We're super serious and professional almost all of the time. (Okay, yeah thats a lie). But regardless, we've decided to make a newsletter for Friends.
Why friends
When we say Friends, it’s capitalized. (For us, it’s basically a technical term.) It’s the people who like this page. We’ve done a good job of figuring out our clients. But really, our Friends defy logic — one reason we like them.
Yes, we have a business. We’re proud of it, and it has really cool products, and cool clients, but we mostly trade social capital with Friends. That’s also cool.
So why are you guys our friends? We don’t know. You come from all corners of the world, you have really different jobs, cultures, ages, and ethnicities. Most of you aren’t rich. Lots of you can only talk to Drea or Fernando, or Jhony at first, and only gradually get to know the culture you didn’t come from. There are two, now three languages at Savimbo, and many of you only speak one or the other.
But you all speak #Nature.
People want to know about Savimbo’s culture, staff, and general tings n’ stuff. The truth is, we do work really hard. We also know when it’s time for a hammock — and we’re proud of that balance. We’re pretty unfiltered in person, and we also like that earthiness. Thanks for appreciating our authenticity.
We also appreciate you.
Why a newsletter
We don’t keep you guys up on things like we should. We wanted to, and we talk to you guys on WhatsApp, and LinkedIn, and jungle visits and stuff. But more and more, things are happening too fast to keep everyone informed properly.
We’re careful with social media. Drea gets to be the bad cop with the savage climate dissections. Fernando is the North Star with careful commentary and a poetic style. And Jhony, well, he’s a rock star as you all know. We’ve tried to get him to say something. But he mostly talks on YouTube. (Although if you ever get to catch him on a podium, he’s fantastic at public speaking.)
Savimbo social is specifically designed to be a cure for your climate anxiety. The Kids run it, and come up with all the content from our jungle sites. Karen, Dayana, and Ilver are the main voices, but the whole team contributes when we have fun ideas.
We love their work. It’s endlessly fresh, creative, and authentic. We didn’t want to spoil it with TMI. So if you really want to stay up on the news, check in here and we’ll tell you via email.
What’s happening now
Forgive us for being a bit coy. We don’t always talk about what we are up to, for privacy reasons. A lot of the communities we work with talk to us for months, even years before going public with a project. That’s why we have our no-strings-pilots because we know trust is earned.
So we’ll dip a toe in the water with SOME news. See how it goes, and be more chatty once we get the hang of it.
The biodiversity credits certified (yeah, it’s a big deal)
Fernando is starting a site in Brazil
Drea is scouting a site in Guatemala
Jhony is handling the PR and ecotourism in Colombia
We think we have our first AfroDescendant site, we’ll know soon
Drea will be at NY Climate week, primarily for this event
Drea and Fernando will be at CEIBA to negotiate
How we feel about it
Honestly, this part is scary. If you know us, and you follow us. Then you know we’re a scrappy underdog. We never got the funding our competitors got. We don’t have famous people putting their followers behind us. And none of us is wealthy.
We work for a segment of the population that lots of people want to take advantage of, and no one wants to fund directly.
To break global barriers like we just did is really new territory for us. Honestly, it’s a lot of exposure for a small company, and we’re worried about misstepping. We’re all feeling the pressure, and no one really knows what will happen.
So sign up to the newsletter and we’ll tell you. (Hey cliffhangers are good, just go hiking with Jhony and he’ll show you!)
Cool stuff you probably didn’t see before
A really old video of some really cool Friends. Thanks Douglas for the photos.