Sam Caster: Solving the World’s Nutritional Problems Through Social Entrepreneurship

Episode recap:

Marcel introduces Sam Caster, a renowned social entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of ALOVÉA, which provides nutritional technologies to tackle global health issues. He shared the challenges of being a social entrepreneur and the significance of social entrepreneurship in addressing pressing health challenges, such as diseases and malnutrition. Caster is recognized for discovering a powerful immune-optimizing molecule extracted from the aloe vera plant, and he describes how he faced extreme resistance from Big Pharma and the FDA. Additionally, Sam discussed his struggle to balance running a for-profit company with providing the same technology through a non-profit organization. He speaks about his passion for social entrepreneurship and how he has dedicated his life to this cause.

Sam Caster is a social entrepreneur who has leveraged his business skills and experiences in order to fund a sustainable contribution of advanced immune support to the world’s most vulnerable children through the Not-For-Profit organization he funded called MannaRelief. To date MannaRelief has donated over 250 million daily servings to children in over 90 countries of the world. He’s also the founder and CEO of ALOVÉA, which provides nutritional technologies that address the growing problems of poor health and diseases worldwide. 

Sam shares his journey of leveraging advanced nutritional technologies to combat global health crises while navigating the complexities of regulatory systems. His resilience, purpose, and ability to make tough decisions—like starting over to pursue a greater mission—highlight the profound challenges and rewards of social entrepreneurship. He emphasizes the importance of combining business skills with social impact, creating a model that delivers value to consumers while addressing pressing societal needs.

Key takeaways from the episode include:

• Purpose-Driven Business: Build products or services that enhance quality of life and align with personal passion.
• Resilience in Challenges: Embrace resistance when challenging the status quo, using purpose to overcome obstacles.
• Innovative Impact: Use unique technologies to drive consumer satisfaction while addressing societal needs.
• Authentic Leadership: Inspire trust through authenticity, purpose, and alignment of vision, fostering loyalty from teams and consumers.
• Global Change through Simple Models: Initiatives like “buy one, give one” demonstrate how sustainable business models can create significant global impact, especially in health-focused industries.

Sam’s story underscores the potential of social entrepreneurship to unite profitability with meaningful action, turning personal convictions into transformative change. Whether tackling systemic health crises or building purpose-driven businesses, his insights provide a powerful roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to make a difference.

Links/Resources:

Join the “From Boss to Leader” workshop here: https://www.marcelschwantes.com/frombosstoleader/

Alovéa: https://alovea.com/ 

MannaRelief: https://www.mannarelief.org/ 

Transcript

Marcel Schwantes 00:05

Hey, what's up, people, thank you for joining us today, and we got a great show for you. You know, I know that we tend to feature authors and scholars on the show. You know, to talk to talk about leadership, culture, mindset, habits, all those things that lead to good business outcomes, but I'm also on the lookout for companies that do good in the world. And what I mean by that is that you know companies that that produce products and services to solve some of the world's most complex problems, whether it be social or economic, financial, health-related or environmental problems, right? And make a real difference in the world. There's a lot of love in what these companies do to offer hope to the world and help humanity to flourish. And today we're going to spotlight one of those companies and talk to its founder and CEO, Sam Castor. That company is called ALOVÉA, and I can't wait to get to know them and for you also to get to know them personally and what their whole mission is about, because it is a compelling mission, and I can't wait to talk to Sam about it. So ALOVÉA was created to provide nutritional technologies that address these growing problems of poor health and diseases around the world. So, through its buy one give one platform, ALOVÉA is able to provide those same advanced nutritional technologies to the world's most medically fragile children. Now, ALOVÉA is the first social entrepreneurial business to take on the global poor health epidemic. And let me tell you an epidemic it is, and Sam is going to explain how severe this problem is now. Their founder, Sam Castor is here to tell us about ALOVÉA and also give us an account of his leadership journey along the way. It's not been all sunshine and rain rainbows, folks, okay, far from it. Sam will share the challenges he has faced as well as did the triumphs, and you're going to be inspired by his stories. And I can tell you that you'll also be in awe of how much he and his wife Linda, have had to overcome to get to where they are now. So little bit about Sam. He is obviously a social entrepreneur who has leveraged his immense business skills and experiences to fund a sustainable contribution of advanced immune support to the world's most vulnerable children through the not-for-profit organization he founded called Manna Relief. And to date, manna Relief has donated over 250 million daily servings to children in over 90 countries of the world. Sam caster is also a friend, and I am honored that he accepted my invitation to speak to us today, and Sam now joins us. He's right here. So, Sam, welcome to the love in action podcast. 

Sam Caster 03:24

Hey, Marcelo, good to be here. Thanks a lot for having me. 

Marcel Schwantes 03:35

Oh yeah, yeah, this is going to be fun, Sam, and I know I'm going to learn tons, tons of stuff that you haven't told me before in previous conversations. Okay, we start the show like this. You ready? I'm ready. What's your story?

Sam Caster 03:54

Well, you know, that's a that's a big question. You know, I think since, I mean, I was an entrepreneur all my life. I found early on that I had sort of a knack for finding disruptive technologies that would challenge the status quo in multiple different industries. You know, at first it was, it was the energy industry, energy conservation. Then I found disruptive technologies and things like pest control, you know, how to how to control pests without using toxic chemicals, things like that. And then ultimately, I found my way into healthcare, which was the biggest challenge of everything that I ever tried to take on but in 1994 I was introduced to a technology from a group of research pharmacologists that had made a discovery of a molecule in nature that turns out to be the most immune optimizing technology that is known to mankind. There. Goal was to bring it to market as a drug, but they were blocked by big pharma and the FDA of getting that into the market as a therapeutic agent. And so I was introduced to them because of my background of disruptive technologies, and they said, this is very disruptive. We don't know how to get it into the market, other than, you know, our skill set, which is pharmacology, and, you know, I decided to take on the project, and it has been the project of a lifetime. Marcel, I found that I could impact people's lives in the most dramatic way. But the resistance that is built up is Big Pharma, big food, FDA, regulatory agencies, not just in this country but around the world, that are all designed and influenced and funded to protect status quo and so but in the midst of all of that, with that technology, I found that it also met the needs of the world's most vulnerable children. And so I was struggling to find a way of running a for profit company and at the same time providing that think technology through a not for profit organization that my wife Linda and I started, called Manna relief. And you know, I'm really gifted at business. So, the business side went well, we grew to about a half a billion dollars a year in revenue. The not for profit, not so much. Because, you know, when it comes to fundraising, you know, I tell people, I've never been in the not-for-profit industry before. It didn't take me 30 days to figure out its full-time begging, part time work, because if you're not raising money, you're not making a difference. And there had to be a more sustainable solution to that problem. And in around 2012 I was invited to the first International Symposium on social entrepreneurship. It was held in Mexico, and you know, the host was former president Mexico, Vicente Fox, and his guest, Nobel Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, and I, all of a sudden, learned that I'm not just an entrepreneur. I'm a social entrepreneur, and I learned the skill set of combining those two together. How do you run a business whose goal is to solve a social problem, and how do you fund it, and how do you create sustainability around it? So that's kind of my story of how I ended up here. And then ultimately, you know, how do I commit the rest of my life to social entrepreneurship, and what was the challenge to that, and what was the cost of that? And that's, I guess, what we're going to talk about today. Yep, yep. Okay, I want to back up a little bit. And yeah, I have questions about social entrepreneurship, but let's back up to the early 90s again to give some context on that disruptive technology. And I don't know how much you can share without giving away secrets, but what is that disruptive technology? Well, it was the molecule found in the aloe vera plant, which interestingly, was historically in ancient medicine, the cornerstone of ancient medicine in almost every culture, a group of research pharmacologists realized that there was something in the fresh gel of aloe vera that caused an immune response unlike anything they'd ever seen in pharmacology, and the problem it was labile. So, what that means is that when you pick the leaf in about 24 hours, that activity is completely gone. So, they had to discover the molecule and stabilize it. Try to stabilize it. If they could stabilize it, they could file patents. If they could file patents, they could bring it to market as a therapeutic. In fact, their first used patent said that this molecule, which was named ace Mannon would be effective in the treatment of any condition that required immune system intervention for its resolution. And so, you ask yourself, which conditions would those be? And the answer is, every one of them. There is no poor health condition that doesn't require your immune system functioning to overcome. It's the one thing that modern medicine cannot do, is facilitate recovery. That's all God given, that's all in, you know, programmed into every cell in your body, and this molecule optimized all of those functions. And so that was the discovery. They filed and received 100 patents. They did $100 million with the research, and then they got rejected by an industry who felt threatened by that discovery. 

Marcel Schwantes 09:50

That's big pharma. Big Pharma. Okay, so they're aware of and their influence on regulatory agents, right? Okay, so they're well aware of the research and the patents on all that, which. Is why they wanted to stop it. Okay, so, all right. So, bring us now up to so this is technology you've advanced it over the years, and you've had a few iterations of the companies that that has provided this technology, right? Talk a little bit about that and how it has evolved now to Alabama.

Sam Caster 10:27

Well, I started a company that was called manatee in 1994 to bring that discovery to the market as a dietary supplement. Part of the challenge of that is to utilize the science behind it in 1993 would have been a violation of the law, because legally, and again, this is the influence the Big Pharma has on the regulatory environment around healthcare, or really what we call sick care industry, is that only a drug can legally claim to treat, cure, mitigate or prevent a disease, and here you had a molecule that, unlike anything in pharmacology, could facilitate natural healing, and to talk about that legally. From a perspective of marketing, there's almost a roadblock at every turn. But in 1994 Congress passed a law called the dietary supplement health and education law, and they did allow in the educational side of that law for the distribution of what they called educational materials that could that could provide scientific literature to consumers to help them make more educated decisions about their health. So for the first time, there was an opening for the distribution of that kind of information. And so that happened in 1994 the same year that I was introduced to this company called parenting laboratories. And so, I was first brought in as a consultant to kind of give them some ideas of what to do. But once I looked at the technology, it was so overwhelming. I came back to him and I said, I don't want to consult with you. I want to license the technology. I want to start a business. I think I can take this to market. You know, this is my you'll bet, you know, marketing disruptive technologies, and now there's been a slight change in the law that might allow me to capitalize on your 100 million dollars’ worth of investment. So, I started a company. Over the next 20 years, I built it to, you know, revenues of over a half a billion, or about a half a billion dollars a year. But along the way, Marcel, I was, you know, us as the family, and so we were adopting children. You know, we adopted all of our children. I was in Romania, working with a organization over there. And I said, What's your biggest challenge to this caregiver of an orphan? And she said, the health of our children. They're sick all the time, and when our kids get sick, their immune systems are so compromised, many of them don't get better. We lose 30 to 40 children a year to immune deficiency related diseases. And I thought, oh, wait a minute, I got something better than financial support for you this next year, and I provided them with this eighth man in technology. It's in a powered form. All they had to do is sprinkle it on their food. They didn't have to swallow pills. They didn't have to change their diet, just whatever you feed them. Add this to it. The end of the year came, and she said, you’re not going to believe what's happened to our kids. They're healthier than we've ever seen them, and for the first time in over a decade, not one child died. Wow. And she said, and everybody that's heard our story wants to know, how can they get access to this in the orphanage industry. So, we thought, well, how do we facilitate that? That's really our passion for these fatherless children. So, we started a not-for-profit organization called Manna relief. And then over the next 20 years, we ran a not for profit. We ran a for profit. You know, for profit went well. Not for profit, not so good, you know, because of our lack of experience and fundraising. And then in 2012 I had distribution partners set up around the world for Manna relief. And in Mexico, that was the former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, and I was explaining to him the challenges of fundraising and how it was so unsustainable, and some years it would be way up, and some years it would be way down. And he said, you need to discover the new business model of social entrepreneurship. He said. I think you are a social entrepreneur. You just don't know how it works. And I'm hosting the first international symposium this summer. You need to come. I did. It changed my life. I went back to my for-profit company that I had taken public in 1999 to raise the money for international expansion we were operating in, I think at that time, 25 countries of the world. And I sat down with my board of directors, and I said, I want to, I want to integrate social entrepreneurship into our business model. And they said, Well, what would that? What would that involve? And I said best practice in the social business world is called buy one, give one. So, every time you sell a product to your consumer, you donate a product to a child in need. That then brings the consumer into the project, because they know when they're taking it, a child's going to get the exact same benefit that they do. And of course, as the public company, the board said, how much will that cost? And I shared, you know, it would definitely cost a lot of money to do that. But, you know, then we then we would create the first social business for taking on, you know, the global epidemic of war health. And you know, when they looked at the cost, they said, we’re going to have to think outside counsel on this, which they did, and basically, the report came back. That's too much money to give away. It's a violation of your judiciary responsibility to shareholders, which was true probably, you know, I mean, it's, it's, it's a, it's an opinion that was probably legitimate. And, you know, that's part of the fork in the road for me and my wife. We'd spent 20 years building this incredible business around the world, but we were never going to get to the millions of children that die every year of immune deficiency related conditions. And so, you know, that's when we have to decide, do we stay where we're at, be as comfortable as we can be, you know, because we have this enormous global company, or do we stop and start all over again. And we kind of sat down with our kids, and we had a, you know, a family meeting, and we decided that if there's, if we have the capacity to get the 7 million children, that's how many kids die a year of immune deficiency, we should pursue that. So, I resigned from the company that I founded bill, I was CEO, chairman of the board, and resigned and started all over again. And you know, because there was a purpose greater than what was in it for us at stake, and that's really the heart of a social entrepreneur. You got to be willing to throw everything all caution to the women and go after what you're you feel like you're called to accomplish.

Marcel Schwantes 18:07

Does the business model then suggest that you have to have a buy one, give one approach? Or what other approaches would you would you say, describe social entrepreneurship? Well,

Sam Caster 18:22

social entrepreneurship itself is leveraging the economic power of the marketplace to create sustainable solutions to the world's biggest problems. In other words, instead of charity always trying to solve the problem with adding financial support, social entrepreneurship says, start a business to create the sustainable funding to bring change. It doesn't always include buy one, give one, but if you're selling a product that is the best practice, because then it brings your consumer directly into your cause, and you eliminate the issue of asking for money, or our company is going to donate a percentage of our profits. And so, then the consumer really doesn't know what my purchase equates to, you know, but when you say, buy one, give one, it's direct. I help myself. I help a child. And the significance of that is that everybody, included in the corporate side of it, gets to participate. All of your consumers get to participate, and you can report on the impact that you're making in the world. It's just a great model. Yeah, it's a

Marcel Schwantes 19:35

model that's going to disrupt the status quo in business. I can totally see that. It's also a model that's going to create a lot of obstacles in the path of it to succeed. What challenges? What would she have been? Your biggest challenges in making this happen and with this disruptive technology?

Sam Caster 19:56

Well, the disruptive technology that. Biggest challenges have been regulatory, and that's been my life, regardless of what industry I've tried to disrupt, the way that government basically handles disruptive technologies is through civil litigation. A great example my first disruptive technology was in the energy industry, energy conservation, I met with scientists from NASA that had created a new form of insulation. It was called radiant barrier for space. Now on earth, when we talk about insulating our homes, we're looking at mineral insulation and fiberglass. Radiant Barrier is two to three times more effective, but the mineral insulation industry got here first and set up all the regulations. And so, when I introduced this disruptive technology, you know, they went to regulators and said, This isn't fair. This guy is making claims that are beyond what we're legally required to make, and something should be done. And so, this is how it works. The you get sued, you know, by the consumer fraud vision was, say of your attorney general, and it's not to close your company. It's nothing about your product. It's simply the claims that you're making that are so disruptive to this other industry. So, for instance, installation could save you 8% on your utility bill. Radiant barrier was saving 20% so because I didn't have well-established third-party data to support that, I had to agree to make savings claims of 8% just like the installation industry, until I could scientifically prove differently, which I did, you know, over the next year. And you know the claims were validated and but you know what happened is online, my reputation was totally trashed, sued by consumer fraud, you know, bringing so I go back to the Attorney General's office and I say, okay, now that I've proven my case, can you make a statement to the public that I was actually truthful all along. Just needed the science. They go, no, that's not our role of doing that. And so, as a social entrepreneur, particularly with the information flow on the internet today, you got to be willing to just throw caution through the wind. You know your reputation gets trashed as a result of bringing change into a marketplace that needs change with this technology, same thing happened. You know, we're out there. We're sharing information according to the law, you know, legal distribution of scientific literature, and the FDA started regulating that law in a completely different way than its written intent, and so they became much more restrictive. And as a result of that, you know, I got sued again, not criminally. I wasn't indicted. This is off civil litigation saying we want you to change what you're presenting to the public. Their benefit might be from this intervention, and so you can support a healthy immune system. You know, you can't show scientific literature on any specific disease condition, you know, that type of thing. So, I had to alter the distribution of materials. But again, online, you've been sued again. You know, you're one of these horrible people that are out there. Anyway. So that's some of the challenges that come with trying to disrupt the status quo. Anyway, that's, that's the life you lead if you're going to be a disrupter in social business.

Marcel Schwantes 24:07

Yeah, yeah. There are so many risks that you have to take. And like you said, Sam, the internet is unforgiving, because once you Your reputation is online, it's kind of hard to scrub it off, right,

Sam Caster 24:21

Exactly. And you know, you're always, you know, I've been told millions of times get a search engine optimization expert and push all that negative stuff, but, you know, people love to read negative stuff, so it always rises, you know, yeah, yeah. So, you just have to, you have to create. You have to decide that I'm going to throw my ego out the window. I'm just going to provide solutions to people's biggest challenges. And, you know, once somebody has an experience, it's like they say, 10 experts with an opinion or no, match for one novice with an experience. Yeah, and so one. Does the person have an experience that really doesn't matter what's on the internet anymore? It's like this guy saved my life,

Marcel Schwantes 25:05

Right? All right, okay, let's, I know we've been focused so much on the challenges and obstacles you've faced, and you know, it's kind of a, it's kind of been a downer here. So, let's, let's give the upside of social entrepreneurship for those aspiring ones that are like, Yeah, well, this is the way to go. But do I have to face everything that Sam has faced? What's the what's the upside here? Let's look at the, you know, the bright side of things.

Sam Caster 25:38

Well, you know, I mean, first of all as a social entrepreneur, what, what your what your goal is, is to impact quality of life. You know, whether it's through a product or service, it Mine just happens to be a product that that not only meets the needs of developed nations in the world, but meets the needs of the world's most vulnerable. I mean, it is the perfect social entrepreneur platform is global health, because poor health doesn't pay any attention to what country you were born in, what your fluency is. You know, it's, it's a challenge. Lancet, which is the medical journal, about every two years, puts out an issue called the global burden of disease, and it talks about the impact that poor health and disease is making on the world. And 65% of the total global population now lives with one or more chronic conditions. Over 50% of our children now live with one or more chronic conditions. And so, what is the solution? The solution is not fall into the funnel of disease management, which is really what our healthcare system has evolved into. The ultimate answer is, how do I get healthy again? How do I support myself? You know, if I'm exposed to pathogens like these viruses that are coming more frequently than ever before, how do I protect myself in a world that's become more toxic or more stressful, or, you know, all the challenges that we have that work against our health. And so, to be able to bring technologies into the market that address those needs is not only a profitable venture, you know, it's a meaningful venture. It's a life worth living. And if you can tie your financial success in your business to your passion for meeting the needs of children who would never get access to this kind of technology anywhere else, you know, I mean in charity, you get the least expensive product or technologies or services because nobody can afford mass distribution of quality, you know, technology, so social entrepreneurship gives you that platform to make that difference. And again, there's 7 million children that die every year. That's the goal.

Marcel Schwantes 28:13

Yeah, yeah, I can't think of a bigger goal than that. Okay, Sam, so bring us up to date with Alabama. Where are you now with this disruptive model? And I mean, how's it going so far?

Sam Caster 28:29

Well, we started in 2020 so I left my old company, you know, and started this new company in 2020 that's also the year the pandemic hit, you know, the COVID pandemic, and so it was a little bit of a rugged start, mainly because of resources. You know, we couldn't get resources. Just the supply chains froze up. Like, for instance, I was opening a manufacturing facility coopting that in New Zealand. I couldn't get raw materials into New Zealand, couldn't get finished product out. So, it took about a year to get past all of that. But you know, then we started growing. Now I'm laying the groundwork for international distribution, but so far so good. We've donated since 2020 55, million daily servings of this advanced immune support children in need. So, it's working, you know. And we got a long way to go to get to 7 million children, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Marcel Schwantes 29:37

Wow. Sam, this is, I mean, the giving component of this model is, is extraordinary, and I can imagine that, you know, besides impacting children and eliminating, hopefully eliminating malnutrition and all of the health issues globally, I'm thinking. That there's also a component that really affects people that are maybe on the front lines, employees and other stakeholders and customers. I mean, speak to that a little bit how this, this whole giving mindset, you know, just kind of transpires and sort of spreads outwardly to everyone involved?

Sam Caster 30:24

Well, yeah, I mean, first of all, from a consumer standpoint. I mean, you know, there's been research done, 89% of customers would rather buy from a company that is sharing, you know, their success with the world making a difference than those that don't. So, I mean, that's a no brainer. When you do a buy one, give one, it even brings more focus to that. It's not that this company is donating a portion of its profits. My purchase absolutely made a difference in a child's life. So that's huge. And when that, when that change for that person's life is meaningful, like in the in the case of poor health, then they know absolutely how important it is to a child who would have never got access to it, from a standpoint of the people that participate in our company. I mean, you know, having a purpose that is greater than what's in it, for me, changes the attitude of everybody, you know it. It translates into no turnover. I mean, who wants to go to work for a company that's not making a difference? If you can work from one that does? Yeah, you know, the pride that that brings to the work that you're doing is you can't put a price tag on it. You know, people just feel really good, and we take people from our business to these orphanages to these hospitals around the world and show them the impact that we're making, and the stories that come from that are as incredible as the stories that come from their personal experiences with the product. Yeah, it translates up and down the line, all the way across your business.

Marcel Schwantes 32:18

Yeah, it's fantastic. And I can't think of something as inspiring and aspiring, as wanting to give and pay it forward, right? I mean, that kind of mentality, really, like I said earlier, it just, it just spreads. People want to get involved, and they because they're like you said, it's, there's purpose behind it, and there's a good cause behind it as well. I wasn't aware of how extensive and how big the epidemic that you speak of was on a global basis. You know, I think our minds kind of tune out because of everything, all the other things that are going on around in the world, with the politics and, you know, recently, the election stuff, and sometimes this thing is not even on our radar screen anymore, right? Like, I remember back in the, I don't know, 80s, 90s, that's showing my age a little bit, you had Sally Struthers, you know, you had those infomercials of celebrities holding babies in children in Africa malnourished and, you know, and then there's the number to call at the bottom of the screen, you know. And those things were sort of like at the forefront of your mind. And it seems like now it's like; you don't see that anymore.

Sam Caster 33:36

Yeah. I mean, there are too many distractions out there in the world, but in in Lance that you know, publications, the burden of global disease, the global burden of disease and poor health, one of the biggest challenges, not just the impact that it's making on people, it's the financial impact. It's the number one threat to our global economy is health care, or, as we call it, thick care, because there's a monopoly around it. Yeah, it's not about, how do we keep people healthy? There's very little money spent on that is, how do we manage their poor health? That's where all the money is. And so that's in that's impacted laws, that's impacted regulations. It is just the way of the world, and there are huge amounts of money that it's 20% of our gross national product now is what we spend on thick care here in the United States. You know, 50 years ago, it was 5% of our gross national product. I mean, when you think about that, 20 cents out of every dollar are spent managing poor health, how much is spent trying to keep people healthy? Nothing. You know, that's why it doesn't matter what your politics that are. I love. Of this concept, this this theme that's going this movement, make America healthy again. Let's focus on the things and let's pay attention. Let's change our regulatory environment to protect our food so that it's safe and our health, so that we're not always in a poor health condition, just trying to manage those symptoms. It's the big movement, and it's absolutely needed, but it's not just the US. It's global. 

Marcel Schwantes 35:32

Yeah, yeah, Sam, I want to transition to leadership, leadership conversation. And I mean, I can't imagine someone has gone through as many challenges as you have, being sued multiple times. Um, you know, all of the challenges, having to deal with government, regulation, pharma, Big Pharma, and big media and all that. You know you're having to deal with your reputation, online, all those things. To me, you can't overcome all that, or sort of live in tension with that without good leadership. And maybe some of it is mindset stuff. Other times it may just be belief, right, or actions. So, I want, I want to speak to you about the leadership lessons you've learned, sort of, like on an individual level, okay, because it probably has impacted you. And I can't imagine, you know, the resilience. I mean, I think you have to have a certain amount of resilience to bounce back from all of the hardship you have you have experienced. So let's start with maybe lessons that we can pass on to leaders that maybe are going through to some extent, maybe not as big as yours, but you know where they they're faced with obstacles in their path where, you know they have a good, worthy cause they want to pursue, but there's pushback, and the mountain is too large, and they don't they don't think they can get around it or climb over the top of it, right? So, what would you say? What, what? What advice would you give to those leaders that are Facing insurmountable obstacles in their path right now?

Sam Caster 37:30

Well, I think first of all, you have to have conviction for what your purpose is. You have to find out. You know, I heard a presentation a long time ago on convergence. And the speaker defined convergence is, you know, this is what people strive for in their life. Find out what you're good at doing, find out what you're passionate about. Try to find a way to combine those together and monetize it. And that's a life worth living. And so first of all, you have to you have to find what your purpose is. You know, what you're really, really passionate about doing, and then all these obstacles are just bumping the road. I mean, if, if my goal in life was to have been to feed my ego, I could never become a social entrepreneur, because you're going to face challenges, and you're going to face obstacles that just fly in the face of all of that. But if your purpose is greater than your ego, it really doesn't matter. You know, I mean, I fed my family every day. You know, we've never wanted for anything. It's not like I'm out on the street. So it's, it's mainly just an ego issue that I have to, I have to deal, I have to figure out how to deal with injustice. Mm, you know. And I was either going to personalize it and cry about it the rest of my life and complain about it, or just tell you know, it comes with the territory. You know, if you're going to be a change maker, you're going to challenge the status quo. If you challenge the status quo, be ready. Here it comes, but it's the life worth living. Yeah, I wouldn't trade all the stuff that I've been through for anything, because what I've brought is value to people's lives, and at the end of the day, that's what my life is all about.

Marcel Schwantes 39:27

I love that because we're going right back to purpose. I think, you know, you can be passionate about something, but I think that passion is driven by purpose, where, like you said, you may get so many, so much headwind coming in your direction. But what keeps you going is your person, you per your purpose and also your mission, right? I believe that everybody has to have a personal mission in life to sort of like to have your true north and know where you're headed. All times, because you know what that mission is in life, and you know that might change with seasons, but the mission, I mean, you know, things might change, the scenery might change, right? You might change company names or business models, but the mission stays the same. Does that speak to you at all? 

Sam Caster 40:19

Yeah, of course it does. I mean, it's because the companies did change, you know. But once I found social entrepreneurship, I knew that, I knew that that was the platform, you know, it accomplished everything that I was trying to do. It allowed me a business model, you know, to go into the world with to leverage my skills, my experience, my passion for change, and linked it to my not-for-profit activity, which is really where our family's passion is meeting the needs of these children. And I can't imagine a better thing to be associated with or to pursue than a successful social entrepreneur career,

Marcel Schwantes 41:02

yeah, okay, moment of truth. Did you ever get to a point where you're like, we, we can't go on this, this. We can't handle this. We got to, you know, hang up our cleats here.

Sam Caster 41:14

Oh, no, I never got to that point, because, again, I am good at business. So, it's not like I was, I was bankrupt. Every time there was a challenge in front of me, it was, it was more personal and injustice than it was financial. And because, you know, I worked through the lawsuits in a way that there was always a settlement and adjustment in the things that we were saying and doing and until the restrictions were lifted or changed or whatever, the biggest hardship is just your personal image out there on the internet. Other than that, I will say that that leading a company that was so successful to start all over again. That was probably the biggest decision I ever had to make in my life. But I knew I could never get to 7 million children where I was, and so, you know, all of our all of our family wealth was tied up in that company, and to leave all of that behind and start all over again. You know, that felt a little I mean, you know, my wife and I prayed about that. We said, is this really the direction we're going? Because it affects everything. It affects generations below us. But we just thought we have the opportunity to truly change the world with our experience, our technology, our knowledge and now this model, let's go for it. 

Marcel Schwantes 42:52

Yeah, Sam, we have leaders listening globally. So, what does leadership mean to you?

Sam Caster 43:00

Well, you know, I think servant leadership, which in in reading and watching your past interviews, is, to me, it's, it's leveraging an individual's purpose, their skill set and their passion for whatever they're doing in life in a very effective way. And what that does is that that creates a platform for impacting everybody you're associated with. It's like in in my companies, everybody knew who I was, everybody knew what I was about. Everybody wanted to join that cause, and it gave them again a purpose for their lives. You know, may not be their primary purpose, but who doesn't work? Want to work in an organization where you're making a difference in the world. From a business standpoint, one of the benefits of it, Marcel, is people with technologies were willing to give us their technologies with no licensing fees, or to produce products for us for no profit. In other words, people wanted to join our cause, and so it allowed us to be much more effective, because we were a social entrepreneur business in making the impact that we wanted to make in the world. But you know, people don't follow products. People don't follow idea. People follow people, I think, in again, not getting political, but in this last election, they say podcasters made a bigger difference than the press. Why? Because people follow people that they trust. And that's what that's what makes the biggest difference in business, obviously a big difference in politics, a big difference in the way the world goes is people follow people.

Marcel Schwantes 44:59

Yeah. Yeah, all right. So, this is a two-part question. Think of it as, uh, two sides of a coin here. What would you say is the biggest truth about leadership and the biggest myth about leadership?

Sam Caster 45:12

Uh, biggest truth about I think, I think the biggest truth is trust is the currency of business. People want to work for people. Want to invest in people. Want to purchase products from companies they trust, from people that they trust. And I think that's the biggest truth, the biggest myth, what is the biggest myth? The biggest myth? The biggest myth, to me would be that you need a college degree in order to be a successful entrepreneur. I know that when I took my company public, first of all, I don't have a college degree. You know, I have a skill set that I have honed from being in business. And I'm not saying that you don't need a college degree. I'm just saying that when we became public, all of a sudden, our HR department wanted to hire MBAs, you know. And that's not the criteria of a leader, you know. It's a skill set. You got to have skill. You got to have passion; you got to have conviction. But it was not the criteria for E evaluating what a person actually leads, a department lead a group of people, passion and purpose had more to do with that than education. Yeah, and it's not that we didn't ask people what their experiences were and what their education, but that theme of, you got to have an MBA in order to be successful. That's wrong.

Marcel Schwantes 46:48

Yeah, yeah. I've interviewed people, entrepreneurs on their show that have the said the same exact thing, you don't need a degree if you want to get into business and become an entrepreneur. I mean, even Sir Richard Branson, who has this massive global empire called Virgin, the Virgin Group, he has come out in interviews and said, no, you don't need a degree to work here if you want to build a career unless, of course, you know you and you're going to get into science or technology or medicine, then, yeah, obviously you might need degrees for that. But if you want to build a business, that degree is not something. It's the good degrees really just what may keep you from becoming an entrepreneur, because you're going to be in such big debt that it's going to be hard to, you know, dig yourself out of that hole.

Sam Caster 47:39

Yeah, I didn't. I didn't learn the skills of entrepreneurship in school. I went to college; I just didn't graduate because I wanted to get on with my life. And I wasn't. I wasn't developing a skill set or in college that would lead me to what my passion was, which was business. And so, I just got out and started experiencing life and started doing things, you know, and, and life is the best educator, yep, yep, alright.

Marcel Schwantes 48:09

So, looking back, I mean all of the experiences, the setbacks, the failures, the changes, what, of course, and let's not forget all of the winds and triumphs. What advice would you give yourself at, say, age 20 or 25?

Sam Caster 48:31

Buy Apple, get in early. Exactly what I was doing. I think, you know, I don't think I would have changed anything. Listen, all every hardship, every challenge, prepared me better for the next opportunity. You know, I remember my first, first big success was the company, and what I didn't know is the need for proprietary technology. I built the company and basically built an industry for everybody else. You know, I brought that radiant bearing technology to the marketplace, but I didn't own it. There was nothing proprietary about it. I went through the challenges, the legal challenges, and all of that, and basically created an industry, but I couldn't control my own fate, because I could, I didn't own so what did I learn from that experience? What I learned from that is the need for proprietary technologies if you want to build a sustainable business. You know, when I saw the Tom Hugh phenomena, you know, I was studying the buy one, give one model. And one of the things that it said is that a key to the buy one, give one, one model for sustainability is the consumer has to get as much benefit from the product as the recipient of the donation, right? So, when you look at Tom shoes, you. Go, well, it was trendy, but when the trend was gone, nobody wanted the shoe anymore. Now it's not that the kids that didn't have shoes didn't need them, but they benefited a lot more from that unclassy looking shoe than the consumer. So, the consumer bought it for the trend. The child needed it because it put a shoe on his foot, and so you have to find a technology and buy one, give one for sustainability that provides your consumer with as much benefit is the recipient of the donation. And I can't think of a better environment than healthcare, because everybody, regardless of where you're from, needs you know the opportunity to live an optimal life. And so, the challenge is as big in the United States, maybe bigger than it is in Southeast Asia or Africa or South America. 

Marcel Schwantes 50:52

Yeah, yeah, Sam, you've, you've been an inspiration to so many. So, I want you to speak to the those that, those dreamers, that have big goals, they have huge purposes and visions to change the world, you know, as you have and so the question is, how do they start? I mean, what? What's, how do they how do they begin their social entrepreneurial journey. 

Sam Caster 51:23

Well, first of all, you need to find a technology that will make a difference, or a service, something that challenges the status quo. You need to find out how to improve or impact the quality of life of the consumer network out there bring some disruptive change to market that enhances their quality of life. So that's number one. You can't just say I want to change the world and so I'm going to sell tires. You know? I mean, listen, there's a lot of corporate giving that goes on in the world, but those aren't technologies that change the world. Those are corporations that want to be a part of making a difference. But if you really want to be a change maker, you have to find the technology base that can do that. So that's step one. Number two, you need to have some level of experience in the distribution of whatever that product or service is. So, if you need to work for someone else. If you need to get some experience, that's your education. And then, number three, you have to have a conviction that goes beyond all the negative stuff that you're going to face, because you got to be able to get past the injustice of what won't come your way for challenging the status quo, the status quo has the ability, the financial ability, to influence regulations, to influence the press, to influence everything that's going to go on around you. But again, your purpose, your conviction, has to be bigger than what's in it for me, and if it is, you'll get past it all.

Marcel Schwantes 52:58

That's good advice. Sam, okay, as we wind down here, what's your biggest hope for the future of your company for Alabama, as we head into 2025, and beyond?

Sam Caster 53:12

Well, I love the I love what's going on in the world in terms of regulations that whole make America healthy again. Movement in the United States is really looking at the regulators who have been influenced by big pharma big food, and saying change needs to come because that will facilitate a better distribution of information that can educate consumers on how they can how they can overcome their health challenges. One of the questions that I'm faced with a lot is, there's 7 million children that die every year. Can you actually get to that many children through this model? I mean, it's a good question. It's not just a number. It's the legitimate goal. And I said there's about 4 billion people in the world that live with one or more chronic conditions that there's very little in modern medicine that will affect those people want a better quality of life. If I can get my story of the technology base that I have been gifted to those people. I just need 7 million of them to make a decision to change their own life, which would link me to the needs of 7 million children. That's doable. So, if I can get some help with regulatory environment that allows us to tell our story more effectively to people who are desperately looking for a solution. I don't have to talk these people into anything. These are people that are going to bed tonight praying that God will bring a solution to a health condition that's their child, their parent, their spouse, their best friend is suffering for. On, and then we show up with this solution that is so unique, so beneficial, so scientifically valid, but it's just getting our story to those people in the most compelling way. Yeah, so my hope is that the regulations around the world change that allow us to more effectively tell our story, because if we can tell it, we will get to 7 million children, and that will be the biggest impact that has ever been made on children's health.

Marcel Schwantes 55:31

Fascinating, okay, Sam, I want to make sure that there is something that we absolutely have not covered that must be covered before I go into our final two questions.

Sam Caster 55:47

I, you know, listen, I think we've covered everything here today. I mean, you've been very thorough with the with your questions. I listen. I just encourage everybody out there that wants to be a world changer to pursue it. You will, you know, you talk about, everybody has to make a living. Very few people have the opportunity to make a life, you know, and that whole concept of conversions, find out what you're good at doing, find out what you're passionate combining, and find a way to monetize that you'll never have to go to work a day in your life, man.

Marcel Schwantes 56:25

All right, so here's the love question I ask it of every guest, how do I lead with more actionable, practical love, day in, day out, that could be an on an individual level, on an organizational level. How do I do it?

Sam Caster 56:43

That's the interesting question. You know, the name of we tell people love is in the middle of everything that we do, including the name of our company, Alaba, is spelled a love a so it just turned out that way. I mean, when we thought, we were trying to mix words and we saw, you know, aloe vera, this ALOVÉA, a love a because it is in the middle of everything we do. And of course, you know, we have a purpose that, again, transcends politics, that transcends religion, the trans I mean our Manna relief goes into 90 countries of the world, including North Korea. People say, how did you get into North Korea save the lives of their children? If you're committed to that, you can go anywhere, have a conversation with anybody, and have the opportunity to impact the world.

Marcel Schwantes 57:45

Man, yeah, so inspiring. All right, bring us home. Sam, what's, what's that one thing that, that final key takeaway, like we like to, like us to walk away with.

Sam Caster 57:57

I think it's inherent in everybody. Want to make a difference. You know, it's, it's one of those things in life that's an intangible, but everybody wants to pursue. And if you can create the opportunity for people to plug in, because every, everybody needs a vehicle. Not everybody is the social entrepreneur, but everybody has the desire to make a difference, and so for us that are social entrepreneurs and have the skill set to do that, I would say, pursue it with everything that you've got, because you'll change the lives of people that you'll never meet, you know, by creating a vehicle that allows them to have a life worth living.

Marcel Schwantes 58:43

Love. It Okay, Sam, what's the best way to contact you? If people are interested in connecting finding out more about Alabama, where did they go?

Sam Caster 58:52

Well, you can go to alabama.com to see our business and our technologies. If you want to get a hold of me personally. Come to mannarelief.org write me. Send me a letter. See what we're doing around the world with these children. Love to talk to you. If you've got any questions about social entrepreneurship or some of the life experiences that I've had, write me. Let me know. Yeah, I'd love to talk to you. Yeah,

Marcel Schwantes 59:21

That's mannarelief.org and Mana is m, a double n,

Sam Caster 59:26

a, yeah, M, a, n, n, a relief.org.

Marcel Schwantes 59:30

I'll make sure, I'll be sure to have that in my show notes that you can refer to with all the links there. Sam, it's been real. I think this is one of the most important conversations that I have had on this podcast in years. So really appreciate your time and everything you're doing in the world. Thanks. Marcel, all right, you can keep the conversation going on social media with hashtag love in action podcast, and as I mentioned earlier, look for my show notes. Course, because I'm also going to put a YouTube link to this episode so you can watch us banter back and forth. You can find all of that, and Sam's contact info on my website, Marcel schwantes.com and finally, hey, we're always looking for sponsors to help spread the love and Action Movement globally. If you want to sponsor the show, reach out to me on LinkedIn or on my way my website for Sam caster, I'm Marcel Schwantes, remember in the end, love wins. We'll see you next time.