is sort of that third part. So that's, that's the, the direction I'm working in on my second mountain. And, and I'm hoping and the various projects I'm involved in right now that it will help me climb that mountain and find more more concrete examples of how I can put that, that purpose into into real works in real real deeds and actually build up the lives of others or build up communities by by improving education, I think the core elements, especially in emerging economies are our access to education, access to health care, and and healthy food and water. And once you can achieve some of those basic components, then economies can thrive, communities can thrive, they can start building businesses of their own, they can start educating their children, their children have a better life and the next generation and the next generation keeps building on top of those core elements. So that's, that's the work I'm, I'm focused on now. And and I'll let you know, once I once I figured it out if I feel like I've really found my life's purpose, but it's it's focusing on building up the the lives of other people. And in return, I've already experienced this, like through some of these stories I've been describing, that people will give so much back to you so much more than than you've asked for. And so I'm not worried about about the the payback. I think that if everyone worked in such a way, is that we're we're constantly paying it forward and looking for ways to help other people that maybe not those same people come back to help you. But a vast, you know, network of other people are all conspiring to to help you and build you up at the same time.

Andy Follows: 50:39

Absolutely. And I think how we're getting on at inding our purpose, I hink there's plenty of us who ha en't nailed it yet, and who hav n't started as early as you have That's, it's awesome. And like that you know, what yo r strengths are. And you also kn w, the activities that you you like doing and that you feel trong when you're doing them. An I think that, for me, t at's as a journey, it's a r ute to finding our purpose is first of all, understanding our strengths. And then being awar of what activities we do, that e really get lost in, we expe ience the state of flow when we' e doing those, and we ose track of time. And a little bit like you referred to earli r, you might feel really xhausted at the end of doing them. But they also replenish our energy. And so you can't wai to do them again. And s what sort of things get you i a state of flow? Yeah, have ou experienced that state whe e you just get you lose track of time and

Annie Wechter: 52:05

yeah, yeah, some, it's changed just depending on the point of my life, but I think the first time I experienced flow before I even knew what it was, was during my undergraduate studies in photography, where projects would require you to be in the darkroom for hours at a time, sometimes I would spend whole nights in the darkroom. And it was such a therapeutic atmosphere, because it was dark, you had these red glowing lights is your only source of light. And I would usually be alone so I'd go in in the evenings and work until the early mornings, and you just have your negatives which are fitting into the the light source, you're you're adjusting the focus, you're adjusting the size of the picture that you want to print, you're exposing the light to your emulsion paper, then you're taking that paper and you're you're dipping it into three different chemical solutions to to develop the the paper and reveal your image. So you go through maybe it's you know, 20 30 minutes of preparation and going through this process and everything has to be very exact and timed. And and all you have are the sounds of clicking of maybe the light of the of the projector and then you you're dipping paper into water and you're watching the clock Count 30 seconds, 40 seconds taking it out dipping into another paper counting 30 seconds, 40 seconds. And then that last are actually the second tub, you start to see an image starting to develop and appear on this piece of white paper. And that gives you a little dopamine hit right that little sense of ecstasy. And then you go through the process again and again and again for hours and hours and hours. And so that was my first really pleasurable sense of flow that I could just do this for hours and I wouldn't even notice time passing and and now now in my current state i find it in just the simple most mundane tasks like I love meal prep, I love cutting up vegetables, fruits and vegetables and making fruit salads and cutting vegetables to be used later in the day or the week. And it's the the washing of the vegetables washing the fruit laying everything out getting out my sharp knife and the the chopping and then the the rinsing of the lettuce and then packaging everything into its proper Tupperware container and sealing it and marking the date and putting in the refrigerator and organising the refrigerator. Everything is visible and it's it's a simple thing but but you can find flow in even those mundane tasks. And if you have a few of those throughout your day, then it just gives you this sense of peace and calm where your mind is not infiltrated with so many competing thoughts and all this noise that we constantly have. So that's that's my, that's my one today. But they're probably the the best example of flow that I've experienced in the last year came from my my time in Nepal, which was last October, so just about a year ago, and I went through a Vipassana course, which is it comes it's about, I think, two or 3000 year old tradition that comes from the Buddha. And it is a 10 day silent meditation course that is held around the world always in the same format with the same guru recording the the instructions throughout the course. And you sit in silence for about 10 hours every day. And the meditation is all about finding the quiet within. So quieting your mind, of course, quieting your body, and focusing on only what is in the present moment. And that is all the way down to the most basic sensations happening through your body. So you have your breath, and you have the sensations of your body. And and that's it, you've cleared out all thoughts entering and exiting your mind. You've might feel pain coming into your body, as you sit in this posture for for two hours, you might feel little tingling sensations, as your feet start to numb or come back to life or as blood rushes through your veins, you start becoming hyper aware of these small little sensations in your body. And just that focus on the blood and sensations running through your body puts you in this state of flow where if you become very good at it, you you are you know you will at some point reach enlightenment and ecstasy if not in this lifetime, then your next lifetimes. But it gets you very, very much in that that state of flow where nothing is nothing about your past or, your future is important. The only thing that's important is what's here now in this present moment and happening to your physical body and to your breath. And and you just get lost in it and its it was a really life changing experience over those 10 days difficult. Very difficult. But But life changing. And I think anyone that's that's interested in achieving, you know, this sense of purpose and peace in their life and joy in their life. I recommend I highly recommend you can find Vipassana courses all over the world. And you have to apply and you have to take it seriously because they teach it as a course not a retreat or something. So that means you have to be actively be an active participant in but if you learn to, to meditate in that way, then I think you can create that flow for yourself in some of these simpler, more mundane areas of your life. Just give yourself some respite from all the anxiety and the noise that we face every day.

Andy Follows: 58:23

And do you build some meditation into your daily routine or

Annie Wechter: 58:29

I do I did this morning, preparing for for our conversation just just 10 minutes on the on the porch. But But I would like to do it every day. But at the moment, it's it's either 10 15 minutes of meditation or about a 15 20 minute yoga practice which which gives you an a different sense of flow, but it's another way that I can quiet my mind and in tune into how my body's feeling, which is what meditation also achieves in a different way. So each day I try to do one one or the other.

Andy Follows: 59:09

And what constitutes an ideal day for you?

Annie Wechter: 59:14

So this, my my sister, the one I'm living with now she she received a recipe from her friend which her friend called it the a recipe to to a perfect day or the ingredients sorry the ingredients of a perfect day. And for everyone is different. But the idea is that you you write down, maybe five to 10 things that if you add them if you sprinkle them throughout your day will just raise you know your joy and your happiness and that day. So for me I think 10 is too much I want something that I can remember and sort of mentally check off during the day. But for me, it's having a laugh. Having a good laugh having a hug because all of the years that I lived, alone and travelled alone. And you know, sometimes you just need that physical contact. So a laugh a hug, exercise, exercise always makes me feel better read something educational or inspiring, even if it's a few pages and, and have a have a meaningful conversation. So simple things, you know, I tend to do them without thinking about them during the day I didn't want to make make things too difficult for myself. But those are just things that I noticed that when I have a great conversation over a cup of coffee, or I've gotten a great workout in or you know, just had like a great belly laugh with someone that my my day is instantly better.

Andy Follows: 1:00:56

And sorry, you mentioned exercise there. Do you still do CrossFit?

Annie Wechter: 1:01:03

I do. I do. I do CrossFit for I started in Amsterdam, because a colleague recommended that I joined the CrossFit gym down the street from the Tesla office as a way to meet people. So yeah, there's some other you know, Tesla co workers that work out there, you know, you should come with me. So I went and even to this day, the majority of my my greatest friends from living in Amsterdam are from that CrossFit gym. And so when I landed in Florida, sort of unexpectedly, for the first few months, I thought, yeah, this is just temporary, I'm going to I'm going to move once this whole COVID thing blows over. And then when I realised I was going to stay, and I was going to start a business here and really start making some commitments and putting down roots, the first thing I did was join a CrossFit gym I said, you know, I've met good people in this community before it's good for my my dopamine. And my my adrenaline it's good for my physical health. And, and I'm sure I'll create a social community out of this.

Andy Follows: 1:02:07

Yeah, no, I was always very impressed that you did that. I tried it in New Zealand and I had the same experience in terms of the people were wonderful. But I just was too nervous about I'm a bit of a wuss really, and I was terrified, I'd sit in the office, I couldn't concentrate if I had CrossFit that night, I couldn't concentrate, because I was so nervous, so anxious about, about the actual, the workout and it's not my it's not a way I like to work out, but the people

Annie Wechter: 1:02:35

you have to be vulnerable because there are a lot of you know, there's a lot of there are there are some Yeah no, the people were wonderful, but I just think that meatheads in there there are some, you know, very, there's a lot of, you know, testosterone and egos that can run rampant as well. But I, in my experience, being vulnerable and saying, you know, I'm not going to do the weight that's listed in the workout, I need to go lighter, or, you know, I can't do 100 pull ups, you know, I'm going to use a something to assist me, I'm going to do half the number. As long as over time, you'r challenging yourself. That's that's for me the challenge, yo know, I want to challenge mysel because I'm, I'm competitive and I like to show progress bu but for the outward appearance I've lost a lot of that ego in in the CrossFit gym and and become very comfortable with my vulnerability and just admitting competitive side I've apparently I didn't realise this, but when something's too difficult or it's going to cause my my back to be in pain for the next week. And I don't want to put myself through that. And so the coaches in the community are ery supportive about tailoring the workouts to your, to our physical level and to hat you're comfortable w people tell me I am competitive in some some aspects of life. But I think I think you are maybe maybe, you know, throwing throwing massive cement balls over your shoulder is not your thing.

Andy Follows: 1:04:02

I think it possibly isn't, it possibly isn't. They were they were wonderful people. Erm so, you mentioned you're starting a business and that's what you're doing now. So tell us a bit about that.

Annie Wechter: 1:04:17

Yeah, well, you know Andy, I'm designing and selling Brazilian bikinis and turns out that's one of my passions. But I

Andy Follows: 1:04:27

I haven't tried that. I haven't tried that. Maybe that'd be one of mine.

Annie Wechter: 1:04:30

Yeah, you know, I don't have my mens line out yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when we have our our mens line out I promise you'll get some tan lines you've never had before.

Andy Follows: 1:04:44

Oh good heavens

Annie Wechter: 1:04:46

no

Andy Follows: 1:04:46

so how come How come you doing that?

Annie Wechter: 1:04:48

Why bikinis? Yeah, um, so it started off as a passion project from two years ago, so before I left before I really left Tesla and and travelled around the world. I took a three month sabbatical, which it was when I was living in Amsterdam, and I was reaching a burnout point and I was stressed going to work every day and and I sat down with with my boss, Tom, you know, who I very highly respected and just trusted as a as a human being. And I sat down I said, Okay, this is what I need to get my best at work and to to stay with this company. You know, for the next few years. I said, I need I need a three month sabbatical. completely off, I want to go to Brazil and I want to live there and practice my my Portuguese and I wanted to volunteer and go to the beach every day. And when I come back I want a I want a new title and I want a pay raise. And he said yes to all three. So I took off for three months. And I I wanted to enjoy Brazil. I my family also had exchange students from Brazil. So I knew quite a few people there. I've been practising Portuguese over the years just to be able to communicate with them better. And so I wanted to just go to the beaches experience Carnival for the first time, visit my friends, but I also wanted to walk away having participated in in some project or or NGO or something. And I found a project in Rocinha, which is the largest favela in Rio. And if you were to Google Rocinha at that time, or even today, you'll see a lot of pretty, you know, negative coverage on the violence between the drug gangs and the police and, and the danger and all that. But having having spoken with the organisation before I arrived in Brazil, and then during my time in Brazil, I found that the favela community, not just in Rocinha but in in favelas all over Brazil. It's a very, very strong community, with a strong sense of people looking out for one another. And the the violence between the gangs and the police is simply between the gangs and the police. And unless you're caught, unfortunately, in between the crossfire, it is a very peaceful community. People leave their doors open, there's no theft. There are local NGOs run by Brazilians from the favelas, trying to help children get a better education or teaching them dance or teaching them football or teaching them English. And then there are of course, international organisations that are coming in trying to achieve the same purpose. And so I absolutely loved I spent two months there absolutely loved it. I was coordinating the the volunteers who came there was maybe 15 International volunteers that came to this project. I arrived to be a teacher. But my first day I arrived, I was asking questions, I said, you know, about the organisation things didn't seem to be organised I said how can we get these kids some healthy meals. And they said, they pulled me aside and said, Oh, do you think you could be our coordinator? Like we don't, we haven't figured out a lot of this, you know, we all just showed up as volunteers as well. So I became my role changed, I became the coordinator of the project, and was I spoke Portuguese, I mean not great, but I spoke the language so I was speaking with the parents registering the kids for the after school programmes, I started doing a healthy meal programme and started getting some some donation from friends and family back back home. And I stayed there for two months, and just build such great relationships with the owner of the the the project and the kids. And then of course, in my free time, I was at the beach most of the time or or travelling around to other cities to visit my friends. And I one thing I loved about the Brazilian culture and the beach culture is these really colourful itty bitty bikinis that all the women wear, because they're very confident and they're showing off everything and, and they don't have some of the the built in shame and, and a bit of the prudeness that that the American and probably a little bit of the British, but I think more American societies have built in that, you know, in some areas, women should be very, you know, sexy for advertising purposes and all that but you know, you should also be You should also cover up and be very conservative in other instances. And so there's a lot of ways society dictates how women should show their body and feel about their body. And I just love that the Brazilian women just had so much pride whether they didn't have perfect bodies and there are women in their 60s 70s on the beach, you rockin a little string bikini. I said, Okay, this is this is about you know, just empowerment and feeling good about yourself and if you feel good about yourself then your gonna treat other people better. And so that was that was just a fun part of my trip and I ended up buying about 50 of these bikinis off, you know, street vendors, bringing them back to Amsterdam, and then later to the US, and I was selling them to friends and family or gifting them, I sell them for $20 $25 or something and sending that money back to the project to continue the meal programme. And then I went back to Tesla and I was working with for Tesla, and then you know the story about the travelling, coming and landing in Florida. And I land in Florida and I say, Okay, what am I gonna do my travels done, I thought by the end of my travel, I would have a pretty concrete idea of what I wanted to do next, whether it was joining another innovative company that was starting my own company. I didn't know I didn't plan on living in the US again, I thought I would move back to Europe, or maybe I'd live in Brazil and stay. And so I thought well, the one thing I keep going back to is, well, wouldn't it be fun, fun and purposeful, to have a business that sells fun things like bikinis. But that has a bigger social mission that builds up these these communities that that inspired me so much in Brazil. And so I first I licenced the company Pipoca Brazil. So like I said, I was like I was reading, I was taking all these online courses and workshops in the MIT and Harvard, edX courses that are free online, I was taking a bunch of those on entrepreneurship and, and developing emerging economies and social entrepreneurship and all that. And it got everything I heard was just start, you know, just start have a plan more or less just start. You can adapt along the way. So I licenced the business in Florida. So I don't know if I'm staying in Florida, but I have nothing but time on my hands. I'm going to get started. So I licenced Pipoca Brazil, in Florida. And in May. And now we're in October. And I looked around first. Okay, well, could I buy bikinis from Brazil? And you know, you lose, you lose transparency. And it's difficult to trust, let's say a phone conversation across borders, when there's travel restrictions, I can't easily go to Brazil right now. And how do I know if the quality is going to be good? And how do I know if I'm paying the right price. And then you have the whole emissions conversation about shipping products back and forth across oceans and, and I wanted this to be you know, socially conscious brand. But I also wanted it to be an eco brand. And do things in as clean of a way as possible, so I could feel good about the product I was selling. So I decided, after a lot of research that you know, I'm gonna try do this myself. So I hired an agency, a design agency in Los Angeles, at in April, and we started designing the bikinis out of California. And I've gone to California to do the fittings. To choose my my fabrics, I've found fabrics that are made from recycled nylon, and recycled nylon usually comes from fishing nets from from the ocean and from other nylon based refuse. And I thought well, that's, that's quite appropriate, let's clean up the oceans and make, you know, beautiful bikinis that women can feel good about buying. And so and I've been building a very small team of really strong, really inspiring women around me. And, and at the same time, I've chosen to work with a charity based out of London, who are four have four core founders who have also lived and worked in Rocinha and the Brazilian favelas. We we overlapped over different years. But we worked with the same people we have a lot of the same friends in that community and and I've decided to partner with them. So that one third of all of Pipoca's net profits will go towards our charitable arm. And together we will design and roll out those projects in the Brazilian favelas, starting with some of those personal groups that we know and have worked with, and, grow the reach, grow the reach from Rio outward throughout more communities in Brazil. But it will be that that combination it has it's an eco product that people can the one they want to buy because it's an affordably priced, beautiful, vibrant, cheeky bikini for women. They also feel good that it's part of their purchase is going to help build up communities, mainly women and children either in educational or entrepreneurial projects. And, and then we hope to grow from there. We'll start with the The US market we're looking for or working towards a Q1 launch Q1 2021 launch, just in time for like the spring summer season. And then from there, I plan to take it International. But I'm walking before before we run. And although I have a tonne of ideas where where we can take the brand, first, we're focusing and telling the story, and making sure that the true essence of the brand is told through our story. So that we reach the right audience. People who really want to be conscious buyers, start buying products that are good for the planet, and are good for for the world have a higher have a higher calling, to be a force for good in this world than just to be a profitable business. So I'm really excited about it, it's been a lot of fun, I've learned so much in five, five and a half months. And I know I'll keep finding things that I don't know, and I'll keep having new obstacles pop up along the way, but I feel adequately prepared, not over prepared, but adequately prepared to to face those challenges head on. And as long as I keep some, some great people surrounding me, I know I'll have the the, the the intelligence, the the passion and the force to to achieve the all of the very expansive and you know, exciting goals that we have planned.

Andy Follows: 1:16:34

You certainly are adequately prepared Annie and you'd also touched there on the interdependence topic of having the right people around you. And you've shared with us all your experience of starting new things in Tesla. And so I'm sure you're adequately prepared. And if listeners are interested to find out more, I think you've also already started telling this story on Instagram, haven't you?

Annie Wechter: 1:17:01

Yeah, we're we're using Instagram right now as our primary means of telling the story because it's a very visual community. But more there@Pipocaswim, our tag is@Pipocaswim. And our website will be we're launching an initial phase before the end of the year, it's pipocabrazil.com, we're going to launch with our story, some some visuals. And there will be some freebies for our you know, early early customers or the community. So we'll be sending things out to our customers before the bikinis arrive early next year.

Andy Follows: 1:17:46

Fabulous. And so I'm, as I say, completely convinced you're adequately prepared. But I've also wanted to ask you about fears. And this has been obviously a hugely positive conversation and full of adventures and eventual successes. But I also wanted to touch on fears Do you have them? If so, if so, what are they? And how do you deal with them?

Annie Wechter: 1:18:18

Yeah, definitely. I think my you know, I've one fear that I think almost everyone has, and that's fear of loss, losing losing your loved ones. Um, I think this global pandemic has probably brought that more front and centre than any other time in our lives. And I am extremely grateful that I have for as large of a family as I have, I mean, that the 12 siblings, we now have 20 nieces and nephews and my parents are in their 70s and they're in their good health. It, it also makes me extremely fearful that with so many loved ones with so much so many people in my life that, you know, any day, you could be getting the call, you know, and, and I think that's that's a very real fear. And it's not something you can control. So it's a careful balance every day of having a healthy dose of that fear so that you really value the relationships of the people in your life and you make sure to just pick up the phone and make the extra call or if you have a chance to visit with an old friend or have a coffee that you take those opportunities because they're they're not promised to you. And the the second fear I have is I don't know if this is you know, a woman versus men fear or not, but I hear come up a lot from women, speakers and women of influence that I really admire. And that's the fear of not being enough and this can be an in in career settings where I was, I was told early on in my career at Tesla, and it's something that I practice was, you know, you can fake it till you make it. You know, you you might feel inadequate, you might feel that oh my gosh, if only they knew that I have no idea what I'm doing. Or that I'm scared, senseless or whatever fears you have. But they're usually around not feeling adequate or not feeling good enough. And, and I over I work to overcome those feelings, which I don't think will ever fully fully leave me. But they but they might change, I might feel really good about my career one day, but I might feel more inadequate in my personal relationships. Or I might feel like I have, you know, I'm dating someone great, or I have this great group of friends. But I'm not doing well in my in my job in my career at the moment. So I think it's, it's a shifting emotion. But as long as I surround myself with those really healthy, positive and truthful people that you that you can trust to sit you down and say, Hey, listen, I think the way that you're you're handling this, or I've seen you, you know, doing some things in your life that I don't really agree with and I think are gonna harm you. If you have people in your life that you trust, to be honest with you about the things you're not doing so well on, then you could also trust those people to sit down and say, You're wonderful, and you're doing just fine. And you got this. And that balance, I think keeps you keeps you sane and helps you to give yourself some grace and some self love to to keep you going.

Andy Follows: 1:21:42

I would say you've most certainly got this Annie, absolutely you've got this. And I can speak for myself, I have those moments as well of imposter syndrome. And especially when getting into new, challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone and do new things. And I coach, I have a lot of male clients who have the same thing. So I think it may be maybe more with women. I don't I don't know. But I'm not commenting on that. But it does is it is prevalent in in men as well. And I think your strategy for dealing with it sounds very, very healthy. And something else I just want to refer back to when you said about the women in Brazil in the bikinis. If you feel good, then you'll be nice to other people or you'll be if you feel good about yourself, then you'll be nicer to other people.

Annie Wechter: 1:22:42

Yeah.

Andy Follows: 1:22:44

Wonderful.

Annie Wechter: 1:22:45

Yeah. And it's it can go the opposite way too. You know, there's there's a lot of study both in, in meditation and in a lot of these books like Eckhart Tolle that talk about ego. And it's, you know, you exchange energies with the people around you. So it also happens with negative energy when when someone wants to bring you their, their anger. And this I, you know, I have a problem with you in the way you're doing things. And I want to yell at you and scream at you, and I want to give you my anger, we always have the choice to either accept their anger and internalise and yell back and scream back. But all the only person that hurts is ourselves, because then we're carrying around that argument in our day. And I know we've all done this, you're replaying the argument, Oh, I should have just said this, I'm and I'm later on, I'm gonna write an email. And I'm going to tell them what I really think. And so you have the choice in those moments to say, No, I'm not accepting your anger here, you have, you have your anger back, that's your anger, that's, that's your problem. I'm, I'm doing just fine, I'll handle my issues myself. And I think it happens the same with with joy and happiness that when, you know, it said, When our bucket is full, and when when we feel good about ourselves, and and maybe that our buckets have been filled by someone else who gave us positive reinforcement or, or praised us, or built up our confidence, then your bucket is full, and you can go and pour that on someone else who might need it, who doesn't have someone giving them that positive reinforcement. So we're, you know, we're in this period of this wonderful point in history where women empowerment is you know, it's a it's a trending, you know, it's a trending topic, but, but it applies to all people. But my focus right now is primarily on on women because that's my demographic but build up, you know, build up the women around you, and there will be more that build you up and it just just it's a chain reaction, and I think that's, that can only be good for our world if everyone feels positive about themselves, but they're looking around them saying, Oh, I'm pointing out the great things about my friend or my neighbour, that co worker or that boss, I'm not looking for the negative things. To tear them down, because that in some sick way makes me feel better about myself. But I'll build them up and I'll be built up at the same time. It's a win win.

Andy Follows: 1:25:12

Yeah, absolutely, and loving the thought that say, those Brazilian women on the beach started that thread about. If our buckets full, and we're feeling good about ourselves, then we can share that. And there are definitely people who you spend time with who give you energy. And there are people who you spend time with, where they take energy, they're basically plugging into you and draining your battery. And it's good to choose those that are helping to top it up. So we've heard a lot about the things you have been doing amazing things you have been doing lots of adventures, is there anything left? Have you got something on your bucket list that you still haven't done yet?

Annie Wechter: 1:25:55

Um, I do I try. You know, I don't know the right way to create a bucket list. But a few years back, I just made a list of about 10 things that I really thought would be awesome if I could accomplish them at some point in my life. And like the, like the go getter that I am I I then was in a race against myself, I felt like to try to check those off as quickly as possible. So things like getting the diving certification, I bought my first house a year ago, those things were on the list previously, and a couple of things that I have left to accomplish. I want to speak three languages fluently. I've always been so envious of, of coworkers and friends, especially in Europe, where you grew up speaking at least two languages, and then learning a third in school. And Americans they think we're unless you came from like a first generation family. We're really disadvantaged in that we're we're a land of immigrants. I have German and Italian and Lithuanian in my family. And we only grew up speaking English. And I learned a little bit of Spanish in school, I learned Portuguese from travelling learned a little bit of Dutch from living in Holland. But I would love to speak three languages fluently, which would probably be Portuguese, that's my closest one. And then maybe Dutch just because I feel I feel a sense of duty, and a sense of maybe embarrassment and regret that I didn't, I didn't learn more than a few sentences of my five years learning living there. Yeah, so learning, learning, speaking three languages fluently, and the other one that got some laughs from a few close friends that I shared my list with was, I wrote on there to convert an entire community to self sustaining energy. So I meant I wanted to go and whether it was in Brazil, or even my own home, you know, have solar panels and a battery for storage and have a rain catcher and a garden and be able to support you know, communities that are really off the grid as a necessity. But then wherever I'm living, if it's in a developed economy, to to not use the the fossil fuels that are available, but really make a conscious effort to live on clean energy. So yeah, I got a few chuckles on that one, like, well, you want to, you know, be be responsible for changing an entire, you know, city over I said well a community, you know, maybe that's three houses or something.

Andy Follows: 1:28:27

Yeah.

Annie Wechter: 1:28:28

So,

Andy Follows: 1:28:29

You can choose you've got a variable there, which is the size of the community.

Annie Wechter: 1:28:33

Yeah.

Andy Follows: 1:28:34

I reckon you could do it.

Annie Wechter: 1:28:36

One day, I'll let you I'll let you know when I'm able to check that one off. Maybe it's my last one.

Andy Follows: 1:28:43

Well, Annie, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been as I expected it would be it's been an absolute pleasure.

Annie Wechter: 1:28:52

pleasure for me to thank you so much. Always, always nice to have our, our Well, I don't have any coffee in front of me. But usually it's a it's a you know, our coffee chat. So I really appreciate you extending the invitation.

Andy Follows: 1:29:03

My pleasure. And I look forward to our next conversation.

Annie Wechter: 1:29:07

Absolutely. Maybe maybe on your side of the pond.

Andy Follows: 1:29:10

I hope so. Yeah. Bye bye for now.

Annie Wechter: 1:29:12

Cheers. Bye bye.