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Episode 18: “Passion, Profits, People & Pura Vida" with Paul Goodman (#ThisIsMyEra the Podcast)

Upon graduating from college, Paul Goodman and Griffin Thall went to Costa Rica to relax and recalibrate. Paul Goodman and Griffin Thall found themselves allured by the beauty of the bracelets local artisans were making by the beaches, and turned that love into a passion and a career.
Today’s podcast guest, Paul Goodman, co-founder of Pura Vida, a bracelet brand, joins Alexander Star and Kuda Biza to discuss passions, profits, people, and Pura Vida.
It’s not about the money, it’s about the magnitude of the impact.
Paul and Griffin each put in $100 to purchase 400 bracelets from Costa Rican artisans to sell to their friends and family in the U.S. Within two weeks they had sold all 400 bracelets. Because their intention was always to impact the lives of the artisans positively, Paul and Griffin created an email account and a paypal account for the artisans they bought from. Today, Pura Vida sells between 2000 and 5000 orders a day online, and has its products in 2000 plus retail stores. Yet, even with these successes, Paul remains sure that it was never about the money for them, it’s been about the meaningful impact on the lives of artisans.
Pura Vida means Pure Life.
Everyday, Paul wakes up eager to go to work because he is doing what he loves, and because it feels like a dream to see both the artisan group and the customer happy. He spoke of the importance of keeping your loved ones close when doing such work, as they can advise you and guide you to reach your full potential. As Paul has experienced such warm responses to Pura Vida, he now gives other emerging entrepreneurs’ a chance to learn now to give back to people whilst making enough money to meet ends needs.
Three social entrepreneurship business lessons:
1) Trust & Credibility are essential to customer growth;
2) Slow down your pace and think through everything;
3) Provide the best quality product for the customer.
Pura Vida gives a percentage of their profit to charities and has so far donated close to $1.5million to 190 varied charities.

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Collaboration is key.
Pura Vida makes use of different forms of collaboration, including intentional and unsolicited. Their intentional collaboration includes working with festivals advertising, in order to reach the intended target market which is females between the ages of 16-45.
Interestingly, Paul also spoke of the celebrity exposure that Pura Vida receives, and how that unsolicited collaboration has really expanded the reach of the company, specifically though social media.
Episode Outline:
00:40: Introduction by Kuda Biza
1:00: Background of guests
1:50: Paul is introduced to the conversation
2:50: Recounts his and Griffin’s story
4:10: Successes of Pura Vida
5:40: Star questions how the artisans responded to the requests of Paul and Griffin
7:30: Conversation around relationship between Pura Vida and the artisans
9:40: Discussion about having work experience during college  
12:00: Importance of having a diverse team
12:20: Pura Vida began with $200
14:00: The purpose of Pura Vida hasn’t been the money but the people
14:50: Three business lessons learnt so far
17:00: Slow down in order not to make mistakes
19:00: Brand awareness and targeting through festivals and social media
20:00: Social media influencers and celebrities supporting Pura Vida
22:30: The need to balance work and life
23:08: What is next for Pura Vida?
25:00: Pura Vida connections with charities and donations thus far
30:0: Why we should delegate when trying to make changes
33:30: Meaning of Pura Vida and the exclusive special gift for TIME podcast listeners
34:00: Conclusion and thank you’s
Episode Links:
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Pull quotes:
“I am making this my era by not conforming to what everyone thinks is normal...success is when you follow what you want.” - Paul Goodman
“It was never about the money but about the importance of the project itself.” - Paul Goodman