Screw It Just DO It with Alex Chisnall Richard Branson's Startup Of The Year with Cemal Ezel's Change Please
I welcome Cemal Ezel, Founder and Ceo of Change Please to episode #179 of Screw It, Just Do It: UK Social Entrepreneur Of The Year, 2017, $1 Million Chivas Venture Winner, and Richard Branson's Startup of the Year 2018 - and the man responsible for the coffee you're drinking onboard a Virgin Train or Virgin Atlantic Airways aircraft.
I had the pleasure of catching up with Cemal twice in one week in October, as he very kindly spoke at my Entrepreneur Summit 2019 and at the SME forum I host for British American Business every quarter for UK businesses looking to scale in the US.
Now I've known Cemal for 4 or 5 years now and the growth of his business has been nothing short of phenomenal.
I last interviewed him two years ago in 2017 and other than Piers Linney, this is the only repeat guest I've had on this show.
Why:
- Because my 2017 interview with him was, and still is, my personal favourite of every episode ever recorded for this show.
- I wanted to highlight what's possible - anything - if you're super-focused, persevere and are very clear on your why.
- It's just one hell of a story.
Change Please trains people who are homeless as barista's and provides each person with a London living wage job, housing, bank account and mental health support.
Today's episode comes in two parts, first my chat with Cemal in front of our live audience, complete with paper rustling form yours truly, secondly, an up to date talk from Cemal on Change Please's expansion into the US and the challenges that they have faced.
We talk about:
- The perceptions that need changing around social businesses
- Distribution being the biggest challenge
- The currency of the future
StartUp!