SolPods: Why we Built a New Sustainability Community - A Conversation with the Founders

Join our inaugural SolPods Studio episode and meet the SolPods team: Amy Farrell, Cassie Freyeisen,  Lucy Callender and Amy Sabik.  Listen in to hear the history of SolPods and how we have designed the platform to help our members connect with like-minded individuals, learn about different sustainability topics and get inspired by our Earth Heroes.

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Transcript

Lucy:  00:02
Welcome to SolPods Studio.  We're not your average social network.  We're a community of professionals, enthusiasts and students taking sustainability to the next level.  Join us on our journey and get inspired by Earth Heroes just like you.

Hi everyone.  I'm Lucy, a member of the SolPods team, and I'm joining you from sunny Los Angeles.  I'm sitting here with co-founders, Amy Farrell, who's in Northern California, and Cassie Freyeisen who's joining us from Nashville, as well as our Advisor, Amy Sabik, who's also in the Bay Area.  I'm excited to introduce you to the three wonderful women I get to work with and to chat more about what we do here at SolPods.  I'm just going to go ahead and jump right in with Amy Farrell.  If you could please tell us a little bit more about the history of SolPods and how it came about.

Amy Farrell:  00:55
Thanks, Lucy.  Well, it was really a personal experience that inspired me to create the concept for SolPods.  Several years ago, I really wanted to find more purpose in my career and pivot from a job in traditional financial services to working in sustainability in some capacity.  I had many years of experience, and I had worked all around the world.  I knew that I could bring these skills to helping to make the world a better place, but I wasn't sure how or what.  I wanted to figure out how I could bridge my experience with my passion.  Yet at the same time, I needed to make money.  So, I started networking.  I connected with people who worked in various jobs in either corporate responsibility, philanthropy and responsible investing.  I really explored all the different topics.  There's actually so many different areas of sustainability.  I found that I needed to learn more about these different aspects, so I attended workshops, and I went to conferences.  I took a few classes online.  It took me some time, but I was eventually able to make a switch to a job in sustainable finance.   Then after my career pivot, I had a lot of people coming up to me to ask me, "Ok, how did you do that? I want to work in some capacity where I feel like I am giving back, and I am more connected with my job and more passionate about what I am doing all day long.  From mid-career professionals, who wanted to work full time in sustainability, to students who wanted to figure out what classes they should take or what they should major in to work in the green economy after graduating.  These people all approached me and asked me if I had any advice.  By the way, there were even people who wanted to figure out a sustainability side-hustle or if there were micro-purpose activities, like volunteering in their communities on the weekend.  Really the conversations would expand to what are your interests, and how can you tie what you are passionate about with regard to the planet, the environment, animals, people, climate change.  How can you tie those interests into a career.  I realized that I was having these one-on-one conversations, and that there had to be a better way for people interested in all of these topics to come together and to network and to share.  I mean, many of us use the large professional networking platforms, and they serve a good purpose for networking more broadly.  But I thought that there's got to be a way to create a community that is hyper-focused on sustainability.  That also would give you an opportunity to learn from one another and to support one another.  So, as these concept was coming together, Amy Sabik, Cassie, Lucy and I realized that we could create a community that would go beyond networking.  That would actually provide recommendations for courses that you could take or workshops.  For events, community events, local events.  For different ideas on how you could volunteer your time.  Even organic restaurants and cafes and gardening ideas.  There's so many different recommendations we felt that we could give to this community and that this community to give to one another.  We also wanted to create a space where we could meet people where they were on their sustainability journey.  Whether they were just getting started and were interested or if they had worked in sustainability for a really long time and were interested in sharing their ideas.  We wanted to make it global because we knew that amazing things were happening in different corners of the world.  So that's the history of how SolPods came to be.  And actually, I should explain the name as well.  "Sol" is short for solutions because ultimately, our community is working toward positive solutions.  "Pods" because we found that our members were passionate about different sustainability topics, and we wanted them to be able to come together in smaller groups so that they could share, and they could take action on specific topics.  For example, we have people who are really interested in clean tech, clean technology.  Others who are very passionate about food waste.  And some eco-fashion or regenerative farming and so many more.  So, we designed and built this platform for the sustainability community.  Our goals for our members are really straight-forward:  we want to connect, educate and then ultimately collaborate for a more sustainable world.  And I could not think of a better team to build this sustainability community and to inspire others to join us.  So really excited about everything that SolPods has to offer.

Lucy: 06.52
Thank you so much, Amy.  So in the intro, we mention this phrase, "Earth Heroes," and since you coined the phrase for our platform, Cassie, can you tell us a little more about what that means?

Cassie: 07.04
Absolutely, Lucy.  The whole idea behind Earth Heroes are individuals who are making positive strides for our world and in the society.  Since developing the concept of SolPods a few years ago, we have come to discover there are amazing people out there doing totally inspiring things across the globe.  We've had the pleasure to engage with zero-waste ambassadors, mindful delivery business owners, inspired students, animal advocates and even organic farmers, meditation practitioners and fair trade experts.  You really might ask, "what do they all have in common?"  We truly believe the common thread is their deep sense of responsibility for the future of our planet.  One reason I felt so strongly about starting SolPods with the team here was the fact that small steps really can lead to big change.  Our Earth Heroes aren't perfect.  No one is.  But, they're out there making a real difference, one good deed at a time.  I believe that if we can share their ambitions, goals and triumphs, we can inspire others in the process.  Even mistakes we've made, and what we've learned from them, and how this has made us more resilient, are really important to share.  So now it's about spreading their message and educating people on how important it is to transition to a sustainable world.  So whether you're brand new to sustainability or an experience professional, you too can become an Earth Hero.  And we truly cannot wait to share more stories from our community members as we build out this series and as we build out our community.

Lucy:  08.36
Thank you so much, Cassie.  Clearly SolPods is a really great place to connect and inspire, and I was hoping, Amy Sabik, you could tell us a little bit more about what this platform offers to others as far as community goes.  How would you describe the community we've built here?

Amy Sabik:  08.53
Thanks, Lucy, that's a great question.  Well, we've been connecting our SolPods members on various sustainability topics such as zero-waste living, recycling, eco-tourism, clean tech and many more.  Within each of these areas, our community is sharing ideas about how we can make small changes, create new habits that result in a more sustainable lifestyle.  I meet regularly with a local mom's group, and we were talking about how there really is no single resource where you can get educated on the basics of sustainability and then all the way up to actually taking action both in your community and globally.  We often share ideas of products we discover or daily eco-hacks as well as how to engage with local community supported agriculture and farmers markets.  We also share resources versus each of us feeling the need to buy something that we only use occasionally.  So if I need something for the weekend that is just something I am going to use from time to time, I will reach out to one of my fellow moms and borrow something from one of them.  Now at SolPods, we have created a place for you to create your sustainability tribe.  You can find tangible solutions not only for your local mom's group, but you can also bring sustainability to your kids' schools.  We even have resources to help your city bring sustainable ideas on a much broader level.  We are super excited that we are starting to bring green clubs from universities onto our platform as well.  So our community really sets itself apart as we have people there who truly, truly care and are there for a reason.  They are there so they can collaborate and share their ideas.  We really realized, in creating SolPods, that there is so much power in the collective.  This is what SolPods can do to bring positive change and allow people to connect at a much deeper level in these communities.

Lucy:  10:40
I totally agree, Amy.  For me personally after graduating from college, I really wanted to find a job that aligned with my passion for the planet.  I do feel so lucky to have found that in SolPods, and I want everyone else to find a place where their passions and skills can intersect but also where they can feel this true sense of community support.  I have learned so much about sustainability that I didn't know before such as the importance of local legislation, biodiversity, circularity, clean beauty and health, mental health services and the Sustainable Development Goals and so, so much more.  What's really cool is that now what's part of my job at SolPods is searching for other sustainable careers around the world and sharing them with our members through our job board.  It really feels like a full circle moment for me.

Cassie:  11:30
And Lucy, since you have been so instrumental in really helping to build out the platform and getting our community off the ground when it comes to content creation and inspiration.  How does SolPods actually transpire into tangible action?

Lucy:  11:45
That's a great question, Cassie.  So, I think while we're a global, digital community, we still want to help people connect with other Earth Heroes living right in your neighborhood.  That's why we created the Helping Hands which are city-specific Pods that help you get connected through volunteer opportunities in your city, knowledge-sharing, supporting local businesses, local events.  Things like thrift stores, farmers markets, exchanges.  We are growing every day, so we do hope to create more Helping Hands Pods as our community grows.  We really try to pay attention to the needs of our community and adapt as those needs shift.  One of my favorite parts of my job, as far as content creation goes, is updating our Pods with original content weekly.  In our Community Challenge Pod, I create weekly challenges such as eco-hacks and tips and tricks to really help you incorporate sustainability into your life such as compost tips if you are new to composting or thrifting hacks.  On Wednesdays, as I mentioned before, I post the job board.  It is updated weekly, connecting members to potential future employers and jobs they might be interested in, in the sustainability field.  We also like to provide resources such as support for tech workers or women in science.  It really changes every week.  On Fridays, I like to share posts on our Good News Movement Pod which is a weekly roundup of inspiring stories around the world to end your week on a positive note.  The platform is also really set up to allow our members to also share so they can share eco-tips, whether that's their favorite eco-detergent or their composting hacks or gardening hacks. 

Amy Farrell:  13:30
I also wanted to add, Lucy, that SolPods is available, both on desktop and mobile app.  The mobile app allows our members to share in real time.  So if they're at a volunteer event or attending a sustainability conference or just working in their garden, on the app, they can go live and share what they are doing with the rest of the community.  We also have location services so you can find other SolPods members near you.  So let's say for example you travel to another city, for work or for pleasure, and you want recommendations for local organic farm-to-table restaurants or cafes or zero-waste stores or you want to learn about sustainability events or sustainability issues that are relevant to that community.  You can check in with SolPods member who live there.  And as you mentioned, Lucy, we are really building out our city-specific Helping Hands, and as that grows, it will enable even more local sharing.

Lucy:  14:32
That is so exciting.  I also wanted to ask you where do you think SolPods is headed in the future?

Amy:  14:38
You know I think it's really about providing our members with more content and giving the ability to share their expertise and their experiences.  As Cassie said earlier, we are really excited about expanding the podcast series, SolPods Studio, and highlighting more of Earth Heroes.  We love sharing our members accomplishments, and the podcast is a great way to get their stories out there.  Also, we're building out these workshops.  As I mentioned earlier, our members have amazing experiences and sustainability expertise, and we want to give them a platform so that they can hold workshops, live or pre-recorded, even offer courses.  We are setting up so that they can charge for these courses and workshops, if they so choose.  In addition, we are expanding our own proprietary sustainability masterclasses, and we want to include more workshops and courses to help people bring sustainability into the workplace.  Our goal is to bring ideas and inspiration to the community, so we are going to continue to listen to our members and find out what they want to learn about and how we can support them on their sustainability journey.

Lucy:  15:59
Thank you, Amy.   I know we are all really excited to grow with SolPods and see where it takes us.   It's really been so wonderful chatting with you three about our shared passion.  Before we go, I do want to end this episode by asking you all our favorite question, "What would be your sustainability superpower?"

Amy Sabik:  16:20
That is a great question, Lucy.  So if I had a sustainability superpower, I would wave my magic empathy wand, and I would essentially increase how much empathy there is in the world.  So not everyone feels the impact of climate change in the same way.  If everyone could put themselves in other shoes and see how other cultures and countries may be far more adversely affected, I think we would really see a heightened response to what actions people can take to really start reducing, more and more, their carbon footprint.

Amy Farrell:  16:56
So Lucy, for my sustainability superpower, I would create a giant methane capturing machine that would suck up all of the methane emissions in the atmosphere, put it into boxes and store it away until we can figure out more effective ways of reducing methane emissions.  That would be my superpower.

Cassie:  17:19
Lucy, I think it's an awesome question.  Thank you so much.  I have a very soft spot for all of the plants and animal species on our Earth, so I would totally sprinkle magic dust, but make it organic.  Dust fertilizer to restore our Earth's biodiversity so we would re-grow all our forests, restore our ocean health, revert back to our natural eco-systems that were here thousands of years ago. That way we could redesign our cities and our communities to live in harmony with nature.

Lucy:  17:48
Thank you all for your amazing answers.  Those are all super original. I love them.  Personally, I think I would say some sort of magic spell to automatically integrate sustainability education into everyone's curriculum globally so it's a part of everyone's awareness and reality from a really early age so we can encourage those healthy habits and passion for the planet, right from the get-go.   I would love to hear from our listeners what would your superpower be?  So please let us know in the comments or in the reviews, wherever you are listening.  And that concludes our SolPods Studio conversation.  Thank you all so much for being here today.  And thank you so much for listening!

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