Secret Leaders Saasha Celestial-One: Tackling food waste through startup Olio
Saasha Celestial-One may sound like a band formed in the swinging sixties, but she’s actually one half of a food waste startup looking to sign up 1 billion users to food sharing app, Olio, by 2025.
Born and raised by hippy parents in Iowa, Saasha cut her teeth upcycling and tackling food waste from a very early age. Having grown up with not very much, she set her mind on building a bulletproof CV and worked hard to de-risk her professional career - she admits she was really seeking financial security and career stability.
But having worked at Morgan Stanley, McKinley and American Express, she knew her heart wasn’t in financial services and consulting. And it was whilst on maternity leave when she took redundancy, realising she was financially secure, did she finally turn her hand to something she was truly passionate about.
Her first foray into entrepreneurship was the hugely successful My Creche, London's first PAYG provider offering flexible childcare for busy parents. But that was nothing in comparison to the behemoth challenge she is tackling by way of Olio.
Join us today whilst we talk with Saasha about her journey from Midwest America to tackling food waste, one sweet potato and leftover cabbage at a time.
We talk with Saasha about:
- Olio, what it means, and how it’s tackling the problem of food waste
- How redundancy changed her life
- Why a leftover sweet potato and a cabbage brought her to her current path
- How far £40k will go when you start your startup
- How Olio began with 12 people in a Whatsapp group
- Olio’s reliance on volunteers to spread the food waste message
- How you can get involved
- The best piece of advice she’s ever been given
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