Today we are joined by Alexandra Pastollnigg, the founder of Fair Voyage. Fair Voyage makes sustainable travel easy. Originally from Austria, Alex lives in Switzerland and travels extensively in Africa both in her capacity as the founder of Fair Voyage and for pleasure. She is a Board member of the International Mountain Explorers Connection, a non-profit organization committed to improving the working conditions of the porters on Mount Kilimanjaro through the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP). Prior to venturing into social entrepreneurship, Alexandra gained over 12 years of experience in the banking industry, most recently as Director of Mergers & Acquisitions. In between, she also cycled from Cairo to Cape Town, all the way through Africa. Alex started off in banking and was called to the social entrepreneur world by chance. As Alex considered a career change that would make her work more meaningful, she experienced firsthand the exploitation that local people often face in the tourism industry. While climbing Kilimanjaro, Alex realized that organizations that claimed to be sustainable or ethical were simply "green-washing" their practices. Frustratingly, it isn't very easy for travelers to discern what companies are legitimately sustainable in the tourism industry and which simply market themselves as such. Alex saw an opportunity. She wanted to ensure that travelers could be sure they are putting their money into sustainable practices, and Fair Voyage was born. 

Alex explains that her journey was not simple; in her first start-up year, it was challenging to find the right people to work with, and she faced burnout. This taught Alex valuable lessons. In the start-up space, you have to be very mindful of who you fill your team with and understand that they are many soft skills that go into the work. Things like communication and working with people are just as important as being financially savvy. 

For recent graduates and others interested in the impact start-up space, Alex offered some advice. If you have already found your purpose or the issues that you are going to try and solve, you don't have to waste time in another career. If you aren't sure initially what your mission will be, look for a good company with mentors and coaches who you can learn from. Join a team that is already working on something aligned with your mission. If you can't find a company that is doing what you are interested in, start one! Alex, however, cautions against being an entrepreneur for the sake of being an entrepreneur, unless you are incredibly mission-driven, you may not find the work sustainable. 

Last, Alex offers up a few more nuggets of wisdom and information about what her next project may be. She reminds us that we need more than just understanding of sustainable practices in this work, we also need engineers, software developers and folks with other skills that may not initially seem transferable but are essential to making change happen. 

• Alex’s Introduction [1:42]

• Fair Voyage