Speaker 0:
Welcome to the Wonderspace podcast, it's great to have you on board. My name is Steve Cole and over the past 56 episodes I have been asking the same 6 questions to amazing people from around the world. The questions orbit around wonder and stories of hopefulness and the setting for each journey is a shared window on the space station from where we see everything from a different perspective. Before we introduce our guest, our friends at asknature.org are going to help us to rewonder.

Speaker 1:
Some deep water bacteria have developed a way of taking the guesswork out of navigation. They combine iron with oxygen or sulfur to produce magnetic crystals which they use to form compass needles embedded in their single-celled bodies. Each bacterium will make 10 to 20 packets of crystals, wrapping each 1 in a fatty membrane. Electromagnetic attraction arranges the packets in a line along the direction of the Earth's magnetic field. The bacteria align their bodies with their compasses and simply move forward or backward in their ongoing search for the low oxygen zones where they thrive.

Speaker 0:
Our orbit this week will take us over the snow capped Himalaya mountains and to experience these views with us in this ultimate window seat we welcome Sara Osterholzer who is an Impact Entrepreneur and the co-founder of the Good Business Club which in 3 years has grown to a network of over 90 businesses. Sarah was nominated by our 28th guest on Wonderspace, John Pritchard from Parler Eyewear. Here is John on why he nominated Sarah.

Speaker 2:
I've nominated Sarah because she is a woman doing incredible things down here for the Brighton community. She is simply a good human who supports and champions business for good, businesses that are putting people and planet before profit. She's incredibly hardworking, very positive, well connected and simply think her story should be shared on here.

Speaker 0:
With a panoramic view of earth, I start by asking Sara, if we could do a flypast on any part of the world that is significant to you, which place, city or country would it be and why?

Speaker 3:
So I think for me, it would be an area called Dharamshala in the foothills of the Himalayas because that's where I spent my early childhood. So I attended an international boarding school that was right at the end of a long road, basically nestled in the mountains with, yeah, that view of the foothills as my kind of daily view. It was surrounded by jungle. We had everything from mongoose to bears. And I also remember we used to do treks around the mountains, either to go to the rivers to have a little play or kind of go up the mountains as well.

Speaker 3:
And it was I mean it was a real adventure obviously kind of growing up there and I did visit just for a few days in 2010. So I think it would be really interesting because when I went that time, it had changed quite a lot. I was there between the ages of 7 to 12. So, I mean, everything anyway just looked much smaller. But obviously in that space of time as well so much had shifted in the way that it looked, what they kind of built over the times but also just how it felt.

Speaker 3:
I think yeah going back again, I think also that idea of flying and seeing it from that perspective would be amazing to go and just, I guess, be in that memory of that beautiful space.

Speaker 0:
Sarah, give us a glimpse into your life story so far with an emphasis on what you are doing currently.

Speaker 3:
I was born in Berlin, my mum's English, my dad's German and I, although I was born in Germany, I spent my early childhood in India on the foothills of the Himalayas. I was there from age of 7 till 12, living a very adventurous life. So that was very much, I think, formed a lot of also my view of the world as well, and kind of philosophies on what was important in the world. When I came back from India, we lived in South London and I went to university at University of Sussex in Brighton, just on the English coast. University is actually when I was, I guess like many people tried to figure out what I was going to do with my life, that I came across a term, which is social enterprise, that really spoke to me.

Speaker 3:
So I was studying business which I found was very interesting and I chose it as a degree because I just thought you know anything I do I'll be working in a business so that's very practical but I think like many other systems in our modern world I think they're quite outdated for where we're heading in the future. And it was that moment when I came across this term around social enterprise that using business as a tool to change the world for the better. That really just synergized a lot of things that were really important to me and an opportunity I saw there. So I also just had a sense that I wasn't going to get a lot of satisfaction working in larger corporates. So when I graduated I just went out and found opportunities to work with entrepreneurs who were trying to change the world.

Speaker 3:
So the first 4 years of my career was employee number 1 for a couple of different startups who were trying to do things differently, really inspiring entrepreneurs. And I guess I got to really see the reality of starting up businesses, not just the theory that I'd learned as well. And it was, yeah, after those 4 years, I got invited to work for an organisation in Brighton again which I'd really love that city who were looking at supporting good businesses and I designed and delivered an accelerator program again then starting to help individuals on that that journey at the very beginning and unfortunately that business went to administration and we were only told 24 hours before we had to stop trading, which led me to set up my own business. So that's what I'm doing at the moment. I've set up the Good Business Club about a month after being made redundant and we're now just reached a three-year mark.

Speaker 3:
And what we do is make it possible for first-time entrepreneurs who want to change the world to set up sustainable businesses without having to have decades of experience or be a master of everything in their business by tapping into the expertise and experience of others who have blazed the trail before them and have a lot of generosity and insights that they want to contribute to other people as well. So that's my contribution to trying to change the old system of business and really use it as a powerful tool in the world. I said we're 3 years now, we've survived a pandemic, we're about 90 business strong of very generous, inspiring and supportive businesses who are really up to changing the world.

Speaker 0:
Where on earth is your place of reset or recharge?

Speaker 3:
So my place of reset isn't a location per se but I guess an activity so 1 of my passions is good business and the other passion is motorbikes which might surprise a few people when you talk about reset and yes I do love the adrenaline rush and the speed that comes with motorbikes, but actually when people really do ask like, why is it that you love them so much? It comes to this point. What I get the most from them is that they really demand for you to be very present. When you're going on a road that fast, you can't be thinking about anything else. You have to be in the moment, just you, the road and being very aware.

Speaker 3:
And what that means is you switch off entirely from everything else, from any other stress. I used to have quite severe anxiety that meant I couldn't really be around people, it was too overwhelming And it was the only thing I found that actually when I was on the bike, I really could be so present I'd forget about everything and just be in that moment. It's just you, you know, in the elements as well, because you can really feel it. Normally in very beautiful scenery, I'm very lucky where I live, it's absolutely stunning but I also like to go on adventures and that's what I do, I take my bike, me and my bike somewhere beautiful and just go and be really present and when I come back even from an hour or so on the bike energetically I feel that okay okay every step I can take on the next challenge. So yeah, probably quite surprising for most people, it doesn't look like what relaxation might look like for others.

Speaker 0:
What wonder of the natural world excites you the most?

Speaker 3:
So I think for me, when I thought of excitement, I also thought of, I guess, magic, because I mean, in the world it is very magical and exciting. So for me, I think it's got to be the Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights, which I was very fortunate enough to have seen on a trip to Iceland. I think partially it's trying to really understand what it is, but there's something about lights dancing in the sky that is just so magical and it is something you wouldn't see anywhere else. A lot of other places that you can see mountains in every country which I absolutely love still but it's very unique that isn't it so for me I think that's definitely going to be my choice there.

Speaker 0:
Sarah what is your story of hopefulness that's not your own about a person, business or non-profit who are doing amazing things for the world.

Speaker 3:
This is definitely a hard 1 and I guess what people you may speak to say the same when you work with such inspiring people but for me I really would like to share about a person who I'm very grateful and honored to call actually my co-founder of the Good Business Club. Her name is Ruth Anslow. And she, before we set up the club, had set up an ethical supermarket with her sister. She, like I think quite a lot of people who were trying to change the world, had worked in the corporate world, done, you know, obviously very well for herself and shares the same story of being on a balcony in Barcelona in this flat that she had, you know, looking out and just thinking, you know, I've got to where I wanted to, like, surely I should be feeling happy about this right now. And I think that moment for her was 1 that really shifted her perspective of what she wanted to do and how she wanted to contribute into the world.

Speaker 3:
So her and her sister who happen to be having similar kind of moments in their life decided to really tackle, again, to what systems are broken, right? There's supermarkets called Hisby which stands for how it should be. And they really want to go about and go, look, can we create a supermarket that pays the supplier really well or more than what most supermarkets do, that, you know, pays their employees living wage at minimum, that stocks only organic, ethical products that are, you know, not having a negative impact on the world. Like, is it possible? Let's see what we can do about it.

Speaker 3:
And I mean, 10 years down the line, they've now set up their second store. And it doesn't come without challenge. And I think that's for you also where the hopefulness comes in. She is a very authentic individual. And I think for myself, she really showed me that, you don't have to be perfect to go out into the world and stand for something and see what you can do about it.

Speaker 3:
Right? Like she wasn't a supermarket expert before she set this up, she was just an individual who was passionate about something. And I think also for myself, and she knows this as well, I've grown a lot through setting up the club and having her by my side has made all the difference. I think I probably would have been way too scared to do it on my own. But having someone who saw something in me that maybe I didn't and could be that champion, it gave me hope.

Speaker 3:
And I think having known that there's individuals like that in the world, being that for other people, being that for everybody in a sense as well, right, being that catalyst for change and facing everything that we have to every day but still being there for other people I think is really hopeful right? I think we need more of that. I think that a lot of people exist like that, we just maybe don't always hear about them. So yeah, roofs definitely brings hope into my life.

Speaker 0:
Finally, as we prepare to re-enter, what insight, wisdom or question would you like to share with us?

Speaker 3:
So I've been delving, I think quite intentionally over the last couple of years around stoic philosophies, which has, I would say, radically kind of changed my perspective of life and brought an enjoyment into it that I think has been quite profound really. And there are a few, I guess, wisdoms, reminders, habits that I, try and ingrain into my life and I thought I'd share 2 of them. So 1 of them is around enjoying the journey. I think there's that thing of like life actually isn't about getting to destinations. And I mean, yes, goals are amazing to keep you focused and to help you create amazing things but that's actually not where the happiness is found and if you can really take that on and realize that actually the enjoyment of getting from here to there is where you're going to find that happiness.

Speaker 3:
I think that's massively shifted day to day, how I can actually enjoy life. The second 1, maybe on an even deeper level, is that we are not our thoughts. And I think for me, that has had a massive impact. I talked a bit again earlier about having a part of my life that was really impacted by anxiety. And I think I just associated myself so much with what I was thinking of that's who I was and I think as a science society we've kind of that's what we do we've identified ourselves with with that way of being and which we quite constraining and I remind myself of this every day and it has really led to some you know personal breakthroughs for me as well.

Speaker 3:
I think it's a very powerful thing to contemplate about if you haven't already. So those are my 2 little bits of wisdom for the day.

Speaker 0:
To find out more about Sara and the Good Business Club go to Sara Osterholzer.com and thegoodbusinessclub.com To engage with the previous 56 Wonderspace episodes go to our website ourwonder.space I want to thank Sarah for joining us on Wonderspace and I hope you can join us next week for more wonders and stories of hopefulness.