TFB 044: Why a former soldier swapped fighting for flip flops
With Matthew Griffin, founder of Combat Flip Flops Today's guest has got quite a story to tell. Matthew "Griff" Griffin is a former US soldier who went from the frontline of Iraq and Afghanistan to running Combat Flip Flops - a flip flop manufacturer with a mission. After, in his own words, 'emptying his karma tank', Griff was seized by a vision to give back to the countries where he had been a soldier. So one day while walking around Kabul he saw a boot factory that was about to be closed down meaning job losses for the locals. Rather than shrugging his shoulders and walking away Griff had the idea of making flip flops to create local employment. Fast forward a few years and Combat Flip Flops is now a global brand raising a huge amount of money to put young girls through education in the developing world. Griff tells me how he built the business and how he told the story of a soldier on a mission - a soldier creating the 'Unarmed Forces'. This is a powerful story of transformation, persistence and respect and one you can't miss. If you're an ethical business, a social enterprise or frankly want to know how to make people CARE then Griff's story is for you. For more info on Combat Flip Flops go here Let's do this!