Hi. This is Paul Zellisser, and welcome to the Awarepreneurs podcast. On this show, we dive deep into wisdom from some of the world's leading social entrepreneurs. Our goal is to help increase your positive impact, your profitability, and your quality of life. Before we get into today's topic. I have 1 request. If you could hit subscribe and do a review on your favorite podcast app, it helps most people learn how to have positive impact through values based business. Thank you so much.

Today, I am thrilled, and I mean really thrilled, to introduce you to our guest, Juan Steven Alvarez Gatto. And our topic is helping people to transform a dangerous neighborhood. Steven is a cofounder of Zippy Tours, an impact focused tour company that shows visitors how district 13, formerly the most dangerous neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia uses art, dance, music, and entrepreneurship to transform the neighborhoods that it operates in. Full disclosure, I met Steven because I was on a tour with Zippy Tours and it was amazing, highly recommended. First of all, I just loved Colombia as a whole country. I loved Medellin as a city, and Steven as a human and the work they're doing at Zippy Tours. If you're ever in Medellin, go check it out. Steven, welcome to the show.

Thanks. Thanks for having me, Paul. I'm so happy to share with every one of your audience. Yeah. But we're joining the place and and how we're trying to make all of these transfer way better.

Well, you're doing a great job. Top. And before we get into zippy tours and all the great work you're doing, Steven, and the incredible impact you're having not only on District 13, but beyond, we'll get there. But before we get there, what would somebody need to know about you? And, like, this is a very personal journey as well as the company. Like, your background, Steven. This is a very close to your heart conversation. Tell us about where you live. Tell us about District 13, and what was life like before Zippy Tour started?

Okay. So I'm I'm I'm a farmer, actually. I'm coming from a farmer's family. I was born in a very small town close to Medellin, that, my family started having a conflict in a really, really June 8 of mine. So When I was 2 years old, my family had to leave that place. It was for a little bit of danger situation, so that's why we end up living in in Medellin. So we came to community 13 or district 13, And we start a new life in the place. So we came here honestly because it was not like my mom my mom was a was a young mom.

Mama was she was 17 when she got pregnant, and I was worrying when she was, 19. So my mom is a single mother. So, most people can actually imagine, a little bit of the difficulties we got in the, in the in the past time coming to Medellin City, being the city, being farmers. So we came here because, obviously, it was cheap. We were no expecting what displays was gonna be for all of us. Just to give you a little bit more about the the history of this place, it was formerly the most dangerous neighborhoods in Medellin City in under 98 to the 99, we used to start having gangs problems, we started having dangerous situations, places that where we live used to have borders that we cannot cross and places that even that seems To be so close to the places that we live, we are not allowed to cross. That changed my life a 100%. That changed my whole entire life.