Hi. This is Paul Zalazar, and welcome to another episode of the Awareness podcast. On this show, we deep into wisdom from some of the world's leading social entrepreneurs. Our goal is to help you increase your positive impact, your profitability, and your quality of life. Before we get into today's topic, I have one request. If you could hit subscribe and do a review on your favorite podcast app, it helps more people learn how to have positive impact through value based business. Thank you so much. Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Kayoko Mitsumatsu. And our topic today is igniting gratitude into social change. Kayoko is the founder and executive director of yoga Gibbsback, An organization which mobilizes yoga practitioners worldwide to channel their gratitude into empowering Indian women and children. To create sustainable lives. Kayoko, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me, Paul.

We were talking about before we had record, like, This is a pretty significant audience. Right? There's something like 300,000,000 yoga practitioners around the world. Is that right?

Yeah. That's what I hear at the latest number. Yes.

Yeah. So there's a lot of humans. And if we learn how to ignite communities like that, the impact is Amazing. So we're gonna get into that just a little bit. But before we do that, Kayoko, what would somebody who's listening to the show need to know or wanna know about who you are as the founder and executive director and the leader of this moment Tell us a little bit about your background. What were you doing before yoga gives back? And, like, what might have been some kind of inner precursors to this work that we're gonna unpack in just a little bit.

Yeah. Thanks for that question. So, I am Japanese I was born in Japan Tokyo in 1960th, and Japan was post war booming economy, and everybody's working really really, like, crazy, like, my father, workaholic, you know, generation. And, then I grew up there, but, I started going to overseas at the high school time. Like, I went to Australia for a year. Then I went to Brazil for 2 years because of my father's banking business. And then I also lived in England for 2 years, a culture as a chef for the embassy of Japan. And also, I worked for Japanese National Public Television as my carrier, 1st carrier, as a documentary film director and producer. Actually, I worked for them for 7 years, then I left, but I continued to work as an independent And I'm based in Los Angeles, but since 1990s, but, I basically worked for public television for almost 30 years before I started yoga, just back.

And one of the things you did if I understand correctly as a filmmaker is you made a film about social entrepreneur ship in Japan or social entrepreneurs in Japan. Is that right?

Yeah. Actually, I was filming in San Francisco at UC Berkeley, and Kiva in 2006 when microfinancing was growing really fast. Kiva was just making I I'm sure lot of audience knows about Cuba who actually raises over $1,000,000,000 today, but, they took example from any inspiration from Doctor Muhammad Yunus who received Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his microfinancing. So I was doing documentary about this whole story of how $15, $20 can change lives with microfinancing. In the developing world. And, the around that time, I was starting practice yoga, and I whenever I come, came from shooting to Los Angeles. That was my, like, release of stress. And I found amazing Experience a bliss after really serious practice. I studied Ashtanga. You're gonna practice every day. And I it just hit me. I was paying $15 a class in 2006, 2007. Today, it's, like, 30 to 40 in your in Los Angeles. And yoga pants was, like, $60. Today, it's, like, 180. But, anyways, if you put that one class fee as a microfinancing and give it to a poor woman in developing countries, they can't really get out of poverty. And start their own income earning businesses and and really put period to their generation of poverty, cycle of poverty, in your families. So I just I just thought about doing something at the yoga class and said, Why don't we start, like, giving back to the source of yoga where, you know, it is your India where 75% of the population still live under $2 a day. If we were spending $15 a class to feel good about ourselves, why don't we just put one class? And, I talked to a teacher, a studio, and all these people around me, and everybody said, that's a great idea. Nobody said, stop it or anything. Everybody thought that's a good good idea. And, actually, a lot of people are looking for opportunity to get back to India. Because everybody was feeling such a, you know, benefit from the practice, but they didn't know how. So in that sense, I hit a jack part. I didn't know that, but, I guess, there was nobody who's doing this. So I thought, let's do it. And that's how we created our mantra for the cost of one class, you can change a life. That was a tagline in 2007. That's how I started it, and it's been 16 years since then.

Beautiful. So you're learning about social entrepreneurs Ship and microfinance listeners. You gotta be careful. All these concepts will change your life. Right? Yeah. So it's so you're learning about microfinance. We'll put a link in the show notes to kiva.org. It is one of, if not the largest microfinance that I know of will also put a link to Muhammad Unis if you've ever used the language of microfinance. You're standing on the shoulders of the Gramin World Bank and my Muhammad Unis, incredible innovator, and taught a lot of us how to think about doing money and finance different and marginalized communities just deep out to everybody that worked as part of that team. And I know people who worked as part of that team. So you're learning about it, and you're like, What if we applied some of that in this yoga community, which was becoming increasingly important in your life? Is that fair to say?

It is very, very much so.

So this is, like, 2007, 2008 is what I'm is what I'm hearing. So what did it look like at its earliest iteration, like, was it called yoga gives back? And where did you start in terms of, like, what was the business model? How are you trying to engage people? Like, how are you getting word out about it? What would it look like back then?

Yeah. So I have dedicated my adult life or the public television's very demanding work for 30 years. I had no idea how to start a nonprofit. I was just impressed social entrepreneurship and microfinancing. So the only thing I had was for the course of one class, you can change your life. I I really felt that's a very true. And we can just ask people to start putting money to our campaign, but I had zero background. I and I At that time, my teacher also joined me. So we work together, and I just feel Los Angeles I I've been very lucky that I was in Los Angeles because there are so many yoga practitioners and teachers here. You know, yoga if you practice yoga, you know that yoga Nanda, the leader of self realization group, and Vivi Gananda, who brought yoga at the Chicago world conference of religions in the late 1800. These people all came from India and settled in Los Angeles. So there's a long history of yoga and spirituality. So when I came up with this idea, so many people just supported it. And so I had no business plan. Well, nothing to be very proud of, but in terms of structure, I just had a very strong calling. That's it.

I'd push back a little bit, right, as a as a business consultant. I would say, you knew your audience, right, because you were a you were a yoga Chushner, you're very engaged. I used to do a stunga. I would do a stungas for 6, like, 6 days a week and took glasses up in Northern New Kayoko. Had a great teacher in Taos, New Kayoko, very small, but amazingly dedicated community. So I know the Ashtanga community, if you're gonna go into the yoga world. That's not often a community you dip your toe in. You dive in, like, headfirst in that community. Right? So So you knew that that sense of dedication. You knew who some of the other practitioners were. You had personal experience. With the practice and you had a good relationship with your teacher. And I would say even if you didn't have vocabulary, it sounds to me like you were leveraging all that. Is that Does that be all fair to say, Kayoko?

Yes. That's a very good point. And, also, actually, my first teacher really taught me that you in yoga, physical practice called Asana is a very small part of the big yoga tradition and wisdom. The real goal is like, really finding yourself and your bigger self within your ourselves and, you know, like, meditation and all these disciplines will take us there. So One of the things which hit me very hard was, I was 47 at that time. And somewhere I read that first part of your life is to experience and learn, but the second part of your life is to use that knowledge from the first part experience and use that to serve others. And it just hit me very hard because by then, I I had almost enough experiencing the public television's production. I mean, it was very worthwhile work, and I was very lucky, but I was very tired of, you know, that kind of work. I felt like I was exploiting people's stories for inter for the benefit of, broadcasting. And I didn't like that sense of exploitation. So I was kind of ready to move into something else, but I just didn't know that time, when I started yoga gift stock, that I'll drop my job, and this becomes my life work. So I, but it it I just had a very strong calling that, yes, I I'm so fortunate so far. I can do something for this. And, So for the 1st 8 years, there was no budget, and I was just volunteering. I worked as a television producer director, And then I went to India with my money in both cameras, and I started filming in India so that, you know, we can share stories back here. So I'm not sure if I should be proud of this, but I just believed in this and just kept doing 100% and just important thing was that I had people around me who continue to say, yes. Let's do it. I always had volunteers, team members, who shared this mission, and it just kept growing.

So for 8 years, you did it as a side hustle as a as a a passion project as a service project. So we're talking, like, 20, 2007 to 2015, 2016. And then you started to see some change from my part called the professionalization of an of a movement, right, And and listeners, I'm gonna say that's not a bad thing. In some quarter, sometimes people like, oh gosh. You took this thing that was volunteer, and then you turned it into a business or into a non off it, but it was an enterprise. And most sustainable movements at some point need some organizational structure that can support the people that are doing the leadership work. Otherwise, they tend to fade. People burn out. There's resentment that builds. So talk to us about what was that moment like? Like, 2000 15 2016. It started to get some, you know, more momentum. And you started to like, it sounds like somewhere along the way, you stop doing television and filmmaking, and this became your work. What what was what was happening at that moment? This is, like, 8 years ago, let's call it.

Yeah. Paul, thanks for organizing this timeline in a very smart way. Thank you. Yes. That's a good question. So I remember, you know, when you stop Organization and you are a volunteer and founder. You just I just felt guilty about getting paid. Because we didn't have big budget, and we tried to send as much money as possible to India to help these women and children. But Campace kept growing. Today, we are in over 30 countries, but 8 years ago, we probably reached half of that already. So I had so many campaigns, and I also went used to go to Hong Kong, London, we were invited to yoga yoga. Like, a festival's yoga, you know, conferences, and these were great opportunities. So I started going to these places and, like, I just don't have time to do my work. And, then so I started talking to some nonprofit consultants or nonprofit CEOs. I was lucky to be able to talk to some people. Really honestly, how they build the organizations, how do they pay their stuff and stuff like that. And one one person told me Kayoko, you can't feel guilty about this because if you die tomorrow and the organization collapses, that's the end of your, you know, whole structure, right, and you're already helping so many people. You don't want this to happen. So you have to build the organization. Robust enough that if I die tomorrow, somebody will come in and take over and the programs can continue. And it really made sense to me. I for the first time, I realized, oh, yeah. That's true. You know, I'm not just doing volunteer for just for for fun. It has impact. Life changing impact. I can't just drop the ball now. So, that's the big change. Like, a mind shift in me that I need to grow organization so that I can pay myself. Organization can pay myself as an employee. And, also, I have some I can have some stuff because if I fall apart, I still do probably 90% of the work today, with a very not very high salary, so we're still working on it. But, yeah, I learned that that's the way to do it and build the organization robust enough.

I can't agree more. And a couple of suggestions listeners, like conferences or things I heard. Kayoko, like, conferences and physical gatherings in person or incredible opportunities to connect with your audience. So it sounds like that was a really successful strategy that yoga conference in Hong Kong or, you know, you're in LA and there's one in New York or London being on the ground breaking bread. Doing yoga together, going for walks between sessions. Right? There's something really powerful about that. I would also add that in the modern age. Like, I used to do a lot of that. I worked for a conference that at one point had four thousand people. I was a director of social media for a conference that, you know, so it was really helpful that I got into the conference scene. I would add that doing things like podcast, guesting, and other, there are ways to digitally get some of that. So, you know, just in terms of, like, time efficiency and also, like, the carbon impact of, like, flying all over the world. We we it's sometimes super helpful to be in person, but also know That if that's not in your budget or there's some ethical concerns, you can do similar things using podcasting and YouTube. Channels and other ways of showing up where people are gathering. But that general idea of going where your ideal clients and donors and customers are gathering. It's such a smart strategy. So, yeah, thanks for sharing that with Kayoko talk to us, like, go back again 70 years ago or 5 years ago. Like, what were some of the actual programs? Like, you've referenced them a little bit. You're you're giving some resources here in India. Like like, what was it like 5, 8 years ago in terms of, how many people were you helping and what kind of issues were people donating to if you went back 5 or 8 years ago?

Yes. So we really started cock counting how many people we were supporting in 2011. And that year, so it's about 12 years ago, it was 5, 55 mothers with microloans.

So what what kind of things were in the microloans for? Like, when you gave a microloan, what what did that money go towards?

Yeah. It's a so we work with Nom Gaba Organization NGOs in India. So they administer, programs, but we work very closely. And so this program is Kayoko loan program is in West Bengal, South of Calcutta in a very poor rural area where women never really got out of the house and, you know, they were domestic servants mostly. So first, they are trained to go to the bank and open the bank account. That itself is a huge step. So it takes about a year for, really, to train the women to become just to be able to start. And, a group to do a business. So they make, like, a sari, you know, Indian sari, stitches or make a clay jewelry or they make, oh, very successful businesses, a straw maths feature, was a really successful story during COVID. And all the men and all the villagers were losing jobs because of lockdown, but this straw mat business thrived because there was so much demand. So things like that. And then so you asked me about 6, 7 years ago. So we we started microloans in 2010. Also, we important thing was we, identified 2 NGOs non government organizations. 1 in West Angonia, Calcutta. 2nd one, the other one is a near Bengaluru in Karnataka called Dinobandu Trust. So we found this I was very fortunate to find these amazing organizations because there are millions of NGOs in India or any other countries, but in India, there are a lot. And you have to be so careful not to, you know, do diligent due diligence and make sure that your money goes to the people who need money. Right? So I have been very fortunate and very proud of our partnership. But, anyways, my co loan program in Wespenga, and also we created a scholarship for high education in 2013, 10 years ago, for it started with 50 young girls, to be able to study, this scholarship is 5 years for higher education. So so that these girls can finish college degrees. And I'm so proud to say today, like, we see 200, almost 200 young people graduated already with college degrees, and we are this program is now funding 400 mainly girls, but some boys too, to continue their education, we see this tremendous transformation in their lives and in their families. So these are the 2 big programs, microlum, and also education programs.

And specifically, Like, for instance, with the micro loan program, you're helping women who had basically no independent income of their own. Learn how to start businesses and whether that's a jewelry, out of clay business, or making the straw mat. Suddenly, they have both the financial resources. And, also, I would imagine just the self esteem and self worth, like, suddenly, like, I'm a business owner. Like, I'm contributing to my family, my community, and the shift of I spend my days. Not that this is a bad way to spend your days, but I'm taking the resources of whatever we have and doing everything they can to stretch because maybe we're a 1 income family and maybe we have a few kids to now I'm contributing in this whole other way and during COVID, you said sometimes these were the only this is the only income in a family. Right? And just just imagine what that would feel like from Maybe getting some messages from a culture that women aren't as important or can't contribute in certain ways to, like, really developing a whole new way of being as a woman entrepreneur in a community that didn't have much of a history of that. Is that is that fair to say? Am I am I, like, telling a story that's not true, or does that feel somewhat close?

Yeah. It it's a very accurate account. And also another big, very important piece is it's not just the financial independence and self esteem, but also the peer support they create through this microfinancing. Or microloan structure. You know, we most of the organization, I think, still follow Grami foundations, Grami Banks, Doctor Eunice's you know, original, you know, structure, which is ask women to create, like, 10 women to create a group so that if somebody defaults, the group is responsible. So as a group, they never fall apart even if something happens. And in this process, they become such a close peer group. So I've seen year after year that women find the, you know, they have There's a lot of gender discrimination still very deep rooted. So there's a domestic violence, sexual harassment, all sorts of things. And they were never able to talk about these issues outside of the house. So they were depressed inside the house, but now they go out and do some, you know, work with other other women and this talk about this domestic issues, and they became so powerful that if some husband beats up some woman, when other members go to their house and threaten this husband that they will take this case to the police and fix they do, And it's just unbelievable empowering. It's not just financial, but I think it's more important that sense of, community and the support that feeling that you are not alone. And that goes to young girls who get educational scholarship also. This is a group of girls who are so empowered with education, with wisdom, but it's not I've learned now, it's not just academic knowledge that that has been most valuable, but equally valuable is the group And is the the fact that together, they can change, like, during COVID, these girls went to village when they didn't even have vaccine. They went to the village. Just wearing a mask and helped, you know, illiterate villagers with a medical help, oxygen help, food assistance, all sorts of things. And I I would just blown away how economic or education opportunities totally empower these individuals to take action for others.

That's beautiful. So let's do this. In a minute, Kayoko, I wanna come back and hear, well, how do you, like, help people who are giving in Los Angeles or Hong Kong or pan, understand these changes that are happening in India, which in some cases is a very long way away from where somebody's on their mat a thing yoga. How do you keep them connected and how you have scaled to this point? And then you also told me before we hit there's some very exciting things coming in terms of new scaling initiatives. Before we do that, I just wanna take a quick break and hear a word from our sponsor. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of LinkedIn. In fact, I've recently been sharing some of the experiences I've had of getting business consulting contracts from my LinkedIn connections. But let me give you a few data points that'll help you understand why I'm so excited. Linkedin has users in over 200 countries, and 53% of LinkedIn users have a high monthly income. Only about 1% of LinkedIn users actually post on the platform regularly. Compare that to Instagram. Where it's over 69%. So it's much harder to get your content seen. And lastly, marketers see 2 x higher conversion on LinkedIn than any other social media platform. Maybe you've heard about LinkedIn and you've thought about using it, but you're not really sure what to do. I've been doing a lot of sessions with people on this exact topic, LinkedIn for social entrepreneurs. If you wanted to, we could use my strategy session format to do a LinkedIn profile review, or we'll do things like look at your Headshot, your timeline photo, your bio, your about section, your experience, and tailor them all to your ideal client. And in addition, we'll do a simple LinkedIn marketing plan for your business based on your goals to help you leverage this powerful platform. If you'd like to find out more, you can click on the link below, then just let me know. You'd really like to up level your game on LinkedIn and get more results. So welcome back, everybody. And it's an honor to be here with Kayoko, the founder of yoga gives back, and we are talking up about where they are starting to get a little more current. And one of the questions I have for Yuka Yoko is Like I was saying before the break, how do you keep people informed? Right? Our episode title is igniting gratitude into social change. And I've seen I've been doing this for a long time. I've been in the social impact world for 30 years in one role or another. This podcast were, you know, well over 300 So so I've seen a lot of people doing a lot of great work. But sometimes when there's this sort of more global approach. And you've got one audience more in the wealthier. I imagine more urban, right, if it's New York or Tokyo or London, you've got somebody in a yoga mat in the Chicago community in LA who can afford to donate, you know, their class these days. What what is the class? What is the yoga class in LA even? I know what it costs in Albuquerque. What is the yoga class in LA cost in 2023?

30 to 35.

30 to $35. So, you know, like, that's that's that was one of your benchmarks. Right? Give one class. So give your $35 if you're in LA, right, to help move the needle in in, in India for women and kids. So, like, how do you help keep that sense of connection? Like, igniting gratitude. If I'm not yoga, practitioner in LA. Alright. I might want to see you at a conference and say, oh, this is a cool, good initiative. I'll give you 20 or 35 or $50 because it's awesome. But I'm not gonna keep doing that unless I have some sense that, like, what is this actually doing? How is this moving the needle? And I've seen the full range of people who do that really, really well. And I see people who mean so well, but they like don't do a good job. And then they wonder, well, why are our donations flat? Or why is this person, like, give us once? And then we never hear from them again, even though we'd love to have people, you know, do this as a yearly thing or give more over time or, you know, this is like a tech founder just on the 100 they sold a $100,000,000 company, and they still give us $35, and I'd like to see that change, but they're not doing a great job of helping people under stand what's actually happening on the ground in the communities that they're doing the impact work. What have you learned about, like, how to bridge what's going on for that yoga practitioner in LA or Tokyo with what's going on the ground in India.

That's a $1,000,000,000 question.

I don't know the answer, but at least I know it's an important It's

it's something I'm working on now, but, yeah, one thing I have been if I just shed light upon now, what we've done, which worked has been one to there are 2 things. One is a global ambassadors. So from the early on, I realized the value of all the teachers around the world, you know, like, there are millions of people practicing. You know, so many teachers are there, and teachers usually are so, you know, committed and grateful for this practice. So we became we we started asking some teachers who are interested becoming ambassadors and asked them to to host at least one class a year yoga gives back fundraiser, which is also awareness raising event. It's just not money, but talk about our mission, or sometimes now I just do the zoom and or send a video, talk about this. So that has been very beneficial. So I have group of global network. Without even meeting them, many of them. Second, luckily, I have been trained as a filmmaker. So every time I go to India, I just keep filming stories. Because I realized you probably noticed too in a nonprofit world, there aren't many I've never seen anybody who's just really following fund recipients, trajectory, life story. So from year 1, I have, you know, those my friend Amy award winning documentary editor, Beth Galher, who said who's helping my editing, and he said, Kayoko, if you go to India, just take your camera with you. And I'm like, what? Because I used to have professional camera with me, and I never had to carry camera, but okay. Now I'm on my home, you know, grassroots nonprofit. There was no budget. So I took my camera on in 2007, my first trip to India ever since then, I continued to film. And luckily, the first boy that I met in 2007, I continue to film his story. He's now a doctor. And we've We find, funded his medical school, college, and medical school, and, it just became amazing story. So these are the stories I really value that, audience has to know, even if you give it give us $10 a month, that really touches somebody's life in a very fundamental way. And so, like, right now, I have my marketing manager JC who's editing the footage. So we want to make sure that every Monday we'll be, you know, sharing. At least one, somebody's voice from India. So these are the things we are trying.

Oh, important. And, obviously, I do it through podcasting, not video, storytelling, but this general idea of storytelling, I can't agree more. I see so many impact entrepreneurs and leaders with these big dreams, but they can't move the needle. And I'm like, great. I can go to your website and see numbers, but where are the stories? There's no human connection. Like, so what you bring your camera in, it's not about the most sophisticated equipment. Right? My podcast just studio as it exists is probably about $400 worth of equipment. Maybe 5. I mean, let's call it $500 if you count my lights. Right? So $500 worth of equipment, but that equipment has gotten me into the ability to connect with and help amplify impact stories with some of the most amazing impact leaders on the planet. Right? And every week, for 303 weeks now. And before I did a podcast, I did blogging, but let's say stay with the podcast every week. Right? And I started that really early. I know I need to tell stories. This isn't just about strategies. You know, LinkedIn strategies or what to do on your website. Right? So what I'm hearing, and I just wanna highlight. I wanna pull out my highlighter, listeners, if you've been around a while, you know about Paul's Highlighter. The storytelling yoga gives back would not be where it is right now if you were not as committed to telling the stories that like what you just told this guy. The very first person that you met, this young male human who's now a doctor and you helped that happen, you're still telling that story. And if I'm a yoga practitioner saying, does this even matter? My $35 or $50 or I give you a $1000? Am I making a difference? I can go to your YouTube channel and say, I saw that guy last year, and now he's graduated medical school? Or he's, like, helping in a clinic? And he yes. I can I don't have to depend on somebody else? I can watch the stories myself. And have an understanding in a very human heart centered way. The dad is there too. Go to the website and you're disclosure about what your budget is. All that's on the site too. The numbers of how many people you've helped. That's a trend in the impact space, but some point, we gotta get into the very human storytelling and you're doing a really good job of that. And I would say somebody who's trying to understand why yoga gives back has gotten as much done as you had in these 16 years. You wouldn't understand it. You couldn't replicate it if you didn't have some storytelling mechanism like you do with your videos.

Yeah. Thank you. I didn't as I said, I had no business plan. So I just did what I could do.

But you were doing some things great. Like, intuitively, you've done some really good things. So So let's get a little more detail. What is yoga gives back from a social entrepreneur or a social enterprise leader right here right now? When you look at, like, what's up and running? You said it was 16 years in 2023. Like, what are some of the ways that revenue comes into the organization? How many people a year are you helping? What is your team? You mentioned a marketing manager? Is global ambassadors program? Like, Our listeners love granularity. They tease me how many times I use the word granular and gritty as a host. Right? So, like, just from that perspective, what can you tell us just snapshot of what yoga gives back looks like today we're recording this in August 2023.

Sure. So, after 16 years, Now we are empowering 2400 or more women and children in India. So we are very proud of that number. And these programs are these programs are supported by yoga communities, mainly in 30 countries, And, we have about 150 yoga, meditation, mindfulness, cure ton community leaders as ambassadors who continue to support us every time we we do, like, every June, we do a global gathering for India campaign. We had over 100 events and raised about 50,000 during COVID, we even raised 100,000. So and like you were saying, that during COVID, we did everything digitally. It was like a kind of zoom 3 day conference and cure time yoga meditation. We raised 100,000. So you know, I know we can do so much more. But, anyway, so we operate around, like, between 250,000 to 300,000 I really want to get to really next level. So right now, I'm the only employee. I I'm supported by, board of directors very photo directors, 7 of us. And, we have advisory board, about fifteen people for the leaders of different organizations or different communities who give me valuable advice for the events or how to do this and that specific questions. And then, I have two people working part time. I wish I could have full time employees, but we don't have budgets. So I have full time marketing and also, like, executive assistant persons. And, I still continue to do a little too much. So we are now finally going into real scaling project for the next 6 months. And I really hope we are working with a coaching, consultant with some other smaller nonprofit organizations. And, looks like we are gonna work on the business planning 3 to 5 year vision, and you talked about importers storytelling, which I totally agree, but she also tells me outcome indicator. These numbers are very important. So I'm learning, like, in our organization, I focused so far on numbers in India, how many people we are helping, but this I think it's very important that she told me that it's very important for us to also quantify how we are empowering the yoga community in the world too. Yeah. That's very challenging, but a very inspiring and interesting numbers I don't know how to do it yet, but I know, yoga communities like our to host our events, And I think there is a feeling of, you know, gratitude that they can express through yoga and to get back to India. So, yeah, that's where we are.

So I'm gonna I'm gonna, like, sort this into 2 buckets. One bucket is about where you've been and the impact you know, that you're having. So you mentioned some very impressive and specific numbers. You're helping 24100, women and young people, kids, and young people in India so far. And I'm doing that on a budget of in the range of 250 to 300 k a year, your team is yourself full time. You've got a awesome board of directors think you said sixteen people, two part time folks, and then this whole community of ambassadors and communities that you're working with. And it sounds like If I understand, this is the 2nd buck, Kayoko. This is the, like, getting a little more clear about going forward and scaling. Being able to quantify and tell the story a little bit more like how many ambassadors, how many yoga communities, what's the impact you're having, not just in India, but for that the stanga community in LA that's coming together and doing a day. And yoga gives back day and has been for however many years. Like, what's that ripple effect on not just the folks who receive in India, but also people who gather and express gratitude together as a community. It sounds like that's, part of the suggestions you're getting in this new consulting to help you scale. Is that fair to say my understanding a little bit about what the advice you're getting?

I think so. Yeah.

Awesome. This is

all new to me. So

Yeah. You're just getting started on this scaling initiative. Anything else do you see? So this is, like, that second bucket. Anything else you can tell us about, like, that next 3 to 5 years, there's a there's a visioning process. What do you want that to look like? Where are you trying to go? There's something encouragement to be more articulate about the outcomes for the people and the communities that are expressing their gratitude, not just that young man who's now a doctor, which you have been documenting, but there's this new initiative to what about people who are in putting and are organizing and are giving. What's the what's the impact there? Is that part of what you're trying to work on? That's sort of this part of the scaling initiative. Is that fair to say?

Yeah. I I think, when people host a class for us once a year, It's a great moment on that day, but they forget, right, easily forget. So how do we continue that, more like, holistic, but, like, mutually beneficial connections. Maybe studios can have our badge or photographs of the people they are, you know, supporting or something. I'd I'm not sure, but, there are many ways to do this, and I'm doing a survey. With ambassadors, you know, what we can do more and, things like that. So and also like, for example, YGB, so we have YGB Japan, YGB Netherlands, and YGB UK, and this is all done by volunteer ambassadors. Basically, and we have fab Facebook sites. But I love to see if we can really strengthen these international wings. So there is a budget to support their activities and, so that I don't have to be on top of all these, you know, different branches, but there's somebody who can, you know, be in charge of local communities, events, and campaigns because every country has different situation. An economic situation is, like, always shifting. So for example, US dollar is so strong, but Japanese yen is very weak.

Yeah.

So, you know, we can't keep pushing the same thing to everyone in the world. We have to be very sensitive. Some countries struggling much more with a flood or something. So the money has to go to somewhere else first. Right? So it's very important to have local input so that I'm not just, you know, sending all the, like, a cookie cutter kind of campaign for everyone.

So getting some country specific or region specific, you know, yoga gives back Japan or yoga gives back Brazil. Or I don't know. You know, wherever you have strong presence and organizing as a country, having leadership and having some ways of having nuance. And so it's not a, like, one size fits all program, but that each country or region can self organize, make priorities, and also be understanding of the economics and the other region specific issues that are facing so that it doesn't feel like a monolithic brand, but it feels a little more nuanced for where somebody lives, where they practice. Is that does that sound about right?

I think so. What do you think?

Sounds great. Sounds great. My my consultant mind, I'm just curious, is there any conversation? Have you done any, or is there any converse you know, there's some huge yoga brands I don't know. Think Lululemon are in the US. Has there been any strategic partnerships or any conversation with brands that have a lot of gravitas in the yoga space about how they might get involved.

Yeah. That's a really question because I really struggle to engage big brands. We have, UK's, life form yoga mat company, which is a B Corp. And I met the founder at the yoga event in London, like, about 10 years ago, and it was we were small, but He believed in a mission, and he there have been such a general sponsor for so many 10 years now. And I wish so many more, like, clothing companies and, whoever is making a lot of money from yoga, help us to get back. I continue to reach out and, you know, it more and more happening. Like, our ambassador, one of the ambassador is top brand ambassador. Also, and she convinced the I don't want to say a fish company, but the brand to give us some money as a condition to for her to become a ambassador for the brand. So we got some grant from them and things like that. So Yeah. Just have to keep pushing, and there's always surprise. You know? Yeah. Maybe you are near. It doesn't work, but next year, maybe they're it's different. So My I learned that don't give up and just keep asking the same thing over and over.

It's a $80,000,000,000 year industry. Actually, I'd some of the research I did said it might even be a $100,000,000,000 a year industry nowadays. But, anyway, there's a lot of money changing hands in the in the name of teaching and experiencing yoga. So, yeah, there's there's definitely incredible opportunities. So Kayoko, I could hang out with you all day, and I wanna be respectful of your time and our listeners' time. If there was something we haven't yet gotten to, and you wanna make sure we cover it. Or there's something you wanna leave our social entrepreneur listeners with that you've learned and we haven't touched on it or unpacked it yet, what would that be?

Thank you for that question. I, yoga gives back is for yoga community, yoga practitioners who benefit from the practice to give back. But fundamentally, I think it's for everyone. You know, social entrepreneurs are people who are thinking not just profit maximization, but trying to create this world a better better place at the same time as well as making profit, right, or maybe not so much profit. I don't know. Depends on how people put the priorities, but most of us need some money to live. So, in yoga, it's a, like, people call it, you know, it's a tradition like karma yoga saver is a action, selfless action, and do things without the fruit of without thinking attached to the fruit of your action. That's the that's so that just just do it, you know, just do it for for the to help others. Selfless purposes. And I I just sometimes feel like it's conflicting to, like, business plan in the business world. You know, you're you're supposed to have business plan for to think about 3 year, 5 year, whereas yoga, his yoga tradition tells you forget about fruit of your action. Just do it. Right? And I still, like, I'm struggling in between. I think it's a very interesting question. But on a daily basis that I just think then there is a calling. Just do it. And maybe you can I I I just think you can do business school? Like, I'm doing 16 years later. Maybe it's too late.

It's If you get to the point that Yoga gives back 16 years in and you've gotta, like, $300,000 a budget, then you can, like, do it in this plan. But don't worry about it before Yeah.

Yeah. I I just think that that is there is something very powerful about that. Just focus on the action without thinking too much about the outcome. But if there's a pure calling, just do it. Believe in it and do it.

Peter, Paul. As you were talking, I was thinking about some research, and I'll put a link to it. Listeners, there's actually some research by a a researcher out of the University of Michigan, done in Detroit, and it was, social entrepreneurs who entered into a traditional business accelerator, an accelerator is supposed to be a business that's already up and running, For instance, I'm the coach for an accelerator here in Albuquerque. You have to be up and running for at least 3 years. Make least $250,000 a year revenue and have at least one employee besides the owner or founder. Most businesses in that accelerate are at least half a 1,000,000 some as much as up to $2,000,000 a year, and one's even above that. Some have 16, 20 employees, right, anyway, you get a sense. That's an accelerator. If you take a social entrepreneur who's up and running and has basic revenue and have some good things, but they wanna grow it and out and you put them in a traditional accelerator, the failure rate goes up. A year later, a lot of those folks aren't in business. And why am I telling that story? Because I think I'm just trying to back you up, Kayoko. We have to be careful about, yes, strategic plans, and marketing plan. All these things are great, but if we're not thoughtful about some of the communities that we operate in that, business as usual approach to trying to grow something actually rather than help us succeed actually makes us fail more because a lot of the communities that you listeners, the folks that listen to this podcast are here to serve, has seen a lot of trauma or operating, with, you know, people are just trying to get by day to day and don't have a lot of extra. And we're trying to figure out ways to accentuate and empower and bring more resources. For instance, in inner city, Detroit, that's a community that that's where this researcher did his research. And he said if you have a business that's already up and running in Detroit and you care about communities that have historically been left out And you just come in with a traditional, like, cookie cutter accelerator business model where they're gonna say, yeah, what's marketing plan for the next 5 years and how you're gonna grow your revenue, you're likely to fail. So I just wanna back you up. That doesn't mean we don't plan. That's not what I'm saying at all, but I wanna say, we need to be intentional and not lose sight of our values and some of the unique challenges that you listeners of this podcast tend to work on and what you're saying, Kayoko, is there's a lot of research or at least there's a growing amount of research to back that up. We can't just take a business as usual approach in our planning efforts Yes. We can plan, but sometimes we need to, like, just get up and running and see what's working and try some things in innovative ways. That somebody who's starting a, I don't know, fill in the blank, more traditional, a construction company or a hair salon or a quarter grocery store. Like, there's a little bit more templates for some of those kind of businesses and how you scale them in kinds of businesses that we have on this podcast, sometimes we need to be a little more willing to iterate and try things and listen a lot more than somebody with a business that, there's more familiarity with those businesses didn't have such challenges when even in a place like Detroit or intercity Albuquerque where I live, the The the models that are out there for how you grow a business that doesn't look like somebody on the show are more well developed. So we need to be more creative and a little more patient with what we're developing would be something I feel comfortable saying after 16 years in this space now. So I I appreciate what you're saying, Yoke. And I just wanted to back you up. There's research for that. I'm glad you're thinking about it now. We can plan. But let's be smart about how we plan and understand that our businesses on this show might not look like what some folks who are used to a lot of planning and a lot of, rapid growth might not have the same depth of impact intentionality that we have on this show. So I really appreciate you saying that. And, it's just been fabulous having you on the show today, Kayoko. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate it.

Yeah. So we'll put links in the show notes. Go check out. Let's do a we do community. Let's go share what yoga gives back is doing. Look at the show notes. I'll also put links to Kiba and Mohammed Eunice. And if I can find it, the film that you make, maybe it's not on the internet anywhere, but certainly some of the films that the videos that you've made of folks that you've helped in India, maybe I could find that film with the doctor you mentioned. That would be awesome. So let's spread the good work if you're a yoga practitioner or any sort of well-being practitioner, please dig in deep share the great work that yoga gives back, consider making a donation yourself. If you go to a yoga class or a gym, you know what it costs. Right? And for the price of that, a for you're talking, like, my $40 a month gym, you know, membership here in a in Albuquerque. That's what it costs to join a halfway decent gym in Albuquerque, and I could take that $40 and really help somebody through the yoga gifts back. Community. So consider that listeners, all that will be in the show notes. Before we go, just a reminder, we love listeners suggested topic and guess it just happened again. Today, I have 2 in my inbox. I have to get back to But I don't know why more podcast host don't do this. I'm weird. I guess most people don't do this, but I love it when you listeners say, hey. It would be awesome. If we had so and so on the show, if you have an idea for an episode, go to the aware printer's website. There's go to our contact page and there's 3 simple guidelines where you can suggest a show. And lastly, I wanna just say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care in these intense times, and thank you for all the positive impact that you're working for in our world.