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Brown Water Coffee, Making a Difference with Ricky Padilla
presented by Shopify
The founder of Brown Water Coffee Ricky Padilla joins the program. Every time someone buys a bag of Brown Water Coffee, that person is funding clean water projects in communities that lack access to safe drinking water.
In 2005, nineteen year old Ricky Padilla went on a humanitarian trip to an impoverished part of Russia. There he met a young, abused orphan girl named Svieta who changed his life. The seven year old girl and the recent high school graduate grew very close, and when it was time for Ricky to leave the orphanage, Svieta spoke unforgettable words through tears: “He was the closest thing I have ever had to a dad.”
After hearing these crushing words and witnessing the bewilderingly impoverished life the children at the orphanage were stuck in, Ricky knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life serving the world’s most poor and vulnerable.
The Water
One of the greatest impairments to economic development in poor communities and the second largest killer of children worldwide is dirty water. Though the problem is large, solutions are available. Every dollar invested in improved water access and sanitation yields an average of $12 in economic returns. Seeing this as his opportunity to make a big change in many people’s lives, Ricky started Brown Water Coffee in 2011.
Every time someone buys a bag of Brown Water Coffee, that person is funding clean water projects in communities that lack access to safe drinking water. We partner with Living Water International, an organization with decades of experience and a high success rate. In February of 2012, the Brown Water team will make its first trip to provide clean water to a thirsty community using the funds raised from selling exquisite coffee.
The Coffee
Every bag of coffee is artisan roasted in small batches in the beautiful mountains of Bozeman, Montana. Chad Kimm, BWC’s coffee master, takes delicate care of each batch, making sure that each bag of coffee sold is of the highest quality and flavor. With years of experience and an unmatched passion for coffee, Chad creates coffee roasts that match the beauty and complexity of the farms the coffees were grown on.
All of the coffees that BWC sells are ethically purchased, meaning that customers can be confident that their purchases are helping poor coffee farming communities around the world. Additionally, all BWC coffees are certified organic, reflecting the company’s commitment to using the most environmentally friendly business practices.
The Invitation
We at Brown Water Coffee ask that you join our story, that you make helping others a daily priority. We offer you an easy way to do that, simply by purchasing Brown Water Coffee and inviting your friends and family to do the same. In this way, you are helping girls and boys, moms and dads, students and farmers get access to clean water so that they can take a first step out of poverty.
But don’t let this be the only way. Be creative. Be thoughtful. And be selfless in anyway you can. With anyone. Everyone. Today. Tomorrow. Every day.
Let’s do it together.
Links: BrownWaterCoffee.com
Listen to our interview with Owner Ricky Padilla & Host Eric Dye discuss the following:
1) What inspired you to start Brown Water Coffee?
2) What made you want to focus on the issue of clean water over all of the other causes and problems around the world?
3) How did you come to the decision of choosing Shopify as your ecommerce platform.
4) How has the experience been with Shopify and the support?
5) Why did you start a for-profit business instead of a charity?
6) How much money from each purchase goes to clean water projects?
7) Tell me about the coffee.
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Shopify, a company that is deeply rooted with entrepreneurial spirit, is committed to helping participants along the way by offering world-class marketing and sales tips through a special Build-A-Business website, which will offer knowledge and insight from partners Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferriss, and sponsors like Google, MailChimp, and PayPal. Shopify has also built out significant prizes for the winners to help their businesses succeed long after the contest:
Grand Prize: $100,000 cash; VIP trip for two to New York, including round-trip airfare, hotel and spending money, lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); one-hour power session with Gary Vaynerchuk on how to further grow your business; trip to Mountain View, California, to visit Google Headquarters and receive special education from Google experts; and while in California, enjoy dinner with Tim Ferriss.
6 Industry Prizes: $20,000 cash each; VIP trip for two to New York, including round-trip airfare, hotel and spending money; lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); $7,500 Google Adwords credit.
Canadian Prize: $5,000 at the Apple Store; five-day VIP trip for two to New York, including round-trip airfare and hotel; lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); $15,000 Google Adwords credit.
The winner of last year’s contest – which created nearly 1,400 businesses and generated over $3.5 million in combined revenue – was DODOcase (www.dodocase.com), a San Francisco company that makes iPad cases using traditional book-binding techniques. The founders, Patrick Buckley and Craig Dalton, are now running a company with projected annual earnings of $4-5 million.
“Our online store looks so good, and works so well that our cases are flying off the shelf,” said Craig. “Without Shopify, there’s no way we would be where we are today. Shopify is our secret weapon.”
For more details on the Build-A-Business contest, including registration, please visit (www.shopify.com/contest)
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