Unique Genius Superhero Interview: Jodi Nelson in Machu Picchu, Peru

Hi, it's Aaron Ross of Pebblestorm and I'm about to do a unique genius superhero interview with Jody Nelson, the founder of Play It Forward Adventures, which is a touring company that combines service projects with adventure, like here in Machu Picchu. Hello, Jody.

Hello.

Alright, well, I'd love to hear a little bit more about yourself and your company.

Well, well, I'm Jody Nelson, the founder of Play It Forward Adventures. And what the company does is we combine volunteerism with active outdoor adventure in countries across the world. We provide a safe environment for people to kind of step outside their comfort zone to experience an all encompassing travel experience. And we actually aim to push people outside their comfort zone a little bit spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, everything, so that in short term experience you can get just about everything from one destination.

Yeah. So let me. So, Aisha, I'm on this trip with you obviously, because we're here in Machu Picchu and it's really, it was amazing doing the service project as well as actually the adventure part of it. So. But when you first started, I know you were like, how was, how did you get started in this? You were in a job, you weren't really fulfilled. Like, what was your first, what got you onto this path?

Well, I was working as a film and television producer, which I still do on the side. But I was looking for something where I could apply my current skill set as a producer into something a little bit more meaningful so that the end product would be something that would benefit more people, it would be a little bit more meaningful, but it was still using my gifts and my talents, which are coordination of people and logistics and schedules and budgets and all the things that I use in film production. I just wanted to take that and apply it to a new business that I was really passionate about.

I think that's a great point of not thinking you have to start from scratch, but taking your strengths and just redirecting them. So what was the next step towards taking that idea and actually doing something with it?

Well, the first step that I took was actually to hire a coach to help me. Even though I knew what my strengths were in terms of my skill set, I didn't really know how to make the leap from film production into starting my own company. And I didn't even know what my company was going to be at that point. I really needed to sort of admit that I didn't know how to do that and look to somebody else to sort of guide me through that process. And in the process of doing so, I learned a lot about myself and the obstacles that were standing in my way personally and sort of internally and everything I thought that was outside of me that might be standing in my way.

Like lack of time or money or.

Exactly. Lack of time, money, a lot of fear, actually. Even relationships that I hadn't cleaned up from my past, things like that. I really needed to kind of clear space and allow the idea to sort of formulate on its own.

Give yourself some time for it.

Exactly.

And you had a bunch of ideas. Where did you get the idea from?

Well, the idea for Play It Forward Adventures actually came from my own personal travel experiences. And over the years, seeing so many places in the world and realizing how much it changed my perspective on my own life, how much it opened my eyes to the way in which other people live in the world was something that I was always really passionate about and still am. And I just wanted to find a way to bring those experiences to people who maybe are fearful of going outside of the country, stepping outside of their comfort zone, maybe they have nobody to travel with. And I wanted to create experiences where people, like minded individuals, could come together and have a really great experience and hopefully be able to apply the sort of the play it forward concept into their everyday life back home, which is

combining service and adventure action.

Right, right.

And you have a great group of people here.

Yeah, this group is fantastic.

So how did you pick? You had seven ideas, you know, back as you mentioned this before, how did you pick this one?

Well, this was a process that I went through with my coach. I had seven business ideas originally and we laid them all out on paper. I presented them all to them.

By the way, this is the wonderful Amy Applebaum.

It is the wonderful Amy Applebau. And she basically, we looked at them all and she said, which one do you want to do? And I said, well, this one over here would probably be the easiest because I have all the resources. I could start it tomorrow.

The most practical.

It's practical. And she said, that's not what I asked you. Which one do you want to do? And I said, well, I really want to do the Adventure Travel Company. And she said, then that's it. You're going to live it and you're going to breathe it. You have to be passionate about it. And that's the one we're going to focus on. And that was it.

We moved forward. Yeah. How long ago was that?

That was about three and a half years ago.

Okay. And so now let's talk a little bit about money and making money, because that's how long did it take? Or is it just about profitable yet? Or how long? So for someone who's starting, how long do you think it would take to get to sustaining yourself off of it?

I would say three years. I think the standard is about three years. Play it forward. Made a small profit in its third year and now we're moving into the fourth year. We find that more doors are opening and we're kind of building a reputation. People are starting to hear about us. We're getting more press. We had a lot of press actually, in our third year, which opened the door to a lot of new opportunities this year.

Well, how'd you get that press?

Very good question.

I think, because I'm watching the interview and I'm like, well, that sounds great press. Well, how do I get it?

Yeah, well, that is a really good question. I really don't know how I got lucky in my third year, but I will say that in my fourth year, I just hired a publicist to focus on PR because I've gotten so much business from the few articles that we got in our third year of business that I really wanted somebody to be focused on that. So I'm putting a lot of my marketing and PR dollars into a publicist this year to see if we can generate more.

Okay, so two last questions. Well, actually, I'm sorry. One is going to be why you probably got pressed last year was because you have a very. You have a business that's really coming from your heart and a message that resonates and people are interested in that. It's not just another, I'd say, not generic, but another vanilla business.

Yeah, I would agree. I think that I've done a lot of speaking engagements and a lot of trade shows and stuff. So when I speak the message, I think the people that get it really, really get it, and the people who picked up the articles to write about us have done a really great job of sort of telling the story about Play It Forward and how we started getting the message out to travelers who might like to combine these two elements. Because the differentiator really is that you don't normally get two in one. You either have to choose a volunteer trip or an adventure vacation. And with Play It Forward, you get both. And so I think it is kind of a new, cutting edge way to travel.

So here's the last money question, which is, you know, again, three years ago, when you were starting, or maybe it's two years ago, you'd gotten it together, you had a plan. What would be the advice you'd give yourself in terms of how to actually make money or whether it's revenue or get to profitability. Like, what was, you know, one of the biggest lessons you learned in the first couple years of actually making it into a business that's going to be profitable?

Well, I would say that you have to be very efficient and you have to be very careful about how you spend your money in the first three years. I think that you can try. It really is all trial and error, at least in my opinion. You write a business plan, you follow it to the best of your ability, but at the end of the day, you don't really know what's going to work until you try it. But I've been very conservative in where I put my dollars to first see if there's any sort of return on my investment in say, PR in marketing. But I've been very efficient and kind of run it on a shoestring. And because of the idea being something that so many people want to be a part of and are so passionate about, like me, I've been really fortunate to have people who've also volunteered their services to build their resume. Whether it's, you know, SEO for my website or, you know, writing a brochure, people have stepped up to actually help. And at first it was hard for me to receive that help, but I'm more, more open to it now and without it, I, you know, I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't have the support and help of all the people who've offered their services.

Yeah, because you're doing something that matters.

Yeah.

So how do people find you? What's the website and so on and so forth. What's the best way for them to get in touch with you and find out about the adventures?

You can go to www.pifadventures.com or you can call 651-493-8817, the phone number one more time, 651-493-8817.

Alright, anyway, thanks so much. This trip has been awesome and thanks for sharing here on the unique Genius Superheroes interview.

Thanks, Aaron.