Episode 104: Joshua Hughes Regenpreneur Startup Story - Growing Regenerative Communities

Resource Commons and Community Forum: A free learning resource and community for entrepreneurs creating impact using regenerative design principles and ethics

Thanks again for joining us today on the Seeds of Tao podcast. Today, Joshua Hughes joined us for an amazing Regenpreneur Startup Story. Joshua shares why he became an entrepreneur building regenerative communities through the two businesses he founded, Blacksheep Regenerative and VerdEnergia Pacifica. His story and insights will help you to see the bigger role regenerative businesses play in helping to restore communities, create connections, and unify what often looks like a very divided world.

Here are the references for the episode. Please don’t forget to follow, comment, or write a review of the podcast if you enjoyed today’s episode.

Episode Show Notes:

• Joshua Hughes Contact Info: Joshua was so gracious to share his contact information to get in touch with him. Here’s how you can reach him:
  • Website: https://www.verdenergia.org/ and https://weareblacksheep.org/
  • Email: joshua @ weareblacksheep .org (remove spaces)
  • Phone: +1 503-898-2163
• Get Up Stand Up by Bruce E. Levine: Joshua recommends you read this book about the progressive farming movement in the late 1800s.
• A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright: This book helped Joshua rethink what progress means and find the little steps that lead to great outcomes.

Guest Bio

Joshua Hughes - LinkedIn Profile

Hughes is the founder of Blacksheep Regenerative and VerdEnergia where he has helped establish agroforestry and regenerative business practices in Costa Rica and abroad. Those efforts have helped replace the extractive and toxic food, herbs and building materials industry we see all over the world. He started Verdenergia, a permaculture farm in 2006 which became the beginning of a long and very fulfilling journey jammed packed with lessons. Rallying over 4000 people to come help reforest their little spot in Costa Rica, they have regenerated the landscape, improved their community and taught others to do the same in their own areas. 16 years later, they are still going strong as one of the worlds top Permaculture and agroforestry education centers.

Host Bio

Joshua Prieto - LinkedIn Profile

Joshua Prieto is the co-founder and CEO of Seeds of Tao an education and incubation company for regenerative entrepreneurs. You’ll get to know Josh quite well if you ask him what his purpose in life is. He will respond with something so deep you’ll have a hard time replying though he would want nothing more but to have a deep conversation on your own purpose in life. If you ask him the purpose of his enterprise, he’ll tell you it is to create paths to a more inclusive, fair, and balanced economy. He feels a special kind of entrepreneur is the key to that path. In the past he has felt discouraged, disappointed, and confused by the extractive and degenerative practices of the businesses he has helped during his career as an entrepreneur and marketing strategist. When he found the regenerative and permaculture movement he realized that if entrepreneurs used regenerative principles and practices in their business our economy and culture would change from an extractive, degenerative one to a consciously regenerative one. Today he focuses on building up and increasing the numbers of regenerative entrepreneurs through open education services and incubator programs. He would absolutely love it if you joined him in his efforts.