We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nivi Achanta a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nivi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Soapbox Project exists to help you transform your climate anxiety into meaningful action, supported by bite-sized education, easy pathways to action, and a community that cares about you.

In a landmark study of 10,000 young people aged 16-25, 84% of respondents were worried about climate change, and over 50% felt “sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty”.

It’s easy to feel like our actions don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. However, research shows that “every time you successfully take committed action, you increase your hope, optimism, and self-efficacy”.

When we help people feel better, we can do better. Future generations that believe in their ability to create resilient communities — and then take action to do this — are the foundation for a safe, healthy, joyful planet.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Soapbox Project helps people transform their climate anxiety into action. We start by offering a free, bite-sized climate action newsletter so anyone with an internet connection can do something to make the world healthier and safer. For people who want to deepen their activism while building towards our core values of courage and joy, we offer a membership community with fun online and in-person events. Soapbox Project provides vibrant and cozy spaces to make friends, learn, and take action together.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I believe that every entrepreneur and human being should read Nonviolent Communication. Courageous conversations are at the core of any meaningful decision in business and life, Nonviolent Communication has forever shaped the way I have conversations with my teammates, business partners, community members, and more.

I have also loved Superbetter and Imaginable by Jane McGonigal, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Humankind by Rutger Bregman — these have fundamentally shaped the way I see the role Soapbox Project plays in the world.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the idea that productivity = time spent on a task. I was constantly getting into cycles of overwork and burnout, and nothing was really moving forward. Then, I read this book called Rest by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, and I realized I was approaching work all wrong. The way I was working was fundamentally at odds with research and historical examples on how to make the most of our creative brains. I decided to take one month to experiment with working five hour days — I was more creative in that month than I’d been in the past quarter combined.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://soapboxproject.org/

Image Credits
Chona Kasinger; Stavan Shah; Nivi Achanta