Jasper Steinhausen, a consultant, argues that embedding sustainability into a company's DNA creates cost savings, new markets, and talent attraction. He traces this back to organizing refugee trips in 1990s Denmark, and credits Muhammad Yunus's principle: if you see something that needs doing, do it.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner and today I have Jasper Steinhausen with us. He's a guy that helps businesses become profitable with a positive impact. So welcome to the show, Jasper.
Thank you so much, Tyler.
Of course, man, thanks for joining us. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Jasper, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
French? Well, I think this happened back in the early '90s, '93, '94 or something, when the war in Yugoslavia was still raging. I was around 19 or so, and in Denmark we had opened the doors to a larger group of refugees, and some of them lived in the city, in the center, in the city where I lived. I think there was about 800 people, so most of the adults unfortunately were pretty traumatized by what they have been through. So they were just sort of stuck in between and just sat there. And that's not really the ideal role model for the kids to mirror themselves in. And then at some point, my father contacted the authorities with this one project idea to go in and make some simple 3-day trips where fathers and their kids could go out and actually do something together. So it took a few days days off and help on the first couple of these sessions of these trips. And even though it was a pretty simple setup with hardly any money, but just using the outdoor possibilities, we managed to create a space for them to really feel alive and experience that people were all of a sudden smiling and laughing and starting to share the stories they had with them. And that I really also felt great doing this. And this taught me that, you know, I can make a difference in other people's lives, and it might even not take me so much to do this. And I think that's an important lesson to everybody, everybody to remember as we go through life.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
Well, there is an immense opportunity to be harvested for incorporating sustainability in your company DNA. It can provide savings, access to new markets, innovation, brand value, employer satisfaction, attract talent, and so on and so on. So there's lots to do if you incorporate sustainability really in the DNA of your company.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
Well, I know a lot of the other people you have had on the show focus on things like selling or mindset or perseverance, and I really agree on that. But I think I would like to add a somewhat different flavor to it here. And for me, that is whatever kind of business you do, make sure that it's a purpose-driven business. Find your true passion in life and then ask yourself, what can I do? What are the things I do extremely well? Can I use to promote my passion? Because if you do that, then all of a sudden you have just literally often millions of people that would share your passion, and they will be ready to promote and buy from you, or at least make sure that people know of you. Because very often these passions tend to come down to some of the bigger questions in life, something around people or society or nature or something like that. So that's where you get a large sort of audience that all of a sudden wants to see you succeed as well. So purpose-driven businesses kind of have a tailwind.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Well, I think that would be, uh, get an entrepreneurial mindset and supplement your university education with skills to develop a business, because I think the entrepreneurial mindset whether it's used for, for starting a business or being in somebody else's, uh, is really needed to speed up, uh, development and make sure that solutions are rooted in businesses.
And kind of going a little bit down a different path here, but in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Well, I think at least one of them, uh, is contributing beyond oneself. Um, I think of course you can do that again by turning your business into a passion-driven business. But yeah, so contribution beyond oneself, I think that's really the key.
And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Well, that is really a tough question, I think. But I will go with the book called Tuesdays at Murray by a guy called Mitch Albom. It's a great book about a true story from a guy who gets a terminal neurological disease. But it shows how he very remarkably views life and death and managed to stay human and maintain dignity all the way to the end. And for me, that gave a really strong injection on my thoughts on my own relationship to death and what this meant for me and the life at that time. And I think it has really changed the way I view and value life and death and made me a happier person, more aware and more appreciative of life.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
I think my quote I'm gonna go with is, uh, if you see something that needs to be done, do it, meaning don't wait for others to act, really step up and create the change you need to see. And this was something that was told to me in face actually by the Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus when he was in Denmark. A friend and I brought him up to Denmark to speak for business leaders. And I think that's really it. It calls upon all of us to act. Make things better rather than just sit and wait for somebody else to do it.
Yes, man. Thank you so much for coming on, man. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?
Well, I am of course on LinkedIn as well. Just search for Jasper Steinhausen. There are not that many of me out there. And I also have a company website, a company called Ouroboros, which is my passion-driven businesses. And you can find that at ourboros.works, which is O-U-R-O-B-O-R-O-S.works.
Perfect, man. Thank you again. We appreciate you coming on.
Thank you. It was a pleasure.
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