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[00:02:22] Combining new knowledge around your health and the ability to do my functional medicine lab tests in the comfort of your own home will allow you to optimize your health for today and all your tomorrows. Don't wait for your wake up call. Welcome back to another episode of the don't wait for your wake up call podcast. I am your host, Melissa Deally. And today with me, I am very excited to have the wonderful Sue Blanchett.

[00:02:51] Welcome to the show, Sue. Thank you. It's lovely to be here, Melissa. Well, I'm excited to share with the audience what you have been working on most recently. And just to introduce you a little bit to the audience, you have a very extensive bio with many accomplishments in your in your past and starting out as a lawyer. You're an international speaker and you are the founder of Origin Air.

[00:03:20] And I really want to get into what Origin Air is and how it serves humanity in the show today. And also want to dive into your philanthropic work as well. So I will let the audience read your bio in the show notes and would love to just have you share your story. How did you get from being that lawyer into Origin Air and just share that journey?

[00:03:50] Yeah, you know, it's been quite a journey. And I'd say, you know, I started out as a teenager, just really interested in environment and sustainability. I was actually raised in a zero waste household. Like to this date, my mother has never had a garbage. Wow, very cool. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. Yes. So very interested in environment, my undergrads in environment and psychology.

[00:04:15] But then I went into law school, you know, probably like an Erin Brockovich wannabe. Oh, I love that. And you know, you're the first lawyer I've ever had on this show. So it makes sense. Yeah, you know, like you go in just wanting to do justice, but it's not always that way in law. And I started my law career with the Ministry of Attorney General.

[00:04:41] I was there for 14 years and I was mostly in environmental and riparian rights type of litigation. But like it wasn't just moving quickly enough for me. And there were so many areas that needed to be followed up in that I couldn't actually do in that position. But really what shaped and made me fully decide to start Origin was my father.

[00:05:07] Like he was a civil engineer working in notoriously bad air environments, wastewater treatment plant design, aluminum smelter design. Wow. And, you know, a year younger than I am today, he was diagnosed with early onset dementia. Yeah, no surprise from all that toxicity. Yeah, right.

[00:05:29] It's something that we know, but for some reason, with respect to air, people never think about, even though we breathe, you know, so much more than we drink. It's a, it's a kind of a disconnect. And I think it's maybe because we can't see it, or maybe it's because we breathe without thinking, whereas we actually have to physically like pick up a glass of water and sip and we know what we're doing. Right, we're consciously drinking versus unconsciously breathing.

[00:05:57] And it has to be that way, because we got to be able to breathe while we're asleep, whereas we don't drink while we're asleep, right? Exactly. But like, you would never drink dirty water, but we are constantly breathing dirty air. Yes. So that's how it began. Like I, because of my, you know, job doing contaminated sites litigation, and my background, I knew a lot about like volatile organic compounds and their impact on your health.

[00:06:23] But I also knew from practicing in negligence law that to prove that it's hard enough to do with water. Like there's a famous case in Canada called Love Canal, which is very similar to what Erin Brockovich did. And it was almost impossible in the beginning to achieve anything within the realms of the rule of law, because how do you prove that there's a cause of action, a direct causal link, and somebody was, you know, having a duty of care for your health.

[00:06:52] And it took, you know, cancer in every household before that started to move forward. And I knew that I would never be able to prove, you know, causal link and duty of care with respect to air quality, at least at that time in the legal world. So that's when I discovered these plants. They're genetically modified plants. They were developed at the University of Washington over 15 years, and they have a liver enzyme, the same liver enzyme.

[00:07:20] It's called P450-2E1 that we have in our livers. And they had proven that they were removing in laboratory at very high levels of like benzene, chloroform, acrolein, like all things that are common in households that the plants were removing up to 99% of these toxins in lab. And the testing that they would do is they would actually use regular pothos IV that they proved removed nothing.

[00:07:49] And then they would use the genetically enhanced pothos. And we're getting these incredible results. Wow. So, yeah, I stumbled across it on CBC one morning and then did more research, realized they'd actually published peer reviewed journal articles. And there's a bit more to the story that we'll get into later that gave me the not just courage, but really like we're only here once. Like I had to do something I was passionate about. Right.

[00:08:17] So I wrote to the university kind of like in the beginning and pretending I was a company. I hadn't formed my company or anything at that time. This was in late 2018, early 2019, and managed at first to get co-exclusive license for North America to these genetically enhanced plants. And that's when I formed Origin Air in 2019. Wow. Amazing.

[00:08:43] Brilliant for you to even think to write to them as if, you know, as if you were already a company and then get that exclusive license. Yes. It's just something I was so passionate about. At the time as I dabbled in entrepreneurship, I'd done a bit of real estate. I'd ran a soccer school for my three sons. So I hadn't quite realized I was an entrepreneur. Right. I think that's something we are from birth. We just don't always notice it right away. Right.

[00:09:12] And society doesn't necessarily direct us there because so often the story is go to school, go to university, get a job. Right? Yes. But we get programmed into. And so, yes, you have found your way to who you were truly meant to be and found your mission and passion in this lifetime, which is incredible. And that's why it's allowed you to build this company, not just domestically in Canada, however, taking it global in such a short amount of time.

[00:09:41] And there's such incredible need for it, as you have said. Yeah, such incredible need. Right now, like I was in India in November, December, just starting to set up everything because I, you know, have even in Canada, like so many times speaking to different investors or clients and they're like, oh, well, it's a nice to have, not a need to have.

[00:10:02] But like I live in Gastown, Vancouver, right outside my window, there's, you know, five rail tracks, there's the shipping, like the largest shipping center in Canada. Yeah. There's planes, there's trains, there's helicopters, like that is what my plants clean. The toxins that come off of gasoline or off gassing from carpet, glue, paint, that is what they remove.

[00:10:28] And those particles are so small, they're in the parts per billion, they go right through the normal HEPA filter. You're not cleaning them just with a regular HEPA. Right. Like, and this is one of my smaller units behind me. Yeah, it's very elegant and, you know, doesn't take up a lot of space. And obviously bigger units clear more air and you can have multiple different units for different spaces in your house. Exactly.

[00:10:51] The Eliza, which is the one behind me, cleans 800 square feet every 51 minutes on the highest level. So like for the space I'm in, that's what I need. And, you know, also why does air quality have to be unsustainable or ugly? Right. Yeah. I don't know. You're similar vintage to me, but it's like, don't put baby in the corner. Yeah, exactly. Right.

[00:11:16] Like most people have their air purifier sitting 20 feet away from them in a corner and it's plastic. It's ugly and it's not doing the best job. Like normally this is sitting right beside me. It's there so that I could showcase it a little bit, but then you're getting the best air all day right in your working space. And it's beautiful. And we've also made it as sustainable as possible. Like my larger units are all wood and glass. This one's recycled plastic. The bottom is made of bamboo and it's glass.

[00:11:46] It's not a plastic in, you know, container for the plant. So they actually look pretty. That's awesome. And how long do the plants thrive within the unit? And how often would they need to be replaced? You don't need to replace the plants. Like when I started the company nine or seven years ago, I started with four plants. So I have grown four genetically.

[00:12:13] And I collected a few more from the university because I eventually took over the license. Now it's exclusive and global. Right. So I've gotten a few more plants from them, but really majority of them I've grown from the initial four because that keeps the genetics the strongest. Right. Now we have over a thousand or sorry, almost 10,000 plants that we've grown in the last seven years.

[00:12:39] And my biggest goal this year is just to like get a laboratory that will be micro propagating them at a very fast rate while we have a large stock so that we can expand more rapidly. Because really they should be everywhere, not just in air purifiers. They should be on the sides of highways, like what they can do. Yeah. In hanging baskets on the streets in the summer, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:13:02] And, you know, to your point earlier, you live in Gastown and, you know, when you're sourcing funding, people are like, oh, that's a nice to have. Because they're in Canada and we look up and on a sunny day, we see beautiful blue sky. Right. Exactly. And I've been to India. I've been to, you know, I've had the good fortune to travel many places around the world. I was raised in Asia. So I know what polluted air looks like. I've been to China many times. I know what it feels like just wearing contacts in China.

[00:13:32] You know, after being there a couple of days, I get, you know, they get gritty almost because those tiny, tiny little particles that I can't see are all over my body, including in my eyes. And I put contacts in and then I feel it versus when I'm at home and I don't have that scenario. And yet, even in Canada with our glorious blue skies, Australia, U.S., et cetera, et cetera, our air quality is not what it used to be. And it is full of toxins.

[00:14:01] And the audience on this show knows that I talk about detoxing the physical body all the time or the need for it because our liver and kidneys are getting absolutely bogged down with the level of toxicity that we are exposed to each and every day, which is through our air and our waterways, et cetera, et cetera. The things that we're using and putting on our skin that we're buying in the drugstore, et cetera.

[00:14:26] And so I love that you're doing this and that you found plants that have such a high ability to get the toxins out of the air. And I think you have some stats on that and testing that you've done. And I would love for you to talk to a little bit of the science behind it as well. Yeah. And just to like on the actual machine, because the one thing I've gotten feedback on over the years is like some people are like, I can't take care of plants.

[00:14:54] So we made it as easy as possible. So there's like a water sensor. They're hydroponic. So they're in a cup funnel at the top. So like you can just like pour your water in when you notice it's down. And if the sensor comes on, you're going to water your plants because it's kind of like if you have a dog or a cat, some why they are loud when they're hungry is so that you feed them. So I wanted it to really be something that would stand out so that people would remember to add water.

[00:15:23] And it's really as simple as that. And we also have a second sensor that will show when you need to change the pre-filter, which is the HEPA filter. And now I've only been in Gastown two months and my pre-filters are almost pitch black. And that's across the board in Vancouver because I had large units in all of the dental centers and TELUS. They were all pitch black within three or four months. Yeah. So like then you can actually see what's going, what's happening. Right.

[00:15:52] Yeah. So what we like with the larger units is what we started direct to business sales, large air purifiers. And this was, of course, during the COVID years. And we had them in multiple facilities all across Canada. And that's when we did the testing. So over the course of the company, I've managed to bring in almost 3 million in what you call non-dilutive funding or government grants.

[00:16:18] So with the help of NRC IRAP, Innovate BC and the former Sustainable Development Technology Canada, we did multiple, like three or four year long tests of these different machines. And in the fields and one of the buildings we did it in was a brand new building. Everything just painted, brand new carpet, brand new furniture. That's where we had the best results because it was so toxic.

[00:16:48] Like you don't think about it with that new carpet. You think it's all new and it won't be? Yeah. The new carpet, the new furniture is all covered in toxic chemicals to make it last longer and for fire retardant. And then brand new buildings are really well sealed in order to keep the warmth in in winter in our cooler environment. However, that means that we're not getting, you know, fresher air in.

[00:17:16] And there's no place for all of that toxic chemicals on the product, the paints, etc. to escape. Yeah. Yeah. In many buildings, the air inside is worse than outside air. Yeah. The newer sealed buildings. That's absolutely true. Yes. Yeah. So in a couple of the buildings, like we were getting over 50% removal rate for the volatile organic compounds.

[00:17:43] So how we would like, and the problem is there's so much misinformation about air too, because you can't see it. So there's, you know, air quality sensors and on them, they have a reading called TVOC, which is total volatile organic compounds. Well, we tested every one on the market and they're all across the map. Like that's not a real reading. Right. It can be, it can show you a pattern over time, but it's not an exact number.

[00:18:09] Like the only way still to accurately measure volatile organic compounds is to actually have like a sorbent filter, which soaks in the VOCs. And then you have to mail it away to a laboratory. So that's how we did our test. We would do two weeks with regular pothos in the machine. And then we would do two weeks with the genetically modified pothos.

[00:18:33] And again, you know, even if you go Google it right now, it's going to tell you all these plants that clean your air. And we haven't tested every plant, but the ones we've tested, there was zero removal. It's a complete urban myth in every test. They don't remove any toxins or any volatile organic compounds, but with the genetically modified ones, we were getting a 50% on average removal rate across our sites. So that was pretty incredible.

[00:19:03] That's huge to remove half the toxins, knowing how much we're exposed to. It just, it allows the body to be able to better able to cope, the nervous system to calm, and for us to actually thrive when we stop taking on that high toxic load. Yes. Yeah. And I know technology moves so quickly.

[00:19:28] So hopefully in a couple of years, there'll be something we can have on every machine that will show you the true value. But at this time, it was the only way to do it is with the sorbents, which is expensive and not something we can do across the board. But we have like a white paper explaining all of the tests that we did. And this was the last one we did across 10 different sites with 10 different machines.

[00:19:52] And they were all, you know, very close to the same removal rate, just a little bit higher in the brand new building with all the brand new, you know, things emitting volatile organic compounds. And just again, to drive home the level of toxicity that we're all under and how it's impacting our body is we just have to look at the level of chronic illness that we have in the world today versus, you know, 75 years ago.

[00:20:19] So the number of people that have gut issues in relation to gluten in particular or some other type of gut issue that's going on. It's because our immune system is in our gut. And if we are just flooding it with toxicities, our immune system is getting bogged down and it can't do its job, just like the liver is getting bogged down and it can't do its job.

[00:20:43] Something I was just talking about yesterday too was our liver is doing the best it can. And our body is so incredibly intelligent. And when it gets overloaded and it can no longer get the toxins out of the body, which is also partially due to nutrient depletion and not having the right nutrients in our diet to help it actually transform those toxins into being water soluble so we can excrete them.

[00:21:10] Its number one job is to prevent those toxins getting into the bloodstream as much as possible because obviously we don't want them circulating through our entire body. And what it will do is store those toxins in our fat closets, which unfortunately our brain is made up of fat and water. A big percentage of our brain is fat. And so those toxins can get into our brain and some of them can cross the blood-brain barrier. Now we just have to look at how much Alzheimer's, how much dementia, how much Parkinson's, how much MS is out there in the world today?

[00:21:40] Again, compared to 50, 75 years ago. The other place in women in particular is our breasts, our fatty tissue. How much breast cancer is out there compared to 50 to 75 years ago? And then anywhere we're carrying excess weight, guess what? That's where the toxins get stored. Exactly.

[00:21:58] And so the positive impact on our health is profound if we don't have to inhale all of those toxins because we have a filter system that is removing at least half of them. Exactly. And you're speaking my language. It's so lovely to speak with someone who understands and actually lives this because it's mind-boggling to me that everyone doesn't know this.

[00:22:24] It's like how I'd say I originally at the very beginning became interested, not just from my household, but I discovered Rachel Carson when I was about 16 and I read Silent Spring, which was written in 1964. Like we've known this for that long. It's been known. And somehow it just keeps getting buried by likely the companies who are making these toxins and don't want us telling people that they aren't good for you.

[00:22:53] And we have governments too that support that in the sense that there's ratings is generally regarded as safe on these products being made by companies where they literally just have to test one ingredient at a time. Yes. And they test it for a very short amount of time. They don't test it over the course if you use this every day for the rest of your life or every week for the rest of your life.

[00:23:21] Or if you use this product alongside that product alongside that product, what is that doing to you? And the average woman is putting on over 20 topical products bought at the local drugstore before she even leaves the house in the morning, all of which are generally regarded as safe and yet not truly tested for any use over the course of time or with all the other products.

[00:23:52] Yeah. And trying to explain this to people, like so often it's not simple. Like you've got to do some research and learn a little bit. But after you do that, it gets very more simple. It gets simple. It gets obvious. So like in the past, when I was first starting the company, I'd find it so hard to communicate because it's complicated science and people's eyes just glaze over when I say Aperlene or benzene or something.

[00:24:18] But I know recently, and I must say it's a good use for artificial intelligence. Like I can tell you this. You can tell the listeners this. And like we encourage you, go put it into CLOD or ChatGPT and ask about volatile organic compounds. Now we can actually synchronize and synthesize that information into digestible bits for the average person who doesn't want to do a deep dive into what a VOC is.

[00:24:46] Just go Google or put it into your analytics and find out for yourself because all the information is out there. There's thousands of studies that have been done proving the link between volatile organic compounds and what you put into your body and the diseases that they cause heart disease, dementia.

[00:25:09] Like I was even diagnosed 10 years ago with autoimmune disorder, which I fixed by cutting out gluten and other things that have like it's not the gluten that's the problem. It's the toxins put into it. Exactly. I can eat organic gluten. I just can't eat the normal run of the mill gluten. That's been sprayed with pesticides in the form of being grown into the into the weed, et cetera, et cetera. Yes. Yes.

[00:25:35] And it's so true that our body is designed to be able to self-heal. Yes. Except that it's designed to be able to self-heal when it is in a state of balance. And the problem is that in today's world, our body is not in a state of balance because it's nutrient deplete. Our soils are nutrient deplete. And, you know, if you're eating the standard American diet, you're getting seven to nine nutrients of the 70 to 90 required on any given day in order to thrive.

[00:26:04] With the high stress levels, we're depleted. Poor sleep leaves us depleted. And the high toxic load is leaving the body bogged down, attempting to get rid of something and using more energy to do so. And the body can only do so much. Right. It's like, you know, the battery on your phone, you use your phone and the battery gets used up and then you have to recharge it. And with our body, it has only so much energy in which it can do its things and it takes energy to heal.

[00:26:33] However, if the energy is not there because of high stress, poor sleep, poor nutrition, and it's being used up to get rid of toxins, it can't do the job that it was designed to do. That's so true. And like when I was diagnosed, this was just before I started the company with oncleosing spondylitis. And luckily, you know, I don't just take things at face value. So I went and I read and read and read as much as I could. I kind of had an idea what it was before I had the actual diagnosis.

[00:27:02] So when I went in, you know, the Western medicine is just like, you need to be on these biologics for the rest of your life. And I just said, well, what about diet? And he's like, oh, no, no, no, no. And I said, no, I'm not going to do that. I don't want to be on drugs for the rest of my life. I'm going to go and try this. And for the first little bit, I definitely ate like a rabbit. Like I ate no grains, no gluten, no sugar, no alcohol, nothing. But I have been pain free for over six years.

[00:27:32] And now I can occasionally indulge because it was a buildup in my system. Exactly. Exactly. I love that. And again, my audience has heard me talk about the overflowing trash can in the city park. Right. Yes. And we've all seen that. And it's overflowing. And then you go to put something healthy on like an apple. Where does it end up? It just goes plop on the ground next to it. It doesn't actually get down into the cells that need it. We have to first empty the trash can.

[00:28:01] And so that's where my detox programs come in. That's exactly what you were doing initially by eating like a rabbit, allowing your body to empty out all the stuff that it didn't need. And then now your body is at a place where it's closer to balance. And you're not eating food that it doesn't like every single day. However, if you choose to have it once a week, once a month, your body can tolerate that because the trash can isn't overflowing.

[00:28:27] And it's so crazy when doctors say, oh, nutrition will do nothing around it. Unfortunately, our doctors who mean well and, you know, they got into medicine to help people. However, they don't have the training in nutrition. You know, most doctors are getting, you know, less than one course in nutrition, less than 12 hours of training in nutrition during their entire medical degree. And so they're just not in a position to talk about it. So I love that you chose to advocate for yourself, chose to go and do your own research and learning.

[00:28:57] And as a result, you're six years pain-free versus having your symptoms managed by taking a drug every day for the rest of your life. And guess what the body would have done? It would have gone worse. It would have gone worse. And it's not even accepted it. Right. After a while, it would have gone, hello, Sue, I'm giving you another symptom because that isn't what I wanted or needed. So I'm going to give you another symptom in order to see if I can get you to do something different. Exactly.

[00:29:25] And you go to the doctor and they give you another medication, which again, isn't the answer. It just seems so clear and easy. I'm on all these onclosing spondylitis groups. And every once in a while, someone will post it because anyone cured this naturally. And I always just chime in and say, this is what I did. Because some people aren't ready for it, right? You have to be ready, but at least the information is there. Right. It's a choice. You chose to do it your way. Other people can choose to do it their way.

[00:29:54] We just want people to have the choice. Just like with the air filters. People can choose to ignore all of this information and go, ah, where I live is fine. Or they can choose to go, huh, that's interesting. I want to be able to give my body its best ability to thrive and have longevity, have movement for the rest of my life. And a step in that is ensuring that I'm not taking in such a high toxic load. And it's for everything across the board.

[00:30:22] Not just what you're breathing. But even like a high level. Like I have three sons that are all super athletes. They would never drink sugary drinks or eat toxic food. But why don't you think about the air you're breathing for getting to that top performance? Right. Like we drink like eight cups of water a day. Yes. We breathe like 40,000 cups of air a day.

[00:30:50] Like it just, if you care so much about the eight cups, why don't you care about the 40,000 cups of air? Because it comes back to what we said at the beginning. The air is the unconscious intake versus the drinking of the eight cups of water is a conscious choice. So I love that what you're doing is helping bring more awareness to people around the fact that they're inhaling 40,000 cups of air. Let's make it cleaner. Exactly.

[00:31:20] Let's make it clean and help everyone thrive. And do it in a beautiful way. Like I really agree. And sustainable. Like we're a B Corp. Like it's really important to me to do, to give back. We donate 2% of our revenue, not profit revenue. Well, my, the first place we donated was to the care home. My father spent his last six years in. You know, just not only there is the air not good, but it also smells really bad.

[00:31:47] So like just trying to give people a good quality of life. And I really want, at first, at least to help the least fortunate, which in our society, a lot of the time is the elderly and also like children. Right. And schools as well, just to like give people the best air who can't do it for themselves. All the rest of us, we'll still give it to you, but you can take a step into it for yourself too. Yeah, you can make it. Yeah, exactly.

[00:32:15] And such a true point about the nursing home, right? Because you've got all those medicinal smells and then all the chemical cleaning smells. Yes. Within that. That again, they're inhaling all day long, every day. That the moment I walk into that kind of environment, my nose goes, no, thank you. And I'm back out the door and they live in it. And again, the janitors and they have a standard of care to keep the facility clean and stop, you know, spreading of infection, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:32:45] And they're doing the job that they've been trained to do, not realizing the impact of those chemicals on everybody living in there, as well as their own health, having to work with them every single day. And there's so many great clean cleaning products that they could switch to as well. So you just cleaning up the air really helps make a huge difference there. Yeah. In the beginning, I actually started a cleaning company as well. It was during COVID and it was the same as probiotics for your stomach.

[00:33:14] We used probiotics to clean. Right. Because when you clean like with a bleach or something, it takes away all the good and the bad. Whereas we cleaned with the good bacteria. But again, people didn't really understand it. They would test it and they're like, oh, there's so much bacteria because it was everyone was scared about COVID. Because it's COVID. They're so filled with fear. This is the good bacteria. Yes. That's something that maybe and actually also like it's designated as a pesticide.

[00:33:43] So we had to jump through all these Canada health hoops, which would have taken way too long. And I decided just to concentrate on the air for now. Right. That's something I'm really passionate about as well. Like why are we cleaning with the toxins? There's so many things that we can do at the beginning to make our environments clean before actually having to get to the end where we're removing things. Why don't we just not put them there to start with? Exactly. Yeah. 100% agree with that. You also had started talking about giving back.

[00:34:12] And I know that you have built a school in Cambodia. And I would love for you to share that story. Because of course, again, my listeners know that I have Girls Matter helping keep girls in school in Uganda and Kenya. So I love what you're doing and would love for you to share your story about how that came about as well. I know. It's so great to meet you because we have so much alignment. And that's really important to just being aligned with other people.

[00:34:39] I think there is starting to be a bit more of a movement towards these kind of what I would consider common sense. But common sense is not that common anymore. True enough. Yeah, we need to bring it back. But that takes education. And I know really when I went to – so when my father passed away, which was in 2015, I think I just grieve differently than most people.

[00:35:06] Like I started out just – I actually bought a couple sailboats and was just sailing because my dad taught me how to sail. And that was like how I grieved. But then it was the following Christmas and my kids were with their dad. And I was like, I don't want to wake up on Christmas without my kids. So I booked a flight to South Asia and ended up in Cambodia. And my tuk-tuk driver, who I got introduced to through a friend, said, come with me. Come teach at my school. I was like, okay, why not? Right?

[00:35:35] Like I was going on just a vacation. And I ended up spending the entire 10 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, teaching every night from 6 till 10 at an English school that he was running out of his makeshift rental house. And there was hundreds of children who were coming there on their own, you know, not as school, but as they wanted to be there.

[00:36:04] And they used to teach them English, all the Khmer kids, so that they could be able to have opportunity. Because the one, you know, not to get into the dark underbelly, but there is a dark underbelly in Cambodia and many Southeast Asian countries. And I could see it when I was out doing tourist things. Like, why are these young girls all dressed in little skirts outside this bar? So that was really, you know, the biggest reason behind it.

[00:36:33] But I didn't want to overstep because sometimes when you're helping in other countries, you can do not something that's not great, even if it is good. You mean well, except that's not going to support them where they're at in their stage of development. Absolutely. A hundred percent, which is why we have staff on the ground in Girls Matter. And we don't do anything unless they express the need for it. And then we take a look at how it, you know, what the impact is and how we can support it. Exactly.

[00:37:00] And so when this opportunity kind of fell in my lap with this man who actually had been homeless as a child, and he was raised by the monks in Siem Reap, and he learned how to speak English. And then he was trying to run the school, and he had like four kids and raising money like through driving a tuk-tuk. It just was such a great opportunity where I could do something extremely meaningful for not as much as it would cost to like build a school in Canada.

[00:37:30] It's like, we basically, I bought the land. It was only 25,000 US. Wow. Buy the land in Cambodia. And then we built the school. And now there's a lot of other philanthropic people involved that are continuing with all the funding needed for the teacher's salaries because it's a free school. There's over 600 kids that go there now. Awesome. They've built out like four different schools.

[00:37:58] Another benefactor actually built the, Kim Lian is his name, the main teacher and the person behind it all. Um, he has, he actually has a house right beside the school with his family so he can be almost right on site. And they run multiple courses at different age letter, age levels with, you know, hired teachers. But like they love volunteers.

[00:38:24] So like if anyone is ever in Siem Reap, Cambodia, it's called New Dream Cambodian Children. And I can provide a link afterwards for you to put on it. But like if you're traveling there, it's really an incredible experience to go and just be a teacher assistant in the class. And like you do things like they just want to hear you speak. Like it's not like you need to be a teacher. Like the first time I went, we were just doing like weird little acting things.

[00:38:50] And I played soccer with them because I'm a soccer coach as well. Just incredible. And these kids are thriving. And, and if the way I see it is if they have the opportunity to learn English, then it gives them a choice to not work in an area they don't want to. There's other jobs available when they're adults that they can get paid for by being able to speak English in restaurants from more legitimate places.

[00:39:16] So it's not a solution, but it's, it's a step to provide choice. Exactly. A step in the right direction. So I love that you've done that. And I have had the great fortune to travel throughout Asia as a child, as an adult. I know exactly what you're talking about. There's also a fabulous book called Half the Sky. And I don't know if you've read it. It's on the premise that women hold up half the sky. I started it. I found it difficult to read. Right.

[00:39:47] It's because the stories are hard to read, to read it in today's world and go, oh, my God, this is still happening in other countries around the world. Yes. Except that I think it's really important for people to read so they do know what's going on and that their reality is very different to the reality of these other women around the world.

[00:40:06] And what I did enjoy about it was that in every single case, when the story came to the end, the girl was able to rise up or girls because they had access to education. Incredible. It is so important. It is. And just focusing on what you can do to make the world a better place. And really, it was that trip to Cambodia that was kind of the impetus for me taking the leap. Because, you know, I was a government lawyer.

[00:40:36] I had the golden handcuffs on to leave a very cushy job with a pension and benefits and everything. But it wasn't fulfilling me anymore. Yeah. And by doing something good, I wish and I actually do plan to support and build many more schools in the future once the company has gotten to a point where I can support that and do that at a higher level.

[00:41:02] But it really was like, you know, a bit of a epiphany that I have to do more. I just have to. And I'll do it in any way I can. And for me, it was the air quality. Yeah. Well, I love that you're doing that. And congratulations. And thank you for the work that you've done in Cambodia and for your dreams of doing more. I love all of that. And this has been an amazing conversation.

[00:41:30] I love to ask every guest that comes on the show, what does Don't Wait for Your Wake Up Call mean to you? Well, I think I was just starting to answer that already. You know, I'd say the last like two or three years I was working as a government lawyer, like it just wasn't feeling like I was doing anything that was meaningful. A lot of the contaminated sites cases they stopped pursuing because of the expense. Those are still sitting all over our province.

[00:41:58] There's really nothing being done about them. So that was a major wake up call for me. And then to be able to do something I never thought I could do. And to see, like I've gone back to the school and it's one of those places that when I'm there, like it almost feels like time is standing still. Right. Yeah. Because it's magical.

[00:42:23] I do think like when you get that urge to do something good, that's your wake up call. And even if it's hard, just don't wait for it because the universe will provide. The magic will happen. And no matter what, even if I, you know, am not earning what I earned before and it's a struggle to get to the next level, it's worth it.

[00:42:51] Like the wake up call to me is like following your passion. Yeah. And the longer you wait for it, maybe you're financially successful, but you're not emotionally or spiritually or all the other things that actually matter more. And I've always had exactly what I need. I've always been taken care of. Even if sometimes I'm like, oh my goodness, how am I going to pay my staff next month when we were first starting out?

[00:43:15] It always provides just enough when you're following that passion and following your wake up call, which mine was just to do something that was meaningful and giving back. Even if it's hard, everything that's hard is a lesson and you're so much wealthier for it in the end. Yes. Beautifully said. I love that.

[00:43:36] And if people are interested in buying Origin Air units, I know you very graciously offered a promo code. If you would just like to share your offer with the audience, that would be amazing. Yeah. So our units right now with the genetically modified plants are $299, which I think is a bit of a steal of a deal for how wonderful they are. But we're offering a 10% off code to everyone listening today.

[00:44:04] And the code is OriginAir10, which I believe will be in the comments below as well. So please go check out our website, which is OriginAir.com and get yourself the most beautiful air purifier in the world. And also to note that Origin Air is spelled O-R-I-G-E-N-A-R.com. So yes, thank you for that. That's all in the show notes. And as we wrap this episode, Sue, I've thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. Thank you for being on the show.

[00:44:34] Are there any last words of wisdom you would like to share with the audience? Well, I think when you're following your passion, sometimes other doors or opportunities present themselves. So just to keep yourself aware to that, because once you start to follow your passion, the incredible alignments all over the place, like meeting Melissa. I'm taking her course next week.

[00:44:59] And these opportunities, when they come in, you make time for them and follow them. Like the doors that have opened in the last year, and I'd say it's not just following your alignment, but being bold. Like I really notice whenever I stand up for myself and I'm bold about something, it's almost like instant or the next day that something comes in. And I'm being rewarded for having integrity, even when things are difficult.

[00:45:30] Beautifully said. Yes, the universe tests us and it rewards us. And so when we have the awareness around what's showing up in our life and then choose to take bold action, we're stepping into our path of our mission, our purpose, and the rewards are there. So thank you so much for being on the show today, Sue. I've loved this conversation. And to my audience, thank you for always tuning in for your curiosity on how you can thrive, how you can better take care of your health.

[00:45:58] And if you know someone that needs to hear this episode, please share it with them. Thank you for investing this time with me on the Don't Wait for Your Wake Up Call podcast. I'm so glad you joined in. If you can take two minutes to share this episode with someone you think can benefit and have a positive impact on their life, that would be wonderful. Please leave a review by going to your favorite podcast listening app and let me know what you enjoy or would like to hear more of.

[00:46:26] It will support me in my effort to bring the possibility of natural healing to a wider audience and help disrupt the sick care system we have today and make human health a global priority. Health is your true wealth.