Student entrepreneur shares how climate innovation can empower underserved communities
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Show Notes:
In this Mission Matters episode, Adam Torres interviews Fariba Akter, a student entrepreneur who pitched her invention SolAire—a solar-powered handheld fan—to fight heat inequality. Inspired by family in Bangladesh and backed by the Seeds of Fortune accelerator, Fariba shares how she’s turning awareness into action and inspiring others along the way.
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Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to mission matters.com and click on be Our Guest to Apply. Alright, so today I’m in Florida and Matt Grant Cardone headquarters. And let me tell you, we’ve been having all kinds of fun.
I just got to watching a pitch competition. Excellent excellence contestants. I’m telling you these, these individuals had some amazing businesses and I got one of the participants coming on the show Next. Fariba . Fariba , welcome. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Alright, so first thing first, um, tell us about your business, the name and what and what you pitched.
Um, my business is called SolAire. It’s a portable handheld fan made from recycled materials and. What’s special about it is it has built-in solar panels so that there’s no recurring costs, no extra batteries, electricity. Mm-hmm. Just buy it one time, it gets energy from the sun and it starts running.
Yeah. How’d you come up with the idea originally? So this idea has. Been work has been a work in progress because it’s actually a solution to a problem that I’ve been noticing. So it’s 2023. The problem is heat inequality. Mm-hmm. In Bangladesh, which is where my parents are from heat and heat waves and climate crises are a big issue.
Um, many of my. After COVID-19 especially. Um, school was already disrupted, but then many of my cousins were not able to go to school for like eight weeks on end sometimes, or like four weeks on end sometimes. And this happens multiple times throughout the year. Mm-hmm. Um, and it’s not only a fact for my cousin, it’s for everyone.
Yeah. And it is something that truly touched my heart when I found out that in the village that my. Father grew up in there’s only one school mm-hmm. That he, uh, the founder has allocated acs all throughout the building. Yeah. Um, and none of the other schools in that entire area have any ac. So when a heat wave hits.
These children are basically not able to focus or even go to school to study. Mm-hmm. What was it like working with the Grant Cardone Foundation on this and going through the process? So a little bit before I came here, I was super nervous, um, developing the product with seats of fortune, but being.
Being able to pitch at Grant Cardone really opened my eyes to a vastly like different world than what I’m used to. Um, this is a very like, exciting opportunity mm-hmm. That I’m so grateful to have. Um, they’re very generous. Like some of my friends just got. Double the amount that they were Yeah. Partici, uh, anticipating.
And I think that this sort of Phil philanthropy mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, is very important for our society today to build community and encourage the future generations, I guess. Mm-hmm. Talk a little bit about the accelerator you went through as well, that that got you here. Yeah. So this program started in May.
Um, and it’s a 10 month program. We do college prep and then we also develop our product and obviously get through the different stages to get here. Yeah. So at first it was like a few hundred applicants. Yeah. Then we picked some of us and then we. Pitched at BMO. Mm-hmm. That was very nerve wracking.
I completely messed up there, but somehow I made it here and I was a finalist and I was able to compete and I think that I would never be able to do this with any other organization. So I’m super grateful for C two Fortune to provide me this opportunity. So what are, what are your plans? What’s next for you as an entrepreneur with the idea, with the product?
Like, what’s next for you? So. I will be honest. I am a little disappointed. Mm-hmm. Anything else by myself because I was just really expecting a lot more of myself and I can be my, uh, worst critic sometimes. Mm-hmm. But as one of the speakers said, you wanna look forward to the next best thing. Yeah. Even, even if it’s your, if you face a loss.
You wanna look for a solution. Mm-hmm. And today, this is, I wouldn’t call it a loss because now I’m able to look forward mm-hmm. And find something better to do or find somewhere else I can invest my energy into. Mm-hmm. So I love that for everyone here. And my next step would definitely be in. Learning more about heat inequality.
Yeah. And since I do not have the funds to start producing the fans right now, mm, I would start teach-ins in my local communities. Mm. About heat, heat inequality, and spreading awareness through social media. And then. Maybe develop the product. Definitely in the future. Um, in college. That’s it. Yeah.
Amazing. Last thing I want you to do, Reba look into the camera. How can people follow you? How can they connect? Um, I can be found on Instagram at Fariba . 11 va. Mm-hmm. Or they can connect through LinkedIn. My name is Farba Actor. Mm-hmm. And last but not least, my email is [email protected].
Fantastic. And fe everybody at home watching. Just so you know. We’ll definitely put some links in the show notes so you can just, you can connect. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show.
Each and every day we’re bringing you new content, new ideas, and hopefully. New inspiration to help you along the way in your journey as well. So again, hit that subscribe or follow button. And Reba, thank you so much for coming on this, this show. Thank you for having me. Congrats again for being part of the accelerator and, and being here today means a lot.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
