Now who doesn’t love a classic comeback story?

The Underdog! The David vs. Goliath! The Miracle on Ice! The Rocky Balboa! The Oliver Twist!

John Paul DeJoria is the very definition of an underdog. To often these stories become high publicized and materialized by mainstream media and hollywood, but instead these stories should be understood from the humble beginnings in which they originate.

Born in Los Angeles, California to an immigrant mother and father, John was immaculately tossed into a world of challenges. When he was two his parents divorced, and by the age of nine John was selling christmas cards and newspapers on the street. A year later he and his brother were forced into foster care. By his mid 30s, he was a single father selling hair care products and living out of his car with his daughter. Without many options left, he began to lose hope.

Pushing his hair care products on whoever would buy them, he was fortunate enough to meet Paul Mitchell, a famous hair dresser. Together, with a $700 loan, the two formed John Mitchell Systems, and needless to say the rest is history.

Now worth over $3 Billion, actively involved in entrepreneurship and charitable acts, John is telling his story.

But how do we find these stories to inspire us?

We watch the news, read the newspaper, browse articles on social media, and hear stories through word of mouth. Nevertheless, I didn’t find John’s story this way, but rather on a podcast (would highly recommend listening to this). One of my favourite athletes of all time has recently dedicated his post athletic life to podcasts, sharing stories from people all around the world and their incredible journey throughout life.

While driving home one evening with my brother, we listened to Lance Armstrong’s interview with John Paul DeJoria. While telling his rags to riches story, he paused to give great credit to his selectivity of business ventures, where premium quality and sustainable actions were at the very root of his decision making.

While his partner was in Mexico on a business trip, he sampled an exclusive batch of tequila. With its superior taste and humble distilling process, he immediately called John. John flew down the next morning to sign a deal, on the basis that the glass battles would only be produced with recycled glass.

This tequila is the one and only, industry dominating, Patron.

It is with great, great sadness that we as sustainability and environmental enthusiast we say goodbye to the great Rob Stewart. Even more so as Canadians, we have lost a man of legacy and education, who believed in the power of the environment so much that he had to put his life in such circumstances to just capture a frame of powerful words.

Rob Stewart was born in Toronto in 1979. By age 13 his passion amounted, when his underwater pictures began becoming published around the world. By 18, he took his passion to others by becoming a scuba instructor and wild life conservation educator. His schooling took him all around the world. From the simple upbringings of Ontario, he took to Jamaica and Kenya to embrace the diverse natural environment that surrounded him.

While on assignment in the Galapagos Islands, he discovered the horrific world of sharks. It wasn’t the horror story of their aggression and fables, but rather, the poaching and illegal killing of these beautiful creatures. This ultimately lead to his first major film, Sharkwater. The movie was produced by Alliance Atlantis, Warner-Bros, Disney and MK2-, and become a world renowned hit. The film depicts a movement for shark conservation and a call for a reform in government policy, to protect these creatures and to inspire change.

What an amazing word, inspire. We must discover what or who inspires in order to proactively make a change worth fighting for. While this blog is focused on sustainability, this specific post focuses on our personal journey to discovery.

I never knew Rob Stewart, nor had I ever seen any of his material, or so I thought. When I saw the story from CBC, I was very intrigued by the story about a filmmaker dying while out at sea. So I began to do some research about who Rob was and why he was out there. I soon discovered this piece ….

This is a quote I had read when I was doing research in grade 10, on a piece about the frontiers. The ocean has been one of the ongoing and continuously unveiling of new species, a frontier constantly being rediscovered time and time again. I had never remember the author of the quote, but rather the beauty and truth.

My passion for sustainability has always been water, whether it be fresh or salt, simply on the fact that ….

Water is life.