When someone says “we’ve tried that before” what do they actually mean? Sometimes it’s a closed door. But more often it’s a door that was tried at the wrong time, with the wrong conditions, without enough people in the room, or without the implementation working as well as the concept could.

This episode is for two people simultaneously: the one who keeps bringing ideas and keeps hitting resistance, and the one who has tried things and genuinely doesn’t believe there’s another way forward. Because both of them are holding part of the picture. And neither of them has the whole thing. Drawing on Shunryu Suzuki’s beginner’s mind, Adam Grant’s work on thinking again, and a real-world example of a hotel manager approaching the single-use coffee cup problem with curiosity rather than conclusion, this episode explores what becomes possible when we stop asking what we’ve done wrong and start asking what we can’t see yet. It’s not about starting over. It’s about being open to what the next attempt might look like with everything you’ve already learned.

Two Homes is for leaders who know that lasting performance, for people and planet, starts from the inside out. Two homes: the one we inhabit within, and the one we all share.

Intro and outro music: Brooks, Kai Engel

If you’d like to ask a question:

💌 Email - connect@plasticfreesea.co

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https://sarah-rhodes.myflodesk.com/news

Two Homes is part of my business, Plastic Free Southeast Asia an Australia Pacific specialist sustainability leadership consultancy, that is your partner in all authentic and aligned sustainability for tourism businesses and boards.

Please rate, subscribe and review to help more people find the meaningful conversations, insights and more guests into the conversation that helps you grow your business, and tend to your wellbeing, sustainably.

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Show Notes:

Shunryu Suzuki - Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind:

The source of the beginner’s mind concept referenced throughout this episode.

https://www.shambhala.com/zen-mind-beginner-s-mind-4.html

Adam Grant - Think Again:

Referenced in this episode on the psychology of sunk costs and the human resistance to changing direction.

https://adamgrant.net/book/think-again/

Referenced Two Homes episodes

Episode 21: The RAS: What You Notice Changes Everything

The reticular activating system referenced in this episode is explored in depth here.

Episode 8: Where to Begin Without Overhauling Everything

Companion episode on starting small and building momentum.

Episode 18: Duality: Why It’s Not All or Nothing

Companion episode on holding complexity rather than defaulting to binary thinking.

What does it actually mean to help? And how do we know when the help we're offering is solving a problem versus sustaining one? This episode is a conversation with Weh Yeoh, physiotherapist turned social entrepreneur, founder of OIC Cambodia, co-founder of Umbo, and author of Redundant Charities, about what genuine social impact looks like versus the kind that keeps itself in business by never quite solving anything.

Drawing on years of working in Cambodia and China, Weh unpacks the power dynamics underneath voluntourism, why something is not always better than nothing, and what it looks like to build a charity with the explicit goal of making itself redundant.

For hospitality and tourism operators thinking about their CSR and community partnerships, this conversation offers a genuinely different framework, one that asks not just whether your intentions are good, but whether what you're doing is actually working. And whether the people it's meant to help are the ones deciding that.

Two Homes is for leaders who know that lasting performance, for people and planet, starts from the inside out. Two homes: the one we inhabit within, and the one we all share.

Intro and outro music: Brooks, Kai Engel

If you'd like to ask a question:

💌 Email - connect@plasticfreesea.co

🎙️ Drop a question in the comment box on Spotify

Sign up to emails to get insights, event invitations and opportunities to connect and be inspired to integrate sustainability for good 🌟

https://sarah-rhodes.myflodesk.com/news

Two Homes is part of my business, Plastic Free Southeast Asia — an Australia Pacific specialist sustainability leadership consultancy, that is your partner in all authentic and aligned sustainability for tourism businesses and boards.

Please rate, subscribe and review to help more people find the meaningful conversations, insights and more guests into the conversation that helps you grow your business, and tend to your wellbeing, sustainably.

Follow on your preferred platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/plasticfreeseaa/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/plasticfreeseaa/

Sarah on LI https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-rhodes-67a9b724/

Show Notes:

Weh Yeoh: author, social entrepreneur, founder of OIC Cambodia:

https://www.wehyeoh.com

Redundant Charities by Weh Yeoh:

https://www.redundantcharities.com

Weh Yeoh on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wmyeoh/

Umbo: online speech and occupational therapy for rural Australia:

https://www.umbo.net.au

OIC Cambodia: speech therapy and professional development:

https://www.oiccambodia.org

Weh's TedX talk:

https://youtu.be/9vuAL0qatSw?si=NGimTG16ra5kVADa

To Hell With Good Intentions by Ivan Illich, 1968:

https://www.uvm.edu/~jashman/CDAE195_ESCI375/To%20Hell%20with%20Good%20Intentions.pdf

Recommended reading for anyone working in social impact, development or CSR.

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission:

https://www.acnc.gov.au

Accounting for International Development, skills-based volunteering:

https://www.afid.org.uk

Related Two Homes episodes:

Episode 11: The Social in ESG

Episode 25: Looking Beyond Bandaid Solutions

Episode 26: Tourism that Stays with you

Tourism markets paradise. Crystal clear water, swaying palms, pristine white sand, authentic culture. And sometimes that image is real and often there's a gap, which comes with a cost. Not just environmentally, but culturally and economically as well. This episode explores what tourism actually does to the places it depends on when it isn't done with intention. From overtourism and zero dollar tourism to the misuse of local culture when hospitality becomes purely transactional. We also look at when tourism genuinely gives back to the places it loves. Drawing on over two decades of working in the industry across Southeast Asia and Australia, this episode makes the case that the most sustainable tourism businesses aren't the ones with the most certifications or the biggest budgets. They're the ones where the team understands the North Star, where the community around the property benefits from its being there, and where guests feel like they actually went somewhere. Not a simulation of somewhere. The real thing. If there's a gap between what you're selling and what you're delivering this episode is an invitation to close it.

Two Homes is for leaders who know that lasting performance, for people and planet, starts from the inside out. Two homes: the one we inhabit within, and the one we all share.

Intro and outro music: Brooks, Kai Engel

If you'd like to ask a question:

💌 Email - connect@plasticfreesea.co

🎙️ Drop a question in the comment box on Spotify

Sign up to emails to get insights, event invitations and opportunities to connect and be inspired to integrate sustainability for good 🌟

https://sarah-rhodes.myflodesk.com/news

Two Homes is part of my business, Plastic Free Southeast Asia — an Australia Pacific specialist sustainability leadership consultancy, that is your partner in all authentic and aligned sustainability for tourism businesses and boards.

Please rate, subscribe and review to help more people find the meaningful conversations, insights and more guests into the conversation that helps you grow your business, and tend to your wellbeing, sustainably.

Follow on your preferred platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/plasticfreeseaa/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/plasticfreeseaa/

Sarah on LI https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-rhodes-67a9b724/

Show Notes:

The Last Tourist documentary film:

Highly recommended viewing, especially as a team activity. Explores the challenges and possibilities of sustainable tourism with honesty and depth.

https://www.thelasttourist.com

G Adventures - sustainable tourism operator:

https://www.gadventures.com/about-us/our-impact/

Lio Beach, El Nido, Palawan — zero single use plastic tourism community:

https://ir.ayalaland.com.ph/news-and-updates/lio-beach-a-model-of-inclusive-growth-in-tourism/

Bhutan sustainable tourism model:

https://www.tourism.gov.bt

Angkor temples dress code and cultural guidelines:

https://www.angkorwat.org/visitor-information/

Related Two Homes episodes:

Episode 23 - The Sustainable Traveller

Episode 11 - The Social in ESG

Episode 9 - What Integration Actually Looks Like