Conscious Entrepreneurship: May I introduce Fedia Kourbatov
Fedia Kourbatov was born and raised in Chicago, IL. He went to Lincoln Park HS in the city. Growing up Fedia spent most of his free time playing sports and being involved in the Ukrainian community. Once it was time to go to college he decided to go to The University of Oklahoma. He studied Finance and minored in Management Information Systems. It was at OU where his curiosity for entrepreneurship began.
After his roommate introduced him to the podcast “How I Built This” (a podcast about how the founders of some of the world’s most influential companies built their businesses) his interest in starting a business began to grow. Hearing how ordinary people could build such influential businesses inspired him and made him believe that he could also build an impactful business one day. He just needed an idea.
The summer going into his junior year that idea came to him after a conversation he had with his mother about a reusable bag his grandmother had brought from Ukraine to give to his family. He thought sharing this bag with the world could save thousands or even millions of plastic bags from being used! This is how Baba Bags came to life…
CONSCIOUS ENTREPRENEURSHIP — What meaning do you give this term?
Conscious entrepreneurship to me is starting a business with a mission focused on a social, cultural or environmental issue.
CAREER — What led you to your particular career path?
In my Sophomore year of college (3 years ago) I had started to educate myself about our earth and how it needed our help. I had diagnosed that climate change would be the biggest challenge our generation would face and was thinking about how I could help. The summer going into my junior year was when I had the inspiration for Baba Bags and saw my opportunity to help our planet. I was very excited about the challenge of starting a business that had a mission centered around helping our planet and others.
MENTORS — We all need a little help along the journey. Who has been an invaluable mentor for you? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
One of the most important resources I have discovered since starting my business is www.score.org. Score is a business mentorship program that matches you to someone who can help you with your biggest business challenges (Ex. marketing, accounting, starting a business, growing your business, etc.)
I have developed a very close relationship with my mentor. He is a great listener and problem solver. In one of our most recent conversations, he gave me a great innovative idea for our reusable bags. I explained to him that two constant suggestions from our customers are: 1. Create a liner so that smaller items don’t fall through the holes of our bags. 2. Create a small sack to store a Baba Bag when it is not being used.
When talking about this feedback with my mentor he thought why not create a 2-in-1 liner that turns into a storage pouch for the bag when the liner is not being used. He showed me how his rain jacket can fold into its pocket for easy storage. He recommended we used this same concept for Baba Bags. This was a great way to address two suggestions from our customers. We are now working on a 2–1 pouch liner as we speak!
My mentors have been vital in building Baba Bags and are great resources to talk to when I am facing a business challenge.
TO THRIVE — When you see yourself thriving: Do you see yourself opening up opportunities for others along the way to participate in your success, and how?
Success does not feel the same without sharing it with others. The group I love to share my success with the most are my younger cousins. I love to give them opportunities to help me build Baba Bags. Giving my younger cousins opportunities to do meaningful work for Baba Bags gives them great experiences at a young age and increases their confidence that they can make a difference. It also helps Baba Bags a lot!
One example is my high school cousin who has a real talent for graphic design. She has been a huge help in creating graphics on our social media pages and for other promotional material. She has helped Baba Bags improve our social media presence while also giving her relevant experience she can put on her resume!
CAUSE — What are the causes close to your heart, and you are supporting right now? Can you share a story how you got involved? How did it make you feel?
The social issues that I am most passionate about are climate change and plastic pollution in our oceans.
The Environmental Protection Agency stated that in 2015 there were 4.1 million tons of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps generated in the U.S. If you distribute that weight across the U.S. population, that would amount to an average of 390 bags per person! These plastic bags are used on average for about 12 minutes before getting tossed out. Currently, 2 million tons of plastic end up in lakes, rivers, and oceans by the United States alone every year. Plastic bags are a top 7 plastic item of that 2 million tons. The plastic in our water ends up killing over 100,000 marine animals and affecting 267 more species every year.
As I learned more about our planet and how it was in trouble I felt obligated to act. Climate change will be the biggest challenge the human race will face. This scares me but it also excites me because our generation has the opportunity to put the human race on the path to saving our planet. Baba Bags’ mission is to help eliminate single-use plastic bag usage but as we grow I would like to create seminars and workshops to educate other on how they can make a difference. I believe education is the key to saving our planet.
THE FUTURE — How do you see the face of entrepreneurship in 5 years? How do companies /brands need to adapt to secure their place in the future?
Similar to how Panera Bread now labels the meals on their menu that have a carbon footprint of less than 5.38 kilograms of carbon dioxide (They were the first major restaurant chain to label its menu items with calorie counts. Now everyone does this.) I think brands will need to label or be very transparent on the carbon footprint and the sustainability of their products in the next 5 years. Climate change is becoming a bigger problem every single day and consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious. I think sustainability will become a new important factor for consumers when making purchasing decisions. If brands choose to ignore the sustainability of their products their business will suffer.
ADVICE — What kind of advice would you like to give to an aspiring entrepreneur who feels limited due to their background or lack of resources?
Being Broke = Creativity
As a college student, there was not a lot of money to my name. This made me have to be patient in building Baba Bags and has made me become creative and utilize all the resources I have (We all have valuable resources and connections! Some have more than others but don’t discredit your network.). Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a logo, videos, photos, etc. I have gone to friends that are good at these types of things and asked for their help (My best friend in grade school created the Baba Bags logo). Being a student has also been an advantage of mine. When I was still brewing on the idea of Baba Bags I went to the University of Oklahoma Sonner Innovation Fund and pitched them my idea. I received a grant for 600 dollars to fund my initial market research for the bags. This market research was vital as it gave me the confidence to ultimately launch Baba Bags after receiving positive feedback from this research. If you are not in school look for online/local entrepreneurship competitions or workshops. The internet and your community are also resources. Use them! No matter how big Baba Bags gets I will always try to keep this “broke” mentality as it truly spurs the most creative and innovative ideas.
DRIVE — Do you sometimes feel bad for “wanting more out of life”, and if so, why? What is your personal motivation that leads you through the hardships of entrepreneurship?
Starting and running a business on your own has many highs and lows. The lows can at times be crushing. I have found that when I take a second to remind myself why I started my business in the first place this is the best way to cure discouragement. My why for starting Baba Bags was to share the beautiful bag my grandma (or as I call her my baba) gave to my family to the world so that together we can reduce single-use plastic bags usage (Baba Bags’ Mission). Hardships in business are far easier to overcome if your business has a strong mission that you are truly passionate about and believe in.
CHALLENGES — Entrepreneurship is very challenging. We each have our own coping mechanism. Mine is humor. What is yours? Can you share a story?
When I am lost or don’t feel like myself, I surround myself with my friends and family. I am lucky to have loyal friends and a family that is always in my corner. Spending time with them allows me to be myself, express my thoughts, and just simply laugh and have a good time. This helps me center myself and refocus on my goals.
Selling at farmer’s markets is one of the main ways we sell our bags. It doesn’t happen often but there have been a few times where I sold 0 bags at a farmers market. This is the type of failure that allows doubt to creep in and brings down your mood. After one of these markets, I went and spent time with my 3 best friends from high school and just put things into perspective. My friends also reminded me that all results are good results because there is always something you learn from being out promoting and selling.
INSPIRATION — Is there an entrepreneurial book or podcast that inspires you that you would like to share with our readers?
Reading and listening to podcasts are my favorite ways to learn about business and get ideas for Baba Bags. My all time favorite podcast is “How I Built This” by Guy Raz. This podcast interviews the founders of some of the world’s most successful companies such as Starbucks, Spanx, Lyft, Lululemon, etc. Hearing how others built these very successful businesses is great for inspiration and idea generation.
Some of my favorite business books are: How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, Contagious by Jonah Berger, $100 Dollar Start-Up by Chris Guillebeau, and Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie.
THANK YOU!
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Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on CONSCIOUS ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
Conscious entrepreneurship for me is about building a sustainable business that values and respects the resources used and makes an effort of giving back to society.
I believe we need entrepreneurs to really get involved in the causes close to their heart.
This is why I reach out to entrepreneurs that aim for more than generating profit. With this interview, I aim to share entrepreneurial purpose-led passion to inspire others.
Looking forward to learn from you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
