HOST (Jennifer) (00:02):
Hello, welcome to this podcast called FINDING INSPIRATION. It's a 20 or so minute weekly podcast where we interview someone with an amazing story. After the show, I know you're gonna feel energized, invigorated, and inspired. I'm Jennifer Weissmann. Welcome to FINDING INSPIRATION.
Today's episode is about paying it forward. And we have the opportunity to speak to someone who embodies that very phrase. At 28 years old, Mr. Guy Amar is an Israeli entrepreneur based in Ukraine at this very moment. He's a CTO and founder of two successful public companies. When the war started, Guy sent all of his employees to Poland and he was there in a 13,000 square foot office building. And he decided to convert that into a refugee center and to help refugees. And that's what he's been doing since the beginning of this war. So I'm speaking with guy Amar, an Israeli entrepreneur. Who's been living in Ukraine since 2016. So what's your real day job guy? What do you really do?
GUEST (Guy) (01:15):
Hi. I will share a little bit about myself. I'm 28 years old. I grew up in Jerusalem in Israel and spent all of my life there. So I was serving in the Israeli IDF in the Ministry of Security Defense. I gained my technical experience while I was using while I was serving in the army. When I finish my Israeli army at the age of 22, I had an idea for a startup. I looked for a strong partner. I was able to find an amazing partner. We established the startup in Jerusalem in 2016. I don't need to tell you about the situation with developers in Israel. It's insane to get qualified people. And also the prices are very high. You will be able to find talent in the market, but for a small startup that is self-funded, it was almost impossible to hire people. So we basically looked to outsourcing and we went to Ukraine. We researched all the cities in Ukraine. We found out that Lviv it's a very developed city with a big IT community. So I came to Ukraine. We started to work with some offshore companies. Unfortunately, our experience with them was not so successful. I decided that I don't want to work with people who are not telling the truth. I took two suitcases, without knowing the language without knowing the city. And I just moved to Ukraine. The end of 2016 is when I moved to Ukraine and I established our own R&D center over here in the city. Since then we had a rollercoaster, like every startup. I'm the CTO and the co-founder of Group 107. https://group107.com/ We are a public company listed in the Israeli stock market. We IPO’d last September. The 2nd company is called Israeli IT. It's a service company where we are providing Ukrainian developers to market leaders, market giants, and startups from all over the world. We have over 300 employees that I'm managing here in our R&D center in Lviv, Ukraine. So basically in my day to day, to be honest, Jennifer I'm a super-geeky guy. I like to write code. I like to work with my clients doing code reviews, checking my developers, and doing stuff like that.
HOST (Jennifer) (05:15):
I understand you're a super geeky guy, but at this point, you've become an unofficial official in Ukraine during this very intense dangerous war. And you chose to stay in Ukraine instead of coming back to Israel or going somewhere else. And you've actually transitioned to doing something other than your it works. You're helping Ukrainians out of Ukraine by the busload. So you're in your Israel. It building thinks it's a pretty large building, right? You're not that far from the border of Poland, correct. How did you end up managing to move refugees out and basically becoming the unofficial official in Ukraine? How did that happen?
GUEST (Guy) (05:57):
We were listening to President Biden before the war started. He said Russia is going to attack Ukraine and they have plans. The US Intelligent Community provided very precise information before the war started. We start our preparation as a company in January -- one month before the war started. We evacuated our employees to Poland before we had the main obligation to do so and all of these laws came into a reality. We found them a hotel and a place to work. So after we started to do that process to evacuate my people, I understood that I connections with the bus companies and understood how much things cost. I figured I could stay in Ukraine and help more people. So I post on social media (Facebook, and Instagram). I asked if there were any Jews, Israelis, or any Humanitarian cases in Ukraine where people need help. Maybe with a place to sleep, to eat, to get a shower, or they need help crossing the border. I was overwhelmed with the replies.
HOST (Jennifer) (07:00):
Overwhelmed? Do you post this on Facebook? So you put up a note "Hey, anybody needs a shower or help? Let me know, direct message me" and what happened?
GUEST (Guy) (07:11):
Well, I was overwhelmed. It's like thousands. Thousands of people just start to call me lots of me, messenger me, Telegraph. Snapchat and Tinder from everywhere. I started to get calls that people need help. I found myself as you mentioned, the unofficial Israeli Official in Lviv. The Embassy has already evacuated at this point. There was no real Israeli representative in Ukraine when the war started. So it's kind of created a vacuum. And I was the, I think the right guy at the right time. I think I did what every good human being, never mind his religion, his color should do, or I expect them to do.
GUEST (Guy) (08:00):
So I opened my offices. We have a huge office, 13,000 square foot office -- let's say Google campus style. You have the gaming area, sports area, a lot of cool stuff and a cafeteria and stuff like that. So we started to convert our office to become a refugee center. Every day, came 200 to 300 people at the beginning of the war. We give them a place to sleep, to eat, to drink, to get a shower. And in the morning we are departing them to the borders. We had buses cooperating with other organizations like the Jewish community in Germany and other communities worldwide. And we start transferring people to flee Ukraine.
HOST (Jennifer) (08:38):
Who's funding this refugee center Guy?
GUEST (Guy) (08:39):
For the first week of the war, I basically funded it from my own pocket. I run a public company. You can see my salary, it's public information. I have a good salary, I can afford it. So I spend around $40-$50K USD at the beginning of the war. I needed to support not just the buses but to pay for the cleaning and buy food and products. And suddenly, you know the number of toilet papers that people need. It's insane. People coming as refugees. You need to understand it. They're coming with nothing. We have nothing only their small luggage. So they need help with every basic need down to shampoos.
HOST (Jennifer) (09:14):
Convert did your office into a refugee center, and then you funded that for an entire week. It started what February 24th?
GUEST (Guy) (09:21):
Exactly. But I must say that people already started coming on February 22 before the war started, Basically, after the first week, I realized I needed to raise some money to keep it going. I wanna able to help more people. So again, I went on social media, post it out, and immediately received some generous donations. We were able to raise around an additional 60 K, something like that. Some official help from the Israeli government came as well to at least help us with the bus expenses. So I start to get connected with a lot of people. And again, I found myself doing diplomatic work that I'm not supposed to do.
HOST (Jennifer) (09:58):
You're an entrepreneur all the way through.
GUEST (Guy) (10:00):
Yeah, exactly. You know, the experience that we have as entrepreneurs that we know how to handle extreme situations. When we know how to handle very hard cases, we figure out if we are not strong and we will break under the pressure. Then the pyramid will collapse. So This is the energy that engages me to have the opportunity to be strong and to be basically a role model to my team, to the volunteering team, and to continue helping people. Because Jennifer, I must tell you when we are seeing those people and you're meeting the refugees face to face, and you're hearing the stories. I had like few moments that I went out to my office. And I just cried. Cause in front of the people, it was very hard. I need to be strong, but I have my moments of breaking. It just hit me from the inside.
HOST (Jennifer) (10:50):
It's so horrible. Can you share a couple of the stories that you're hearing?
GUEST (Guy) (10:53):
At the beginning of the war, there was an Israeli journalist. He was in the other part of Ukraine under fire. Normally it's a 14-hour drive from this part to Lviv. This poor guy basically almost died. And he found himself in the middle of the war. He had a rented car. He starts to drive his car to try to flee from the country. And he found himself driving for 46 hours in a row without the option to sleep, without the option to stop. He just needed to flee for his life. And the first thing that he came to the office that I did was just give him a big hug. He was crushed. He was mentally destroyed. And I think that the hug and the support that we give him here and his joy back to life, that he's okay, I'm in good hands. I'm in a place where they will take care of me. And it was very emotional and the most touching part in that it's when his wife was calling me from Israel and also basically was so grateful for the help that we provide for husband because she was literally thought that he's dead. And I don't need to tell you the effect of people without sleeping. He starts hallucinating stuff. And he gave a lot of stories about the stuff he saw along the way. I was mostly happy to see him with his family, his kids back in Israel. And this is what gives me the extra boost to continue with what I'm doing. Uh, but then when the war continues, the harder stories start to flow.
HOST (Jennifer) (12:45):
It's just unreal. And what are those other stories?
GUEST (Guy) (12:46):
So we had a family from a city occupied by the Russians. It already has some Russian police over there already. And this family was running for their lives. There were five family members, a dad, a mom, two kids, a grandma, and a dog. And to my center arrive only four people arrive. Basically, the grandma has been shot at in the back when they tried to run away the Russian shot her dead.
HOST (Jennifer) (13:13):
Killed her in front of the family?
GUEST (Guy) (13:15):
Yes. All of them were running away and trying to get into the bus and they just shoot her to die. I don't need to tell you how it's hard that you living while your grandma is dead on the street. This family just running for their life. The kids, 9 years old and 12 years old when they came and they just weren't able to hold it anymore. A very hard story, especially for us, you know, as Jewish people, when we have all of the ceremonies when someone has died. Sitting shiva and all the rest of the stuff that is required to do. This family was devastated. It's like they come here and just fall down and I need to bring here a doctor to help them and the psychology and for the kids, just to try to help them as much as we can before we departure them out from the country. Now you need to understand that those people right now, I think already arrived in Israel. The grandma, no one knows what's going on there, who someone buried, or if, if someone takes care of the body or no one knows, so I don't know how they will come back and, and which wall they will find and how they can live with that.
HOST (Jennifer) (14:17):
Are you seeing children traveling alone at this point,
GUEST (Guy) (14:20):
At this point - no, but 10 days ago yes. I saw kids traveling alone. We had a few cases like that we help for some kids under 18. Uh, I can tell you that we have the youngest one was nine years old.
HOST (Jennifer) (14:36):
The parents sent the 9-year old ahead?
GUEST (Guy) (14:39):
The parents put him in some bus and basically didn't able to go into the bus from I'm talking from the east side. So the bus came here to the Western part of Ukraine and the kid is alone. Again, he just has the phone number of the parent. First, we got in touch with them. We create official letters by their side and we give them to take the kid outside of Ukraine to Poland. We find a safe place for her where she can stay there till the war will end. There is a good people helping and a lot of charity and volunteering work in this aspect.
HOST (Jennifer) (15:12):
Are you hearing any bombing near you and are you concerned about your safety?
GUEST (Guy) (15:17):
So, you know, I have a Jewish mom and I don't need to tell you how it works. Uh, even that I'm not in the heart of the war, let's say, uh, she's worried a lot. So we had a bombing next to us. Uh, a few days ago, basically the Russians bombed some military object, uh, next to the city of Lavi around 1520 kilometers from the city center and was another bombing like 40, 50 kilometers from here. We heard the bombing, we saw the smoke. I'm in Israeli, you know, so we grew up in the Intifadah. I saw buses bombed. I lost my friends in terrorist attacks in Israel. So bombing is not that scary for me. The only thing that all the time I have in mind, it's when I'm seeing the kids or the Holocaust survivor, the older people, the nineties, 85-year-old people that you can see the number on their arms from the camps. Those people basically ran away when world war II started from Ukraine to Russia to get shelter in Russia. Now they need to run from Russia. This is insane.
HOST (Jennifer) (16:25):
You're seeing Holocaust survivors?
GUEST (Guy) (16:26):
Yes, of course. We had a lot of cases of Holocaust survivors. I think we are able to rescue around 50 or 60 already.
HOST (Jennifer) (16:33):
Amazing. This is so amazing. I hope you're keeping great notes of what you're seeing. This is really important work that you're doing. I'm amazed at your strength and willingness to put yourself in what most people would say is harm's way. My next question to you is how do you see this ending?
GUEST (Guy) (16:52):
That is the $1 million question. I think that Ukraine has proven itself as a strong nation. Everyone saw that. Russia thought it would take Ukraine in 24 hours. And we are almost a month into this war. And the Russians don’t have huge success in their operation. They are just creating damage and just let's say they are like a butcher. And I think this is the right word to describe it. Just butchering women, kids, babies, pregnant women, Holocaust survivors, old people, even animals like dogs, cats, and horses. And, I didn't believe in 2022, I will be watching something like this. This is taking Ukraine to the dark ages. It's like 78 years ago when basically you had people been shot on the streets just because they are Ukrainians. Not because they did something bad. Not because they did something against Russia, just because of who they are. Of course, I'm not comparing to the Holocaust and I'm not comparing for what happened. There is starting to hear similar stories that we heard back in those days that we are hearing today. For example, I'll give you another story from the last few days, a group of refugees that basically want to evacuate it from the country, found themself with some, let's say not very good people. They took them to some field, basically just robbed them, took all the gold, all the money that they have dropped them in the middle of the field, and ran away. They promised them they will take them by buses and evacuate them out of the country and stuff like that. You know, this reminds me of when the Jews were fleeing out and some other people were catching them and taking their gold. We are moving in the wrong direction.
HOST (Jennifer) (19:06):
Do you believe Putin will use chemical weapons?
GUEST (Guy) (19:12):
So this is a big fear. I think it's something we need to be prepared for. And again, I'm watching carefully and listening to what US Intelligence Agencies are saying. They did provide precise information from the beginning of this war. My hope's that Putin will not use it. But I'm ready. We have some gas masks. But I don’t know if that will help.
HOST (Jennifer) (19:43):
My last question to you is when this is all over, do you see Ukraine rebuilding itself?
GUEST (Guy) (19:49):
300% Yes. And even stronger Ukraine than we saw. There will be some occupied parts that I think in the negotiation will stay with the Russians. The world supports Ukraine. And we see the solidarity in most of the developed world which is very pro-Ukrainian. And I will tell you something about Israel and Ukraine, in terms of their sphere. Our nations are bonded. Almost 60% of the outsourced IT services are in Ukraine. Israeli companies count on Ukraine for IT. Israel is the startup nation, the scale-up nation. Like we saw hundreds of companies from Israel in the past few years, IPO’g in the USA stock market after work with Ukrainian IT. We're creating a bond that is: Israel, Ukraine, and the USA and it's a very strong bond. And I truly believe that the Western World will invest a lot of money here to reconstruct and help Ukraine. But it might take a few years when you can go back to what it was.
HOST (Jennifer) (21:03):
Is there anything you need? How can people support your efforts?
GUEST (GUY) (21:08):
So for now we are pretty okay. I'm a fanatic of automation. So I really fast created an automated system, in our office. We have a call center, they're answering the phone calls and available twenty-four seven. When refugees arrive, we have stations for them. They receive a package with shampoo and other toiletries. Then they move to the wardrobe. They choose clothes and whatever you need for your kids too. If it's a special food, or bottles, or stuff like that. So we create a few stations then when the family came to us, so they're going through each station. Each room was made so it will be comfortable with a door so they can take whatever they want without feeling guilty. And for now, thank God, we are pretty okay. We have some money to continue running the operation for the next 10 days, easy.
HOST (Jennifer) (22:15):
If people wanna donate, how would they do that?
GUEST (Guy) (22:17):
So, unfortunately, I'm not in an official organization. I'm a private person, an entrepreneur doing it, and everything voluntarily, and I didn't have the time or the chance, to start a charity organization. And I really don't want to do it. It's not my cup of tea. So I post it on my Facebook page with the bank details of my bank detail in Israel. I'm using my own personal credit cards all the time to buy supplies. I use the credit so I have time to pay it back. So people that want to donate can send the money to my account.
HOST (Jennifer) (23:02):
You are absolutely inspirational, amazing, truly an incredible guy Guy. I love that you have the perfect name. I wish you safety. I want you to have continued success. I will list your bank information in the show notes here. So if anybody wants to contribute, it will be available to them. I thank you so much for your time. Maybe we can talk again in a week or two. Hopefully, it'll all be over by then. But if not, maybe you can give me an update on what you're seeing and what you're hearing.
GUEST (Guy) (23:32):
Definitely Jennifer. So feel free. I'm here, I'm available all the time. And I really thank you for the interview and for helping me share the story and press it forward. I hope other people do something when they see evil and don't stay on the side. Don’t allow horror in front of your eyes and just sit and do nothing. Thank you very much, Jennifer.
HOST (Jennifer) (23:52):
Thank you for joining us this week on FINDING INSPIRATION. Hey, I would appreciate it. If you would click on that subscribe button and share this podcast with a friend - see you next week. I'm Jennifer Weissmann.