Beginner's Pluck: Build Your Life of Purpose and Impact Now

What inspired you to write this book? My name is Liz Forkin Bohannon and I am the author of Beginners Pluck. So I'm also, my day job is that I am the CEO and co-founder of a socially conscious fashion brand called Sseko Designs. So about 10 years ago, after finishing my master's degree in journalism, I moved to Uganda because I wanted to learn more about the issues that were facing women and girls living in extreme poverty, and in conflict and post-conflict zones. And long story short, for the purposes of this interview, you can read more about the story in the book. I ended up meeting an incredible group of young women in between high school and university that were academically qualified to go onto college but couldn't afford to do so. And so I started a charity, and then I shut that down, and then I started a chicken farm and that failed. And I ended up designing a pair of these funky strappy sandals, and I went to the school and hired three young women, Mary, Mercy and Rebecca, and promise these young women that if they made sandals for the next nine months, for their gap year during high school in university that they would go to college in the fall. And they were like, "Okay." And I was like, "Okay." And came back home to the US and started selling sandals out of the back of my car, which is definitely what your parents want you doing with your master's degree in journalism. And basically, for the last 10 years, I have been building out a best in class, vertically integrated manufacturing company in East Africa. We've enabled hundreds of female scholars to continue on to university. We've created full time fair wage, dignified jobs for thousands of artisans across the globe. And most recently, we have enabled thousands of primarily female entrepreneurs here in the United States to start and grow and run their own social enterprises. And through that process, I have learned a lot about what it means and what it takes to build a life of purpose, and passion and impact that aligns with your deepest values, that I've also become really hyper aware of the ways in which our current culture, inspirational Instagram motivation about dreaming big and finding your passion and like you're so special. You just have to believe that and tap into it. Is actually affecting us. And I really believe that it's creating a lot of fear and anxiety and serious analysis paralysis. And so I wrote Beginner's Pluck. I use my story of starting and growing this company as the narrative framework, but it's really about the 14 principles that I've identified over the last decade, that I believe are infinitely more helpful than the standard pop culture narrative that we're getting right now and to help propel us into building really meaningful lives of purpose and passion and impact.