Business On Purpose Podcast

#40: From the Jungle to Multi Business Owner, with JoBen Barkey

Barry Barrett Episode 40

Meet JoBen Barkey, an entrepreneur whose unlikely journey and entrepreneurial successes began in a remote region of the Amazon Rainforest. His success is a testament to the power of resilience and purpose-driven leadership. In 1996, after spending his first 18 years in the Amazon, he moved to North America wearing a pair of borrowed sneakers and carrying just $15 in his pocket. Moving to North America in a time before email, zoom and the internet meant that it was a leap into the unknown. JoBen's determination saw him pay his own way through college, where he financed his education with long hours of hard manual labor. After graduating with a BA in Psychology, JoBen's entrepreneurial spirit led him to purchase his first Soccer Shots franchise in Southern California in 2009.

Today, his family oversees six Soccer Shots franchise locations spanning from Orange County, CA to Oahu, HI. They are positively impacting 10,000 children annually from ages 2-8yrs old with innovative, fun-focused intro to soccer classes. What sets JoBen apart is not just his business successes, but his unwavering commitment to social impact. By channeling resources into the nonprofit that he and his wife also started, they fund initiatives like opening free elementary schools, well-digging projects to combat cholera outbreaks, and even opening a free Organic Agriculture School to fight food shortages. JoBen's organization is transforming communities worldwide, and he was recently named a “Rockstar Franchise of the Year” by the Franchise Business Review in the category of Giving Back, out of 300,000 eligible franchises. In 2017, as a result of the work his organization has been doing to combat hunger, sickness and premature avoidable death, he was awarded The Alumni of Distinction honor by the University he had worked so hard to attend.

Join us as we dive into JoBen's journey on the podcast.

Contact: LinkedIN at JoBen Barkey; IG @onekidneyadventures; B7 (is our nonprofit work) www.B7Family.com; www.SoccerShotsOC.com