Social Business… Cambodia, a look at the country and people who make Elephant Branded possible

Seven years ago, if you had told me that I would be spending my time between Hong Kong, Cambodia and South Africa, I would have thought you were crazy.

You see, when I was still at University, as an undergraduate my only dream was to get a normal job, earn some money, get engaged, get a mortgage and have a happy life. Whilst the happy life and the engagement have happened the normal job, mortgage and money ideals have changed somewhat.

To be honest, I never intended to be involved in Social business, but kind of fell into it.

Two chance encounters and one lucky break are what have really defined the past few years.

I studied Architecture at University, we were given the chance to design and build a school in South Africa. Blood sweat and tears went into making the school, however after all the effort that went into the build, I was shocked to see children coming into the school without basic school equipment.

After University I was offered a one year postgraduate posting to China, and subsequently a year later offered a job in Hong Kong. The lucky break happened during the two month gap, between leaving my job in China and starting my new job in HK.

Like many people my age, I travelled around South East Asia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. It was in Cambodia that I met Pry and Mey who had just started making bags out of old cement bags. I didn’t know it at the time, but we would go on to become close friends and grow a business together. Whilst coming from very different backgrounds, it is our shared passion to build, make and grow that ties us together.

Pry, the creative genius behind EB, had just started to make a simple bag out of recycled cement bags. I thought if we tweaked the design a little then we could sell some bags to my friends and help raise some money to buy school equipment.

Each bag is handmade from local recycled materials giving local ladies a way to run their own business and every sale helps to supply school equipment to children in need. It really is as simple as that.

When I was younger I used to see business books in my local book store. “How to swim with the sharks of business” or “How to make lots of money quick”. That’s what I used to think, that business was a dog eat dog world where the strong survived by stamping on the heads of those under them. It seemed dirty and slightly sordid. I didn’t want to do that or be one of those guys in a pin striped suit sitting down at board meetings.rnRead more: https://is.gd/GOFMqw