Finding Founders

San Francisco grapples with a housing crisis that challenges families to navigate perplexing American housing protocols in a market whose prices are only getting higher. We’re back with Leonardo Shapiro as he gives his perspective on what it’s like to find housing in the Bay Area as an immigrant. As we walk through Leonardo’s neighborhood, we discuss immigrating to the U.S. and the potential pathways for affordable housing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities to live in the United States. Because of this, some families have turned to more affordable housing options like RVs. Juanita and the Coalition on Homelessness are dedicated to helping fight for the RV community’s place in the city, as it keeps people housed and allows families to save money for the future. In our journey to the RV community, we dive into Juanita’s past with homelessness, reveal the harsh realities of shelters, and learn about RV living. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

APEC’s influence on homelessness can most notably be seen from the increased sweeps the police are doing within the APEC zones. People are losing their valuables and have to be on the move. Javi works for the Coalition on Homelessness, which connects unhoused people with resources for permanent living solutions. As we go through alleyways that are usually heavily populated, we’ll discuss the city’s response to homelessness in relation to APEC and compare it to the resources the community actually needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Alexis and her three kids. I’m meeting them at this building in San Francisco that’s a school during the day and a shelter at night. One year ago today, Alexis and her family called the shelter home. It became a safe haven for them as the past held shadows of a 17-year marriage marred by domestic abuse. During her time at the shelter, Alexis was able to get a job and eventually got a place for her family to have their own space. As we walk through what was once their neighborhood, we’ll go deeper into how Alexis got her family to where they are today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tenderloin is known as the grittiest neighborhood in San Francisco. From the high crime rate to the common drug use, most people wouldn’t be caught walking through after dark. But today Del is walking me through the streets of the Tenderloin and showing me his unique perspective. Before Del was a San Francisco community activist and the secular mayor of the Tenderloin, he was a drug user on these very streets for 18 years. Because of that unique experience, he’s intimately aware of how to bring real community issues to the local government. From the historic halls of Glide, to Code Tenderloin, an academy that teaches people how to code, to pivotal encounters with local figures like Pastor Joe, Del's mission is clear: to uplift the Tenderloin community through compassion, resourcefulness, and unwavering commitment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Terry. He volunteers with the Downtown Streets Team, who once helped him get on his feet when he first moved to San Francisco. Now he helps clean the streets of needles and helps San Francisco’s most vulnerable. We’re going to follow him through the areas he serves while learning a bit about his own life story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leonardo and his family had built their whole lives around the success of this company, and yet with just one visit from Homeland Security, it was on the brink of vanishing into thin air. He’d moved to an entirely new country looking for opportunity, and faced obstacle after obstacle, all because he was an ‘alien.’ With only a couple of weeks before their green card expired, Leonardo and his family were desperate for any help they could get. Today, Leonardo Shapiro is both the CEO and founder of not one, but three companies, including Ultapay, Airbanq, and Not Alien. He’s redefined what being an immigrant means to thousands of entrepreneurs like him, proving that immigrants are human, not alien; but before we dive into this tumultuous journey, let’s rewind to the beginning, to a story that every immigrant family knows all too well… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zach put 40 hours into his YouTube debut only to get 10 views and a spam comment. That left him to question his online identity; was this the end of his short-lived YouTube career? I mean there wasn’t much in his favor. He was starting at the height of covid and the worst of med school just around the corner. I’m sure Zach was questioning whether juggling his work and his passion would amount to anything. But today, Zach Highley’s 454K subscribers are proof that it was well worth the sacrifice. Zach now makes a living as a doctor but also as a YouTuber, and today he’ll share how it all started: the nightmare of applying for med school.

A beautiful California day turned into a nightmare, as Will failed to save his friend’s life while running one of the state's toughest rivers. This nightmare frightened him enough to quit kayaking, possibly forever. This is the reality of extreme sports. Often not even the greatest athletes can conquer these elements unscathed, but it’s a risk they’re willing to take. Will Gadd stands as a four-time Canadian National Sport-Climbing Champion, three-time Winter X Games gold winner, and the world’s first person to scale up the frozen Niagara Falls. Whatever he can climb up, paddle through, or paraglide over, he can conquer; and it all started as a kid, exploring the mountains in his family’s backyard.

As if being trapped, seeking cover from bombs wasn’t scarring enough, just 24 hours later Hao was laid off from his dream job. He found himself across the globe, without a job or a clue what his next step would be. But somehow he’d find opportunity in Vietnam. Today, Hao Tran is the CEO and co-founder of Vietcetera, one of the biggest multimedia digital networks in Vietnam that connects Vietnam with the world, and the world with Vietnam. As a mentor, speaker, and innovative business leader, Hao has paved a new path through the world of business and culture, but it all started with a seemingly peaceful dinner in Paris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taku Tanaka’s burgeoning success in the food industry was slowly being torn apart by COVID and the isolation that came with it. So much hinged on the success of this business and it was up to him to save it. Taku proves that he can handle whatever comes across his plate, as today he stands as the CEO of Kamereo, Vietnam’s first tech-powered B2B food sourcing platform. The inspiration behind his company came from a life-long journey with food, from working at Pizzaria to growing up in his deliciously aromatic home with his family back in Tokyo…

Marina hat hit bottom. At the start of a global pandemic, she found herself with a broken heart, in another country, isolated from the people she loved most. She had no stability. But it was at this moment she could define her character. The choices we make when we feel the world is against us, those choices define us. In this episode we’ll explore how Marina turned her life around and stands today as the founder and CEO of EQUO, a company that offers 100% plastic free straws, utensils, dishwash, and drinkware. Her success story was a long time coming, with many trials and tribulations, and it all started in the Canadian Vietnamese home office of two entrepreneurial refugees looking to make ends meet…

Will hit another roadblock, but this wasn’t the first one he faced. He was told by the best chefs in Paris to get out of the way, that he’ll “never make it as a chef,” and yet today, he stands as the #1 pastry chef in the world, a Rising Star and a nominee for the James Beard Award for Best Pastry Chef in America. So I was in Bali for a month and was lucky enough to be invited to Will’s restaurant Room 4 Dessert. I was greeted with a 15 course meal with a wine pairing – This wasn’t just food, this was artistry, and an experience I’ll never forget. But before we dive into how Will created this incredible experience , let’s start at the beginning, and go all the way back to childhood.

Maybe it was Black magic, maybe it was the locals pushing back on the first signs of foreign development. Regardless, it’s a difficult and complicated thing to start a business when you are a foreigner. In spite of countless roadblocks Waterbom stands and Sayan Gulino, current CEO of Waterbom Bali, has pushed his father’s legacy forward. Today, Waterbom has won several awards and is recognized for its dedication to sustainability, but joining the family business doesn’t mean success was just handed to Sayan on a silver platter. Sayan’s journey to success involves music and nature, boarding schools and party planning, summer jobs and acting gigs. But let’s go back to the beginning, to when his parents, eager for adventure, left Europe for the mystical island of Bali. 

Somehow David has repeatedly found himself at the center of disaster. His most life changing trip through Asia was during the Asian financial crisis, his first big writing opportunity was during the 2008 financial crisis (which resulted in him losing his day job), this earthquake in Japan cemented that position as a writer, and now post covid the world needs the kind of community David is building more than ever. I actually think that’s something the best entrepreneurs have in common. Finding opportunity in disaster. And in David’s case I think he’s able to see opportunity because his breadth of experience is so wide. David was a resource strategist on Wall Street, oversaw natural resource programs at the white House, and even ran a water-focused NGO in Africa. His writing appears in the LA Times, the New York Times, and he’s published a book under Yale University Press called The Elements of Power. While writing this book in internet cafes around the world, David experienced firsthand how working remotely re

Ayu Sudana bet everything on that first export of coffee beans; her family’s harvest, her personal savings, and years of hard work. This moment was the culmination of working her family coffee farm, of a shattered dream for higher education, of a desire to learn that took her around the world. From working as a receptionist at a five star hotel, to a waitress at a celebrity chef’s restaurant, to administrative work at a logistics company in Dubai, to finally founding Bali Beans in Bali. Now, Bali Beans is more than a coffee shop. It’s sustainable agriculture, it’s supporting the local community, it’s becoming the blueprint for coffee shops in Bali and it’s carrying on a family tradition. But this journey started very simply. It started on a farm in the countryside of Bali.

The french-born Nora Gasparini has dedicated her life to the craft of perfumery and has found her calling in scent. But it wasn’t an easy road to get here. Before establishing her perfumery laboratory, Nora was struggling to find her independence and see the value in herself. She was often stuck at home with her mom while her dad and brother went out, explored and handled the family business. But Nora wouldn’t be on the sideline for long. After igniting her flame in boarding school, tapping into her creative side in LA and learning what a perfumer even was in Paris, Nora was filled with a love for meeting new people and sharing new scents. Now settled in Bali, her company, L’Atelier Parfums & Créations, has introduced travelers and locals alike to the art of fragrance, and in turn the memories that smell can hold. But before all this Nora was on a different island surrounded by the smells of a bakery.

Jamie was about to risk everything to create a travel towel company in Bali during covid. Maybe not the most opportune time but Jamie takes risks. From Ebay side hustles in his teens to transcontinental moves for new job opportunities, Jamie has learned that taking risks can forge new connections with people who were once strangers. Jamie’s learned that these new relationships have vastly changed the trajectory of his life and now he’s trying to give others that opportunity. Jamie’s company “Been There” works to connect aspiring entrepreneurs, thinkers, and leaders with advisors that have been there before. His company is trying to broaden who can be mentors, it’s not about knowing everything, it’s just about knowing a bit more than the person you’re advising. That way we can all be mentors. But before meeting strangers all over the world, he spent his childhood growing up in NewCastle, England, where he learned his father’s life motto , “a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet.”

This is my Grandpa. He’s 92 and despite the long list of supplements that accompany his breakfast, he’s still got an expansive knowledge of the stock market, most of his hearing, and a full head of hair. More importantly he’s the OTHER co-founder of my family. Previously we spoke to my Grandma about her childhood, her challenges, and the creation of the Donner Family as I know it today but, of course, she didn’t do it alone. And also I didn’t do this podcast episode alone either. This is a full family affair. My sister Sophia is actually editing this episode with me. So Grandpa Donner or Frank Donner II, father to ten, and grandfather to double that, has been there for every moment, keeping his kids in line and then taking a step back to watch them continue forward. But that doesn’t mean he’s stopped. As we progress through his story, I began to realize that you never stop learning, no matter your age. Grandpa Donner has lived through his fair share of setbacks, failures, and heartbreaks but he’s a testament

A 7 page spread in National Geographic; that was the culmination of years of work, years of cold emailing publications, posting to small online forums, and hoping her photos would get noticed. This passion would take her love of nature from a childhood in Germany, to remote nordic villages, cliffside birds nests, and vulnerable populations in Mongolia. Today, Lana is a National Geographic Explorer who specializes in nature conservation, photography, and biology. But before her first publication, before her journey’s halfway across the world, before she picked up a camera, Lana was the soon-to-be born child of a couple escaping war.