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What Does It Mean To Make An Impact?

Okay, great! Your mind’s probably bursting with possibilities. You may have answers as big as curing cancer, ending world hunger, or starting a nonprofit!

Your answers may be as small as smiling at a stranger, helping a friend or family member, or joining a volunteer club at school. Regardless of what you wrote down, really take a moment to think about your answers. 

Your answer to the first question will feel quite grand, distant, and close to impossible, while your answer to the second question hopefully feels stress-free and easy to execute in your everyday life. That’s the problem!

This stark contrast is the very issue with impact!

As a society, we’re led to believe that impact always needs to be big. When we think of social impact initiatives, the first thing that pops into many of our minds are well-funded initiatives in developing countries to empower vulnerable populations.

These are big feats solving big problems. But here’s what Tiffany Yau, Founder & CEO of Fulphil has to say about that:

“The problem is, we have this problem with big. When we think of big problems, we want big solutions. We spend so much time and energy thinking about the size of these problems that we get stuck and we lose sight of the big difference that even just a small action/effort could make—so much to the point that it becomes daunting and overwhelming, making us feel small and helpless.”—Tiffany Yau, Founder & CEO, Fulphil

That’s our CEO! Go, Tiffany! We romanticize impact to be a big, grand task to execute but impact doesn’t always have to be big! It comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. And in fact, the smallest things can make the biggest impact.

For example, if every American recycled just one plastic water bottle, 54 million T-shirts or 6.4 million fleece jackets could be produced (Repreve data).

Isn’t that incredible! We bet you’re thinking, “But I can’t control the actions of every American.” Well, technically, you can! Let’s start right at home.

If you cut down the time you spend showering by just 1 minute per day, you would conserve approximately 1,825 gallons of water each year (Boston University)!

Now that’s what we call impact. Impact that is not only small but can happen right here in your own community.

What matters is impacting someone at some level. Even if your action or idea seems small, there are people—whether it’s one or many—who could benefit from what you have to offer, no matter the size or extremity. 

Let’s take a look at some real-life examples! Past students who have learned from our curriculum have created social enterprises across the spectrum that solve the problems they care most about:

The Health & Rights of Animals

This is for the dog-lovers out there! Freya created a junk-free dog treat company from trying to feed her dog who was diagnosed with cancer and could only eat so much.

The Representation of Gender-Nonconforming Individuals

Shia created a gender-nonconforming and plus-size clothing line because Shia kept encountering the phrase “that looks so cute, just not on me” over and over again on shopping trips.

Environmental Justice

A group of 3 girls we taught created biodegradable cafeteria trays with seeds to grow trees upon composting. This created a more sustainable solution than the trays made of Styrofoam they saw being thrown away in their lunch room.

The People Closest to the Problems are Closest to the Solutions

Our first-hand experiences with the problems in our community equip us with the depth of knowledge and familiarity to solve them. But even more importantly, our experiences give us the drive.

They equip us sentimentally to care. We embody meaning in our experiences. They give us the fuel to drive us towards impact rooted in compassion to solve problems we care deeply about. 

The People Closest to the Problems are Closest to the Solutions

We care more about tackling issues that hit close to home because we develop emotional connections to the solutions we are passionate about building. As a result, we don’t work hard for things we don’t care about. That’s what makes us human.

We’re moved to solve the problems closest to our hearts. We're more willing to address and solve the pains we care about or the hardships we’ve endured so that others don’t have to go through them or have the resources necessary to better overcome them.

This is what impact is all about! This is what makes it so beautiful. And this is what makes YOU the right person to make an impact and solve that problem that ties closely to your heart.

It’s about discovering our WHY (what motivates you to make an impact) and leveraging that on the road to making a difference. 

Here, we’ll teach you what we know best: social entrepreneurship.