WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:04.440 The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are solely those of the hosts 2 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:08.199 and their guests, and not those of W FOURWN Radio It's employees or affiliates. 3 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:12.080 We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, or 4 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.239 products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability, explicit or implied 5 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:20.679 shall be extended to W FOURWN Radio It's employees or affiliates. Any questions or 6 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:24.359 comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURWN 7 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:47.560 Radio. Welcome to Fearless Fabulous You. I am your host, Melana Young, 8 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.600 and I am so glad you're enjoining me on the Women for Women Network 9 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:55.799 and iHeartRadio at about thirty five other channels. As you know, I enjoy 10 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:02.119 spotlighting fearless women who do amazing things to help others. And my guest today 11 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:07.280 is so amazing for all those reasons, and she hits a couple of quarts 12 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:10.959 for me. Because I'm kind of have a fascination in a soft spot for 13 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:18.120 inventors. I have interviewed several inventors, most of them are men from my 14 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:23.599 other show at a Connected Table, So being able to interview someone that is 15 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:27.280 doing something really really kind of cool. Who is an inventor and when inventors 16 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:34.079 are very small group. I have learned maybe thirteen percent of women are inventors 17 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:37.280 compared to men. I've read that in an article about my guests on the 18 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:41.879 glass hammer. And of course it's harder to get venture capital funding, so 19 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:47.799 you know, women inventors face a bright future but an uphill struggle, which 20 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:52.079 we'll talk about. Because if you are someone with a dream, this is 21 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:57.120 a chance to act on it and understand the road to doing it. Some 22 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:02.239 people shine a light to help others and others create the light. Alice Chung 23 00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:08.400 does both. She is an inventor, founder and CEO of Soul Light Design 24 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:13.680 Inc. This is a very cool I have a device called the Megapuff, 25 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:16.360 the solar puff right in front of me, which is a foldable It's like 26 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:22.840 a foldable lantern with different types of light. And she's doing things to help 27 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:30.039 people in other countries Ukraine, the Caribbean and Africa to shine a light. 28 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:36.560 We're going to talk about what this means with Alice and her interesting story about 29 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:40.080 how this all came about, which I learned starting with a fascination with oregonmy 30 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:44.199 which is something that I loved as a child as well. My parents traveled 31 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:46.919 to Asia a lot and brought me books, and there's always something I used 32 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:52.360 to do as a little girl, but sadly don't do anymore anyway. I 33 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:59.840 am honored to spotlight Alice. She was featured in Hillary Rodham Clinton's book Gutsy, 34 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.000 and then she's been featured in Good Morning America. She's been featured in 35 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:07.280 many, many articles. I loved her TEDx talk about how she came up 36 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:14.159 with the concept for the light that she has created and the why behind it, 37 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.400 and she'll share it with us today. I'm fearless, fabulous. You 38 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:22.520 welcome Alice. It's an honor to be here. Melanie, thanks so much 39 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:25.840 for having me. Well, as I said, I'm fascinated by inventors. 40 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:31.439 I recently interviewed the founder of the Corvin who many inventors I have learned are 41 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:36.080 doing other things and then they become inventors. And you are a teacher. 42 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:38.840 I want to underscore that you are a professor. So number one, you're 43 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.280 a teacher. My mother was a teacher as well, so the invention part 44 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.599 of your life came out of it. You are also a mother, and 45 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:51.280 your son is an inspiration for what you have created. But right, so 46 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:57.400 let's start with your family, because I was very impressed by your parents' background 47 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:02.000 and how each of their respective careers fed into who you are today. First 48 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.800 of all, let's talk about the fact that you were born in Korea to 49 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:10.319 two very accomplished parents, and let you take it from there. Actually, 50 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:15.360 my parents weren't that accomplished. They were struggling immigrants. They came over to 51 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.240 the United States to find a better life. It was, you know, 52 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:25.839 postwar Korea, and I was really fortunate that my parents were very, very 53 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:29.800 supportive of the arts. My father was an architect, my mom was an 54 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:38.639 artist and did several things like textile design to murals, paintings. And when 55 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:43.879 we moved over, we we actually lived in a very poor neighborhood outside of 56 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:50.399 Syracuse, and I was teased and bullied a lot because I didn't look like 57 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:55.199 any of the other kids in my school. I was the only Asian, 58 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:01.920 and I looking back, I think it it was pivotal because it taught me 59 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:05.759 to fight. But I didn't fight with my fists. I fought with the 60 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:12.279 light in my heart and my mind and that's when I that's what I share 61 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:16.319 with the children that I visit in all over the world when I'm delivering our 62 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:21.639 lights to them, is that we all have this inner light inside of us 63 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:30.759 that we can go to and draw strength from every day. But in terms 64 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:33.839 of my my beginnings, yes, I am Korean. My mother taught me 65 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:40.800 origami and that was the inspiration for the design of our my first invention, 66 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:47.120 the solar puff. Of course, I was an architecture professor at Columbia University, 67 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:53.639 at University of Pennsylvania and Parsons the New School, among among others. 68 00:05:53.680 --> 00:06:00.959 But it's really the I think, the the imagination and the creativity and the 69 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:11.920 ability to think outside the box that architecture, the strategies and education of architectural 70 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.879 as a liberal arts education gave to me. I'm happy you said that because 71 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:21.319 a lot of people question liberal arts education today and I'm a liberal arts graduate 72 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:26.839 and I think it made me very well rounded. I do, in hindsight, 73 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:30.360 wish I had gone on to get a master's degree, because it certainly 74 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:39.279 does help. You worked as a professor in architecture material technology at Columbia University, 75 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.519 Yes, so you were kind of following in your father's footsteps, because 76 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:46.639 he did. Even though your family came over and that you were you know, 77 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:49.879 you had hardship as a young girl, they were successful eventually. I 78 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:58.519 mean I read that your father worked on was at the World Expo, the 79 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:02.519 World Trade Pavilion in Montreal. Yeah, that's the reason why they came over. 80 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:08.519 That's pretty impressive. He was part of the team for the Korean Expo. 81 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:15.319 And yeah, they provided and you know, a very good safe environment 82 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:19.839 for us to me and my brother to grow up in. And then eventually 83 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:26.560 I went to penn State and then got my masters at University of Pennsylvania, 84 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:33.720 and then from that I actually fell into teaching teaching, didn't. I mean, 85 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:40.959 I didn't pursue teaching. Teaching found to me when I was a TA 86 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:46.279 for one of the taught professors there and he broke his arm and I had 87 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:50.639 to quickly take over his studio and then they just kept asking me back to 88 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:56.439 teach, and that's how I fell into teaching, and I decided I really 89 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:03.399 loved it, especially the students, the mentoring part and learning about their different 90 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:09.199 histories and seeing them change and develop and evolve through knowledge and how they learn. 91 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:18.720 It's just fascinating and really rewarding as as a profession, but it was 92 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:24.759 really my son when when he was born, we would go to the doctor's 93 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:31.480 office all the time and every kid was either being pumped with steroids or with 94 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:39.559 asthma, trouble breathing, eczema, even autism. And basically I did the 95 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:45.159 research and one out of four kids had asthma. Now it's fifty percent have 96 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:52.279 asthma in New York City. It's gone up, and so it's was a 97 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:58.360 pretty big turning point in my life, deciding that we really need to get 98 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.879 away from fossil fuels. The pollution in the airs from buildings in New York 99 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:09.240 City seventy five percent come from buildings, not the cars. And this, 100 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:15.759 you know, our us as a species, as a human species, it's 101 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.639 too early in our gene pool to be changing this rapidly. So it has 102 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:22.919 to be because of our environment. So that's what I decided to focus on 103 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:30.039 solar energy, and early on I was sewing solar panels to thin film substrates 104 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:37.480 and fabric because I also taught material technology, and the trend in material technology 105 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:43.360 is that it's getting thinner, lighter, faster, stronger, smarter, and 106 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:52.080 so getting solar panels as thin as possible, trying to you know, hybridize 107 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:58.679 it with thin substrates and fabric and then with that technology that I've been working 108 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:03.320 on that at the time, the Haiti earthquake happened, and as you know, 109 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:09.840 at that point, you know, we had gone through Katrina, there 110 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:18.039 were tsunamis in Japan, and all of these these incredible traumatic natural disasters were 111 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:22.159 happening more and more frequently. And that's when I decided to step in and 112 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:28.279 say, let's do something to help Haiti. I went to my dean and 113 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:35.600 asked him to let me use my studio at Columbia to be an innovation studio 114 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:43.320 to help Haiti, and he reluctantly, reluctantly agreed, and I taught the 115 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:48.519 kids how to put a solar solar circuit together the first week, and a 116 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:56.039 lot of the students did different projects, but I was really pushing the solar 117 00:10:56.360 --> 00:11:05.879 aspect and creating a light so that it could be for an individual and small 118 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:15.039 and compact and portable. And so the early prototypes were inflatable with a with 119 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:20.960 a mouth nozzle, and then eventually the Origami design was better because then you 120 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:28.639 didn't have to put your mouth on it to inflate. So when we dived 121 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:33.320 really deep into Haiti, Haiti is really a microcosm of what's happening globally in 122 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:43.480 every underserved country through world country most of the families and communities don't have infrastructure. 123 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:48.080 If they do have infrastructure, it's it's brownouts, it's blackouts. They 124 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:54.360 don't have it all the time. And in Haiti only ten percent was electrified, 125 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:58.679 and most people were using kerosene at night, which is a deadly toxic 126 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:03.799 fuel. To million children die from the fumes according to the UNTP, and 127 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:11.039 it's also causes fires. And then I realized they were spending up to thirty 128 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:16.039 percent of their income on kerosene, and I thought if they could save that 129 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:20.120 money, they could use it for food, for education, clothing, and 130 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:24.600 it would be a win win situation. So I researched every single solar light 131 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:30.240 out there on the market, and they were all hard, heavy, bulky, 132 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:37.759 large and made out of non recyclable materials. And I researched every material 133 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:41.519 out there, and I tried to find something that was light and strong at 134 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:46.320 the same time, soft enough to fold, strong enough to keep it shape 135 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:52.759 once it's in a cue form, and I found this sailcloth which has a 136 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:58.639 triaxial weave in it. That triaxeal weave is the thing that gives its strength. 137 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.360 Has then it's light enough, but then it gives it extra strength when 138 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:09.240 you unfold it. And it also gives a beautiful spectrum of light once the 139 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:15.080 light passes through the the diffuser membrane, which is what all of our our 140 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:20.519 product some of our products are made out of the sailcloth. And since then, 141 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.879 we've you know, developed different types of lanterns, and also we just 142 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:31.399 launched the megapoth, which also is a larger cube and also has phone charging 143 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:37.519 and it's it's a better price point than the other product that we have that 144 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:41.480 also charges phones, and that's that's the Quinn product, which is a much 145 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:48.240 larger unit and is a kind of star shape. But in any case, 146 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:56.679 Haiti was really one of the moments where I realized that I would become a 147 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:07.039 social entrepreneur where I could do good and also create a business. And that 148 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:13.679 was really the thing that that drove me to, you know, moving further 149 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:18.480 and not giving up and being so passionate about what we're doing. And it's 150 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:24.159 really the aspect of helping people and making lives better because I know that it's 151 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.960 going to have an impact on my son's future and his children's future, and 152 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:35.519 your your family's children's future as well. It's something that we all need to 153 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:41.639 consider because, you know, the the aspect of climate change, we all 154 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:46.519 had a part of it, one person throwing away a plastic fork, or 155 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:52.320 you know, turning on the air conditioning, you know, full blast all 156 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:58.279 day. This is you know, little things that everyone has done, and 157 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:05.799 collective we've created this this turmoil and the planet. And I believe that if 158 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:11.679 we did that collectively, we can also heal the planet, one person at 159 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:18.440 a time, one small thing at a time. So in any case that 160 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:24.200 our product in our company is really about that how small solar light can make 161 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:30.480 a huge difference if we all work collectively, like one, using one solar 162 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:35.840 light can save ninety pounds of carbon emissions per person per year. And if 163 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:41.120 you multiply that by the population of the United States, that's going up to 164 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:48.039 eleven billion tons of carbon emissions. So and then then that kind of quadruples 165 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:56.159 when you start considering phone charging. Phone charging is way more intensive. So 166 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:07.519 in any case, I think that we all have this this, we all 167 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:11.639 have the possibility of creating change and one small step at a time. And 168 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:18.519 when I was first in Haiti, I actually it was it was hot. 169 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:23.360 It was one hundred and ten degrees in walks. Bill Clinton and the President 170 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:29.120 of Haiti, and I had a taped up, glued up solar puff in 171 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:33.480 my hand, a prototype back in two thoy ten, and he came over 172 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:37.360 and he looked at He's like, what come over, come over here, 173 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:41.759 come everybody, come over here, come look at says, and he loved 174 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:52.519 it, and he was kind of dumbfounded about how novel it was. Fast 175 00:16:52.679 --> 00:17:00.399 forward seven years, Hurricane Maria decimates Puerto Rico and three million people have no 176 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:06.759 electricity, and by then we were able to get over one hundred thousand lights 177 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:11.480 to Puerto Rico to help with humanitarian aid. And I met up with the 178 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:18.000 Bill Clinton again in Puerto Rico and he said he remember he remember me. 179 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:22.519 I remember her from Heidi to tell him what this day is. And I 180 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:27.519 met the mayor of San Juan, who gave me a big hug and wanted 181 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:36.680 a selfie because we basically saved her city from darkness. And that's when I 182 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:41.920 met Hillary Clinton, and I talked to her for about three minutes, and 183 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:47.880 I told her about how I just came back from Dominica delivering lights to seven 184 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:52.279 schools where each school had no roof, and all the kids were intense and 185 00:17:53.000 --> 00:18:00.000 most of the kids we're living in a one room house with five other siblings 186 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:04.920 and a single mother, one meal a day that they would get from school. 187 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:11.160 And I felt compelled to tell them my story and the story of this 188 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.599 little solar puff. And I said, you know, the sun is the 189 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:21.119 most powerful source of energy that comes to the earth every day, but the 190 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:25.200 light of your heart and the light of your mind is more powerful than the 191 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:29.519 sun. And the kids just eyes just light up and they start giggling, 192 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.599 and I said, yes, yes, And if you keep you have to 193 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.799 keep fighting with that light, because if you keep fighting, there's nothing you 194 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:41.279 can't do. And when you look at this lamp and use this lamp for 195 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:45.960 your homework at night, your ambitions and your dreams will grow. And just 196 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:52.319 remember that the sun is everywhere in the world. It will never ever leave 197 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:56.759 you, and that light inside you will never never leave you. And you 198 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:00.759 just draw your strength from that light. And this is a symbol that you 199 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.680 are a light warrior, and light warriors never give up, and they just 200 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:12.079 they start singing and they start yelling light warrior. Anyway, so I told 201 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:18.119 Hillary that story and she was like, oh, Alice, I love that 202 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:22.200 story. And then she said, Chelsea and I are doing a book about 203 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:26.000 gutsy women and would you like to be in our book? And I just 204 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:29.680 kind of had this wartex moment of oh my god, really it's this, 205 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:36.119 you know seriously, And of course I said yes, And then eventually I 206 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:44.039 was in the book about a year later. And then after that they started 207 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:49.039 production company and did a docuseries on Apple TV, and I'm in episode six 208 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:56.359 and thirty people including the Surface Secret Service descended upon my small, tiny apartment 209 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:04.880 in New York all day and secrets. They blocked off like two blocks, 210 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:11.920 and Hillary and Chelsea were here for about three to four hours filming. That's 211 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:17.400 pretty impressive. And just you know, for listeners, Alice is alongside you 212 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:21.799 know, one of my heroes Jane Goodall, who I absolutely her, Oh 213 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:23.359 my gosh, and one to Psikes, who I think is one of the 214 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:27.359 funniest women on Earth, and many others. And it's on Apple TV. 215 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:30.799 I have not seen it yet, and I'm hoping to. But I saw 216 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.799 your Ted talk and I was very moved. First of all, I want 217 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.519 to know how Quinn is doing and how old is he now, because I 218 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:41.039 think he was five when all this came about in asthma. I didn't realize 219 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:48.640 until I saw your Ted talk how horrific asthma is and how you know carbon 220 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:51.640 emissions. I was talking to my husband about this at breakfast and she's like, 221 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:52.759 well, what has this light got to do with asthma? And I 222 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:56.240 said, well, I learned a lot, but elaborate a little bit because 223 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:03.039 there's a strong connection there. Yeah. So, especially in urban settings, 224 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:08.079 the pollution comes from buildings like HVAC systems, heating and cooling, lighting, 225 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:15.160 our computers, everything that takes up energy. We're using fossil fuels, and 226 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:19.799 so seventy five percent of the pollution in New York and in urban settings the 227 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:29.400 pollution comes from the energy consumption of building. So that compounded. You know, 228 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:37.599 of course, with are with climate change and the reason why we are 229 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:48.519 seeing a change in illnesses and also you know even things like omnicron or covid 230 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:55.720 it autoor new our human Yes, as a human species, we're changing more 231 00:21:55.839 --> 00:22:00.480 rapidly, all of these you know, viruses are changing more rapidly all the 232 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:07.400 time, and it's because of the environment, because it's too early in our 233 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:11.000 gene pool to be changing this app rapidly, So it has to be because 234 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:19.640 of the environment, and because carbon emissions, you know, is is so 235 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:27.279 extensive. We see climate change like the you know, if you go onto 236 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:41.279 the National Oceanic Society's graphic details of how within the past twenty years there's been 237 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:49.000 a spike almost like a like a big huge rise in the number of natural 238 00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:56.400 disasters, hurricanes, fires happening more and more frequently, and it's because of 239 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:02.519 climate change. And everything is interconnected. So the issue of asthma, of 240 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:08.319 course it has to do with pollution and also autism as well. And so 241 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:15.319 you know, there's nothing when you love something so much, like your son 242 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:21.519 or your child, there's nothing you won't do for them, to help them 243 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:26.559 and protect them. And I was thinking that if I could start this company, 244 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:33.400 if we could make an impact on the climate and the environment, that 245 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:38.759 his children will grow up. And you know, it's it's the pain and 246 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:45.279 the suffering of going through all of this would be worth it. Well, 247 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.960 you said, you know, a worried mom can move mountains, and that's 248 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:52.240 very true. And you know, necessity is the mother of invention, but 249 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:57.759 curiosity is the child that keeps you inspired to keep going. Yeah, Actually, 250 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:03.759 curiosity is the daughter of invention. Necessity is the mother of invention. 251 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:08.759 Both. I'm a big believer in people saying one of the taglines and my 252 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:14.920 other show that connected tables stay insatiably curious, because if we become compliant or 253 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:21.079 complacent excuse me, complainant, sometimes compliant complacent, we will never stay open 254 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:26.279 to new ideas and new innovations, which is really essential, right right, 255 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:33.359 Curiosity absolutely, you always worry about people that lose theirs. You know, 256 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:37.359 we're living in I hate to say it, we're living in very dark times. 257 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:41.559 I mean just this year alone, climate change. You wake up every 258 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:47.039 day and there's a story and the toxicity in the airs. You know, 259 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.839 look at what's happened in Maui, which is a place we go every ever 260 00:24:49.880 --> 00:24:53.480 of the year. My husband's been We've been going for twenty years and seeing 261 00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:56.599 entire town wiped out, and you think about those people who have no light 262 00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:02.240 and electricity. You're intense. Now we're doing a camp we're gonna we're putting 263 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:07.920 up a campaign to you know, to help them as well. Now you 264 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:11.200 know, I find you and you and Jose Andre should World Central Kitchen should 265 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:15.720 join forces. I know, I yeah, I know him like we have. 266 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:22.640 We have kind of partnered in Puerto Rico. I did not meet up 267 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:25.920 with him when I was I mean I did not meet up with his team. 268 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:32.440 I met him once, but a good guy. Incredible. What his 269 00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:37.079 nonprofit is doing all over the world is absolutely magnificent. It is. And 270 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:41.240 you know, he could have stayed. I know him from his days before 271 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:44.680 he was even famous, believe or not, Alice, when he was trotting 272 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:48.200 around with front Andrea translating for him, and then he took you know, 273 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:51.880 became famous as a chef. He could have rested on his laurels as a 274 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:56.200 world renowned chef and restaurateur. But he literally said to his family and his 275 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:00.799 team, I have to do this. So he's amazing, and you've pretty 276 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:03.680 much you mirror that in many ways because you could have stayed a teacher and 277 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.039 you have a company, but you are you know, I'm curious you give 278 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:11.240 away a lot of these uh lanterns and I have so what I have in 279 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:15.680 front of me is the solar puppet. It's like an a giant ice cube, 280 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:18.720 but it fits in my hand. And what's kind of cool about it 281 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:21.720 is it fold So I travel a lot, so this is like awesome because 282 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:25.960 it folds up. There's different lights for different reasons. You give away a 283 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:29.200 lot of these. How do you and you started your company through Kickstarter, 284 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:33.440 how do you finance and get the capitol to see your company while giving away 285 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:37.599 so much? We are we're still a small company. We haven't really been 286 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:45.000 able to scale, but we're trying. And it's, you know, thanks 287 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:51.160 to people like you getting our story out to the world that helps us to 288 00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:56.799 to share what we're doing. And people just fall in love with our products 289 00:26:56.920 --> 00:27:03.039 and our mission and so thank you for for including us in your podcast. 290 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:11.119 So we have nonprofit partners that we've worked with and we sell our products at 291 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:17.400 wholesale at a nonprofit discount to them. And we also have a give a 292 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:22.839 Light program where our customers can come to our website and buy a light to 293 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:29.200 give to a mission. So lately, I mean I just came back from 294 00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:33.079 Turkey. Before that, earlier this year, I was in Ukraine, So 295 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:41.640 it's been amazing to see and very very inspiring to see the hope in regular 296 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:48.440 people, our customers, people that just care about what's happening globally and believe 297 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:52.640 in the power of our lights and the impact that they're having. And it's 298 00:27:52.680 --> 00:28:00.640 just absolutely immense, and I'm so grateful and humbled by the hoard that we're 299 00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:07.279 getting. So there's the Give a Light and we also give ten percent of 300 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:11.759 our proceeds to just giving light whenever we can. We always try to. 301 00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:17.920 Whenever a disaster strikes, we try to do the right thing and help however 302 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:22.759 we can. And so Maui's hit now and it's just startbreaking. So we 303 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:26.880 you know, I feel we have to we have to create, you know, 304 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:30.839 get the word out that we want to send lights to Maui. And 305 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.839 it's gonna be sadly, it doesn't end. And I'm on so just I 306 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:41.200 want to make sure I give out the website, So Light s O l 307 00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:47.440 Ight hyphendesign dot com. And if you get to the Give a Light right 308 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:52.720 now, the list is earthquake relief and haities. You can choose Ukraine Children's 309 00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:56.960 Hospital and Levive. I don't know, Puerto Rican Hurricane Fiona you know, 310 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:59.559 poor Puerto Rico. Every time we turn around, they're getting this is Hurricane 311 00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:03.240 Fiona. I mean, there's Marias and then it's terrible, and then I 312 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:07.279 love this. This is important because it hits you know, the lower forty 313 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:11.279 a Ais American Indian services, the Navajo tribe. So there's a lot of 314 00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:12.680 Unfortunately, it's going to get a longer list, I hate to say, 315 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:18.880 because you know you add in Hawaii. Yeah, crazy, yeah, it 316 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:26.000 is. And and there's there's so so many more that that we didn't evenlist 317 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:30.000 there that we've done in the past, like when the snow hit Texas and 318 00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:37.599 nobody had power in Texas, and you know, like Syrian refugees we were 319 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:42.359 we were helping there in Greece for a while, Syrian refugee camps and of 320 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:47.400 course Haiti, oh my god, Marcane, Ida and New Orleans where we 321 00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:51.680 were we had just left. We were planning moved to New Orleans and then 322 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:56.559 Ida hit we couldn't move there. Oh my gosh. Yeah, it's it's 323 00:29:56.599 --> 00:30:00.920 weird. I mean, like especially in the South, you know there hurricanes 324 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:06.920 and now cyclones, which which hasn't happened before in New Orleans. Cyclones are 325 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:10.559 starting to. Well, the irony of it is that when my mother passed 326 00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:15.440 away, the power went out on her funeral and on her celebration of life. 327 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.359 We've had many power out just and we live in a nice neighborhood. 328 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:22.799 So I'm like, what's going on with the electrical grid these Oh my god, 329 00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:26.680 there's been a sixty percent increase in power outages in the United States within 330 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:33.000 the past decade. And it's because, you know, our population is growing, 331 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:37.680 but the grid, the infrastructure has pretty much stayed the same. It's 332 00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:44.079 and and you know, we need to shift to solar energy. We need 333 00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:48.799 to. You know, actually, we're very blessed in terms of the cost 334 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:55.880 that we pay for electricity, but in other countries like even Europe and places 335 00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:04.880 like Africa or the cost of electricity is phenomenal. It's extremely expensive, and 336 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:08.279 that's where you can save money. I mean, even even now, we 337 00:31:08.359 --> 00:31:11.480 have a lot of customers that tell us, you know, we we use 338 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:17.599 your lights at night because they're just easier on the eyes and our overhead lights, 339 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:23.160 and we save money on our electric bill and lowering our carbon footprints. 340 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:27.000 So well, I think the carbon footprint is important, you know, David 341 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:30.680 and I interviewed a woman a master sumily in South Africa where they were having 342 00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:36.799 load shipping, which is a new term. Where have they have rolling brownouts 343 00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:41.519 all the time because the government cannot keep up with the source of electricity needed. 344 00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:48.000 Yeah, that's the way it is in most countries. Yeah, and 345 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:52.400 I think we America don't realize that how fortunate we are. But we all 346 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:59.359 have to do a concerted effort universally to lower our footprint and carbon emissions because 347 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:01.240 it's only going to at worse. We're seeing a climate change. We're seeing 348 00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:05.759 it with brown als, We're seeing with you know, perfectly normal neighborhoods losing 349 00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:09.279 electricity every three weeks. You know, absolutely, Yeah, and you know 350 00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:15.880 it's time for us to really stand up and take a stance. And even 351 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:20.960 doing small things makes a big difference. A lot of people think, oh, 352 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:23.680 well, I'm just one person, I can't do much. But that's 353 00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:29.160 that's not the way we should be thinking. You know, we can do 354 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:31.759 much. We So what would you advise someone to do if they want to 355 00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:36.480 lowering? Knowing the vast research, and I just want to underscore, you 356 00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:42.359 know, I've got the megapuff here, but you have many patents, And 357 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:45.799 when I think of you and when I was researching you, Alice, I 358 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:49.480 couldn't help but go back and do a little research on Thomas Alva Edison. 359 00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:53.000 Yeah, he's an amazing gut fellow. And Nicholas Tesla. These are the 360 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:58.480 these are the fathers of electricity. But you know, you're taking it and 361 00:32:58.519 --> 00:33:01.640 shining a light as a mother of a new form of electricity or how to 362 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:08.599 harness something that's perfectly natural and using it in a productive way. You're you're 363 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:14.519 making me blush. Wow, to be aliated with Thomas Edison and Tesla, 364 00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:17.400 that's that's phenomenal. But I thought about it because when I you know, 365 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:21.240 I was like, wow, I don't know listen, I don't know much 366 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:25.319 about electricity other than I turn on the switch, I turn off a switch 367 00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:29.440 and then it somehow seems to be going out more than ever. But I 368 00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:31.400 do know, you know, I know about solo lighting, and I know 369 00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:36.119 about the health benefits a different kinds of lighting and how they could be used 370 00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:37.960 as well, because I've done a show on red light therapy and blue light 371 00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:43.279 therapy itself. Yeah, definitely, Yeah, you're light with the different colors. 372 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:46.559 That's gonna help with that too, right, Well, initially, you 373 00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:51.359 know when I got the pitch, I was like, it detracts mosquitoes because 374 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:53.079 we have a big mosquito problem here due to climate change. It's head of 375 00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:57.400 say, but there's there's different lights. If you push this button, you 376 00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:00.640 get a blue light, a green light, a white light, purple light. 377 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:07.680 What's the purple light? For the pink light that's good for just calming 378 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:13.519 the neuro synapsis of your brain. Pink light is used, you know, 379 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:15.800 for the kids when they want to use it as a night light, they 380 00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:21.840 either use the blue light or the pink light. Depends a lot of the 381 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:25.360 girls actually like the pink light. And you know, when I was in 382 00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:30.760 Ukraine, I went to three children's hospitals and two refugee camps, and most 383 00:34:30.840 --> 00:34:37.239 most of those lights I gave to the children because they all had PTSD from 384 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:45.639 combings and loss of limbs and loss of family members. The trauma that these 385 00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:51.320 kids have gone through is just absolutely heartbreaking, and you would expect that these 386 00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:55.599 kids would be filled with hate and resentment. I met this girls who witnessed 387 00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.320 twelve with her family members being shot and killed right in front of her, 388 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:04.840 and you would expect her to be full of resentment, but it was the 389 00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:12.639 opposite. All of these kids had so much resilience and forgiveness and kindness and 390 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:21.079 love in their in their hearts. It was just absolutely inspiring and really incredible 391 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:28.559 experience to be able to share this light with them. And then in terms 392 00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:37.400 of this thing with Thomas Edison, and going back to your question about inventorship 393 00:35:37.480 --> 00:35:45.639 and inventions, it is really fascinating to learn about Thomas Edison's process because one 394 00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:50.880 time he was just he sent all of his workers all over the world looking 395 00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:59.760 for the perfect material for the tonguesten, the flame part of the light, 396 00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:04.599 and all of the materials that he was using it wasn't lasting long enough. 397 00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:07.920 The light was not lasting long enough, and he wanted to find a material 398 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:14.480 that would keep burning for a longer period of time. And he was in 399 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:21.960 his laboratory and he found this old Chinese fan which was made out of bamboo, 400 00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:25.840 and he took the piece of bamboo from took it apart, put it 401 00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:31.119 in and made it the flame and it actually lasted seven times longer than any 402 00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:37.440 other material he was using. And that was the impetus of getting You know, 403 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:40.880 there's so many. There were so many other people working on the same 404 00:36:40.920 --> 00:36:45.519 thing, and you'll see that in history. But he was the one that 405 00:36:45.639 --> 00:36:51.920 actually got it to last the longest, and he was able to make the 406 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:55.960 cost commercially viable. And that's why we know Thomas Edison's name and not the 407 00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:00.719 other twenty five people that were using mister Volta. There's a whole debate there 408 00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:06.360 about uh, mister Volta and Alexandra Volta, which is voltage, et cetera. 409 00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:07.679 But it was, it was It was actually a very interesting read kind 410 00:37:07.719 --> 00:37:12.880 of diving into it because I am one of those insatiably curious people. So 411 00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:16.440 when I pressed on, I look at, like all the things that preceded. 412 00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:22.400 Who were some inventors that you really respect and why, oh, well, 413 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:29.480 you know, of course Thomas Edison, but there's so many. Keisler, 414 00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:45.639 Sarah Marie Curie loved Madame Madame Clark. She invented the brush, which 415 00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:49.440 bre what kind of brush? Hair brush? The hair brush. Okay, 416 00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:51.880 there's a lot of brushes out there. Okay, I didn't know any, 417 00:37:52.519 --> 00:38:00.000 but I actually did a lecture on this about different women inventors that that I 418 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:10.000 love. Anyway, I you know, in terms of mentors like I consider 419 00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:22.960 my mom a mentor and also Hillary Clinton mentor friend. And I actually I 420 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:31.360 feel like I I meet women heroes every day, angels every day on the 421 00:38:31.400 --> 00:38:40.719 street that you know give somebody kindness or or even you, Melanie, you're 422 00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:47.719 also a hero with what you're doing. And I'm grateful that we've had this 423 00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:52.559 opportunity to talk and meet well. I appreciate that you know mine comes from 424 00:38:52.719 --> 00:39:00.559 you know, it always comes from something My mother believed. She grew up 425 00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:05.000 within the Jewish faith and her grandmother book, my grandmother, maternal grandma, 426 00:39:05.039 --> 00:39:08.039 believed in doing a misvah every day, a good deed every day, and 427 00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:12.400 shining a light. And she shined a light quite a bit in the community 428 00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:15.599 where she lived all her life, and that has been instilled in me. 429 00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:23.480 I can't wake up and not do something worthwhile every day. M It's just 430 00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:27.840 it's like part of it. And to be honest, and this is where 431 00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:30.119 the shine a light is so important for you, for me, for anyone 432 00:39:30.199 --> 00:39:35.119 listening. When you are at your darkest, and I truly believe this, 433 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:37.480 and I've written about this, when you are at your darkest, and it 434 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:42.000 is very easy to become dark, right now, Yes, one of the 435 00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:47.960 great ways to step out of the hole is to shine a light. And 436 00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:52.039 it's just as doing something kind, calling somebody to say how are you. 437 00:39:52.280 --> 00:39:59.920 But if you take your darkness and open up and let light in by shining 438 00:40:00.039 --> 00:40:02.360 a light and just doing something for someone else, you will feel better at 439 00:40:02.360 --> 00:40:09.239 the same time. Absolutely, I think it's harder and harder. I mean, 440 00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:13.800 it can be really hard. And you talk about PTSD, I think 441 00:40:13.800 --> 00:40:19.639 there are a lot of people, children and adults living with PTSD, particularly 442 00:40:19.679 --> 00:40:22.840 after the COVID pandemic, particularly after they turn on the news, you know, 443 00:40:23.079 --> 00:40:29.679 disaster after disaster, and you see it in the rise and suicides and 444 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:34.480 mental health issues. And by creating a way to give a light and shine 445 00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:39.280 a light and helping people be illuminated that life isn't without meaning and you can 446 00:40:39.320 --> 00:40:45.199 buy and the more meaning by being meaning full, right, I think it'll 447 00:40:45.239 --> 00:40:51.480 really help people get out of their mental children. But also I have to 448 00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:55.039 I have to point out that, you know, taking the journey of being 449 00:40:55.079 --> 00:41:02.320 an entrepreneur, like inventing something or getting a patent, it's it's not an 450 00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:07.679 easy process. It's not very hard, and you're you're going to have a 451 00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:12.800 lot of days where you just want to give up, and the difference between 452 00:41:13.800 --> 00:41:15.760 you know, the difference is going to be the grit, it's going to 453 00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:22.960 be the perseverance. It's going to be getting up again, and and the 454 00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:30.400 kind of mindset that those failures are. Really they're not failures. It's progress 455 00:41:30.440 --> 00:41:37.960 that changing your mind and shifting it into a positive light instead of thinking that 456 00:41:37.159 --> 00:41:44.719 it's a backward struggle, it's really a forward struggle because now you've learned, 457 00:41:44.920 --> 00:41:47.719 and you learned and you do it again and you make it better and you 458 00:41:47.800 --> 00:41:54.079 keep going so that eventually gives you the power of being able to see around 459 00:41:54.119 --> 00:41:59.519 corners. Then you can see the future because of all those failures. And 460 00:41:59.639 --> 00:42:01.800 you just have to keep that in mind when when you keep you know, 461 00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:07.480 and absolutely don't ever give up. Nothing comes easy. And I think it's 462 00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:12.039 sometimes social media and other well or make it look that way, but I 463 00:42:12.079 --> 00:42:14.320 couldn't agree more. I have to wake I have a lot of nose in 464 00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:17.320 my life, a lot, and I keep heavy to say, you know, 465 00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:20.960 and I'm doing a show on how to you know, get around the 466 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:23.440 nose. I call it to get a nose job, to change all the 467 00:42:23.480 --> 00:42:28.840 nose and just keep going. Was there a time when you were developing your 468 00:42:28.920 --> 00:42:34.000 concept where you just hit a bottom and you had to lift yourself up? 469 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:38.440 And what did you do? Actually during the pandemic? This was This is 470 00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:45.519 on the docuseries on Navel TV. I did a new invention which is a 471 00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:52.639 clear silicone mask with biodegradable air filters on there. It's very it's very progressive 472 00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:57.960 in terms of, you know, there's no ear ear loops, so it 473 00:42:58.119 --> 00:43:02.960 sticks directly on your face with an air seal. And you know, it's 474 00:43:04.199 --> 00:43:13.679 very difficult to get a manufacturer to even try because you have people saying it's 475 00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:17.159 not possible, you know. And I had a lot of lawyers and men 476 00:43:17.679 --> 00:43:23.719 in particular early on with the Solar puffs telling me that it wasn't possible for 477 00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:29.440 me to be a CEO, that I needed to hire somebody else to be 478 00:43:29.559 --> 00:43:32.199 the CEO, and brother, you know, you ended up, you know, 479 00:43:34.199 --> 00:43:37.840 and I ended up listening to them to to you know, and it 480 00:43:37.840 --> 00:43:45.519 didn't work out so many times. And so I'd like to say to the 481 00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:52.000 young inventors and the young women out there, listen to your gut, believe 482 00:43:52.079 --> 00:43:58.079 in yourself. Don't listen to the nose you are in it. You are 483 00:43:58.199 --> 00:44:05.320 in the arena, going to going back to Teddy Roosevelt's speech about man in 484 00:44:05.360 --> 00:44:08.519 the arena. You're in there with the blood, dust, sweat, and 485 00:44:08.599 --> 00:44:14.159 tears, and you know what what's needed, and there's no one else that 486 00:44:14.199 --> 00:44:21.119 can that can guide you better than your knowledge. And just surround yourself with 487 00:44:21.280 --> 00:44:27.760 like minded people that will support you and give you advice. But don't listen 488 00:44:27.800 --> 00:44:30.920 to the naysayers. I couldn't agree more. You know, one of my 489 00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:34.280 heroes is JK. Rowland, who was like she was turned down like a 490 00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:38.039 hundred times of her book. You know, Harry Potterson. You know when 491 00:44:38.079 --> 00:44:46.159 I was first starting out, I had over a hundred rejection letters to get 492 00:44:46.199 --> 00:44:51.280 a job. And you know rejection. I think you know a messages. 493 00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:54.159 You will have rejection and every aspect of your life there will be It's inevitable. 494 00:44:54.199 --> 00:44:57.440 There will be people who are naysayers. There are people who only look 495 00:44:57.480 --> 00:45:00.199 at the numbers, not what you do. But that happens to me a 496 00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:04.079 lot when I go pitch sponsors, what are your numbers? And they probably 497 00:45:04.119 --> 00:45:07.159 never even listened to me. You know, you have to listen to yourself 498 00:45:08.119 --> 00:45:13.199 and listen to yourself when it is a go. But also listen to yourself 499 00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:16.840 when you say I'm done too. It's okay to say I'm done. I'm 500 00:45:16.880 --> 00:45:22.320 a big believer in failing. For like you, you know, if it 501 00:45:22.480 --> 00:45:25.599 if it doesn't, you can fix it and tweak it. But if it's 502 00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:29.000 you know, if you're done, you're done and you move on to the 503 00:45:29.039 --> 00:45:31.960 next thing. That's okay, too, right, you know, but you 504 00:45:32.039 --> 00:45:36.679 have to you know, when you stop believing in what you're doing, then 505 00:45:36.840 --> 00:45:39.760 that's a problem. So you got to keep believing and keep going. I 506 00:45:39.800 --> 00:45:45.440 love what you're doing. How many patents do you have now? I believe 507 00:45:45.599 --> 00:45:50.880 for a couple gratulations, because that's hard. I mean, that is a 508 00:45:50.880 --> 00:45:55.440 process in itself. The first one is always the hardest, but after that 509 00:45:57.280 --> 00:46:04.840 you kind of know from your experience. But in any case, it's again, 510 00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:10.840 the mother of invention is necessity and the daughter of invention is curiosity, 511 00:46:12.480 --> 00:46:19.559 both female characters. Yet only ten percent women are on a US patent, 512 00:46:19.960 --> 00:46:24.599 which I think is a grave injustice. And I think that, you know, 513 00:46:24.679 --> 00:46:32.400 I want to see more young women getting out there inspired by their dreams, 514 00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:39.199 and it would be wonderful to make those numbers much higher. I agree, 515 00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:42.800 and it's people like you, Alice, who are going to help make 516 00:46:42.920 --> 00:46:46.320 shine that light. So thank you for doing it, and you keep inventing 517 00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:49.920 as well, because I can't wait to see what your next invention is going 518 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.800 to be. Thank you. I can't either. I'm sure I'll be hearing 519 00:46:54.800 --> 00:46:58.519 about it, but I just want my listeners to know. To learn more 520 00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:05.400 information about what Alice Chun is doing, go to so Light slighd hyphendesign dot 521 00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:09.360 com. I have. What I was sent was this adorable little Merlin solar 522 00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:12.880 puff, which I'm going to play with. I like it because it's packable 523 00:47:12.920 --> 00:47:19.320 and I'd like to travel. But she's doing amazing things to help communities around 524 00:47:19.320 --> 00:47:23.079 the world who are in need and suffering bring light to their lives, and 525 00:47:23.119 --> 00:47:27.079 we should all be doing that to everybody. So thank you for doing that, 526 00:47:27.199 --> 00:47:30.719 Alice, and thank you for taking time out from your day to join 527 00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:35.039 me on Fearless Fabulous You. Thank you, Melanie, it's been it's been 528 00:47:35.159 --> 00:47:37.239 such a pleasure to speak with you today, and thank you so much for 529 00:47:37.320 --> 00:47:44.039 including us in your podcast. This has been such a wonderful experience meeting you 530 00:47:44.159 --> 00:47:47.440 and speaking with you today. Absolutely and for all my listeners, I want 531 00:47:47.480 --> 00:47:52.239 you to be the light to lead the way to open doors for others, 532 00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:57.079 and to be the light to bring and share it with those around you, 533 00:47:57.159 --> 00:48:00.679 to brighten their day. Stay fearless and fabulous always. I'm Melanie Young, 534 00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:10.800 and thank you for joining me.