I have mentioned more than once on this forum the rather unlikely trajectory that the Theodora Project has been taken. I mean seriously, I have been doing business deals and projects my whole life and nothing, nothing I have ever worked on has either 1) seemed to potentially do more good for more people and 2) taken off as fast. Every time an obstacle comes up, a solution appears. Every time we need a particular skill, a person appears even if just for handling that one issue. The more and more we refine our service offering and pitch it, the more and more those to whom we talk get excited about it. The more and more we ask of our participants, the more and more they grow and expand their capabilities (doing far more now than I would have dreamed when we started a year ago.
This feeling of destiny (or delusion?) has only been reinforced over the couple of months since we made the decision to seek social impact capital investment. I have been participating in a new virtual networking platform, Lunchclub. It has allowed me to contact with those interested in social impact around the country and the world. These people's reaction to Theodora is more than just showing interest. They are enthusiastically applauding and encouraging its double bottom line (We transform disadvantaged women in Africa while we transform small business owners in the U.S.), its sustainability (we have the potential to be a solidly profitable business) and its scalability (tens of thousands of woman in Africa in our target demographic; millions of small businesses in the U.S.).
The cynic in me keeps saying this just can't be happening...this just doesn't happen in the real world. But I will keep riding this wave until it proves otherwise.
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