Daniel Flynn, co-founder of Thankyou – an organisation built purely for impact to eradicate extreme poverty – talks to MR TURNER for GANT about his journey, challenges and how he learnt to never give up on his ‘why’.
Growing up sponsoring a child through World Vision, Daniel always had an awareness of poverty. His first defining moment was at 19 when he first learnt about the World Water Crisis amidst a University assignment.
“900 million people (in 2008) didn’t have access to safe water,” Daniel says. “I started to think, what if that was me? It moved me to the point that I was sitting at my computer in tears. It was right at that moment I made a decision to do something with my life to help change this.”
Thankyou’s concept is not traditional, so creative and innovative thinking is distinctly important. “We have this saying at Thankyou,
“High-five the status quo in the face – with a chair.”
Daniel continues, “when we wanted to launch our products into major retailers, we were up against a system that had been created for big businesses with millions of dollars to spend. We knew that to get the result we needed, we would have to take an innovative, creative and unconventional approach.”
On the topic of facing challenges, Daniel Flynn mentions that “for me and the team, knowing our ‘why’ kept us moving and helped us to get up again.”
“My advice to anyone still searching for their ‘why’ it to ask yourself some really hard questions: What moves you? What makes you happy? What makes you angry? Some people are really passionate about an issue and others aren’t – it’s not that those who aren’t are bad, it’s that everyone is wired differently and we all have different things that drive us.”
Since Daniel Flynn’s defining moment at 19, Thankyou has helped fund safe water and sanitation programs for 545,360 people in need. Overall, they have given over $5.5 million and helped over 755,338 people around the world.
Follow the impact of Thankyou over on their website by clicking here, read more about their journey thus far in Chapter One, and keep on scrolling to read the full Q&A interview and see more outtakes with Daniel Flynn.
Sincerely,
What does a typical workday routine look like for Daniel Flynn?
There’s definitely no typical day at Thankyou, which is what I love about it. I always start my morning hanging out with my son, Jed, who is almost two before I head to our office in Collingwood.
We have two levels in our office so we have this rule that you need to enter and exit on the opposite level to where your desk is. This means we walk past the whole team and say ‘hey’ and catch up for a moment before we sit down for the day.
I’m doing a lot of travelling at the moment as we gear up for our launch into New Zealand. I travel for anything from sales pitches to speaking to university students or executives. It’s really an honour to speak about the Thankyou journey and how we’ve got to where we are now. I love the idea of inspiring people to go after their dreams and chase the impossible.
Throughout the day, I have meetings for anything from marketing, sales and finance to board meetings. It’s really important to Justine (my wife and Thankyou co-founder) that we have a good work-life balance so we’ll try and leave the office by 5.30pm.
What was one of your first defining moments when exploring extreme Poverty?
I grew up sponsoring a child through World Vision so always had an awareness of poverty, but for me the most defining moment was when I first learnt about the World Water Crisis. I was 19 and doing research for a uni assignment when I learnt that 900 million people (in 2008) didn’t have access to safe water. I found this so difficult to wrap my head around. I started watching videos of kids walking to collect water for their families I started to think, what if that was me? It moved me to the point that I was sitting at my computer in tears. It was right at that moment I made a decision to do something with my life to help change this.
What was the biggest challenge in creating Thankyou amidst a market full of multinationals?
For us, it’s difficult going up against a market full of multinationals because they have millions of dollars to promote their products. Whenever we enter a new market, we are compared to these big brands, so our challenge is to get retailers to commit to us and take us seriously. We create quality products, so we know that once they’re on shelves, we’ll get cut through. Today, we have products on shelves around the country and in the major supermarkets, our hand washes are number one and number two in the category – without any major TV commercials or millions of dollars spent on instore advertising.
You speak a lot about creative and innovative thinking. Why is this so important in Thankyou?
The concept of Thankyou is not traditional, so we need creative and innovative thinking to help us grow and find solutions to problems. We have this saying at Thankyou, “High-five the status quo in the face – with a chair.” When we wanted to launch our products into major retailers, we were up against a system that had been created for big businesses with millions of dollars to spend. We knew that to get the result we needed, we would have to take an innovative, creative and unconventional approach. Even today, the markets we compete in are crowded and it’s getting harder and harder to cut through to retailers and consumers but so innovation helps you get noticed.
You experienced set-back after set-back during the early years of Thankyou. What kept you coming back?
We experienced so many setbacks in the early years, and even today. From our first launch being a product recall, to the struggle to land a major retailer. For me and the team, knowing our ‘why’ kept us moving and helped us to get up again. When I was feeling sorry for myself and tempted to throw in the towel, I would draw strength from my ‘why’ and remember why we were doing this. It’s also really important to surround yourself with mentors and a great team that will encourage you and keep you on track to reach your goals.
I’ve noticed you love your numbers and statistics. Focusing on your first product, how many people has Thankyou helped in funding access to clean water and sanitation?
To date (February 2017), our water and body care range has helped fund safe water and sanitation programs for 545,360 people in need. Overall, we have given over $5.5 million and helped over 755,338 people around the world.
Whether you’re a business owner or employee, in any field, work can become overwhelming and chaotic overnight. How do you maintain a work/life balance?
It can be really challenging. When you’re building a business, there is always so much to do and it can be hard to switch off. I’m still trying to figure the balance out but at the moment Justine and I have one day a week where we completely switch off and don’t talk about work. We’re not even allowed to mention the ‘T’ word. We try and lock in holidays well ahead of time so that when projects get pushed back, it doesn’t move our holidays out further and further. We also try to keep work hours as normal as possible. There’s always going to be work to do so it’s about knowing when to stop.
You found your ‘Why’ when you were 19. Do you have any advice you’d like to share with those still searching?
My advice to anyone still searching for their ‘why’ it to ask yourself some really hard questions: What moves you? What makes you happy? What makes you angry? Some people are really passionate about an issue and others aren’t – it’s not that those who aren’t are bad, it’s that everyone is wired differently and we all have different things that drive us. If you keep asking yourself these questions you’ll start seeing things in common in the answers and you’ll have your first lead to finding your ‘why’.
Interviewed, photographed, styled, edited and written by Jordan Turner (MR TURNER), featuring Daniel Flynn for GANT.
