When I heard Muhammad Yunnus’ keynote speech about the concept of a social enterprise, I was inspired to build one. And so I started Upohar as a social enterprise: a business that centered on people, especially those too often excluded from the workforce.
Over time, Upohar grew into a catering company built around the strengths and stories of our team, and touched lives in ways I never imagined—not just through jobs or meals, but through the way it has quietly inspired others to take action in their own corners of the world.
I didn’t set out to start a movement. I set out to build a for-profit business that solved a social issue (in our case, poverty alleviation). And somewhere along the way, people started taking notice—not in a flashy, headlines kind of way, but in the kind of way where someone watches how you do something, and then decides to try it their own way, in their own work. Just like I did with Yunnus.
One of those people was my child, Raka. I still remember picking up a truck, a big hunk of metal from a farm outside Lancaster, that was to be converted into Upohar’s food truck. The engine stalled at every red light. Raka was six then. They still laugh about that truck today and how they worked the window at events before they even knew what a business was.
But they saw how we ran things. Not just how we cooked, but how we treated people. They noticed when I paid someone early because they needed it. When I adjusted schedules for someone without childcare. When I checked in on someone who was struggling.
Raka will tell you it’s not about changing the world all at once. “It’s about doing something instead of nothing,” they say. “It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Climate change, injustice, inequality. It’s a lot. But I’ve learned that we don’t have to change the world to change something. It’s about finding your niche and acting on what you care about.”
In other words, it’s about making thoughtful, local choices—with people and the planet in mind.
And Raka wasn’t the only one watching.
In the fall of 2011, not long after Upohar began, two local leaders—one from ASSETS and the other from the Lancaster County Community Foundation—asked to meet with me.
We sat down for what I thought would be a casual conversation about business. But like Raka, they’d been paying attention to what Upohar was doing. They were struck by the idea of a business built around people, hand-in-hand with profitability. They wanted to brainstorm with me about how to inspire other entrepreneurs to think differently from the start. They said Upohar provided a concrete example of what was possible.
That conversation was one of the seeds of the Great Social Enterprise Pitch—an initiative that invites entrepreneurs to pitch socially-minded business ideas, with winners receiving cash prizes and pro-bono support.
These quiet knock-on effects inspire me to continue on my journey. Raka is one. The Great Social Enterprise Pitch is another. And there are others, such as former team members who have gone on to open small businesses or start new careers with a different sense of what work can look like.
Real leadership is not always being the loudest voice in the room, or even being aware of whom you’re leading, but offering a steady example of what your values look like in practice. Every hire, every conversation, every compostable container—they’re all choices. And every choice is an opportunity to show what’s possible.
I didn’t set out to inspire. But sometimes, just doing something good—something rooted in fairness, care, and a belief in people—is enough to spark the same in someone else.
