So you want to help. Now how do you actually pull it off? Look no further than Soles4Souls CEO Buddy Teaster for answers on how to turn goodwill into on-the-ground impact. In this episode, he joins co-hosts Enrique and Kristi to talk about the behind-the-scenes realities of creating opportunity, delivering agency and preserving the dignity of those served. Learn more about the value of the micro enterprise, what a pair of shoes can really mean, the organization’s recent Ukraine relief efforts in Moldova and what’s next for this multifaceted leader and ultramarathoner (yes, you read that right!).

Intro/Outro (00:02):

Welcome to logistics with purpose presented by vector global logistics in partnership with supply chain. Now we spotlight and celebrate organizations who are dedicated to creating a positive impact. Join us for this behind the scenes glimpse of the origin stories, change making progress and future plans of organizations who are actively making a difference. Our goal isn’t just to entertain you, but to inspire you to go out and change the world. And now here’s today’s episode of logistics with purpose

Enrique Alvarez (00:34):

Good day, and welcome once again to another very interesting and exciting episode of, uh, logistics with purpose with have an amazing guest today. Christy, how are you doing today?

Kristi Porter (00:44):

I am good. I’m excited to have this conversation, especially in light of, um, what’s going on in the world and just what this organization continually does as far as impact. So this is gonna be another good one and, um, yeah, bringing a little sunshine to our great a here in Atlanta.

Enrique Alvarez (01:00):

Definitely. I think it’s, uh, I mean, with everything that’s going on, as you mentioned, it’s, uh, inspiring to kind of talk to, to, uh, our guests today and to organizations like the one that he’s leading and, uh, they’re doing amazing things to help the Ukraine and they have done amazing things to help other communities in the past as well. So I’m eager and excited to learn a bit more about them and, and hear their story.

Kristi Porter (01:22):

Yeah. So today we’d love to welcome Buddy Teaster the president and CEO of souls for souls, probably an organization that many of you are familiar with. So hi buddy. We’re so glad you’re here.

Buddy Teaster (01:33):

Ah, it’s a pleasure to be here and wish we could be in person, but this is a great way to connect. Great to meet you Enrique and see you again, Kristi.

Kristi Porter (01:40):

Yes. Yes. We have the privilege of me eating at sustainable brands conference and had a terrific conversation. So I’ve been looking forward to having you on. Um, so before we get into souls for souls though, we wanna know just a little bit more about you. So tell us a little about your background and where you grew up and kind of those early years.

Buddy Teaster (01:59):

Sure. So I was born in West Virginia. My dad was a coal when I was born and his dad was a coal miner. So it’s one of those stories in a, in a way. And then we moved from West Virginia to Pennsylvania, which is really where I grew up through the ninth grade, then made a big switch from very rural, uh, Pennsylvania to suburban Washington DC. It was a shocking thing, one of the best things that ever happened to me didn’t I didn’t know that at the time, but it’s, uh, in retrospect clearly was a, an amazing widening of my horizons and then went to school in Virginia, stayed and worked, and then moved to Dallas, Texas to go to business school, which I never thought I would stay in Dallas. I thought I’d get my MBA and head back home. And then 25 years later was wrong about that. I, um, and then came to souls for souls in 2012, and that caused me to move to Nashville, Tennessee. And this finally feels like home. I’m super happy living in this city and doing the work that I get to do and be a part of at souls for

Enrique Alvarez (02:57):

Souls. Well, thank, thank you so much for, for joining us today and, and, uh, thank you for everything you and your organization does going back to your earlier days. Um, can you tell us a story about like, um, something you remember that probably shaped the course of your career afterwards and something that kind of made you kind of, um, start heading in the direction that you ended up heading?

Buddy Teaster (03:17):

You know, I think it, a lot of it is around education for me. Um, my dad in particular, he quit high school to join the army when he was 16, he got his G E D in the army and he, he never went to college. He was a coal miner. Then he went to work for the government where he had an amazing career. And I was the first one to graduate from college on either side to my family. And that always felt like a huge opportunity and not a burden, but like a responsibility. It’s probably a better word and like conscious of the fact that I shouldn’t blow that. And, um, and so education has been super important. I think to get me kind of to where I am, it’s definitely made me much more aware of the world and to look at that process at, of education not, and it was kind of one of the biggest fights I ever had with my dad was around this. Education’s not about getting a job. It’s about sort of understanding relat to the world. And I think that has continued to pay dividends for me of being curious and trying to figure out what my role is and how I can help make it a better place.

Enrique Alvarez (04:19):

Where, what does your, um, uh, I guess caring and, and making an impact in the world kind of comes from, is it something that you also kinda, uh, trace back to your early days or like an example that you probably had before, or,

Buddy Teaster (04:34):

You know, I think probably a seminal moment for me when I was in college. Um, I was a religious studies and French major and my advisor was in the religious studies department and he was a world religion guy and we spent six weeks with him in India. Wow. I don’t think it was a particular like there wasn’t one thing that happened, but just like I’d barely traveled anywhere. I’d been, when I was a high school, sophomore, I went to France and England did nothing until I went to India and it rocked my world. And, and I think that probably more than anything else opened my eyes to how much was out there, how different it could be, how interesting it was, how complicated the world really is. And that really, I think has driven me more than anything else. That’s, there’s been lots of things that happened since then. Yeah. But it was the, probably this seminal moment for me.

Kristi Porter (05:23):

Wow. That’s really cool. Um, well speaking of, uh, your education, I want to hear definitely more about religious studies and French as your degree path, how those kind of even came to be. Um, since that’s kind of an interesting pairing. And then just to, I, I guess also speaking to education in general, how, uh, that is clearly not what you’re doing at this moment, unless I would love to hear this interview in French. Um, although I couldn’t keep up, but I’m curious like how that sort of paved the way and what lessons now, looking back, you’ve kind of learned and been able to keep in mind from those studies and that education.

Buddy Teaster (05:58):

So believe it or not, it was a compromise. Um, when I went to college, I thought I was gonna be an economics major. I was on the path, like I said, I felt the responsibility and the first one going to college, like I better do well and get a good job. Like that was my, and when I got there, that’s not what I I’ve less, this is, that’s not what I wanted to do. And so when I told my father I was gonna be a religious studies major, like I said, it was the biggest fight we ever had. He flipped out. And so believe it or not, French was a compromise. Like somehow that would make me more commercially viable if I could speak another language. Um, but you know, the thing, I guess the thing that I really learned from that is I didn’t back down on that.

Buddy Teaster (06:40):

I, you know, my dad’s a smart guy, right. And he’s, he’s got a life experience that I never had, but I just didn’t feel like that’s what I should do. So the willingness to try a different path and to be curious, I think that’s something that I have continued to try to do. And, you know, to go from that, then I worked in the theater for a couple of years. And when I went back to business school, it was to get an MBA and an ma in arts administration, I thought, well, I’ll do theater, another awesome career choice from my father’s perspective And, uh,

Kristi Porter (07:11):

Totally in line with the past. Right,

Buddy Teaster (07:14):

Exactly. And after it was an amazing program, I’m at Southern Methodist university in Dallas. It was really like, I learned a lot in that time and I really dug the business side. And when I got out and my first job was in the theater and I’m like, this is not what I want to do. And I wound up working for the young president’s organization, which was also a not-for-profit but much more business oriented. And that seemed like the right group for me to be in. Uh, and then once I made that decision meeting people from all around the world who were leading businesses and, you know, many of whom were thinking hard about the future and legacy and, you know, kind of complicated questions that never been on my mind to hear answers and questions from people all around the world about was that really blew me a way. And so that was kind of after business school, the thing that really opened me up to what it meant to be a part of the world and not just my little lane,

Enrique Alvarez (08:08):

Why so YPO, and it’s not something, uh, tell us a little more, so you actually, one theater didn’t work out as well as you were expecting it to work. And then YPO basically opened the doors and, uh, some additional opportunities, uh, for you. How do you go from there to then souls for sold?

Buddy Teaster (08:26):

You know, I, somebody much more than I did said at some point, like the dots don’t connect until you look backwards. Right? Right. So none of the decisions at the time was said like, I’ll do this, I’ll do that. Some people might pull that off. I’m certainly not capable of it. And so I worked at YPO three different times and in between I did for-profit things. I started up a couple of things. I went to work for some other folks. And looking back that combination of sort of, not for profit service oriented entrepreneurial for profit are a perfect fit for souls, for souls. Like I couldn’t have designed it any better to understand both sides of that equation. And souls for souls allows me to live at the intersection of those two things almost every day. And I love that. I don’t have to, I don’t have to compromise like, oh, I’m, I have to tell myself a story of about working not-for-profit world and why profit doesn’t matter and all this kind not true. And I don’t have to live in this place. I work really hard and eventually I’ll do good. Like I don’t, that’s not a trade off I have to make most days. And so I feel really lucky to be at souls for souls.

Kristi Porter (09:29):

Yeah. So speaking of, tell us more about the souls for souls mission and, uh, just the history of the organization and how it came to be.

Buddy Teaster (09:37):

So the folks who would go on found souls for souls, who came very organically after the tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004, they kind of got a group together and sent some shoes. They did a, they did the same thing at hurricane Katrina nine months later. And they had a even bigger response to of that. And then they, I think decided like there’s something here. So they officially started souls for souls in 2006, and it grew very fast. Um, the idea of helping people in need with shoes and clothes is kind of an obvious need. And so they got a lot of traction quickly and that all started with new product, any and souls for souls still today, anything we give away a, for free is always brand new, but then they had people saying, Hey, I have this used stuff. Can you find a way to put it to work?

Buddy Teaster (10:23):

And so pretty early on in souls for soul’s history, it was just used in new side that I think led to some interesting challenges and decisions. And then in 2010 with the earthquake in Haiti, the us was response to that was overwhelming. And suddenly Salz for holes had millions of pairs of used shoes and that, that they weren’t gonna give away in Haiti, but needed to figure out what to do. And so, even though there’d kind of been this thread of micro enterprise and using used shoes and clothes to help create a small business or a job was kind of there, it got acute after 2010, I think. So the guy who found it is gone, he left in 2012, which is why I got a chance to come to souls for souls. And I think part of what happened, there were lots of issues and I’m happy to talk about them.

Buddy Teaster (11:07):

You know, it’s, uh, it’s a part of our past, but it’s really hard to say, I have a great idea. We’re gonna sell you shoes to poor people in the developing world at even my and family was like, you are on a fast track to hell. Like that’s a terrible thing. You should, why aren’t you giving it to these people? Right. And that’s a, like, that’s an easy response to understand. And it’s hard to explain why that business model works and all the other benefits that come from that. So when I came to souls for soul, I’m like we sell shoes. Like shouldn’t hide that, which is kind of what had happened and led us a bad press. And a lot of mistrust, like, I don’t know why they said that. I’m telling you, we do sell shoes and clothes to people in the developing world.

Buddy Teaster (11:50):

And here’s why we should celebrate that every freaking day. And now that we, you know, I’ve been here 10 years, we’ve had this amazing team and a great board and great partners all around the world, and we’re not afraid of that story anymore. We lean into it and embrace it for all the benefits that come. And I think there are probably two, there are lots of, lots of things that come out of that, but one is it’s this sustainable business model from the sense that I’m not depending on philanthropy and people’s good intentions for souls, for souls to continue. And the fact that we have this kind of commercial model underneath, that allows us to grow and expand most importantly, when our mission is around creating opportunity, right? So the opportunity most obvious is when people can sell shoes and clothes generated income for themselves, take care of their family.

Buddy Teaster (12:37):

That’s an opportunity that changes lives for generations to come potentially, right? That’s, that’s amazing, but it’s also an opportunity for people like us to go into our closets and something that might look like trash, turn it into opportunity. It’s an opportunity to serve. It’s an opportunity for our corporate partners to do thing responsible with their excess inventory instead of burn it or set it off for pennies on the dollar. So if we think about opportunity pretty holistically, but when I get the chance to meet a woman who is barely hanging on and a year later she’s bought property and a year after that, she owns her own house that nobody can take from her. Yeah. Wow. Holy account. Like that, that, that story happened in 20 13, 20 14. And I still get goosebumps about what that meant to her and her family and her kids and her grandkids.

Buddy Teaster (13:24):

Like they all live together. So I, I would love anytime somebody says, boy, I don’t like what you do. Well, let’s talk about that because it is a really rich, complicated mom that allows people, dignity and agency. And I know there’s a kind of cliche, maybe buzzwords or soft when you see people who have gone from victims to actors. Like that is an amazing thing to think that I was, that I was a part of that souls for souls was a part of, and to know that in a way, souls for soul’s job is actually kind of boring. We need to be a good supplier of high quality, low cost goods. Like that’s the job. If we do that and we get that in people’s hands in Haiti or Honduras or Moldova lives can change for a long time. And that’s what is motivates me every day.

Kristi Porter (14:16):

Can you also speak a, you mentioned it a little bit, the, um, agency and dignity aspect, which I think is really great on, first of all, sometimes you’re having to deal with really difficult subject matter, but I love how lighthearted your website is and all your marketing, um, that just, I love that aspect of it. But the other thing I think we understand crisis happens. People don’t have use like that as a pretty intuitive approach, but the other side of that is exactly what shoes can do for people, whether it’s, you know, being able to go to school or having that dignity or agency. So can you expand on a little of that? That might not be the most intuitive aspect of what you do.

Buddy Teaster (14:52):

So, uh, I think this idea of shoes being more important that people like the three of us think about most days, right. Of able to go to school, able to work, able to avoid injury and disease. Like we don’t think about that very much. Right. But it’s so super front of mind for a lot of the world. And if you can earn those shoes even better, right? If you feel like you’re the, you help make that happen instead of, you know, some white guy coming from Nashville, giving you a pair of shoes and you should be grateful for it. Like there’s a weird and very destructive power dynamic around that. So we do that. Sometimes we provide new shoes and clothes to people all around the world and we try our best not to make it feel that way. But we know for sure that when someone buys for us at a dollar and sells it for three and they keep two and they get to buy land and feed their family, that’s way better.

Buddy Teaster (15:48):

So that’s the agency part. But on the dignity side, it’s a, it’s a really important question. So we, that the long term way that we serve people through micro enterprise does that in a great way, but people need help in the short term, after a natural disaster or through no fault of their own. Right. I mean, they’re in a place maybe that all the jobs are gone or, um, war has been like, there could be lost of reasons that they just need help. And we don’t wanna say, well, you gotta pull yourself up by your bootstraps and you’re gonna earn it. Like sometimes people just need a hand. Right. And so how do we do do that in a way that still leaves them feeling seen and valued and not just like a, a project for somebody I’ll give you a small all example. Actually, I think it’s a big example.

Buddy Teaster (16:35):

Uh, eventually we’ve never really had a good program here in the us. We, the micro enterprise model doesn’t work exactly right here for some commercial reasons. And a lot of our donors on the new product side, when they give shoes and clothes to us, we can’t use it here at the us. They don’t wanna return to stores and they don’t wanna sold online. Right. Which are super important things to keep their business healthy. But it’s meant that we’ve been kind of hamstrung about what can we do here? Cause we just sort of get kind of odds and ends. And we can’t really be a good partner in a consistent way. So about a year and a half ago, we started trying to dig into that a little bit and say, is that really true? And a woman here in Nashville who ran the local food bank for 30 years, said food and shelter are the most important thing for kids who are experiencing homelessness in schools.

Buddy Teaster (17:20):

But I’m telling you shoes are really high on that list. We’re like really Janie. So she said, you don’t have to believe me. We talked to the people here in the national public school system and it’s a giant problem. It’s, it’s a supply problem in that people don’t think about it. And the school is often forced to buy sort of the cheapest thing that they can find. So they go into Amazon, they buy pair shoes for 15 bucks and it’s better than nothing. So I wanna be clear about that, but it doesn’t make the kid feel great, right. They go into a classroom where like everybody’s got uniforms. So the one place you might be able to differentiate yourself is around shoes. And you’ve got clearly the crappy shoes. And that’s the sort of psychological piece that we don’t think about very much that it is a way to exclude people.

Buddy Teaster (18:04):

And we all know kids, they can be great, but they can be mean. And they sense when that line is there. So we said, what if we made a commitment to bring, there are a million and a half kids who experience homelessness in our public school system every year. It is a travesty that, that happens. And so there are lots of people working on food and shelter. We’re gonna try to get in the lane of providing all of those kids, a new pair of branded app, athletic shoes every year. So they feel like they belong. Like when they walk into class, they have dignity, they have a sense of belonging that makes them want to come to school. Right? So there’s a very practical link between I have shoes that make me feel better about myself. And so I’m willing to go to school and we’re collecting these stories and, uh, from the kids and the teachers, and we’re also collecting the data, like do they come to school more often?

Buddy Teaster (18:53):

Do they sort of, how do they feel about themselves? And just one story. So we’ve been partnering with this, not for profit in Wisconsin for years. And this past year, we were able to get them. Some of these kind of shoes we call this program for every kid. So shoes for every kid. And so toward the end of the day, this young guy comes up. He says, I’m sure you don’t have any size 15 shoes. That’s what I wear. And you never, nobody ever has ’em. And the woman, uh, working there said, I have two pairs of shoes for you. Like, so first of all, there’s just this like amazing. Oh my God, somebody thought about me, but then he turned to his mother immediately. Now I can try out for the basketball team. Oh wow. So this kid is excluded from some giant part of life that he wants to be a part of, cuz his parents can’t afford $120 shoes for him to play.

Buddy Teaster (19:43):

And so like, there’s a great thing of just that he has shoes that fit him. Terrific. But now he, hopefully this other door is gonna open for him. That makes him feel way more plugged in. And it was a pair of shoes that did that. Right. So that won’t happen every time. It might not be that dramatic, but there are a lot of kids that we’ve talked to Enrique and Christie that have said, this is the first new thing I’ve ever had. It’s the first time I feel like I belong and I am gonna show up. Like they say that the kids say that it’s not, it’s so unbelievable, but it’s, it can be that small. And what we’re trying to do with this, this program is how do we get branded athletic shoes on these kids, $20 from the factory to their foot. Right?

Buddy Teaster (20:28):

So we got a lot of work to do to figure that out. But 20 bucks at most of us have 20 bucks, not all of us, but to think I, I could get a pair of shoes. So in Nashville there are 4,000 kids who experience homelessness in a school year. Right. Which is a lot it’s about, uh, I think it’s 8%, eight or 9% here in Nashville for $80,000. You can solve that problem for 4,000 kids here in Nashville. Right? So that’s a lot of money, but it’s not a lot of money, right. When you think about it. Right. And so we’re trying to figure out how do we make that work? You know, that’s a much more philanthropic mission and our micro enterprise side, but it’s got such clear benefits that we are really committed to making that happen. Sorry to ramble on. I kind got

Enrique Alvarez (21:13):

No, no, this is, this is incredible. Great. And I’m sure you have tons of tons of stories and, and they’re all incredibly uplifting and, and exciting and uh, kind of talking to what you were just saying. I think that for this big corporations, the Nikes and under armors of the world, even for them, I think they should see the connection because what you said right now is that something as simple and maybe as for some of us as cheap as a $20 pairs of Nikes could make such a big difference. Right. And they could really, really affect someone’s life and maybe the whole family of that kind of potential basketball player. And I think so if companies were to think this longer term, they will probably see that it’s a good investment. Uh, at the end of the day, it has a return. It’s not something that they must be doing, uh, in a selfless way. I mean, if they want to put a return to everything, which would most companies that are sustainable have to do or think about, I think just caring for children and, uh, and shoes could be a really, really good way to, uh, to then, um, uplift our communities. So this is, this is great. And yeah, I wanted to ask you, oh, go ahead, Christy.

Kristi Porter (22:20):

Well, I was just gonna say you can’t, um, I never would’ve guessed. It was shoes were that high on the hierarchy, but you know, at the same time, it’s, you just can’t over the value of what it feels like to belong either, which is so I absolutely, no matter what stage of life you’re in, but especially as a child like that. Yeah. It’s

Enrique Alvarez (22:36):

Incredible. Well, and then, and then that is, and I never thought about this until you mention it, but that could be the deal breaker. If you want to join a soccer team or a basketball team, or if you don’t have to choose how you, you can play this sport. Uh, and so how many kids are out there kind of potentially, uh, not being able to play sports, which is incredibly sad, uh, just because they don’t have shoes.

Buddy Teaster (23:00):

So yeah, it’s, it’s a, it’s a high number. Like again, you know, I, it’s the kind of thing I haven’t thought much about until the last 18 months, when you talk about a million kids, it’s like, they don’t, they don’t all wanna play soccer, football, baseball, basketball, but a lot do. And this is the kind of thing that keeps them out of the game. Like if their parents are, listen, if you’re at a risk of, I don’t know where I’m gonna sleep tonight, you aren’t worried about soccer cleats, right. If you’re the parent, you’re like, I just wanna make sure that I can right. Maybe feed this kid and make sure they’re safe. And that’s best case, like, you know, lots of parents in that situation are all kinds of unstable, right? So to think that, uh, something as inconsequential for most of us as a pair of shoes could be a bridge to more stability, better chance at finishing your education, et cetera. It’s kind of crazy that, that we doing that

Enrique Alvarez (23:48):

Right mind. Bob’s

Kristi Porter (23:49):

Just staying out of trouble. Cuz there there’s a better alternative for them to occupy their time

Enrique Alvarez (23:53):

On the, on the

Buddy Teaster (23:54):

Flip side, somebody yesterday. And I wanna go back to something you said, I think is really important. That’s the kind of a lot of companies and people wanna be philanthropic and that’s super important cuz they care. But there’s also like if we can make the business case, that’s a much stronger basis for it. Right? So somebody said to me yesterday, part of the story you can tell is you want these kids to be able to be customers, not dis recipients, right? So if you help them now and they finish school and they’re more engaged 20 years from now, their kids are not gonna need shoes. Right. So I hadn’t thought about it that way. You know, that’s a, that’s a long horizon, but it’s really true. If, if these kids don’t finish school, life is way harder. If they finish school might be hard, but man, it’s a big leg up for if you don’t have a high school education.

Enrique Alvarez (24:39):

Absolutely. Right. I mean, at the end of the day, this kids will be incredibly appreciative and thankful for the, whoever it comes, steps up and actually offers them the, the first pair of sneakers and it’s mind bogging that it’s a million kids, right. It’s, it’s, it’s a lot, it’s, it’s really, really a lot. And so, uh, out of such a big pool, I mean we should do something about it. I think this is amazing what you and your organization are doing. And the way you’re thinking about this, uh microenterprises is great. Paul, as you have all this experience in other countries where something as quote, simple as giving them shoes has actually held them, get out of poverty basically. Yeah. So, so I, we are fully supportive what you’re doing and I’m pretty sure that big companies, uh, are going to see it as well. And I’m sure that, uh, if your goal is to kind of provide a pair of Snickers to one each of these 1 million kids, then we should all rally around that. Cause I think that would make our community and our country, uh, better. Right?

Buddy Teaster (25:37):

Absolutely.

Enrique Alvarez (25:38):

I have a,

Buddy Teaster (25:39):

The other thing that’s been interesting Enrique, that’s a big change for us too on this for the kid front is mostly, we’ve been talking to footwear and apparel companies and retailers. When you, we start talking about this program, every company of any size can care can care and make a difference on this topic. Right? So talking to small businesses and financial services firms and tech firms, they’re like, oh wait a minute. We, this is our community. We should do something about that. And you don’t have to be, you don’t have to be in the sneaker business to do that. So that’s, that’s thing that it’s, it’s just widened the aperture for us of who we can talk to. And, and how people feel about engaging with souls for

Enrique Alvarez (26:14):

Souls abs. Absolutely. So, uh, you wrote a book on everything. I mean, adding to everything and all the success that you’ve had and your professional career, you kind of felt the need to write a book, uh, shoe strengths, how you donated shoes and help people pull themselves out of poverty. So how, how did this, uh, book idea came around and, and what was that process? Um, I’ve never written a book. Uh, so, um, how does that happen?

Buddy Teaster (26:41):

So it was a pretty, uh, what’s the right word, commercial reason for the idea was pretty commercial Enrique. And that is a lot of conferences and things and where our partners would say, Hey, come, we want you to be a part of this. The ordinance would say, we don’t wanna have the, not for profit speak. Their fear is you’re gonna get up and ask for money. Right. Right. And so I get that they don’t want the out for their attendees or their members and, or you could buy a slot, you know, for 50 grand and you could be a sponsor and then you get to talk and everybody’s like, yeah, okay. You just bought your way on. They tune out. So part of it was like, if, if we have a book and I’m an author, suddenly I get to be in a different category. Right. So that was the idea and it’s off in spade. But so that was the, that was the right decision. But the thing that has been way more important is that we really laid out the case for micro enterprise. We, we interviewed our partners in depth and the entrepreneurs we work with all around the world and the volunteers and our corporate partners. So that when someone says, I don’t understand my enterprise, like you’re not gonna read the whole book. It’s not that long. And I wrote it. So it’s not that complicated,

Enrique Alvarez (27:49):

But,

Buddy Teaster (27:50):

But like here it is, somebody took the time to lay this out and to tell these stories. And that has been hugely helpful. We did a, a project. Ultimately it was kind of, kind of fizzled out because of COVID. But with Bridgestone, they were trying to figure out how to repurpose and recycle tires in Southeast Asia and turn em into shoes. They were on the fence. Like, ah, we don’t know, seems weird. Are we a set up for this? And I, I heard from one of the people on the Bridgestone side that we got him, your book and he read your book. He’s like, okay, we’re in like, if this is okay, what, you know, whatever time and money that book costs, like sway a Bridgestone executive in Asia. Like I couldn’t have done that on my own by bringing all these stories together, it was persuasive to him. So that’s just a, a one example. But it’s, it’s mainly a way now for us, like every new employee that comes not about buddy wrote a book who cares, but like, if you wanna understand who we are here,

Enrique Alvarez (28:47):

It’s

Buddy Teaster (28:48):

Here. It is, you know, spend an hour and a half and you’re gonna, you’ll have 10 years of history like that. And that’s so it’s, it continues to be very helpful. And the process of writing it, I had written, you know, blog posts and we had them lots of videos. So there was a lot of content that we, we hired some, a professional to help us write it. And it was fantastic because other people got involved, like, you know, the, our partners, like in Haiti, it forced him to think a little bit more about like, okay, well, what am I gonna say here? What are the numbers? So it made everybody better in the process. And it, it was, it was a joy to go through.

Enrique Alvarez (29:22):

So it sounds, sounds like a fun process to go through as well. And, uh, and of course it’s currently relevant, uh, with some of the very few examples you’ve given us how you have actually leveraged this book to then, uh, continue to do, uh, good things and care for more people. So thanks for sharing.

Buddy Teaster (29:39):

Yeah. Yeah. I highly recommend it by the way, Enrique you the

Enrique Alvarez (29:43):

Story. Yes. We, I already order it and uh, we’re gonna, we’re going to, uh, make sure that we put the link and the title of the book again, uh, when we release this podcast. So for sure.

Buddy Teaster (29:53):

Yeah. Well, I encourage you, like, you’ve got a story here with what you’ve done and what you’re doing that is, it is worthy of that. So I encourage you when you get the, uh, when you get the bug, you should do the same. You should write a book.

Enrique Alvarez (30:07):

Thank you so much. And actually, yes, we have so many great stories of organizations like yours and people inspiring other people that, uh, that we’re happy. That’s kind of what we started this podcast in the first place. But, uh, but I guess that could be like a next step, um, writing a book at some point, but, uh, but yeah. Thanks. Thanks for sharing that. And for also writing the book

Kristi Porter (30:28):

Yeah. For now this takes less time.

Kristi Porter (30:34):

Um, but yeah, so you were, I also, we’ve talked about a couple of your accomplishments so far, but you were also the 2018 national, a retailers fed retail Federation’s list of people shaping the future of retail, which is quite a title and mouthful. You’re a member of the young president’s organization, Y P O and you speak on a variety of topics as we just discussed. And we learn that one of your passions is also ultra marathons, which I cannot even begin to imagine. Um, so you’ve, you’ve reached a lot of things. You’ve accomplished a lot in your career, but I’m curious as to what, what Hills are mountains? Are there still out there to climb what’s on your list?

Buddy Teaster (31:14):

You know, so

Enrique Alvarez (31:16):

Well, and I guess for, for our listeners, and I’m sure it to interrupt you, maybe you should start by explaining what an ultra marathon is, is. So I’m pretty sure none of right.

Buddy Teaster (31:27):

Um, it’s actually, the definition is really simple. It’s anything longer than a marathon, right? So the typical distances are 50 K, which is 31 miles, 50 miles hundred K a hundred miles. Those are the typical distances. And I think since I started running them in two, I started in 1988. Wow. And then I did my first ultra marathon in 2000 or 2001. And I’ve probably done 75 ultras since then. Wow. Including, uh, I think not quite 2000 miles. So it’s been a huge part of my life and wow. My social network and best friends are kind of in that world. And I hope, I hope I’m doing it until I die. I mean, I love doing, were

Enrique Alvarez (32:10):

You, were you a runner in high school? I mean, how do you get impression

Buddy Teaster (32:12):

From runner? No, I, my brother was a runner in high school, in college and he’s younger than I am and he kept kind of bad badgering me. I’m like, dude, I, this is dumb. And then finally in the summer of 1988, I started and, you know, I got hooked and he and I ran together. Uh, he lives in Dallas. So for most of 20 years we ran, well, you know, he traveled a lot as did I, but we ran three or four days a week together. Like, so there’s this that’s incredible bond that came out of running for, for my brother and me and for other folks too. Um, but you know, it was one of those things. Like I kind of sucked at marathons. I’m not, I’m super, not fast. Right. So I trained really hard. One year I wanted to qualify for the Boston marathon and I wasn’t even close. Like I think it was three 10 and I ran three 20, which sounds close. It’s not, it’s a long way away from qualifying. And so I decided, well, I can’t go any faster. Like I can’t train any harder than I just did, but maybe I can go further. Mm.

Enrique Alvarez (33:09):

Slow

Buddy Teaster (33:10):

And steady. So the next slow and steady. So I tried the, the 50 K distance and it was a disaster. Like I almost quit running. It was so bad. And then I started and I did didn’t talk to anybody. I just said, well, just, just a little bit further, go further. And that was definitely not strategy. And, uh, so I started talking to people, realized, like I did everything wrong. I got a little smarter from the advice of those folks. And I came back and did it the following year. And so that was when I got, and it’s been, like I said, it’s been a huge part of my life.

Enrique Alvarez (33:39):

And it speaks volumes of kind of the kind of person you are, if you can actually accomplish that. I can hardly imagine what you’re gonna be doing, uh, going forward. Do you have any, have you signed up for any, uh, race coming up? Anything that you’re training early training for?

Buddy Teaster (33:53):

I did a hundred K at the end of October, and then I had knee surgery about a month ago. So I’m recovering, which is great. Um, uh, that’s going really well. I’ll probably do that a hundred K again, next October. That’s kind of Michael.

Enrique Alvarez (34:06):

Well, congratulations and good luck with that. And going back to the business side and the organization side of things, uh, you guys have been shipping pretty much to every single state, 50 states. If I, if I have this correctly and 129 country. And, uh, of course you have encountered multiple logistics and operational challenges along the way, but could you share some, some with us and, and how, what did you and your team do to actually successfully overcome those, uh, potentially, uh, like, uh, challenging situations,

Buddy Teaster (34:40):

You know, I’ll share a couple of examples and one of which was like a disaster that we didn’t get, right. Um, you guys will know better than I, that lots of times all these good intentions break down at the border, right? When it gets through customs and all of that, suddenly the rules are opaque, depends who you get that day and all these kinds of things that we’ve gotten better at understanding. But I think super important for us is we always have a local partner on the ground. We, this is wasn’t a decision I’ve made, but partnership is super important to souls for souls. And having someone on the ground who really knows the culture of the politics, the language, the whole list of things that we’ll never know the area well sitting here in Nashville, Tennessee. So that’s helped us avoid a lot of problems and working in a place like Haiti, for example, where the ports are off the port of prince specifically is kind of the only place where the government can kind of grab hold of things and tax it and track it, et cetera.

Buddy Teaster (35:39):

And they don’t care that it’s humanitarian or commercial. That’s sort of treated all the same. And by having a local partner who has lots of scars to show for his education on this front, like now we sort of know how to do that. And so after the, uh, earthquake last August, we thought our partner there, he worked in a different part of the country, like, and with the gangs situation, getting worse, the assassination, like everything was kind of spinning outta control. And Sam, our partner there, he runs a group called the Haitian American caucus. That’s does incredible work. They have a school with 500 kids. They do English as a second language. They some health training. Fantastic. So rather than just kind of curl up in a ball, Sam said, let’s go down to, um, Southern Haiti and help, but great. We had shoes in the country.

Buddy Teaster (36:29):

We helped get the shoes in a place that he stayed so that he could get them down there. And then he, then he came back a few weeks later and he said, look, the women here, uh, in many cases, their whatever small business they had were destroyed by their earthquake. Most of ’em were home based or in the market. And there wasn’t a place to go sort of like, Hey Sam, your economy’s falling apart. Political situation is like a Tinder box. What are you talking about? Expanding? He’s like, I think it’s gonna be a great opportunity. So he figured out that he can’t work the way you used to logistically. He can’t bring stuff into the country in bags, kind of ready to go. So he stages it in Miami. He does all the kind of prep to make the bags ready for sale in Miami, with Haitian women who know exactly what’s gonna sell when they get back.

Buddy Teaster (37:12):

So they bag it up here and do their mix. They ride on the barge with it, or they usually put on the barge and then fly. So when it gets in the country, it’s the, these women getting the product and getting it out to their networks. We will ship more in this 12 months than we did at probably twice as much in the previous two years. Like, it’s unbelievable. So this is where understanding logistics and, uh, kind of how the system works has led to credible growth. And when we thought it would be the exact opposite, right? And so it’s smart. And you know, you live in a place like Haiti, you better figure out how to adapt, right? You can’t just say, well, this is the way we did it yesterday, cuz that may not be that relevant. And so there’s this incredible growth, the place that we would not have expected, um, sort of the opposite happened for us.

Buddy Teaster (38:00):

We tried, this is now maybe five years ago in Sierra Leone. We thought we had a good partner. I’ll take most of the blame for that. He was not a good partner. He just didn’t know what he was doing. He was over his head. Um, big, big learning for us was he was not from Sierra Leone. Right. He was an American guy. He was living there, but what he thought he knew about that country, wasn’t close to what he needed to know. And you know, we talked to the guys at the port and we’re like, okay, so what, how should we expect to pay? And you’re like, that depends on the day. Like they were just super obvious that we’ll take you for as much as we can get. Right. So we spent a lot of money. We lost a lot of money in Sierra Leone because we didn’t understand all the ins and outs of that.

Buddy Teaster (38:41):

And the logistic, the costs were really high to get it there, to start with. And so it makes or breaks us if we get that right. And when we do like getting this, these containers to Moldova in the midst of this Ukraine crisis, like what’s the way to do that. Having a partner on the ground, having, uh, our team be much savvy than they were a few years ago about these things has, has allowed us to adapt as mark. Our partner in Moldova has said, Hey, let’s do this instead of that, because all the good intentions in the world don’t matter if you can’t get on the truck, can’t get on the boat, can’t get it through customs, right. It to doesn’t matter again, you guys are the pros there, but it’s, it’s sort of the part of the business nobody wants to talk about, but it is the most important part of connecting my desire to help with my ability to get it on the ground, you know, for each of us. And I don’t know, it’s, it’s a part that we celebrate internally a lot. It’s just not very sexy to talk about lot of the time

Enrique Alvarez (39:38):

We, we know about that for sure. It still,

Kristi Porter (39:42):

But still shows also the very manual people-centric aspect of how valuable that is in the supply chain. It isn’t just always a ship traveling or a truck traveling or a plane or anything like that. It is very people-oriented in being able to find the right people that, uh, yeah. Can, can work that with you. And speaking of it’s March 15th, um, at the day of recording, you talked about Ukraine, you talked about what you’re doing in Moldova. It’s heartbreaking. Listeners are trying to figure out ways to help. We all kind of feel, you know, a little bit helpless at times, but also this is an, uh, the logistics and supply chain industry are actively working on this situation and have a unique role to play in this as, as well. And so, um, you’re working on your own initiative, you’re donating clothes, socks, underwear, shoes, and coordinating different, um, efforts on the ground. Tell us more about what you have going on and how people can involved, whether they’re a retailer or just an average individual, um, at, at a, in this industry.

Buddy Teaster (40:45):

Sure. So thanks for talking about this. It’s again, you guys are at the center of, of what’s gonna make this work. The first thing to say is, and I’m happy to talk about what we do for, if you wanna help, there are lots of ways to help. You can give cat, you can support organizations that are on the ground, humanitarian and refugee organizations. All that really matters. I talked to, to our partner this morning, mark Chesky and Moldova, and this guy has an amazing business, right? He has 60 thrift stores in Moldova and Ukraine, 15 of those stores, he assumes are gone, right? They’re he may have ever get back to them this a matter, like that’s his business, right? And, and he uses that business to fund foster care and orphan care in Moldova, in a place where orphanages are terrible and foster care is still kind of a new idea.

Buddy Teaster (41:32):

So he’s helping kids at the most fundamental level. And then he’s employing a lot of them. He has 650 employees, right? So he gives them jobs. It’s this amazing thing. And you take 25% of your footprint away. That’s a, that’s gonna be a negative impact. So finding those people who resonate with what you do, they’re out there. You, if you have to dig, it’s worth the effort. Uh, in talking to mark, he said, so Moldova is getting refugees, not like Poland, which is by far getting the most. Um, but he’s got a warehouse in Poland. He’s got people on the ground. He sent from where he is to start distributing relief supplies. Like he’s bringing in a container of hygiene, product products from the UK. I think they’ll probably be there this week. He’s got people on the ground to distribute them, right? So he is actively engaged.

Buddy Teaster (42:21):

And he’s the decision we made this morning with him was he’s gonna basically give away the product that’s in those Ukrainian stores, cuz he’s never gonna sell it or get it back. Who’s like, let’s get it to refugees. Like this is a guy who runs a business. He’s a very good business guy and he is a hundred percent focused on helping people right now. So we’ll get him product to sort of backfill what he’s doing, cuz it’ll take a few weeks to get there. And as you said, the products that we’re sending are kind of always in need. You know, there’s not a, but some of the things, this is the, is the kind of partner we have when we told him that, Hey, this is what we’re gonna send. We’re gonna send five containers and we’re gonna pay for the shipping. We’re out trying to raise money for shipping now, but we’re gonna send it regardless.

Buddy Teaster (42:59):

And he said, if that’s true, I’m gonna take the 50 grand that I was gonna spend on shipping with you guys. I’m gonna use it right now to buy baby formula, diapers, feminine hygiene products. Cause people need help right now. Like this is a guy who is in, right. I mean he’s, he’s on the front line. He’s 30 miles from the Ukrainian border. So it, this is real, his family is in Southern Ukraine Neesa. So he’s his family’s at risk. His business is wrecked. And yeah, his first thing when someone just said, basically here’s 50 grand, you don’t have to spend, he said, I’m gonna put it. So it’s amazing to work with people like that. Right. That’s that makes it worth it. And so we’re gonna, we’ve had a great response from our corporate, especially footwear and apparel companies. And so I think we’ve got these five containers staged.

Buddy Teaster (43:45):

They’ll start to leave this week. And then my guess is we’ll have one or two more to go from the, from people getting us product soon. So if you’re in that business shoes, close underwear, sock coats, all that stuff, huge demand. And if you’re not in that business and you want to help, like I said, we’re trying to cover the shipping, which is, you know, right now it’s about 50 grand we think, and we’ve raised about 20. And like I said, the, the amount’s not going to slow down our process, but if we can cover some more of that from people who want to help, that’s terrific. Yeah.

Enrique Alvarez (44:15):

Yeah. The more, the more you can, the more you can get, the more you can chip, right. At the end of the day, the bottleneck could potentially be just how much money you raise to send products there. And, uh, no, this is, it’s a great story. And, and it’s amazing that you’re working with people like mark, uh, that is definitely inspiring. And I’m sure that a lot of people are going to, um, be inspired to act after listening to what you’re saying.

Kristi Porter (44:37):

Yeah. And do you wanna give a shout out to any of your corporate partners?

Buddy Teaster (44:41):

Yeah. So I’ll, you know, I don’t know all of them cuz they’re still coming in. Um, I I’ll share one story. So there’s a, a brand called Thursday boot most sleep men’s boots. Although not only men, uh, it’s a, I don’t know, they’ve been around for maybe five or six years now, still relatively new company. And he called us and said, what are you doing? How can I help? So this wasn’t like, oh, I read a story and I thought I should do something. Right. It was, he called us to say, I’ve got 2000, a lot of boots for a small, right, right here. I’ve got these ready to go. Um, but we’re working with Steve Madden. We’re working with under armor. Those are the ones that come to mind. Like I said, we’ve probably got about 30 companies who have responded, but those are the ones that I know.

Buddy Teaster (45:22):

And um, actually a couple third love, I should say that third love, which makes, uh, women’s underwear and bras super in demand. They are all in and Baba socks. They did a very cool thing. So they they’re a buy one, give one model, uh, they, they make great giveaway socks. Some of these companies that do buy one, give one, the give one is kind of crappy Baba socks. Fantastic. Yeah, but they’ve always been only for use in the us. So we went to them and said, Hey, this is what it is. Can you maybe give us a little bit a wiggle room? And they said a hundred percent. So they, they changed their model to accommodate it. Right. So we really have had, um, people really wanna lean into it and change their, what they do with their product as well as financial support. So it’s been really terrific.

Kristi Porter (46:06):

That’s fantastic. Yeah. Uh, both Baba and third love have been on the podcast as well, so we’re oh good. And uh, yeah. So speaking of, um, we talked specifically about Ukraine, but just ongoing situation. How can people support souls for souls? I know there are retail drop off locations for people that have an extra pair of shoes. So what’s sort of the on outside of the current crisis, what’s the ongoing way that people can be involved in support.

Buddy Teaster (46:34):

So the one thing that everybody listen to this podcast has are shoes and clothes in their closet. This, they don’t wear em, right. We, we all have that. Um, I’m in this business, I understand it. And I go look at my closet and go what the hell’s wrong with you, you right.

Enrique Alvarez (46:49):

Um,

Buddy Teaster (46:50):

But so there, there are a couple things. We are, I had a long partnership with DSW. So you can go to any of their 500 locations to drop off shoes in their stores. And that’s women’s dress shoes, running shoes, kind of anything put in the box. And they, their customers in the last four years have donated 5 million pairs of shoes. Like it’s an UN been an unbelievable partnership. So that’s an easy one to do for a lot of folks. If there’s not anything convenient, if you go to Zappos for good.com, you can print out a label. You can put up to 50 pounds of shoes and clothes in the box and get it to ups and Zappos will pay for the shipping. So wow. If it’s a physical thing, that’s we try to make that easy. And we also have this mail in option. Zappos is they’ve been amazing partners to help us reach out to folks for whom it’s not convenient, or there’s not a DSW nearby as an example. And they’ve said, we’ll, we’ll make it happen. And they’ve they, this is now our sixth year with them, I think.

Kristi Porter (47:46):

Wow. Very cool.

Enrique Alvarez (47:47):

Going, congratulations. So yes.

Buddy Teaster (47:49):

So those are, those are easy ways. And if you go to our website and put in your zip code, it’ll tell you the closest place we, there are also people doing shoe drives and all kinds of other things, but they might only last for a month or two. So there’s, there might be options that are even easier than that. But those are two with DSW and Zappos that are always available.

Enrique Alvarez (48:07):

Hmm. I saw your website as well. Um, all the push and efforts that you’re doing for the Ukraine as well. So if, if you guys are listening to this podcast and, uh, this is something and, and I know that this is going to be prerecorded, but, uh, unfortunately like this, the impact that this war is having, it’s not going to, it’s gonna last for a long time, right? I mean, there’s gonna be refugees. There’s a thing this more around 2.7 that have left the country and there’s at least two more expected, uh, depending on how the war continues to go. So, uh, if you’re listening to this podcast, if you are inspired, but by buddy’s story and by souls for souls, please, please do something right. Um, yeah, buddy. Thank you. So thank you so much. Uh, thank you very much for giving us some time to be here with us. It’s been, uh, really exciting and interesting and thank you very much again, once to you and to your entire team for what you’re doing

Buddy Teaster (49:01):

For sure. Thanks. Well, I said, it’s the privilege it’s you guys are the backbone of what, um, makes us able to do what we do with our partners. And thanks for, uh, really getting outside. This is with the purpose is a great name because so E often it’s easy to think of that as just a transactional thing. And you guys are clearly shown a different way to approach that industry. So thanks for that.

Enrique Alvarez (49:22):

Thank you so much and count with our full support, whatever we can do. And, uh, for everyone else out there, that’s listening to this episodes and listening to this podcast, logistics with purpose, if you like it. And if you like to continue listening to, uh, interesting conversations, like the one we just had, don’t forget to subscribe and thank you very much. Have a good day.