The ESP: Global Changemaker Stories

COPROT is a sea turtle conservation project located on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica that prioritizes community involvement, education, and activism. In our podcast, “Turtle Tales with Laura Exley”, the founder of @Coprot shares her incredible journey. From graduating high school to singing in Thailand, working at a stray dog rescue, then learning Spanish while becoming a research assistant in Mex...

Paul and Jeanne Johnson are the co-founders of Caribeans, a bold and community-rooted chocolate venture based in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. What started as a small café evolved into something much more: a regenerative chocolate company grounded in justice, sustainability, and a deep commitment to local community. Their journey is equal parts entrepreneurial, ecological, and deeply perso...

Rachel Thompson, a former criminal defense lawyer turned conservationist and professional diver, discusses her role in protecting the local environment of Mabul Island, Malaysia. Now working for Scuba Junkie, one of the most highly rated dive-center resorts in the world, with an accompanying nonprofit organization, Rachel teaches the joys of scuba diving and helps conserve local marine life. To le...

In this podcast we sit down with Esteban Araya Chaves, the CEO of Florex. Florex is a Costa Rica based manufacturer of toxin-free cleaning supplies. From the origin of Esteban’s father, Don Carlos, starting a business for women and mothers in Costa Rica to support themselves, he noticed the negative health implications of working with toxic cleaners for hours on end. Because of this Don Carlos and...

Arthur revisits Veronica Carrera, 2015 Best Executive MBA winner, avid triathlete, and author, at her holistic mountain retreat in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. In this episode, Arthur catches up with Veronica and her life and business partner, Angélica Coronilla, on their journey to help the people of our modern world heal and grow. They reflect on the blessings that can come from destruction and findi...

Mare Blu  is a passionate team in Costa Rica led by Gero and Paula, dedicated to ocean conservation and community health. In this episode, we take you on a "story tour" to their new center in Guacolio to see how they are turning ocean plastic into building blocks for houses. The conversation explores their messy and inspiring journey of creating local jobs, protecting sea turtles, and fi...

Flor is part of our ongoing storytelling, starting from when we met her last year when she worked with Bean Voyage.  While still close with Bean Voyage and the community, Flor shares how she has gone full time as an entrepreneur who clearly cares for life on land, sustainable communities, and gender equality. Her farm, Finca Las Piedritas, is alive with so much of what Flor values: healthy soil, f...

Caetana Verela-Hall is a holistic doctor whose unconventional approach provides healing through integrative medicine. With influence from ancient Chinese Medicinal practices and her time as an occupational doctor, Caetana helps people feel good and live well at her practice, Casa SanAndo in A Coruña, Spain. In this episode, Arthur chats with Caetana all about what it means to take care of your hea...

From Chiapas, Mexico, Frida Ibarra shares her story revealing an inspiring young changemaker in the making.  In addition to her desire to pursue completion of a Masters degree in data science to help further empower women in STEM fields, Frida has already impacted many lives of women and girls in Latin America through teaching coding... and she has loved being part of it all.   Frida shares her th...

Veronica Carrera, 2015 Executive MBA winner, avid triathlete, and author, is the founder of Ater Tumti, a one-of-a-kind, Costa Rican holistic mountain retreat. Veronica stepped away from a successful career in Corporate America after a transformative experience with plant medicine. Her and her partner, Angélica, moved to Costa Rica to pursue an exciting new holistic life fostering community, conne...

From Santa Fe, New Mexico, Sam Wolf shares his journey from a high-stakes litigation lawyer to becoming the COO and General Counsel of Falling Colors, one of the world’s top-ranked B Corps. After years of facing the physical and mental toll of "shareholder primacy" and professional burnout, Sam shifted his focus toward building a business model that legally protects social impact and prioritizes t...

Derreck Kayongo is likely most known for his brilliance related to the Global Soap Project which started with his first time staying in a US hotel where he observed something odd to him...something that many of us have observed...that the hotel gives guests multiple bars of soap and that the unused portions were just thrown away.  He found out that 800 million bars annually were thrown out in the...

Alessandro Carpentiero is from Milan, Italy and is the co-founder of Beyond Sapiens where they work to help leaders blend the latest science with holistic practices that help optimize the mind and body. Alessandro is all about human potential through creating synergy between mind and body and how we might elevate our collective consciousness... and he does it in the business world, communicating i...

In this podcast, we learn more about Geronimo and Paula's journey from textiles and non-profits to cleaning and preserving beaches, while also supporting the local community. MareBlu is an environmental conservation organization based in Costa Rica. Founded by Geronimo Ciuti, it focuses on reducing plastic pollution primarily through coastal cleanup expeditions. MareBlu also runs regenerative...

In this podcast we sit down with Majo to hear how Bean Voyage has grown since our first interview with her in 2024. Majo tells us about the exciting developments of Farmer's School and a three day gathering that facilitated connections between producers. Check out our podcast with her and Fernanda to hear how Majo’s personal journey and values led her to this work.   You can find out more about th...

During her time managing the supply chain and quality control at Bean Voyage, Flor Coghi worked to connect women smallholder coffee farmers to the global market and to the information they need to improve the quality of their coffee.   This podcast details her journey from being a little girl in Costa Rica playing in the rain to studying taekwondo and economics in South Korea for 10 years. Her cof...

In this episode, recorded back in 2024, we were able to sit down Fernanda Carrillo Chacón and Maria Jose Monge in Barrio Escalante in San Jose, Costa Rica, a country known for delicious coffee. These two incredible women embody a lifelong care for the communities around them and share how their stories connect to a unique and inspiring coffee-oriented non-profit, and very entrepreneurial organizat...

Having been born in Korea with 5 youthful years in India, and going on to attend university in the US and ultimately founding a social enterprise focused on Costa Rica, Sunghee Tark is a bridge between cultures. What began as an inquiry into gender inequality and ethical consumption became a calling to reimagine global trade through feminist values and human connection. Bean Voyage, a nonprofit en...