IAM1318 – Co-Founder and Social Entrepreneur Helps People Volunteer with Animals Around the World

Nora is a co-founder and CEO of Animal Experience International, a social enterprise and certified B Corp that helps people volunteer with animals around the world.

• CEO Story: Started as a volunteer then became a volunteer coordinator in a wildlife center. After she left, her previous co-worker who is a veterinarian, pitched her the business idea and both were so passionate about it.
• Business Service: Community-based program, establish volunteer program, recruiting of volunteers.
• Secret Sauce: The only social enterprise that works strictly with animals.
• CEO Hack:  Start with Why Simon Sinek
• CEO Nugget: Be authentic
• CEO Defined: Celebrating in everything. Controlling the legacy.

Website: www.animalexperienceinternational.com
Store: www.animalexperienceinternational.com/store
Twitter: noralivingstone
Facebook: animalexperienceinternational

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Transcription

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Intro 00:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, start ups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you wisely information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:27

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Nora Livingstone of Animal Experience International. Nora, it's awesome to have you on the show today. And Nora is a co-founder and CEO of Animal Experience International, and that's a Social Enterprise and Certified B Corp that helps people volunteer with animals around the world. So, Nora, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Nora Livingstone 01:01

Absolutely. I am.

Gresham Harkless 01:02

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. The first question I usually have is just kinda give you the mic, so to speak, and ask if you can tell us your CEO story. What what's your background, and what led you to start your business?

Nora Livingstone 01:12

Yeah. Well, I'm an accidental CEO. I sort of fell into it. I was, wow. A number of years ago, I found myself volunteering with a bunch of different animal organizations in Latin America and then Asia, and then became a volunteer coordinator in a wildlife center in Canada. It's where my where I met my business partner. And I thought I would do volunteer coordination forever. And, after a little bit, it just didn't didn't really fit anymore and left, and then a few years after that, she literally pitched the idea of AEI to me and said, hey. You are professional, volunteer coordinator. I'm a veterinarian. Why don't we start a business? And I said, yeah. I mean, how hard business be. That will totally be easy.

You know, we did see we saw sort of, like, this massive hole that, community run animal programs really needed to have great volunteers that were set up for success and wanted to help, but, but didn't know how to find them. And then, you know, on the flip side, there were tons of people that wanted to volunteer on, animal programs that ethical and real and safe, but didn't know how to find them. So we decided to do, kind of play the the matchmaker game, which means I'm a professional matchmaker and volunteer coordinator and CEO, obviously.

Gresham Harkless 02:39

No. That's awesome. That's awesome. Like, how you're able to kind of hold those different things ahead. But I love the fact that you guys were able to kinda see, like, an opportunity and see, like, something maybe wasn't done as efficiently as it could be. You were able to kinda step in, fulfill that void. So I think that's kudos to you and and your co-founder for being able to do that. So I wanted to ask you, I guess, a little bit more about, like, what exactly do you guys do at AEI.

Nora Livingstone 03:02

Yeah. So so what we do is, there are so many things. So there's only two of us, which means we do a lot of learning into how to how to run a business. But, basically, like I said, it's sort of like a matchmaker program. So I go to all the programs first. I make sure that, like I said before, I'll say this a million times though to stress they're always safe. They're always ethical. They're always community based. But we go there, and we build relationships with the programs.

So we we make sure there's a established volunteer program. We see what it would look like to live in the field at local hostels with, with local families. We set up an entire program, and then when we come back, those are the established programs that we send volunteers to. So that's one side of it, setting up the program, international volunteer programs with animals. But then the other side of it is recruitment of volunteers. So it's doing all the marketing that goes into, you know, having volunteers or people that wanna volunteer know that we exist.

Getting them to volunteer. We get everyone to sit down and have some type of Skype or phone interview so we can make sure the expectations are the same, make sure we set them up for success and and also just make sure we are both are kind of on the same page so they know what they're doing there, how to live in these certain countries, and then they can ask any questions they have. We have a lot of people.

This is the first time leaving the country. It's their first time volunteering. So it is a lot about, not really per se, but just about really making sure people are comfortable and confident when they go away. And, yes, sending them on their way. So primarily, it's individuals who volunteer. We've had, this year, we'll have our six hundred volunteer go away and come back, in one piece, which is nice. But it is, you know, it's professional volunteer coordination while also the marketing to get those volunteers, the ongoing relationships with the placement partners and just trying to make sure everything works as well as it can for our international trip.

Gresham Harkless 05:09

No. That's awesome. Yeah. I know there's a lot of, obviously, a lot of moving parts that people probably don't, you know, take into account, but, congratulations on the six hundredth person. That's awesome. And, just, you know, you guys being able to kind of I know that there's a lot of people that want to volunteer, but sometimes they can't find the opportunities. And sometimes people have volunteer opportunities, but don't know necessarily how to let people know about them. So the you being that matchmaker and you guys being that matchmakers are doing a awesome thing.

Nora Livingstone 05:40

Oh, thank you. I'm I'm nodding my head in fact.

Gresham Harkless 05:42

There we go. I love it. I love it. I love it. So, I guess my upcoming question now is just, like, what do you guys feel that makes you unique?

Nora Livingstone 05:59

Specifically and, like, strictly only with animals. You know, my background is with volunteer coordination. And then, well, my business partner, Doctor Heather, is called Doctor Heather because she's a veterinarian. And so it does mean that my background and her background is this perfect kind of business marriage that shows it isn't with massive air quotes. It isn't just about a safe and ethical well managed trip. It's also about a trip that is safe and ethical for the animals. You know, we can provide, you know, we can really provide, I am trying to not say ethical so many times. But we can make sure that the program is perfect for all the parties involved. And then looking at us being a registered Social Enterprise and then a Certified B Corp, you know, looking at all those metrics, it really does show off that That we have been able to to really think about the community, the planet, our, the people volunteering and everyone involved.

Gresham Harkless 06:59

Yeah. That makes sense because and especially with you having so many different, you know, stakeholders. And, of course, obviously, you know, the animals are at the forefront making sure that everybody is on the same page and has the same information, has the same expectations is very important to kinda do all that. So you guys are doing a a awesome job of of doing that.

Nora Livingstone 07:17

Thank you.

Gresham Harkless 07:17

You're welcome. And, the next question I have is what I call a CEO hack, which might be a book or an app or just something that you find is your one of your favorite or most go to type of resources that you do on a daily basis that helps you be more efficient and effective as a CEO. So do you have a CEO hack you can share with us?

Nora Livingstone 07:35

Absolutely. Early on in the game when I, realized I was a CEO, and I didn't know what I was doing. And I was furiously reading a whole bunch of different business books and being really confused on what I was doing and why I was doing it. I did read start with why by Simon Sinek, and I loved it because it really does boil everything down to yeah. We started a business for sure. And, you know, it is this is my only job, So I do want it to be, successful financially so I can pay off your student loans and buy groceries and things like that.

But it is looking at success and how it's not, or how the metric of success is different for everyone. You know, society will tell you that success looks and I think every single day, not just at the end of fiscal or not just at the end of a month, if you really look at why you're doing it and make sure that you have been successful that day for your why is really, really important. Because not every day, I'm gonna talk to a client, not every day, I'm gonna have a client come back and have, like, a really great conversation about this amazing program they did. There'll be days that I'm just kind of, like, slogging away at marketing or, you know, building the website. And so if I just keep on remembering why I'm doing this, you know, for the animals, for these new travelers, or these local communities, then, you know, every day is successful, which makes it, a nicer nicer day to swallow when it's, a little a more of a lonely day.

Gresham Harkless 09:16

Yeah. That makes perfect sense. And you can't see me, but I'm emphatically shaking my head as well too, because it is definitely a roller coaster ride. So being able to put everything in perspective and say, okay. This was a bad day, but I still get to do this little small nugget that helps me to do what my exact why is. So, I think that's a phenomenal kinda CEO hack. And, so now I wanted to ask you which ask you for a CEO nugget since I know you read all those books and have been experiencing and running your business. Do you have, like, a word of wisdom that you yourself would give to us as CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners?

Nora Livingstone 09:48

Yeah. You know, I would say and it's a little bit ironic, but I would say to just really think about being authentic. And I know that authentic is kind of like a buzzword right now. But I would say the less buzzwords you use and the more you are actually you, the happier you are gonna be because you're gonna be your true self. But the more people around you are going to be happier to help, happier to be clients, wanna buy your product or your engagement with your service. You know, there's, like, two people on the planet that know what they're doing, and the rest of us are totally pretending. And I think when you are authentic with yourself and with people around you, that gives permission for other people to be themselves, you know, and not get drawn into business speak and peacocking and things like that.

Because at the end of the day, if all we do is business speak, then that's when we become faceless CEOs of faceless corporations. And, you know, that's not why I got into it, and I'm sure that's not why most people get into it. You know, we believe in what we're doing. And, if we believe in what we're doing and we let other people believe and we're ourselves and other people wanna help, you know, they wanna help people with faces, not, faceless CEOs, I guess. And so, yeah, the nugget would be just, you know, ask for help, be yourself, and give help to other people as well because we’re all making it up.

Gresham Harkless 11:22

No, it’s very true like I think that there is not scripture in the business. And being a CEO, even though, you know, we learn and we read about people that have been successful, often things change, and they change sometimes very rapidly. So sometimes you are just kinda learning, and you're going through the ups and downs, and you're not and you have your insecurities or being unsure. So being able to be authentic and say, you know, hey. I'm going through this struggle. Sometimes that is a way that you can attract the right people in your life more than anything else.

Nora Livingstone 11:46

Yeah. You know, like celebrating and all the successes that a company has, but also, learning from all the mistakes and learning from things that happen. But I would say the sort of most important thing about seeing a CEO is, is controlling the legacy. You know, there's with AEI specifically, there's no programs that we have, like, an asterisk beside. We wholeheartedly support all of our partners. We wholeheartedly support all of our clients. Anytime they go away, we wanna help them out for the the whole trip.

We wanna make sure all the programs are awesome all the time. And I don't wanna do this, but my boss is making me have this phone call. You yourself get to rewrite everything that you ever wanted to be about a boss, about a business, about everything. And it also means that you get to control any negativity or anything that's around, thinking specifically about social media. You know, we're a company. So anytime someone writes something that is, like, outwardly negative or talking about animal abuse or the true sort of, like, hashtag CEO life is saying, like, nope. There's no trolls allowed. This is what we're doing here. We're we love our clients, love animals, love what we're doing, and I don't have to, I don't have to have a bunch of nonsense around me.

Gresham Harkless 13:43

No. No. That makes perfect sense. And you said, controlling the legacy. Is that what you said?

Nora Livingstone 13:48

Yeah. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 13:48

I love that. That's very powerful because it puts everything in perspective as well too, for yourself, but also for your company as well. So, Nora, I truly appreciate you taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was passion and mic, so to speak, for one last time to see if there was anything additional you wanted to kinda tell our readers or our listeners about AEI or even about business in general.

Nora Livingstone 14:10

Yeah. I would say, well, obviously, check us out online animalexperienceinternational.com It is, it's a mouthful, but once you get there, it's great. You know, I would just say again, like, we do this because we love it. And, you know, I said I'm an accidental CEO, and I hope others can be too because, yeah. You know, the the reason we're here is we love what we do. We want other people love we do. So if anyone has any questions for me about AEI or about what I do or or how they can get involved, I would super sincerely love to have a chat with them. So, they should definitely contact me.

Gresham Harkless 14:51

Sounds good. Sounds good. And the best way for them to contact you is to go to the website?

Nora Livingstone 14:56

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 14:56

Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Nora, thank you so much for, you know, all you're doing, taking time out of your schedule, but all the the awesome things that you're doing for, you know, everybody that's volunteering, but also for the animals themselves. So I truly appreciate, you know, all the great things you're doing for the world.

Nora Livingstone 15:11

Oh, thank you so much. This was a lot of fun. Thank you so much for having me on.

Gresham Harkless 15:15

No problem. You have a good rest of the day.

Nora Livingstone 15:17

You too. Take care.

Outro 15:18

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast as powered by Blue Sixteen Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five star rating. Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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