In this episode, we sit down with Nona Yehia, the visionary architect behind Vertical Harvest—a three-story hydroponic greenhouse built to grow food and opportunity in the unlikeliest of places: Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Nona shares how she turned a bold idea into a blueprint for inclusive, sustainable business—where half the workforce is made up of people with disabilities, and every role is designed around each employee’s unique strengths. You’ll hear the behind-the-scenes story of building a farm in a ski town, rethinking what meaningful employment looks like, and challenging the systems that leave too many people out.

In this episode, we dive into how Toral Gandhi became the first employee at Open Water and helped grow it into a brand now found at Whole Foods, sweetgreen, and the Four Seasons. She shares what it’s like to convince businesses to ditch plastic, how she ended up in sales without ever planning to, and what it’s taken to build a purpose-driven career from the ground up. From early challenges to big wins, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at Toral’s path—and what others can learn from it.

Not knowing what you want to do is a relatively universal experience, but once you’re actually experiencing it—it can feel pretty damn isolating.

That’s why I’m excited to introduce this week's guest, Charlie Clark, and he’s living proof that it’s totally okay, or better yet, even a good thing to spend some time grappling with that question. Because it’s only then that you might unexpectedly come across a career path that you never would’ve thought of, or in his case, even knew existed… Charlie has since figured out what he wants to do, and it’s building strategy for how purpose-driven companies approach giving. Tune in as we explore Cotopaxi’s partner-forward approach, why community-sourced solutions create lasting change, and so much more.

Note: this episode was recorded in November of 2022, since then, Charlie’s title has changed to Director of Giving and Impact.