Felix Brooks-Church - Fortifying Flour Across Africa as Sanku CEO - Ep.190

Ep.190: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Felix Brooks-Church (@felixbc). My guest is Felix Brooks-Church, CEO of Sanku, which helps local mills across Africa produce fortified food, primarily flour, via their machines and technology. Felix was introduced to me by David Dodson, co-founder and chairman of the board at Sanku. Sanku has a fascinating origin story, which includes a stint in Nepal, refining the technology, and is now a quickly growing enterprise that has required a ton of learning on Felix's part to adapt his role to the growing company. Felix and I talk about how he's adapted his role, leaning on the board for feedback and advice, sustaining growth, and building discipline. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.  Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ Links: Felix on LinkedIn Sanku Sankhu village in Nepal Topics: (00:00:00) Intro (00:04:03) Themes observed across decades of life (00:08:26) Shifting from an inward focus to an outward focus (00:09:39) Experiences that prepare you for a Leadership role (00:11:41) Influences on the mission of Sanku (00:14:21) The inspiration for fortifying flour as the core of the business (00:17:29) The Sanku business model (00:22:46) Takeaways from working in Nepal (00:29:44) Themes & learnings as a CEO (00:34:34) Building out an executive team & hiring best practices (00:42:41) Risk tolerance (00:44:05) Leaning on peers for support (00:47:22) What strongly held belief have you changed your mind about? (00:51:03) What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?