What connects one of the US's most successful surf and snow festivals, Red Bull's launch in the US; an international non-profit organisation that uses skateboarding and education to empower children and a number of environmental and ocean protection agencies?  

The answer is the inexhaustible force that is Mr Vipe Desai.  

Right from his early days as a surfshop retailer to his launching of the H2O Winter Classic event and Red Bull in the US; to his role as board director and master business strategist to multiple companies and his social and environmental advocacy with Skateistan, the Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast, Vote The Ocean, and the Ocean Institute - Vipe has always been at the cutting edge of business strategy, innovation and creativity, and environmental advocacy. 

This week, in a wide ranging conversation, we discuss with Vipe how we reconcile the size of the environmental challenges we have with the impact a single company can make on them; the importance of trust in the collaborative process as government, citizens and companies come together to address environmental issues; overuse of the term 'disruptive' in the buisness discourse and what actually defines it, and what the future looks like for retail in a post-Covid world. 

Check out the following organisations Vipe is involved with: 

www.vipedesai.com 

Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast https://defendthepacific.org/

Skateistan: https://skateistan.org/

The Ocean Institute: https://oceaninstitute.org/

Vote the Ocean: https://votetheocean.org/