Show Notes

Welcome to The Firestarter Podcast—people, ideas and conversations that move us forward. It’s your host Willa Kammerer’s business and passion to make the world a better place through storytelling, which is why we’re here today. We’ll talk to mission-driven entrepreneurs, philanthropists, investors, thought leaders, and experts on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues about designing and thriving careers of impact.

Our guest today is Navyn Salem, the Founder and CEO of Edesia, a nonprofit social enterprise with a mission to treat and prevent malnutrition in the world’s most vulnerable populations. Their factory in Rhode Island produces a wide range of fortified peanut-based products for humanitarian agencies like UNICEF, World Food Programme and more. Since 2010, Edesia has reached more than 12 million children in over 57 countries. In 2019, Navyn developed MeWe, a commercial line of nut butters addressing nutritional challenges in the USA. She is a 2014 Henry Crown Fellow and member of the Aspen Global Leadership network. She is also the mother of four daughters. Stay tuned to hear Navyn’s pathway to founding Edesia, her mission to tackle malnutrition on a global scale and advice for connecting with your own purpose. 

As the conversation begins, Navyn shares about her own background and the inspiration behind her work today. Her father and grandparents are from Tanzania, a country she couldn’t visit until after her college graduation. She was finally able to see first hand the challenges faced by the developing world, an image which remained with her for some time.  Having children of her own reminded her of the experience she had on that trip many years ago and the true hardships mothers in those places face. Edisia was born out of her business background, experience of motherhood and knowledge about Tanzania. 

When Navyn’s youngest daughter turned one, she decided to return to Tanzania with the intention of finding out how to address the area’s most pressing needs. At the time, nobody seemed to be talking about the issue of malnutrition despite the fact that 5 million children were dying as a result of something completely preventable. Navyn was inspired to address this issue right away. She partnered with a French companywho manufactured a peanut butter which had the ability to rehabilitate a child within 7 weeks and opened a factory in Tanzania.  

Next, Navyn shares a few of the ways being an outsider in the industry granted her a leg up. While it was initially discouraging, coming into the space with a completely fresh perspective actually worked to her advantage. Navyn’s advice to anyone interested in doing something is to just start, right now, and to not overthink it. 

One of the major nutritional challenges we face here in the U.S. is widespread peanut allergies among children. In an effort to relieve some of the fear of parents of children with these allergies, Navyn began questioning what could be done to help. It was determined by the AAP that introducing peanuts to children as early as possible relieves some of the likelihood for allergies developing by up to 82%. Navyn and her colleagues developed a safe peanut butter for children over 6 months and a product for kids who are challenging their diet diversity. To address growing food bank lines during the pandemic, they developed a peanut butter called MeWe. She recalls the excitement and motivation of her team to be able to help out at home. 

In closing, Navyn discusses her many roles, including mother and CEO. She shares her value of leading by example and inspiring her daughters to do something great. Finally, she offers her best advice to young people hoping to connect with their own purpose. She shares that she didn't find her own until she was 35 years old, so don’t worry about a certain deadline or timeframe.  When you find the thing that clicks with you, there is no better feeling in the world. 

Timestamps:

0:01 - Host Willa Kammerer introduces the podcast.

0:46 - Willa introduces today’s guest, Navyn Salem. 

2:15 - The birth of Edesia and uncovering their mission. 

9:15 - The miracle product which kickstarted it all 

13:33 - The missteps along the way of founding a startup. 

19:33 - The power of action and just doing rather than overthinking.

24:33 - Addressing the nutritional needs in the U.S. 

27:40 - Edesia’s work during the pandemic. 

32:36 - Navyn discusses her team at Edesia. 

38:04 - Navyn’s approach to her career and motherhood. 

44:03 - Advice for young people in connecting with their purpose. 

47:01 - Closing words. 

 
Links:

Learn more about FirestarterIX. 

Connect with Willa on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. 

Learn more about Edesia. 

Subscribe to the podcast, find show notes and the video of today’s show here.   

Keywords:

Social impact, social change, hunger, poverty, world hunger, unicef, world hunger programme, humanitarianism, leadership, henry crown fellow, Aspen Global Leadership network, entrepreneurship, malnutrition, nutrition, Tanzania, motherhood, business, non profit, edesia, startup, ceo, VCF, quaker, social injustice, rhode island, unicef, social enterprise model, united nations, UN, peanut allergy, health crisis, food shortage, pandemic, covid, USDA, diversity