1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,100
Where did it come from?

2
00:00:02,380 --> 00:00:06,440
So I was formerly an English teacher and the vision came,

3
00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:09,940
I had, Oprah Winfrey calls them an aha moment.

4
00:00:09,940 --> 00:00:14,500
I had an aha moment on an island in Fiji called Kandavu.

5
00:00:14,500 --> 00:00:17,640
Saw the beautiful swaying coconut trees.

6
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:19,040
It was a one second thought.

7
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,240
And the thought was I'd like to create as much positivity

8
00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:24,160
in the world as I can.

9
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,140
I've seen since learned it's called post-traumatic growth

10
00:00:27,140 --> 00:00:29,060
because I just lost my second parent

11
00:00:29,060 --> 00:00:30,620
by the time I was 37.

12
00:00:30,620 --> 00:00:35,360
So it was a very sad time, a very emotional time.

13
00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,320
But out of that, there was a very strong desire,

14
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,020
I guess to positively impact as many people as I could.

15
00:00:42,020 --> 00:00:46,000
So that's the in a nutshell version.

16
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,200
And then I had free-frating for four years.

17
00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:49,980
I saw a school and I got advice,

18
00:00:49,980 --> 00:00:52,800
but it really came from that one second thought.

19
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:54,260
Wow.

20
00:00:54,260 --> 00:00:57,080
Okay, Fiona, let's talk about how you got started.

21
00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,440
I'm gonna show a little bit about behind the scenes

22
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:01,440
because it's amazing what you've built.

23
00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,000
It's amazing to see the transformation

24
00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:03,920
that's taking place with it.

25
00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,060
But how did Fiji Book Drive get started?

26
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:09,240
So it got started.

27
00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,660
So moving on from that initial one second thought I had,

28
00:01:12,660 --> 00:01:15,760
I then saw a school on the island of Kandavu

29
00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,760
and all schooling in Fiji is compulsorily done in English.

30
00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:22,780
Actually, that's the school there.

31
00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:25,480
And they did have books.

32
00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,420
They probably had about 20 books.

33
00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,280
I saw that you're a Dr. Zeus fan.

34
00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,220
So they had some Dr. Zeus books.

35
00:01:32,220 --> 00:01:35,880
Nobody likes to see a Dr. Zeus book in bad condition.

36
00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:37,600
That just makes us sad.

37
00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,560
And yeah, it makes us sad, doesn't it?

38
00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,600
And so there's an example there of a library that we've done.

39
00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:45,680
So they had some books,

40
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,580
but they were just in terrible condition.

41
00:01:47,580 --> 00:01:51,560
And that is not going to entice children to reading,

42
00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,280
not enough books and very, very poor quality.

43
00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:56,600
And in addition to that,

44
00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,180
so English is the children's third language

45
00:01:59,180 --> 00:02:00,700
and they're going to be no books in the home.

46
00:02:00,700 --> 00:02:04,000
So they're already facing so many obstacles

47
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,280
before they get to school.

48
00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,220
I had a conversation when I was back in Australia

49
00:02:09,220 --> 00:02:10,060
with a friend.

50
00:02:10,060 --> 00:02:12,120
It was a very interrupted conversation

51
00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:13,920
while our children were doing swimming lessons.

52
00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:16,120
So literally one minute grabs.

53
00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:17,160
And she said to me,

54
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,440
Fiji, as my friends call me, don't you know where freight is?

55
00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:22,480
I said, no, I didn't know your freight is.

56
00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:23,760
And she said, well freight is.

57
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:25,200
So they freighted it.

58
00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,240
And did the warehousing and logistics for about four years.

59
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,480
That gave me legs.

60
00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,400
And so that's really kind of how it started.

61
00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,920
Then we became, we had Clayton Newts,

62
00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:38,760
like a well-known law firm in Australia.

63
00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,240
They did all the work to make us into a charity.

64
00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,480
So we're a registered charity in Australia and Fiji.

65
00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,080
So it came from the vision,

66
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,860
then me having a conversation with someone.

67
00:02:49,860 --> 00:02:52,800
And that someone backing me very early on,

68
00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,160
which was pretty amazing because we were unproven

69
00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,040
and then me driving it from there.

70
00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,180
How can leaders lean into finding their vision?

71
00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,340
Well, I think if you don't have funding,

72
00:03:05,340 --> 00:03:07,640
it's pretty hard to get your vision going.

73
00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:10,680
So if you believe enough in it

74
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,960
and you are unwavering in your belief,

75
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,100
then you will find, and the vision is good,

76
00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:20,120
and people you're able to inspire them to jump on board,

77
00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,360
then you will find funding.

78
00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:23,960
I mean, separate to that,

79
00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,860
asking people for money is hard, it's hard.

80
00:03:27,860 --> 00:03:32,000
And I mean, I was raised,

81
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,000
I remember my father saying to me,

82
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,840
oh, the classiest people are the ones

83
00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,040
that don't talk about money.

84
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,160
And I agree with that to an extent,

85
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,380
but if you run a charity or any organisation,

86
00:03:46,380 --> 00:03:48,780
you do actually have to ask for money.

87
00:03:50,460 --> 00:03:51,820
It's called the money story.

88
00:03:51,820 --> 00:03:53,880
So you just have to get comfortable with that.

89
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,080
Now you can't just ask people

90
00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,200
that you have no relationship with.

91
00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:00,480
Asking for any significant amount of money,

92
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,000
it's a relationship.

93
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,360
And nothing big is gonna happen online over a text message.

94
00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,240
It's gonna be lunch or a coffee.

95
00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,480
And it's like putting compost in the garden over time.

96
00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,120
They need to believe you're a person of integrity.

97
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:17,920
They need to believe in the vision.

98
00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,480
They also like supporting, in our case,

99
00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,800
sort of small yet big charity.

100
00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,040
So how do they lean into it?

101
00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:27,200
They've got to believe it

102
00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,000
and maybe get a little bit of advice on how to do it.

103
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,000
So for example, we have to ask,

104
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,920
or I have to ask for matched funds.

105
00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:36,760
So it's tax time now.

106
00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,380
So our biggest donation time of the year.

107
00:04:39,380 --> 00:04:40,840
And if we have a matched fund,

108
00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:44,480
so people donate $5 and then their five becomes 10

109
00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,160
because of a matched fund,

110
00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,000
hugely attractive for people.

111
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,560
So you need to make it attractive to people to fund

112
00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,800
the vision and they need to believe in the vision.

113
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:56,800
And if they say no, that's fine.

114
00:04:57,880 --> 00:04:59,040
That's right.

115
00:04:59,040 --> 00:04:59,880
It is.

116
00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,640
It's honorable that they even listened, right?

117
00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,440
That they even took the time to consider it.

118
00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,360
And we've got to do a good job of inspiring people.

119
00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,480
I think you use that word in there as well.

120
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:12,900
So I really appreciate the wisdom.

121
00:05:12,900 --> 00:05:17,280
Do you remember where the sources that you learned

122
00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:19,300
about the money story?

123
00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,200
So, I mean, I really, yeah, it's a really good phrase.

124
00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,920
I subscribed to lots of emails.

125
00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:28,780
It was one of those emails.

126
00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:33,840
It was an email that I get about fundraising.

127
00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:36,180
I can't remember which particular one it was.

128
00:05:36,180 --> 00:05:38,160
And it was actually a 90 second video.

129
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:43,160
And I showed it to all my board in a board meeting.

130
00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:48,160
But in essence, what the money story video said was,

131
00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,480
so let's say you've got a number in mind,

132
00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,880
then you say that number

133
00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:55,640
and that's what the person works with.

134
00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,760
And I had an example of that where we had no warehousing.

135
00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,560
Our warehousing partners pulled the pin on us.

136
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:03,320
It was just before COVID started.

137
00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,400
It was completely devastating because as a book charity,

138
00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,480
if you don't have a warehouse, you've got nothing.

139
00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,800
And I said to someone who was very much a big wheel

140
00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,800
in corporate Australia in the 90s,

141
00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,880
I didn't know this person well, but I knew my father.

142
00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:22,400
And this person said to me,

143
00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,640
how much do you need for a warehouse?

144
00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:26,160
And I said, 25,000.

145
00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,720
He said to me, Fiona, right, I will write 25,000.

146
00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,900
Now it was a gobsmacking moment.

147
00:06:32,900 --> 00:06:36,480
And I think because he knew my father,

148
00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,680
that was like an indirect reference to my character

149
00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,360
and integrity, but it illustrated perfectly

150
00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:43,560
the point of the money story.

151
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,240
You say the number.

152
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:46,560
Thank you for being here today.

153
00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,040
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.

154
00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,680
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions

155
00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:53,960
as these episodes continue to move forward.

156
00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:55,680
This is gonna get more and more fun.

157
00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:57,480
We'll have more and more engagement as well.

158
00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,600
We'll invite people to participate in the show

159
00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,960
and thank you for giving us your time and attention.

160
00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,680
Have an excellent time building out your vision

161
00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:06,440
and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.