E107 - Julio Maria Muhorro from Sharing Knowledge International

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Welcome back to the Green Element Podcast, where we feature business leaders and innovators transforming their operations to be more environmentally and socially sustainable. I'm your host, Will Richardson, and I can't wait to meet our guest today and help you on your journey of sustainability. Julio, welcome to the Green Element Podcast. Fourth time lucky. I hope you are really good today and I am really looking forward to finding out more about your education business is how you describe it. And it'd be great hearing in your words what it is that you guys do, please.

Yes, Will, I'm super happy to be here today for the first time. Having fun. So yeah, I'm the founder of Sharing Knowledge International, a company where we enable powerful personal transformations. To drive business, career, and life fulfillment. So how our business works is that for our consumers, we offer them different coaching packages. So one is on business advisory to make sure that people start and grow their business. The second part being career crafting, making sure that people actually create a career that's tailored to them, and transformational coaching because we are all about enabling people to become the best version of themselves. And then for our corporate clients, we offer them trainings, knowledge consultancy, and speaking engagements to make sure their companies become smarter, they think smarter, they operate smarter, and they have smart goals to work with.

That's really cool. And I think what sparked my interest was the way that you describe your business and people is that we help organizations become more sustainable and more environmental, and you help people become more sustainable and potentially, probably more environmental, I would imagine, as well.

Yeah, sure. So it really started with my own background. So in 2019, I was nominated the most ascending delegate at Global Goals Model of the United Nations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. So they really gave me a background in understanding the UN, you know, the Global Goals, but also not only understanding them as sort of like principles that as individuals we must operate with, but also how we can take that into a more organizational level. And I was managing this incubation program at the time, and one of our main activities was this boot camp all tailored around the Global Goals model. So, really making sure that business was starting out being consciousness, like being super conscious about the environment and super conscious about how people will feel. And from this place, being able to generate revenue. Now, fast forwarding for my current company, one of my signature trainings I call usually, it's just using social impact as a business growth hormone. And this is what most people don't get it. If you look at the statistics, it's insane how much people have changed throughout the years. So to give you just a few numbers here, according to Gallup, only 33% of American workers are engaged in their job. The remaining 52%, they're just showing up, and 72% of people are completely disengaged. So this means the company are literally leaving their money behind. And this super ends up connecting with social impact because if you look on how the workforce is right now, you know, many research are selling that at least 36% of the workforce is Gen Z and actually 75% of our workforce right now are composed by millennials. And one thing about those 2 generations is that we are super passionate about impact.

Yeah.

So, we don't want to just show up at work and make sure that we have money in our pockets. Know that we matter. We want to know that our actions are actually contributing to a better environment. We want to know that we are contributing to a sort of like a global peace, as you like to call it, right? And we are not only like the majority of the workforce, we are also the majority of the market. And this has been sort of like, uh, portrayed in the market itself because you go ahead and look that $500 billion is available for global impact investing right now. So there is a huge opportunity for companies to grow by tapping into social impact. And not only that, if you watch on the trends, in like 2011, only 20% of companies listed in the S&P 500 reported having consistent CSR program. In 2060, that number increased to 82%. So if you are a business owner and you're trying to grow your business, tapping into social impact and therefore environmental community impact, it's a huge opportunity to grow your business.

Yeah. And I think that's what sparked and triggered my interest when you did reach out to me, was we need more people like you to help organizations because actually it doesn't come naturally to an awful lot of people. this journey. And I think what also is brilliant is you're based in Mozambique and you've got businesses all over the world. You are like the— is there a definition? Not Generation Z or millennial. You're like the, I don't know, the modern equivalent of the future generation, as it were. You're running a business across the whole world, and it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Yeah, there's something that people will never talk about, like, a few years ago, and even today a lot of people have resistance in terms of like, so you're based in Mozambique in Africa and we have clients in the US and you have clients in Europe and in Asia, how does that work, right? I found it super amazing because especially right now where I cannot physically travel, at least I get to connect with people from different cultures and really get to have a sense of how the world is really going, because it's so easy for us to feel trapped in our own reality, right, in our like box, and think that, oh, Mozambique or Africa is the world. But that's not true. Like, and one thing that I like, I'm super grateful to realize is that even though we are different, we are at the core the same. We just showcase and we operate, um, differently. But like, the core things that motivates every single one of us, it doesn't really matter who you are, where you were born, your gender, your race are basically the same things.

Don't you reckon? Do you feel fortunate or privileged to be able to say what you've just said? Because I, for one, absolutely love— I mean, I love talking to people, full stop, actually. But I also really love talking to people from loads of different cultures and around the world. And I kind of feel like I'm traveling, so I'm kind of I've traveled to Mozambique for this podcast, and I feel like— and I'm sitting in a garden shed just north of Edinburgh in the UK. It is sunny, but it could be raining. 100%.

I'm super privileged and I'm aware of it. Even the impact that I can have just by tapping into social media or a podcast like yours, like, people from the UK are listening to me right now, and I'm still in my bedroom You know, in my little bedroom having this conversation with you. So yeah, it's amazing, that part of the internet, and it's super tied up with, you know, the environmental causes that you're speaking because online we get to like cut a lot of the costs of having, you know, a headquarters with people in there and operating in there. And I get to tap into talent from all over the world literally just by having access to the internet and a device. Yeah.

And I think that's a part of it, isn't it? And I think it'll be interesting with COVID and with the current situation, how that will accelerate that thinking. I was actually, funny enough, I had a conversation with a guy who's managing director of an events business in the UK. Their turnover from usually March to now is between £4 and £5 million. They've had a turnover of £8,000.

Yeah.

So that just shows the shrinkage that's just happened. But what he did say was, this is a time to reset. This is a time for our industry to go, is this the way forward? Are we doing the right things? Should we not change our whole business model and look at the way that we're doing it? And it is business leaders like that that we actually need to have in those big and bigger businesses, because it's all very well for us to talk about it, but we actually need a lot of the other businesses from a wider field and the much larger businesses to be thinking basically outside the box and holistically.

Yeah, 100%. 100%. I totally agree. I guess that for the past 10 to 20 years, really, people have been really focused in running business as usual, but never really thinking of the business they will be tomorrow. And what I love about 2020 is sort of like forcing every single one of us to stop, take a really good look around where our business is currently at, and then how we can shift into the future. Because again, to me, it's super amazing how every single system is being shifted and transformed, really, like the healthcare system, the educational system, how business work on a daily basis. And for me, this is literally the time where you get to reinvent and knowing not only, you know, how you can make money today, but in the future.

Yeah, absolutely. And I guess because the people that are listening to this podcast are business professionals and from all over the world, I think the main listenership is from the UK, but I think we do definitely have a large reach in the US and from all around. So it'd be great to hear from you guys what it is that we are speaking about and if you've got any thoughts on this, because I think we are looking at Green Element, at now businesses' environmental footprint, and we're looking at the impact from a home point of view, as in how much energy you're using, what is compared to what you would be using in an office. And we've always been like you, Julio, where we're actually quite remote. We've got a remote working office that we had before, but it was only somewhere that we could meet up. But we're not a big company, we're only 10 people. So therefore we're able to do that. But I think from an environmental point of view, I think it's just an interesting way forward and we're going to see a massive change.

100%. Even in my own business, Considering my background, I'm always super focused on making sure that we are sustainable, environmentally sustainable. And as an educational business, it's super hard to go around using enough paper, for instance, right? Even though a lot of our tools, they're online, you can use in your computer, I have to acknowledge the power that you can feel by actually writing things down with your own handwriting, right? So, I can be responsible around how my entire business process— processes are structured to make sure that we don't use paper at all. We can just approve things online. But then I have little to zero control around how my clients will use those tools, right? A lot of people prefer to print them out and actually fill them in. So yeah, one of the things that even myself, who are already running an online business, is that we took a step back to rethink how we can enhance the experience that people are having with our company. to make sure that they are not only getting more value out of our offer, but how do they remain more sustainable and how they increase their level of sustainability, not only in terms of the environment, but even in terms of— I don't want to coach someone today or to work in a company today on a specific challenge and have them coming back in a few years for the exact same thing. Right. I want them to be able to be self-sustainable in the long run.

And what sort of businesses do you have coming to you?

Honestly, every single type. Most of them are service providers, either providing services for companies to grow and scale, but we have people who run coffee shops and they have to adapt because right now coffee shops are not really like operating as they used to do it. We have big companies, like one of my clients, they're based in Tunisia in North Africa and they're looking to expand their programs to other African countries. So we have really clients from every single business stage, but mostly they are either starting or growing their businesses. And something that we found that every single one of them has is this sense of being more self-sustainable. So they don't get to rely that much into external stakeholders.

And how do you, how do people find out about you?

So a lot of them find out via recommendations, because You know, when people work with us, they really value what we did for them and end up recommending us for other people. But of course, via social media. I'm a millennial. I won't lie that I'm super pumped with social media. So people find me over there on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. That's when a lot of our clients come through.

Okay, interesting. And do you have to change the way that you speak to people, say, from Tunisia to the US? I mean, you may be speaking in English, but the language or the type of the way that you have to say something to someone, do you find you have to speak slightly differently or are you just yourself in every situation?

I guess there is a fine balance between being yourself and getting your message across because it's so easy for anyone to be authentic and just spread their message. But most of the times, they will not be sharing it. Because if you're spreading, it's you just giving people out whatever you want to give out. But if you're sharing, you are building things together with other people. So, I found that even though I remained authentic on who I am and how I work and how I operate, I have to be able to be flexible in understanding, for instance, different power dynamics within organizations. So, for instance, a company in the US, Let's say if I'm working with their R&D department, it's so easy for them to communicate with their CEOs and top-tier levels. That's not the same thing if I'm working with a company based in Singapore when there's a huge sort of power distance between people in different positions, right? So the way that we speak ends up being different and also the examples that we use. So if I'm with a client from the US, I can speak about Target and Macy's and stuff like that, but those things don't really exist in Africa. So I might speak about Woolworths. I can give example of local African entrepreneurs. And the same thing when speaking with people in the US or the UK, we have sort of different constraints and different challenges that we have to adapt to in order to really make sure that they have value out of our conversations.

I'm curious to know now how you contextualize your— because you've just used examples. So you're clearly— have you traveled a lot?

I did. Okay.

Just because you're able to pull in different contextual kind of points of reference within, say, the US or within different— so either you've read an awful lot or you've traveled a lot. Just trying to work it because that is actually, I think, a really kind of fine point, isn't it? Because people do like to be able to have that comparison or be able to have that contextual comparison to what it is that they're doing. And if you're able to do that in whatever country you're in, that's a really good, amazing skill to have, actually.

Yeah, thanks. Actually, what I guess most people don't realize is that If you're in educational business like me, you are in a transformational business. You are making sure that people transform into the best version of themselves and they transform their life, their business, right? And in every transformation, if you connect with someone in an intellectual or mental level, that's not going to be enough. I mean, how many of us know that in order to, let's say, lose fat and gain muscle, you have to focus on your diet and your exercise and your sleep? But how many of us are actually doing that even though we know on a mental level, that's what we should be doing, right? It's because transformation also implies an emotional level. We need to have an emotional connection. And I found that with stories and examples, that's how people relate. That's how we create connections with whatever we're trying to work with. And of course, the last component is making sure that people have practical action steps, because you can sit all day strategizing, all day conceptualizing your project. If you don't actually take the steps make things happen, nothing will change. So yeah, I have a combination of travels and also I'm in several international networks and with my clients I learn a lot. I'm not afraid to ask, so what actually Target looks like, right? Why is your culture going to Target? I'm not afraid to ask those questions. That's how I learn.

So I guess it's also personality driven then, isn't it? Because you've clearly got the personality to be able to to grow a business worldwide. And not everyone has that personality, I would hazard a guess, really. I mean, I think that's fair to say, to be fair, isn't it?

Well, I agree with you. And one thing about personality that most people are also not aware of is their personality isn't fixed. I mean, you can check doctors as Benjamin Hart and several others who say that if you look at your personality as introvert, extrovert, or this or that, as something fixed, That's the same thing as you looking for a horoscope and believing that that's the description about who you are. And they don't believe in horoscopes, right?

Yeah.

But the thing is, we've become so trapped into our past self that we know, right? Like, the Julio that I was 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 10 months ago, it's not the same Julio that's speaking with you right here, right now, right? But if you stop focusing about who we were in the past and we start asking, so who do I want to become in the future? We end up embodying the characteristics that allow us to be that version of ourselves. Like, a quick exercise for everyone listening is that, um, it actually comes from— it's based on, you know, the Superman type of thing. When you have Al Kal-El, but with the glasses he becomes Clark Kent, and then if you have these suits, he becomes Superman.

Oh yeah.

You can test it out. You can have like a bracelet, a ring, um, a shirt, whatever, And you just decide that whenever you are wearing that stuff, you're going to have a different characteristic. It can be you're going to be more focused, or you'll be better at saying no, or you'll be better at bouncing back from rejection, whatever it is. And it's actually our psychology working in. It's the same way that we do with kids. We offer them a blanket and they go super crazy with their blanket. And all of a sudden, they can be alone in a room without crying because they have their blanket. It works with us even as adults. So you can have those mental cues to allow you to embody a best version of yourself. Definitely.

And is that the sort of thing that you talk about and you work with your clients on?

One of them, because I found that it took me a long, long time to figure that out. Because for the longest time, I've been doing this for 7 years now. Like working in personal development and business design. For the last five years, I was super into making sure that people had the strategies to grow their business. But I felt like and I had pretty good success rates, like eighty percent of my clients were able to grow their revenue for at least sixty percent in one year. But then I was concerned about the other twenty percent. So what make them no have great results as well, right? And I found out that. Just like the health example, if you have the strategies, all you have to do is have the right strategy implemented in the right time and with the right target. That's it. But what stops you to actually do that is your identity, your mindset, and your energetic work, right? Because, and if you see people who actually get the strategy and implement them, in the future they start having imposter syndrome. Because they feel they're not the person that's actually doing that, right? They are disconnected with their results. So, also a way to beat that is making sure that people upgrade their identity and they become the person who is committed, who is focused, who is actually delivering those results, and having the mindset that allows them to navigate throughout different sort of environments and then being an energetic match to the things that they want to have. I know it sounds a little bit woo-woo, but it's like all backed up with quantum physics and actual results that people have in the long term.

So what's your background?

So fun story. I have a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering with a major in agribusiness. I did a bunch of other sort of like courses. I have a digital marketing specialization. I have plenty of trainings around adult education, around building entrepreneurship training methodologies and mentoring programs. And a lot of the things that I know come from having great mentors and great coaches to support me throughout this process. And I take a lot of moments to reflect, and that's how I've been able to sort of withdraw insights that other people are not. Because a lot of us, we are sort of like in autopilot, right? We are constantly doing things and never really taking time to stop and think about our results. So that's why I'm being able to also pick points and examples from different industries as well.

Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting. It's been really interesting talking to you. Thank you so much for this. And so where do we find out? You've said that you're on all the social media channels. Is it your name that we look for? Is it your company name?

Yeah. So you can look for my name, Julio Mujorro. That's J-U-L-I-O. M-U-H-O-R-R-O. And on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or you can find my company LinkedIn page, Sharing Knowledge International, and we would love to have a conversation with you guys over there.

Brilliant. And we'll be putting all of that up on our page on the podcast. Thank you very much, Julio. Thank you for your time today. It's been really interesting talking to you.

Thank you, Will. It was a pleasure.

Today we've got Julio on and he is a real character. And we usually have businesses on talking about how they help themselves become more sustainable, environmental. And this time We've got someone that helps you become more sustainable, environmental. I know we've had some coaches on in the past, and so I thought it'd be really useful and interesting to hear about what he does and how he helps people become more sustainable. And he is based in Mozambique. Works all over the world and is, quite frankly, an absolute gentleman. And I've really enjoyed talking to him. So I hope you enjoy listening to this podcast, slightly different to what we normally have, but as equally as enjoyable and knowledgeable.