DROPPING PEBBLES, INVESTING IN YOURSELF AND MAKING AN IMPACT
Nick’s clear desire to keep improving himself and how travel businesses should be approaching their work in a world that is becoming more and more demanding of social and environmental awareness and action.
Posted on Tue 15 Jun 2021
From ‘The Travel Growth Podcast’
Episode 9 of The Travel Growth Podcast, is the last in our first season! We've had fun making season 1, which has been packed with a ton of actionable advice alongside inspirational stories from a variety of business owners in the travel industry. The final episode is no exception!
Tom speaks with Nick Kershaw, founder of Impact Marathon, an organisation that uses the power of running to uplift communities and empower runners all over the world. Since 2015 they have raised $1.2m for grassroots organisations where they tackle The Global Goals in those communities, and have organised races in 5 different countries and built a community of more than 400 runners.
Nick is supremely educated in both running an organisation and combining that with making a wider impact, as the name of his company would suggest!
We discuss the thinking behind making a true impact, Nick’s clear desire to keep improving himself and how travel businesses should be approaching their work in a world that is becoming more and more demanding of social and environmental awareness and action.
We also cover community, the importance of empowering others, growing their team in a distributed way around the world and how Nick turns up in new countries with sometimes no connections and goes about building an event.
Marketing is also included of course, with Nick’s thoughts on cultivating word of mouth and some discussion around influencers, partnerships and what is at the centre of good marketing.
I found this conversation super insightful, and it’s a fitting end to season 1 of the podcast.
We discuss the thinking behind making a true impact, Nick’s clear desire to keep improving himself and how travel businesses should be approaching their work in a world that is becoming more and more demanding of social and environmental awareness and action.
Marketing is also included of course, with Nick’s thoughts on cultivating word of mouth and some discussion around influencers, partnerships and what is at the centre of good marketing.
Here are a few topics discussed in the episode:
💡 Building and growing a globally distributed team.
🧠 Taking the time to invest in yourself, both physically and mentally.
⛺️ The power of having a community.
🇺🇬 Setting up the first ever international marathon to take place in Uganda.
🌱 Why organisations such as Laureus, Dave Cornthwaite, Ultra X, Run Talk Run and others inspire Nick.
💪 The importance of empowering others.
Please make sure you leave a review if you found this episode insightful!
0:03:30
Why is Impact not a travel business?
0:07:30
What were the steps from education to starting Impact?
0:10:30
Setting up a marathon in Uganda
0:21:30
Setting up Impact
0:25:30
The process for arriving in a new country and creating an event
0:32:30
Background on what Impact Marathon does
0:36:30
Changing the model
0:40:30
The power of having a community
0:48:30
Taking the time to invest in yourself
0:56:30
Growing a remote team
1:05:30
Marketing
1:15:30
Cultivating word of mouth
1:25:30
Choosing which causes to support
1:32:00
Take small steps
1:33:00
Other organisations that inspire Nick
1:34:00
Advice to someone starting a travel business