Episode 145 with Bridget Williams - Creativity & Sustainable Development Goals

With thought leaders and change makers from

It sounds like that in hindsight. Um, but yeah, I'm happy to share a little bit about who I am and, and what I do. So my name is Bridget Williams. I'm from Otatahi Christchurch. Uh, I'm like a sixth generation Cantabrian. Um, so, and I've, and I've lived here all my life and being a part of Christchurch, obviously I was really, um, Involved with the earthquakes that happened. Um, and that has hugely shaped my journey. It happened around the time when I was just starting University.

Um, the Canterbury University, which was another, uh, another place that definitely shaped who I am today. And I'm someone who. Has a deep connection to creativity, although I always tried to put it in a box when I was growing up. I didn't have the best connection with it when I was younger. Um, I'm someone that really believes in the power of leadership, meaning from leading from the inside out, that we're all leaders. And also, and especially, sustainability.

So that is having a real connection to Papatūānuku, nature. And all areas of sustainability. So that's economic, social and environmental. And I'm particularly interested and passionate in a framework called the 17 sustainable development goals, which has something to do with the beads that I'm wearing.

Around not not being competitive, but Hannah and I have always sort of had to, like, one up each other in a healthy way to get people's attention. And I think that has been really, you know, that has helped me.

When it comes to the work that I do now, which is facilitating and speaking, like, it doesn't scare me because I've sort of always had this other person that I've kind of had to like, you know, push out of the way, but it's never been competitive for Hannah and I, she's my best friend and I'm so proud of her and everything that she's done, but yeah, so I sort of mentioned before around how me and creativity never had a very good relationship.

When I was growing up, I was always sort of described as the, the creative one, you know, I was more right side of the brain than left side. And as I got older and through school, it started to sound like a backhanded compliment, you know, it was all Bridget's Bridget's not intellectual. Um, she's, she's more creative. And, you know, I was always that kid that was in the special needs class growing up.

Um, I, you know, had like, after school, I would have to go to more classes to, you know, school up in my reading and writing. I had a really, really low. Um, reading age and a really low spelling age. And even when I was really young, I had a really bad speech impediment as well. Um, so that hasn't helped my spelling because I could never hear the words correctly. So all of that sort of made me feel like I just wasn't smart.

Um, which is crazy because creatives are incredibly smart, but because it's hard to quantify and value and put a number on it, society doesn't seem to value it. So I put it in a box and I, um, Grew up wanting to be a lawyer because for me, that was always something that I saw as being a really aspirational career, you know, smart people with lawyers, you know, like, um, they thought outside the box and they were real intellects. So I probably did law for all the wrong reasons.

It came from a place of ego, not from a place of what my spirit really wanted to do. And it didn't help either that my dad tried to be a lawyer, so he got a law degree, but he didn't find a law position. So, when I was at uni, I worked really hard to, um, to get, um, yeah, to get the grades. And I was, I did, I ended up achieving, um, you know, getting the grades that I really wanted. And I got a summer clerkship, which got me a grad position, and then I became a full time lawyer.

And I was a solicitor for about three years and after a particularly bad day in court and just feeling like I just wanted to put all my frustration and my negative energy into something positive because I just wasn't feeling like I was adding any value to the firm or to the clients. To the world or to myself, I decided to put this frustration into something constructive, and I made a necklace, um, very similar to this one here with five big bright beads.

And as I was painting and creating, I realized the magic of just making space for raw, messy creativity. I was thinking up of, you know, other ideas and cool creative solutions and, and philosophies. And I thought, man, if we could all make time for this, you know, it's. Like, what could we achieve? And so I sort of developed this concept of bringing people together to paint beads and sort of in a workshop setting.

And I thought, well, it could be called bead and proceed because it's about painting beads, proceeding to be something, um, you know, better for you and for your community. And then I thought, well, that's all great, but what are the beads mean? Like, you know, what story do they tell? There's such a visual thing and it didn't have to be a necklace. It could be, you know, a key ring as well. And then honestly, like the next day I was flipping through the peppermint magazine and.

I came across the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, aka the SDGs, and the colors just drew my attention and I saw that each color connected to a different goal. So like dark green was climate action, um, bright pink was reducing inequalities, and I thought, my goodness, New Zealand, Aotearoa adopted this framework along with 192 other UN member states, and this is the first I'm hearing of it, which was back in 2016. And then it was like a lightbulb moment where I thought, that's it.

What if we come together to paint these five beads, and these five beads represent the five SDGs that we personally feel call to action. So, coming together to paint wasn't just a creativity exercise, but actually a time to brainstorm and ideate and come up with creative solutions to action the five goals we care about. And, you know, all of, all of that and the model of, um, of Beat and Proceed, that was sort of how Beat and Proceed was born.

Um, you know, there's been moments in my past that sort of led me there. So while I was at uni, I was really involved in the student volunteer army, which inspired me. You know, about service leadership and active citizenship. Um, I also learned a lot about the social enterprise model.

So it was really natural for Beat and Proceed to, you know, make sure that we had, um, you know, it was a social enterprise model that we walk the SDG talk, not just, you know, discuss the goals, but we actually action them as well.

And yeah, and then, Uh, I made the really hard decision, which is a whole other story, um, to leave the law, but I, I did, and I've been doing Beat and Proceed now full time since 2019 and worked with about 50 plus businesses and organizations and nearly 14, 000 individuals educating and engaging people on the SDGs they personally feel connected to.

And then suddenly it's like all of these different things that come together. Um, so thank you for, for sharing that. And one of the interesting things that, that I feel a lot of times is because I came across many years ago, I was, uh, volunteer, um, I don't even remember when now, uh, it's, it's been a long time, uh, I think that perhaps like 16 years ago or something like that, um, on an organization, a youth organization that it's called ISAC, uh, that it's worldwide.

Um, and one of the, the tools that we were working with was the SDGs and they really connected with, with a lot of them because it's such an easy framework as well, uh, to know and to have that, unfortunately, not many people know about. And it's one of the things that, you know, uh, I love this framework, uh, I love as well the donut, uh, economic framework, like a lot of the frameworks as well that start to see things holistically.

And, and it's, you know, as well, um, on the level of, you know, how do I connect with them? And I love this, you know, and about you have now for everybody that is just listening, you have a necklace with five bits with different colors. Um, is that the ones that you resonate the most with?

There's a lot of issues around them, but I think what why I'm drawn to them is definitely from a creative element that, um, you know, they are so bright and bold and you can get really, you can, you can stay at that surface level of the goals, or you can get really deep and nerdy with them and look at the targets and the indicators that sit under the SDGs and because no one owns the SDGs, they are a UN initiative, but the UN don't own them. It means there's no one.

There's flexibility and there's creative license to use the SDGs as to how your business or organization or school or university or nonprofit wants to take them and run with them. So I think there's that freedom makes them, um, that freedom and flexibility makes them really versatile. Um, and the most important thing is they speak a global language. So, you know, right now, more than ever, we need to be coming together in solidarity.

That's what COVID 19 definitely, you know, um, highlighted for us. So speaking that international language is really, really important. And, and that's what the SDGs are. So I find them to be a beautiful framework. And yeah, and these are my five. So my five are reduced inequalities SDG 10, um, sustainable consumption and production 12, sustainable cities and communities.

Um, 11, and then peace, justice, and strong institutions, 16, and of course, the most important, in my opinion, is, um, partnerships for the goals, mahi tahi, so that's recognizing that we can't do this alone, and we need to all work together and collaborate to achieve the goals by, by the deadline, which is, um, scheduled for 2030, and we're in the halfway mark this year, and there's a real question mark around whether we'll make it.

Uh, and as well, there's a lot of times this, uh, space that I actually, a lot of times with, with my students at the university, it's like, Find the space that you resonate with, because that's where you're most likely to actually engage and to do something. Because if not, no, everything is too much. Like, I mean, there's so much going on in the world and it's like, there's so much information that a lot of times people are like, no, this is too much. And I cannot do anything.

And if I do something, it doesn't matter. And it's like, well, let's, let's break all of this down. As an important piece of, of finding as well as you said, like you have those five that are the ones that you resonate with the most. And it doesn't mean that the other ones don't matter and it's just like, okay, yeah. That perhaps is your starting point.

You can make real tangible impact because when you impact one, you impact another and you're so right as well, Brian about just. The overwhelm of choice and information and just, you know, the intense uncertainties that we're all facing right now. And we talked a bit about this yesterday around. It's not this isn't a unique feeling for Altair. This is actually a global feeling. This we're currently in.

A massive social decision paralysis dilemma and what that means is we've, we've stopped backing our ability to believe that we can make impact and we've, um, you know, we've stopped taking action when we need to take action more than ever. And I totally appreciate like burnout, overwhelm. It's a very real thing, but. It's, it's not, um, it's not helpful in the environment that we're in when, you know, a lot of these uncertainties demand us to do something about them.

So, having this tool, the SDGs and sustain, you know, sustainable development and this framework in particular, choosing your five, it helps to reduce that overwhelm and refine your focus and gives you direction around. Okay, I don't have to look at all of these issues, you know, where are the, where's the one? Where's. 3 out of 5 that I can put my attention into, um, and that's something I was telling you about this yesterday.

This is this is sort of a formula that I've been working on, which is if sustainability gives us direction, right? Then I see creativity is the motor behind us to continue that energy and continue getting excited and inspired because I don't mean creativity and that and that fluffy sense of the word of, you know, painting and getting messy and and, you know, and right. I mean, that's. That definitely has its place, but I mean, creativity more and that, like, energy sense, right?

Like, what gets you creatively thinking or gets you inspired? Like, what's that motor behind you to make that impact? And then keeping up with this metaphor, if you've got sustainability as direction, creativity is the motor, then you have to make sure that your engine is getting service, right? And that's the leadership component coming back to what I mean around leading yourself.

So if we're going to make, you know, any impact around people and planet and to care about people and planet, we have to recognize we're part of the ecosystem. So we have to take care of ourselves too. We have to do that internal work if we're going to make that external change. So that's how I sort of see. Creativity, leadership, and sustainability all coming together.

And that's why I feel so, you know, blessed that being in Perceive has, has helped me sort of, yeah, refine my, my thinking into this, into this formula, which I'm sure will change later on, but that's where I am now, which is exciting.

Um, like for a lot of people that they see me, I'm educated, I have freedom of choice because I have the skills and the work that allows me to, to do things in a certain way. And with that, for me comes the responsibility of understanding what am I doing with this privilege that I have with. Making sure on this, uh, as well as my approach that I am well, this is, this is the thing. It's, it's as well that I see a lot of people and they are wanting to, to create so much change and so much change.

And I'm like, wonderful, making sure that we are okay as well, because as one of the things that, uh, and I've talked about this with a lot of my students and with a lot of people in the climate action space is that. They get to a place of burnout, but as well, they are modeling that what they, what people are seeing that these people in positions of leadership, whether that's big or just community or family is that they are neglecting, perhaps certain aspects. They are learning that as well.

And for me is. And I mean, that's the tree that I connect with the most is health and well being, um, because for me, that is at the root of a lot of the things like, and this is why, you know, at the same time, everything is so connected because.

If, if one is actually okay in their health and their wellbeing, there's more possibility for actually having more space for work for like that financial economic stability, uh, within, you know, how our system operates to be able to care for the communities, to be able to care for the land and for the spaces. And suddenly everything starts to actually interconnect. And this is what I feel a lot of times that. We are beings that everything is connected and we don't need to figure out everything.

And we don't need to do everything. You know, as you're saying, those five are the ones that perhaps you resonate with the most. And that you might say, I'm going to start there. Knowing that there's someone else that is going to start somewhere else. And all of us together are actually going to touch on everything because we all care about

And you're so right because the SDGs are all interconnected, you know, there's like this assurance that just because you're selecting five, there will be a knock on effect to others and other and other people have different interests and different values. And they're going to be, you know, they're going to be curious about different SDGs. And if we, if we put that trust into each other and that assurance, it not only gives us the sense of.

you know, focus and, um, and permission to just, yeah, to just sort of, you know, focus on what we can control. But it also means that we're trusting each other, um, to all, you know, do, do what we can with the time and the resources that we have.

What, what has been your experience with those things? Yeah.

And, and most of the time I see people either thumb down or halfway. And, and I'd like to think that the people that are putting their thumbs halfway are people who are like, yeah, I've, I've seen 17 of them. I know what they are, but the, I guess the importance of the workshop is. I go right back to where sustainable development started. So I go back to like 19 and I mean, I just want to acknowledge as well that sustainable development in terms of the official worldwide definition.

I'm very conscious that indigenous cultures have been practicing, you know, sustainable development. For like, for many, many, many years. Um, so this is just looking at it from that perspective. And we go back to 1972, um, which is where, um, a conference took place in Stockholm called the Conference of the Human Environment. And that was the first conference that had all the world leaders.

in the same room together, recognizing that the economy on one hand and the environment on the other were on a collision course. And so that was a really important moment in time. So the workshop goes right back to them and kind of explains how we got to these 17 SDGs and it unpacks the different targets, the 169 targets.

Um, and so it's giving people all of that detail and really helping them to understand that this is a framework that wasn't just randomly You know, like 17 goals were randomly picked back in 2015. It's been a long time in the making, and there's been iteration. So before the SDGs, there were the Millennium Development Goals, the MDGs, which focus on radically reducing poverty. And they were also for a commitment of 15 years. And I'm sure after the SDGs, there'll be another framework.

And I think when people understand that background, it sort of grounds them and makes them realize, okay, These aren't just, you know, fluffy colors and pretty pictures. This is a globally recognized sustainability tool, um, that, you know, we can use for our, you know, our reporting and most importantly to help us again, um, connect with what we truly care about. Um, at a at a deep at a deep level, it gives us that direction and that clarity.

And I think we're missing that at the moment because there is so much noise. There's so much information. There's so much uncertainty. It's hard to know where to start. So I'd like to think that, um. We, yeah, we're definitely, we're definitely not where we need to be in terms of engagement, and the reason for that is, is probably a few. One could be political.

So, um, even though Aotearoa, New Zealand adopted the SDGs back You In September 2015, we've actually gone with other frameworks that are more, um, tailored to, you know, um, tailored to us as a country. So there's the Living Standards Framework and the Full Wellbeing Framework. Um, and they, they are great, but they don't have that global connection that I think we need. And, um, yeah. Anyway, I could go on about that, um, but we definitely need to be doing more engagement.

So there was a report that came out by the Auditor General on the government's preparedness to implement the SDGs back in, I want to say in 2020, July last year. Yeah, I think it was last year or could have been the year before and basically it highlighted that we need to do way more engagement. So that's where I say beat and proceed being a tool to help people with that engagement from schools to corporates and everything in between.

We really want people to connect with the goals and, you know, and raise the awareness and then turn that awareness into action. And that's where that creativity part comes into it. And so you ask that question, like, what's the appetite around the creative element? And I'll be honest, it's, um, I would say, like, 90%, it's like, awesome. This is so cool. We're going to be doing, we're going to be doing something a bit different. You know, we're going to be getting out of our comfort zones.

We're going to be getting into a, you know, into a situation where we're going to be mixing paint together with each other. And there's a whole symbolism. Behind all of that, right? Like sharing resources, sharing paint, you know, oh, you've got a great SDG 12. Do you mind if I borrow some? And it sort of breaks down those barriers, like making this a creative exercise is very intentional. You know, there's a lot of studies that show how creativity get us into into a state of flow.

It's a great tool for distraction therapy, which makes this. Which makes the workshop space a really safe environment where people feel like they can open up and talk to their colleagues about why they've chosen their five goals, because naturally, you know, it can lead to some really vulnerable and personal stories about, you know, why these are the five, you know, big challenges of the world that you care about.

Um, but there is always a small percentage of, of people that a little bit are quite uncomfortable, but I like to say that, um. At the start, they're uncomfortable and then by the end of it, they're like fully convinced and they realize that it's, it's not about the beads. So there might be, um, oh, like, like, for example, when we do our workshops, we, you know, we have a tablecloth and all the mixing plates and there'll always be a few people that are like, oh, it looks like my kids.

You know, seven, six year old birthday party. Like, you know, they'll make a comment to sort of like, because they're feeling, I don't know, a bit embarrassed. But, um, I always go, oh, funny. And, you know, well, we'll see what we're going to do. You know, I sort of kind of want to like, not make them feel uncomfortable, but sort of like lean into the surprise and the unexpectedness of like, what, what's going to show up for this workshop.

And then by the end of it, it's actually not about the babes. The beads are simply a tool to extract that conversation and discussion. And of course, it's a takeaway. It's a physical reminder of your commitment. And it serves as a conversation starter to help spread that engagement, which, as I mentioned, is really important.

And it's such a wonderful tool, any space that can be created, uh, especially at workplaces, because when I work at workplaces, they are so used to engaging one way, usually with their coworkers. And it's all about work. And it's all about a need and ask. And sometimes depending on the workplace specific and depending on the roles and depending on the people, perhaps they haven't connected. Um, This can be such a wonderful team building exercise to be there.

And as you're saying, to understand, like, perhaps someone is choosing, uh, SGD around like, uh, justice or poverty because that's their background or their family, like, you know, experience something like that. And perhaps that could help connect them as a, as a team and make it so much stronger to be able to, to understand, okay, like now I understand this person much more.

Like, you know, now it's, it's so weird because when you think about when we were younger, we always had access to that real creative, raw, messy creativity. Um, you know, it was so important for, um, you know, increasing our emotional intelligence, our problem solving ability. And those are all things that we actually still need to continue to like practice and develop. Um, and then somewhere along the way, society is just like not. Put the paintbrush down. That's child's play.

Problems are to be solved behind a desk. In a cubicle in front of a screen, and I think with, you know, and I'm, I'm not, I'm not anti technology. We're using it right now. I'm a big fan of tech, but I do think with, um, you know, these new tools, like AI and chat. I'm real curious as to say, how is that going to affect? Uh, creative thinking, because, you know, there's been some studies and some suggestions that it's going to create a, you know, the homogenization of ideas.

Um, you know, we're going to sort of go, Oh, don't need to think, you know, don't really think about that because I can just check GPT. Um, and also what are they saying? There was something about, um. It's it's it could that like that attitude could affect the, um, our ability around the perseverance of challenges, which is not what we need when we're facing massive. Massive challenges today.

Um, but I also want to recognize that people have different creative processes and so that's something that I've worked. I've kind of developed and, um, you know, gone deeper with through doing these workshops. So I like to say that there are 4 different creative, um, process archetypes. So there's like the analysts, The disruptor, um, the spirited and the philosopher.

So if you are like a spirited, um, creative archetype, you're going to be someone that connects really well to the use of play, getting out of your comfort zone. You appreciate that, you know, to, to learn and to have ideas stick and to ideate. You want to engage with other people and you want to get active and that sort of that tactile learning.

Um, whereas like, if you look at someone like the analyst, you know, they appreciate the numbers, the formulas, their creative style is going to require reflective time, time alone to process information and maybe engage with a few other people once the ideas are more refined. So we've actually developed a quiz because I got really into this around what is your creative process archetype. And, um, it's just a tool. Again, I don't want to put people in boxes.

That's something that I wanted to get out of when I was younger. But it's just something to get you thinking about, hmm, what is, what is my creative process? Because it's going to be unique to everyone. But what I have found is if you really want to boost your creativity, because for some people, it's connecting with others. So it's an engagement piece. But, um, For other people it can be that, you know, you want an active booster.

So it's like going for a walk, changing up how you get to work every day. Movement's really powerful. Um, or there's that reflexive time, like I said, journaling and processing information. And that's also why like meditation is really important too. Um, it comes also back, it can, it can help with boosting your creativity. Um, but what I have found is one of the biggest boosters is nature.

Nature is inherently a creative process and being in nature, um, is so important for boosting our creativity. And again, it re emphasizes the need to, to protect her, which is again, why it all sort of has this like, Um, circle of sustainability, creativity and leadership sort of coming back together again.

It's like, well, like I want to be a kid still in terms of, of that, in terms of being able to play or to, to be creative or measure or whatever, even if I'm not, you know, like, um, painting or doing art, as you were saying, like creativity doesn't have to be just about that. And it's like, we, we've been taught out of that because of the way that our mainstream education system works and it's like, okay, like.

We need to come back more to it and I want to, um, explore a little bit more as well. Um, because one of the things that I have found as well, you talk about there's so many different frameworks. One of the things that a lot of times for me is so important, and this is why I love what you were sharing about. The, there's this, the why or the what, which is the sustainable development goals.

And then you have the creativity and then you have the leadership is, and this is why we're called conscious action, uh, like actually taking action and finding the framework that works for you, like, and that allows you to make. Something and allows you to start taking a step, take an action and whether that's a huge one or a small one, and this is, you know, like, I find a lot of the frameworks that are out there that are so, um, in a sense, uh, they're not so tangible and it's hard.

Going back to that, uh, paralysis that a lot of people feel or the overwhelm is like, well, there's too much going on there. And then there's some things like, you know, like project drawdown, which is wonderful for everything that has to do with, uh, with sustainability. It's like, these are all of the things that you can do or that we can do as a society or like this framework is finding those things that I can take an action. And it's something so important because if not.

It just stops the momentum and just creates that atrophy. And I love what you were saying about technology. Like, I know for myself, I had the other time, um, like some weeks ago that Someone asked me, I, I didn't have my phone and someone asked me a phone number and I'm like, I have no idea I, when I was a kid, I knew all of the phone numbers.

Like, I mean, there wasn't any cell phones, uh, so like I knew, like, by like, just, you know, like completely memorized all of my family and my friends, houses, numbers. Now, I don't know anyone's number, except mine, which is easy. Um, and there's as well with that, of course, there's like the positive is like, well, I don't need to create space in my mind for that. So now it could be like free, freed up for something else.

But as well, if I'm not using, because I'm relying all of the time on technology or on something else, I might be losing how to get there. Because this came about because, uh, someone. We were going like someone picked me up and we were going to like to an event and it was such an easy thing like thing. And I've been like, I've been with those, with that person, like with my friend for so many times in that place and they still had to take out Google maps to drive there.

Yeah. And I'm like, Oh, you know, and he was. I've never actually looked where I'm going. I've always followed Google Maps. I'm like, fair enough. You know, it's not about judging. That is about understanding. How are we operating?

Like it is so embarrassing when I'm in the supermarket and I go to like get his number out. Cause they're asking for like, you know, the coupon and he's the, it's under his name. I'm like, sorry, let me just get my husband's. Phone number. I don't remember it. Sometimes on a good day, it will be in my brain. But you're absolutely right around this, like, reliance.

And again, I want to just stress, like, I'm a big fan of technology and I do feel like technology is going to be a huge part in, you know, in doing what we can to make sustainable change, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be putting in the effort as well. And I like to use the example of you. If you think about the invention of the car, right?

When the invention of the car happened, it, it sort of, it removed the need for us to, you know, to run or to walk because it could get us from A to B. Um, but we still go for runs. We still go for long hikes because we appreciate. That it's good for us. We, we intentionally make time for that type of exercise, even though the car technically took away the need for us to do that.

And I think that's the same thing that we're going to have to look at creativity with, with balancing it with technology. Well, technology can definitely help us and, and remove some of the brain power we need because it's there as a tool. Um, and it's a great tool as well. We are just going to have to consciously make the time for creativity and put it back into our lives because we recognize that there are house.

Benefits and there's a real connection there around bettering our well being so that's the analogy. I like to use. I think we're just going to have to carve it out and be more intentional around making time for it.

But it needs to be like a whole global thing and I want to get into that and drop the whole of the universal basic income and all of those things that sometimes the technology could aid for us to get there. But, uh, I'm, I'm more curious on. On keeping this conversation with you here, um, I want to, to, um, to ask you, or for you to, to share with everyone, what are the types of, you shared a little bit, but what are the types of work that you're doing? What are the type of workshops?

Uh, who are the people that can engage with you? Is it, um, just people here in Aotearoa, is it people around the world? Um, yeah, just. Tell me about that.

Um, and the really beautiful thing with that, um, with Bed and Proceed Epic is we take all of that data and we collate it into a report, a report that's unique for that business that stresses the SDG strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. And because it's, because the SDGs highlight you know, areas that staff and people are passionate about.

It's a really great tool and information data gathering system done in a really clever and safe way because people are able to subtly share, you know, where they want the organization and business to make impact or where they think they should be. Focusing on areas around, you know, social issues like inclusion and diversity, um, you know, gender equality. And so I think like that in itself is a really rich talk.

So beat and proceed epic is the workshops that we run, but we also have a beautiful experience for beat and proceed impact, which is for our largest scale events. And similar structure, but instead of everyone coming with a takeaway, um, necklace or key ring, we weave the beads into a beautiful beaded mural. So everyone might paint one bead in the goal they want to action, and then we weave them into this artwork in real time so you can see the mural come to life.

And of course that is not only visual data, because you can physically see what people have selected. Um, but it also serves as a symbol of weaving together our collective actions to make change and the artwork is this really beautiful, you know, piece that people can put in their staff room or reception area, um, to remind themselves of the impact they made. And of course, those, even though those are sort of like the two, I guess you call like packages, which sounds like very commercialized.

What we do is, you know, it's very fluid. We don't. We're not prescribed to anything we can curate and something bespoke, but once something that I am really, really excited about, which we sort of touched on around that 3, those 3 areas of sustainability, creativity and leadership is I've just introduced a new program called the proceed program, which is all about stepping up in those 3 areas. And it's open for anyone, um, whether you are you.

a business leader, you're just starting an organization, you're a curious student that, you know, is on the cusp of change, or you're in middle management, um, we are doing a three month online, um, program where we're catching up once a week virtually, and we're kicking off the program with an in person retreat in Orta Tahi Christchurch on the 28th of July.

There are a few spaces open, um, but it's really exciting to have this program because I think for a long time, I had sort of been pigeonholed as bead girl, and there's nothing wrong with bead girl. Like, I'm happy to wear, I'm happy to wear the title, but, um, but what I've learned with Bead and Proceed is it's so much more than the beads. And I don't want the beads to be a distraction. It's, it's that message of leadership, creativity and sustainability that we're really wanting to share.

And we run our workshops with like. With everyone, I mean, we do a lot with corporates, a lot of engineering firms, you know, um, uh, private service firms, um, you know, consultants. Yeah, anyone really, um, but we also do it with councils, which is really exciting because they're starting to weave the SDGs and their long term plans and strategies, which is so fantastic. Um, and then, yeah, and organizations and schools and universities. So, and the other thing I just want to stress as well is.

I made a comment before about the materials we use, um, because we want Beat and Proceed to be accessible to everyone and anyone. And one of, that's actually one of the big, um, I guess the key point with the Agenda 2030, which is to leave no one behind. So every Beat and Proceed kit purchase, another is donated to either a low dose health school or a deserving community. Organization. So if you are one of those, like, get in touch because we have some cats we can donate.

And then we also have all of our materials, um, are supplied, um, by an incredible, incredible organization called Silence located in Kolkata, India. And they employ, employ artists who have hearing, speaking, and physical disabilities, giving them quality and safe employment. Um, so that's, and they're World Fair Trade Certified, and all of the kits are made from recycled paper. And the beads are made from recycled wooden pallets. And then the paint we use is from the Natural Paint Company.

So for every square meter of paint painted, they save a square meter of Amazon rainforest. So, We try and make the supply chain and all materials aligned to the SDGs as well, where we can. Yeah,

And like, and to be able, as you're saying, like, and this is something that thank you for sharing, because, you know, for people that are listening, there's that as well, the knowing that, okay, they are sourcing everything from the, you know, at least on what's possible, ethical, sustainable, like practices and making sure that There's people on the other side that are, you know, actually benefiting and there's all of these other aspects that there is not just this one thing of like

we're painting and we didn't even think about where all of this comes from. So, yeah, you know, like, thank you for sharing that. As we are getting towards the end of this conversation, just to honor, um, your time as well, this might be related or not, or perhaps you have already shared it. Um, I always ask, or not always, often ask, what is the one thing that you wish everyone in the world knew? Oh, my gosh,

If you don't, if you feel like you're, if you don't value yourself and you yourself don't feel valued, then I don't think you're going to have. The, the energy or the love or, or the support around you to, to make any change or to simply exist if you don't feel like you're valued. So I just want everyone to know that you are valued.

If you resonated with what Bridget has been sharing, if you want to perhaps have your business or your organization take part of it, go and talk and just reach out. I'm sure that it will be, um, great. And as Richard, you've been saying like for creativity, for team bonding, for learning about sustainability, for taking something that is, that is cool as well to, to wear. So, um, thank you so much for, for taking the time and for sharing with us.