Businesses Can Light The Spirit (B-Corps and Bodhi)

After a summer where I found myself lost in a wealth management internship, I googled ocean and yoga internships as those happen to be two of the dearest things to my heart and I landed on Bodhi Surf + Yoga’s homepage. I was in awe that such a creative, alternative, environmentally aware, and beautiful vacation and company existed. I later learned the importance of eco-tourism in a stunted and heated global climate is more valuable than ever.

I applied immediately and was drawn in by the application questions asking eye-opening things such as the biggest challenge I have had to overcome, why I want to protect the environment and what volunteer work I had done. This screamed far from all straight edge applications that I had become numb to in the past few years. I was already smiling believing that somewhere on the planet people were raising such a consciousness through the vessel of business. Fast forward to now and I fully believe in a world where all business can be used to better humanity, I have attained a confidence in finding my way as a young entrepreneur, and I possess a never ending desire to protect this planet all thanks to Bodhi and its people.

I had the irreplaceable opportunity to intern at Bodhi from May to August, in their off season, while they hosted Global Leadership Adventures camp. I was in the backdrop of the Bodhi offseason helping with marketing campaigns for next season while simultaneously dipping my feet in the water with assisting in a camp for teenagers taking service trips. A sneak into my average day would be:

Awaking just after the huge ball of sun has risen with my roommate, and future lifelong pal Hannah, and heading to the yoga platform to get a morning rush of adrenaline with Pilar. Pilar, a co-owner and yoga teacher at Bodhi, willingly takes us in like children and alivens our spirits with workouts that leave us ready to take on the day feeling fearless. The campers are getting ready for their day of surf and service by eating a Tico breakfast with delicious pico de gallo, tortillas, fresh mango and papaya. As the campers head down to the beach, I stay behind with the beautiful peaceful landscape of Bodhi and let the air of rejuvenation that whispers through the plants surrounding me into the blogs I write. I am writing blogs for an upcoming campaign where guests will be receiving different tips on how to minimize their carbon footprint and thereby feel empowered to become stewards of the environment. After I feel like my creative juices are stunted, I bike the hot streets of Bahia Ballena down to the beach. This town has me constantly surrendering to the state of peace it instills in my core. I dodge straight for the everchanging ocean’s edge and enter a complete bliss under the first wave. There is a certain kind of silence that wraps my entire being in awareness under each wave. I admire the campers all learning to surf the beautiful beach break and am in perpetual awe of the mountainous backdrop against the ever expanding ocean. After preparing for a session of service at the local non-profit, Forjando Alas, Travis and I head there to help the GLA campers proctor games which simultaneously teach and engage the after school kids in the program at Forjando. I am always granted a day where I learn something new and inspiring and this is very true for this day as Travis is taking me to the other GLA program down the road to attend a talk on sustainability. To end this beautiful day, Hannah and I sit at the bar of Carlito’s enjoying an ice cream sandwich and sharing our laughs of the day.

In my second year of Babson College, a strictly business school, I found myself a little confused as to how I could possibly make use of this degree when I cared deeply about the ocean, yoga, wellness, fitness, women’s empowerment and writing. Of course I knew entrepreneurship was about creating intersectionality in your passions and finding a need to fulfill in the market but I did not think I was capable of bringing together, what I thought, such distant passions. However, Bodhi taught me so much about combining different forces like nature and yoga into a business to attract and empower a tribe that is conscious and ready to give back to the world. Bodhi is part of the B-Corp network which emphasizes that individuals and businesses cannot wait around for the government and nonprofits to fix society’s most pressing problems. But rather B-Corps give businesses a platform and network for businesses to harness the passions and energies specific to them to drive social, environmental and other positive impacts. I think the philosophy I enjoy most about B-Corps is that it precedents that we must not sit back and critique the issues that infringe upon humanity but rather that we become the change that we want to see as it will cause a rippling effect.

Moreover, not only did Bodhi introduce me to a new perspective on business, Bodhi gave me the freedom and independence to gain skills in many new facets which I would never be able to do in a big business. I got to witness how important it is to invest in younger generations for the future by educating and permitting them to explore. The GLA students provided me with the opportunity to gain leadership and mentoring skills alongside mentors that were well trained and experienced. Also, Travis and Adrianne granted me sovereignty to research and develop a social media group that would foster customer engagement which I never would have been able to do in a large company. I got to work closely with Adrianne and Travis whom I look up to as mentors now and the time spent with these entrepreneurs, environmentalists and genuinely inspiring people provided me with a strong foundation to walk into the future feeling like I do not need to let my passions go to the wayside for the sake of a career.

I will forever be grateful for the time spent at Bodhi and in the lovely community of Bahia Ballena. As Margaret Mead once said, “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has” and this is so exemplified by Travis, Pilar, Adrianne and Gibran! I walk onwards with lifelong friends, role models, a deeper love for the environment and an everlasting sense of hope in the future. The people I meet who are bathing in their own authenticity and passions are the fuel to my fire of being the creative change I want to see.