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Building The Dyson Of The Humanitarian World
Navjot Sawhney
The Washing Machine Project
The BAE HQ welcomes Navjot Sawhney, the founder of The Washing Machine Project which gives people the dignity of clean clothes.
Navjot sadly lost his father at 7 years old but luckily was raised by a strong mother and inspirational sisters.
When he landed a dream job at Dyson, he became disillusioned because he was simply building vacuum cleaners for the rich.
This sent him to Engineers without Borders where he struggles of women in a remote Indian village had a transformational effect on him and he wanted to make a difference.
Now The Washing Machine Project has provided the dignity of clean clothes to 30,000 people and aims to do even more to help those who need humanitarian help through innovation.
Listen in to learn about his journey and all the wisdom he picked up along the way!
Show Notes
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Full video of episode
Navjot Sawhney: [00:00:00] 5.6 billion people in the world today. So 70% of the world's population have to have much clothes. And I was like, We need to fix this problem. We want to become the Dyson of the humanitarian world. Bearing in mind, Ox Fam funded us when we didn't even have an idea of how to build them, and everyone thought I was making the biggest mistake of my, my career and my life, and I'm so proud that I get to wake up and do something that I love.
Navjot Sawhney: And support these people. So 30,000 people impacted positively in seven countries. We've now, you know, millions of pounds of funding, uh, and some incredible announcements coming later in the years.
Amardeep Parmar: Welcome to The BAE HQ, where we inspire connecting guide the next generation of British Asians. Smash that subscribe button. If you watch then YouTube, and it's a five star review if you're listening on Apple or Spotify. Today we have a have with us Nav who's the founder of the Washing Machine Project.
Amardeep Parmar: They're on a mission to give back the dignity of clean [00:01:00] clothes. How you doing today?
Navjot Sawhney: Good, thanks. What an introduction.
Amardeep Parmar: Thank you. I stumbled my words there, I dunno what happened there.
Navjot Sawhney: That's okay. That's perfect.
Amardeep Parmar: So you've come, you've done your second ever live podcast today.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: So, and you said our podcast got nicer lighting and stuff too, right?
Navjot Sawhney: Man, this is, uh, this is really stepping it up. A not, huh?
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. But you've done some incredible work now, right? But when you're growing up, did you think you'd be one day coming onto a podcast at this to talk about what you've built?
Navjot Sawhney: No way. Not at all. Surreal. I pinch myself every single day. Um, I'm really lucky that I'm on this journey of, of being this founder of an incredible organization.
Navjot Sawhney: Like, like the washing machine project. Um, yeah. Thank you for having me on.
Amardeep Parmar: What did you think you would do when you were growing up?
Navjot Sawhney: When I was a kid, I wanted to become an Astronaut. I think we're all gonna become Astronauts. My father was an Aerospace Engineer. He used to take me to air shows. So I'd be very curious with how these big aircraft would go, uh, in, up into the sky.
Navjot Sawhney: [00:02:00] And then I would come back home. I would take the toolbox out of the shed. And just break everything inside. And I used to really make my mom very angry because I'd never know how to put anything back together again. You know, seeing how things worked and, you know, just, just opening things up was
Navjot Sawhney: Something that I did for my whole childhood and then, you know, going on and, and studying Aerospace Engineering at university was just like a natural transition. But my, my father unfortunately died when I was very, very young. I was seven years old at the time, and my mom and my two sisters, they were older than me, single-handedly raised me.
Navjot Sawhney: So I was really, really aware. Uh, about my surroundings and how women influenced my surroundings. And I knew from a very young age the importance of women in the household. So that really, uh, shaped my, my childhood and, and to my kind of, uh, later [00:03:00] years in life.
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. So, I dunno if you know as well, so my dad passed away last year.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. So, so right too.
Amardeep Parmar: So I can relate, obviously to what you're saying and the difficulty of, so going through that at such a young age and how that's probably affected you in so many ways now.
Navjot Sawhney:Good. Incredible.
Amardeep Parmar: And even, for example, when you're building your own business, right? For me, I had my dad's help until like last year.
Amardeep Parmar: So that gave me an advantage that obviously you didn't have. Yeah. That you had the strength of the women in your family to raise you and to get you to where you are today.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And when you're into Engineering at university, then what was the plan after that?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, and I think, you know, losing a parent at such a young age to, to then be brought up by some incredible women.
Navjot Sawhney: I'm so lucky to have really influential experiences in my life that have formed my thinking and my way of life today. My condolences to you and your family. I studied engineering and I was obsessed at getting the next Best graduate program. I don't think anyone equips you to apply for a job that you really care about.
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, [00:04:00] I think you just go to the company that gives the best pizza at the grad fair, you know, free pens and, you know, applied for hundreds and hundreds, hundreds of jobs. And I landed. One of the Bell's best graduate programs at, at Dyson. So I joined Dyson for, for what was almost three years of my time there, and incredible experience.
Navjot Sawhney: I learned so much. I, you know, met with the founder of Dyson many times to talk about ideas and the kind of user based experience of designing was. Great. But I realized three years into my, my career that every bit of good engineering that I was doing was just basically making a vacuum cleaner for a rich person.
Navjot Sawhney: And I couldn't, I was like, am I gonna do this for the rest of my life? You know, I want my engineering to, to help people. I want my engineering to go [00:05:00] further. To make real positive impact in the world and I decided to quit my job.
Amardeep Parmar: And did you have the idea already of what you were gonna do, or did you just quit and think you're gonna work out?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, that's a good question. I had been thinking about it for a few months. I applied. For a position with a charity called Engineers of That Borders UK and they sent me out to India to volunteer for a year and a half to make clean and efficient cooking stoves. Now this problem, uh, affects 50% of the world population who have to use solid fuel like wood and charcoal and dung to cook their food.
Navjot Sawhney: So, you know, 50% is either you or me right now. So imagine having to spend hours and hours. A day breathing in this smoke. And that's the problem for half the world's population. You can imagine coming from a South Asian background, that having that conversation with your, your parents saying, you know you're not happy and you're not, go work for free and give up your well-paid job [00:06:00] to do something.
Navjot Sawhney: A charitable that did not land well. In, in my household that week, I was so disappointing for the people around me and everyone thought I was making the biggest mistake of my, my career and my life. You know, why am I, why am I doing this? And, uh, it's something that I wanted to do. I wanted to help people.
Navjot Sawhney: I feel like we are put on this planet too, to make impact and, and, and support people. And so I found myself in September, 2016. Uh, through to 2017 in this very small South Indian village called Kuilapalayam. And I was staying in this village, uh, that didn't have very much running water, so only switched on 15 minutes a day at 6:00 AM I was never awake at 6:00 AM and it's switched on six, 6:00 PM as well for 15 minutes.
Navjot Sawhney: And I was always, always at work. So I was always used to miss water. And if you didn't have a generator, the power was always out, you know, so, days [00:07:00] and days of blackouts. And you can imagine at a 40 degree temperature, it's so tough. So tough. And even cooling your food wasn't possible. And you know, I experienced that every single day.
Navjot Sawhney: And as an Engineer, I saw problems all over the place. Open defecation, buildings falling down, people lacking transport. And I was like, I can't believe, I can't believe this. You know, I'm so lucky and, and this experience, uh, was incredible. On Monday, we'd have an idea, on Tuesday we would put this idea together.
Navjot Sawhney: On, on Wednesday, we would put this idea into the field. And get an auntie to, to test it out, this cook stove. And by Thursday we'd realize if our cook stove was rubbish or not. And by Friday we had to have a new idea. So this kind of iterative living learning that we had was incredible. And that coupled with the friendship that I had with my next door neighbor, uh, completely changed my life.
Navjot Sawhney: Divya was my next door neighbor and she's a 30 something. [00:08:00] Stay-at-home Mom who got married at the age of 16, had two kids and she spoke perfect English, learnt at high school, but never used since. And she used to spend hours and hours and hours a day on unpaid labor. We don't have to look very far. Uh, and see in our own households and in our own communities how much of the unpaid labor is done by women.
Navjot Sawhney: And that's not unique to just Divya. Or our communities. It's every single, um, country across the world. Um, women are disproportionately affected, whether it's cooking, cleaning, childbearing, and this is something I saw so closely with Divya, you know, her life was an everyday struggle, whether it was foraging for wood, uh, standing in line for water or hand washing her family's clothes, and, you know, we became best friends.
Navjot Sawhney: My Tamil was rubbish. Her English was amazing. And uh, every evening we would catch up outside her house, [00:09:00] catch up on the day's activities, she'd complain about back pain, joint pain, skin irritation. And I said to Divya, why can't you just use that electric washing machine? I'll buy you one. And she's like, nah, if you.
Navjot Sawhney: Electric washing machines don't work here. We don't have much running water. We don't have a generator, so that solution doesn't make sense. She wanted to work but just didn't have the time. So, um, that's, that's where the promise was. That's where the penny dropped. That's when I realized that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.
Navjot Sawhney: I wanna make products for people like Divya. And so I came home, I did some research and I found that 5.6. Billion people in the world today, so 70% of the world's population have to hand wash clothes, and I was like, we need to fix this problem.
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. And even if you go back for a second, you mentioned how obviously your mom assisted instilled there values in you because you said you want to make a difference, you wanna help people, right?
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. They put those values in you, [00:10:00] but it's also think a struggle for so many parents of they wouldn't also the best in this financial ability for their children too. And it's that tough thing of, they obviously raised you to be the person you became, but they all said they're worried about you, right?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And once you came back from India, how did that then go when you said, okay, this is what I wanna do the rest of my life. What's that? Did they see what you've done and how passionate you are.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, I mean there's, there's still a bit skeptical. I remember having the idea of the washing machine project.
Navjot Sawhney: What's that? Well, I want to create a manual washing machine ‘cause I want to make something for Divya. My next door neighbor, my best friend, and I remember at the time I was physically knocking on doors for people to give me attention. I was like, please, can I have a meeting with you to just show you what I have and my idea and I want support and collaboration.
Navjot Sawhney: And slowly, slowly, we built up credibility. I actually went back to University, uh, to study a degree in humanitarianism at the University of University of Bath.
Amardeep Parmar:That's where I went. Yeah
Navjot Sawhney: Shout out Bath. Amazing. Amazing uni, [00:11:00] uh, really helped the, the cause I worked as well full-time at, uh, Jagger Land Rover to provide a means to an end.
Navjot Sawhney: And I remember working. So hard on this idea and I would gather my friends around my mom's kitchen table with, with me probably once a week, once a month sometimes, and just brainstorm of how we can solve this problem. And we had this salad spinner in the corner. And right maybe we can use the salad spinner technology that's gearing technology on a washing machine.
Navjot Sawhney: Um, a manual crack kinda washing machine. And so those were the first ideas. And on my course, I had someone that worked, uh, in Iraq, uh, a good friend of mine, and he said, why don't you bring your prototype to Iraq and come for the week? And, and just test it out on people. They're like, yeah, sure. So my friend and I, Alex, uh, we made this prototype in, in a couple of days, packed our clothes in the prototype, wrapped it up in plastic [00:12:00] and took it on the plane to Iraq.
Amardeep Parmar:Did, did any questions get asked there?
Navjot Sawhney: So many questions. It looks so dodgy. Um, but, you know, we spent, uh, seven full days in, uh, about nine refugee camps in, in Northern Iraq in, um, Kurdistan. And we interviewed 79 refugee families, Yazidi families. And that was the first experience that I had in the camp environment and testing this machine.
Navjot Sawhney: And the feedback was amazing people really understood the problem, wanted a, a solution, wanted a change, and we wrapped that up into a report and Ox fam picked it up and, Yeah, I guess the rest is history.
Amardeep Parmar: So once you went from that prototype, obviously you proved that it was helpful to people.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: But at the same time, you needed to get funding.
Amardeep Parmar: You needed to try to change that prototype into something which you could then scale and get across to, or the people that needed it.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: How'd you go about that next phase?
Navjot Sawhney: I guess I was trying to engage with other people that were frustrated like me. Maybe a few years [00:13:00] before me. I realized that, you know, I am working this big corporate making.
Navjot Sawhney: You know, 500 pound vacuum cleaners and I was frustrated and I wanted to help someone, and I knew lots of my friends wanted to help as well. So I capitalized on this by engaging with volunteers. So I said to the to, to my friends and the community around me, I said, you have so many good skills that are needed on this, this mission, on this organization, the washing machine project.
Navjot Sawhney: I would love for you to support us. So in the ver very early days, we would have people volunteering their time, 10, 15, 20 hours a week to come out to build machines. Uh, we, we publicized on UB one, UB two, and we had loads of people come out.
Amardeep Parmar: For people that don't know as well, that's their south or isn't it?Yeah
Navjot Sawhney: Yep. Yeah, exactly.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. I mean, if you're Asian, you'll probably know what UB one, UB two is. We publicize it on UB one, U two and we had 50 people turn up to build machines to, to go to [00:14:00] Iraq for Oxfam's Pilot. Bearing in mind Oxfam funded us when we didn't even have an idea of how to build them. So I think the, the lesson there is, you know, just say yes and, and figure out how you're gonna do it later.
Navjot Sawhney: I think the, yeah, the sense of community and, and building that, that organization on volunteers. That want to make a difference. Yeah. Was really the, the heart and soul of the organization.
Amardeep Parmar: Could you give us an idea as well of like the progress since then? Right. Cause you've now built so many machines and affected so many people.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: Can you let us know that the listeners know, like, where is this now?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. I mean, so we started in 2019, so we're now sitting in having this conversation in 2023. There was a pandemic in between that.
Amardeep Parmar: Really? Yeah.
Navjot Sawhney:That was a blur, huh? Yeah. Yeah, so 30,000 people impacted positively in seven countries.
Navjot Sawhney: We've now announced multiple corporate partnerships, you know, millions of pounds of, uh, funding, uh, a small and growing team, uh, and some incredible announcements coming, uh, later in the year. So that being [00:15:00] said, you know, featured on 500 news outlets around the world a few months ago, being awarded an award by the Prime Minister and just my mom being happy with what we're doing.
Navjot Sawhney: Which is a good thing as well.
Amardeep Parmar: Is she now claiming that she told you to do it? And then she's like, oh, this is all my idea.
Navjot Sawhney: She's like, nav, where did you get this? Like, how did you, but she's really, really supportive and I caught her, uh, catching like this person delivering a package to the doorstep, like she managed to show an article to this guy.
Navjot Sawhney: I'm like, so embarrassed.
Amardeep Parmar: But it's incredible progress, right? You can see why. So as part as she is, But I know, like, what I imagine is that your dream is even bigger than that, right?
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: What's your, your long term dream or what, what do you wanna achieve overall?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, and I think, you know, we travel everywhere.
Navjot Sawhney: So last year I was, we were in 27 countries. Um, And we go to refugee camps, rural areas, urban areas, built up environments, and we see problems everywhere, you know, [00:16:00] from refugee camps that have only been designed to be around for six months, have been around for 20 years. So you can imagine all the infrastructure challenges plus the generations and generations on generations of people that are just living on top of one in the other.
Navjot Sawhney: And we feel that there's a gap. We feel that the current products are being developed. You know, the vacuum cleaners, the, the refrigerators, the cooks, stoves, the washing machines are not fit for purpose. These are products that you and I and many others who are listening to this podcast have taken for granted for hundreds of years, and.
Navjot Sawhney: People like Divya and Kalsek, a refugee mother in Lebanon, uh, mother of 10, um, who I am who met in, in a camp on the border of Syria, struggle with on a day-to-day basis. It denies them opportunities to work, rest, and go to school. And we want to become the Dyson of the humanitarian world. You know, uh, we see problems everywhere.
Navjot Sawhney: We want to keep innovating and you know, when [00:17:00] we look back, At this conversation in five to 10 years time, we'll be laughing. At the time we only made washing machines.
Amardeep Parmar: So I felt like my arm's got goosebumps there.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: because I can imagine this like, it sounds like a grand vision, but
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah
Amardeep Parmar: you've got exactly all the capabilities and the skills needed to do and the passion as well.
Amardeep Parmar: I actually been scaling up. Like you mentioned that refugee comes a few times there. Right. And I can imagine going to sit for the first time, it's been so difficult.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And how did you deal with that? When you're going and you're seeing like, yes, there's a washing machine problem and you're solving that, but as you said, you see all these other problems too.
Amardeep Parmar: How do you
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: Kind of keep going to these environments and take seeing those problems and keeping yourself going forwards? ‘Cause obviously it must be tough for you too, right?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar:Like you said, you've come from a relatively privileged background.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar:And how do you keep going back and keep seeing that pain and knowing?
Navjot Sawhney: there's a narrative that's like, um, that abs that I've absorbed throughout my life through news and through stories of other people who've gone to these places.
Navjot Sawhney: And, you know, um, when I, uh, went to [00:18:00] Iraq and. Jordan and, and Lebanon and other places like this. Um, for the first time I, I realized how normal things are. Yes, there's a, a battle or a war or conflict going on very close to, to probably where that refugee camp is and there's so much suffering that these people have gone through.
Navjot Sawhney: But these people do not want a handout. They don't want sympathy, they want empathy, they want opportunity, they wanna work. And this is a very small phase in their long lives. And unfortunately, they find themselves in these situations. And this could be you and me, and we are so lucky and I'm so blessed, um, to have the skills to help.
Navjot Sawhney: So why shouldn't I? Uh, and we have such a small, um, time on this earth, and maybe this is because of my father dying so young. When I was so young, did I realize this? But you know, if not now, then when, um, and [00:19:00] having these conversations with these people who, you know, it's just, it's even hard to, uh, talk about struggles of abuse, uh, sexual violence, um, People just losing everything.
Navjot Sawhney: Livelihoods, families, friends are still missing and still smiling and still wanna want to engage and wanna, uh, talk to you. Yeah. So much respect for these people. Uh, and I, and I, and I just want to keep supporting them in any way. Shape or form. I think
Amardeep Parmar: a lot of people, it holds 'em back cause they're worried about if they go to these environments I'll are they way up to cope.
Amardeep Parmar: But like I said, even though there is all that darkness there, there is all that hope too. Yeah. And it's, whenever I've talked to people who've been through some like really dark things, which we can't even imagine, Somehow this is the human resilience. Right? And you think we can sometimes underestimate how resilient humans are.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And like you said, it's by helping them, not about pitying them on like that because
Navjot Sawhney: No,
Amardeep Parmar:they're so strong to still be where they [00:20:00] are.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. Incredible. Yeah, it's, I, I was in, uh, I was in Lebanon, uh, on the, on the Border of Syria. And I went to this camp called uh, Alias nim camp, and this lady was sharing this tent with 15 of her family members.
Navjot Sawhney: This is a tent that's designed for six people, by the way. And you know, she's a middle class lady who had a house with a garden in Syria and now finds herself in this tent. And she was so excited to show me her garden. At the back of the tent. So she, she and a few of her neighbors recreated a, uh, water feature and they started growing some, some herbs.
Navjot Sawhney: So they, they realized that, you know, they might not never go back home. And so how do they make what they have around them, the home that they will grow up in? And there's children that have, have no, no different of suffering that they're going through right now. And it's [00:21:00] just amazing how life carries on and how resilient these people are and inspires me every day, and I'm so proud that I get to wake up.
Navjot Sawhney: And do something that I love and support these people.
Amardeep Parmar: Well, listening, uh, hearing your story, I'm thinking they wanna do something like that. Maybe it's not engineering. They've got other ways they wanna help.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
In terms of like the logistics and the operation, like how do you get to these kind of camps and how do you like network, be able to do this kind of thing?
Amardeep Parmar: How does that all work? Because it, to me that would seem like such a intimidating thing. Like how do I get to a refugee camp? How would I go and work with these people.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, and I guess, you know what, I do a lot of these talks and my, my first advice to people is if you want to help, you don't need to go to far away places to help.
Navjot Sawhney: You probably walk past a homeless person or someone that's going through, uh, some really tough period in their life through mental health or disability or political struggles or a refugee on the streets today that needs your support. Um, I often give this [00:22:00] example where, you know, you could make a ride hailing app or a dating app in the UK and London, but with the same set of skills you could support someone with an app that's fleeing the conflict in Sudan right now, or some a, a Ukrainian refugee family seeking legal support in Germany.
Navjot Sawhney: Those are the same coding skills, very different, uh, application. Everyone needs support, uh, and local communities are crying out for, for people like you to support them. So please do help, uh, help them. But, you know, in, in terms of trying to organize a, a, a refugee camp visit or a field research project, um, I think Covid really helped with that.
Navjot Sawhney: Um, before that we would. You know, try and go to these camps by ourselves and do lots of questionnaires and, and needs based assessment. We called it, but actually empowering local people, local organizations, local students, a really amazing untapped, uh, skill, [00:23:00] uh, in that area, uh, to do the work to support you.
Navjot Sawhney: ‘Cause they know the language, they know the lay of the land. They have the access and they're the best people. So we engage with local grassroots organizations to do our work. We don't give washing machines, uh, or provide solutions to people who don't need them. So we spend a lot of time trying to identify need, and then we stay for a long time afterwards, three to six months afterwards to see if people are, are using it.
Navjot Sawhney: So it's, it's, um, it's working and we're scaling that and, uh, more partners are, are coming on board to, to help with that.
Amardeep Parmar: What have been some of the toughest things about that journey, right? So obviously trying to scale then UN for example, like understanding which local community leaders and people are like to use.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: How did you get to where you are today, where you've been able to scale it, what were some of the mistakes you had to make along that way to learn from?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. I think firsthand, you know, getting the credibility and the attention that this problem deserves. Right? So not, I don't think anyone really, I don't think anyone [00:24:00] really realized how big this problem is.
Navjot Sawhney: 5.6 billion people in this world today have to go to Lake River and Stream to wash their clothes by hand. That is crazy. As we sit in this plush, uh, studio today recording this podcast, that really frustrates me. I want more and more people to know about that, but not many people do, and that was the really tough, uh, thing to get across the problem.
Navjot Sawhney: And then, Building a team that's kind of dedicated, gets the mission, gets our values, and has the skills, and also eager to learn. That's also been a real challenge. And I made some mistakes earlier on by giving opportunities to people that are closest to me. And maybe that's not the best way to have done it, but you know, you need to make these mistakes to to, to grow.
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, and now it's navigating, creating. Uh, a product is one thing, but actually getting it to a very rural part of Uganda or [00:25:00] India or Mexico or Ukraine or um, or Lebanon is the toughest thing that you'll ever imagine. I'm sure people can imagine that.
Amardeep Parmar: So, been great to chat to you today and like learn about all the story and what you've been doing, and I do hope as well in 5, 10 years time, you are the Dyson of the developing world and to help those people that need it.
Amardeep Parmar: So first question of the quick fire round is, who are three British Asians that you'd love to shout out for their great work they're doing? Anything people listening should be paying attention to.
Navjot Sawhney: Sure. Yeah. I think, um, in the spirit of the washing machine project and women empowerment, um, three amazing, uh, Asian founders.
Navjot Sawhney: That are female that I think are absolutely killing it right now, Hena Husain, who's the founder and CEO of Content, uh, architect. Um, so she's developed this SaaS platform, um, where businesses and social media influencers never miss a date. So [00:26:00] whether it's Megan Markle's court case or an interview, or the King's coronation, she'll always keep you in check for your
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, social media needs Ranjeet Kaur, the founder of Seek coloring book, she, uh, is an illustrator publisher who's created these really amazing books that illustrate the, the found founding of Sikhism Gurmukhi, and some stories and gets kids and adults involved in inter coloring, amazing initiative and a bit of, of peace.
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, a lady called Amrit Kaur, who's a singer, she was a BBC's, uh, uh, one of the up and coming artists on the bbc, and I just heard, uh, last week at Vaisakhi, Mela London, I was, I was crying at, at her performance. So three really amazing entrepreneurs. Um, Uh, founders, people that are just doing really cool things.
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah, I love that. And I always say love the shout to women there. Cause like you said, [00:27:00] they've had such an impact on you growing up and to many of us growing up. Right? Not just people who've lost their fathers. So many of us in the Asian backgrounds. Our moms so important to us and sisters and it's trying to help those people that have helped us.
Amardeep Parmar: Right? And next one is, if people right now are listening and are seeking advice or guidance, what would you be able to help them with?
Navjot Sawhney: Me personally? What I would be able to help?
Amardeep Parmar:Yeah.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. So I think I learned this earlier on, which is, uh, falling in love with the problem because the solution will always change.
Navjot Sawhney: So the solution of of a manual washing machine will change in the future, but the problem of people hand washing clothes is always gonna stay the same. And that's the thing that you need to fall in love with. That's the thing that's gonna, uh, get you through, you know, the 4ams, the not making payroll for the team, you know, the, uh, whether the runway is, is, is gonna be met in six months time That.
Navjot Sawhney: Waking up every day and going after that problem, uh, is, is my biggest piece of advice for anyone that's [00:28:00] trying to start something. And
Amardeep Parmar: Then on the other side, if people listening right now might be able to help you. What could they help you with?
Navjot Sawhney: I think just talking about the Washing Machine project, um, you know, today, uh, if you've had this podcast, tell someone that didn't know about the Washing Machine project, um, sharing it on.
Navjot Sawhney: On socials, and you can also, if you feel generous enough to donate a washing machine to someone who, who really needs it, whether it's Divya or, or Kalsek, or a girl, 14 year old girl called Patricia, who we gave a machine to, uh, uh, in an orphanage in Uganda in November last year. Someone that fainted whilst hand washing clothes.
Navjot Sawhney: And so, yeah, just give generously and, and, and tell someone about the washing machine project.
Amardeep Parmar: So thanks so much for coming on and like, congratulations, all the amazing work you doing. Have you got any final words to the audience?
Navjot Sawhney: If not now, then when?
Amardeep Parmar: Hello? Hello everyone. Thank you so much for listening. It [00:29:00] makes a huge amount to us and we don't think you realize how important you are because if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you leave us a five star review, it makes the world of difference. And if you believe in what we're trying to do here to inspire, connect, and guide the next generation of British Asians, if you do those things, you can help us achieve that mission and you can help us make a bigger impact.
Amardeep Parmar: And by doing that it means we can get bigger guests, we can host more events, we can do more for the community. So you can play a huge part. So thank you so much for supporting us.
Navjot Sawhney: [00:00:00] 5.6 billion people in the world today. So 70% of the world's population have to have much clothes. And I was like, We need to fix this problem. We want to become the Dyson of the humanitarian world. Bearing in mind, Ox Fam funded us when we didn't even have an idea of how to build them, and everyone thought I was making the biggest mistake of my, my career and my life, and I'm so proud that I get to wake up and do something that I love.
Navjot Sawhney: And support these people. So 30,000 people impacted positively in seven countries. We've now, you know, millions of pounds of funding, uh, and some incredible announcements coming later in the years.
Amardeep Parmar: Welcome to The BAE HQ, where we inspire connecting guide the next generation of British Asians. Smash that subscribe button. If you watch then YouTube, and it's a five star review if you're listening on Apple or Spotify. Today we have a have with us Nav who's the founder of the Washing Machine Project.
Amardeep Parmar: They're on a mission to give back the dignity of clean [00:01:00] clothes. How you doing today?
Navjot Sawhney: Good, thanks. What an introduction.
Amardeep Parmar: Thank you. I stumbled my words there, I dunno what happened there.
Navjot Sawhney: That's okay. That's perfect.
Amardeep Parmar: So you've come, you've done your second ever live podcast today.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: So, and you said our podcast got nicer lighting and stuff too, right?
Navjot Sawhney: Man, this is, uh, this is really stepping it up. A not, huh?
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. But you've done some incredible work now, right? But when you're growing up, did you think you'd be one day coming onto a podcast at this to talk about what you've built?
Navjot Sawhney: No way. Not at all. Surreal. I pinch myself every single day. Um, I'm really lucky that I'm on this journey of, of being this founder of an incredible organization.
Navjot Sawhney: Like, like the washing machine project. Um, yeah. Thank you for having me on.
Amardeep Parmar: What did you think you would do when you were growing up?
Navjot Sawhney: When I was a kid, I wanted to become an Astronaut. I think we're all gonna become Astronauts. My father was an Aerospace Engineer. He used to take me to air shows. So I'd be very curious with how these big aircraft would go, uh, in, up into the sky.
Navjot Sawhney: [00:02:00] And then I would come back home. I would take the toolbox out of the shed. And just break everything inside. And I used to really make my mom very angry because I'd never know how to put anything back together again. You know, seeing how things worked and, you know, just, just opening things up was
Navjot Sawhney: Something that I did for my whole childhood and then, you know, going on and, and studying Aerospace Engineering at university was just like a natural transition. But my, my father unfortunately died when I was very, very young. I was seven years old at the time, and my mom and my two sisters, they were older than me, single-handedly raised me.
Navjot Sawhney: So I was really, really aware. Uh, about my surroundings and how women influenced my surroundings. And I knew from a very young age the importance of women in the household. So that really, uh, shaped my, my childhood and, and to my kind of, uh, later [00:03:00] years in life.
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. So, I dunno if you know as well, so my dad passed away last year.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. So, so right too.
Amardeep Parmar: So I can relate, obviously to what you're saying and the difficulty of, so going through that at such a young age and how that's probably affected you in so many ways now.
Navjot Sawhney:Good. Incredible.
Amardeep Parmar: And even, for example, when you're building your own business, right? For me, I had my dad's help until like last year.
Amardeep Parmar: So that gave me an advantage that obviously you didn't have. Yeah. That you had the strength of the women in your family to raise you and to get you to where you are today.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And when you're into Engineering at university, then what was the plan after that?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, and I think, you know, losing a parent at such a young age to, to then be brought up by some incredible women.
Navjot Sawhney: I'm so lucky to have really influential experiences in my life that have formed my thinking and my way of life today. My condolences to you and your family. I studied engineering and I was obsessed at getting the next Best graduate program. I don't think anyone equips you to apply for a job that you really care about.
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, [00:04:00] I think you just go to the company that gives the best pizza at the grad fair, you know, free pens and, you know, applied for hundreds and hundreds, hundreds of jobs. And I landed. One of the Bell's best graduate programs at, at Dyson. So I joined Dyson for, for what was almost three years of my time there, and incredible experience.
Navjot Sawhney: I learned so much. I, you know, met with the founder of Dyson many times to talk about ideas and the kind of user based experience of designing was. Great. But I realized three years into my, my career that every bit of good engineering that I was doing was just basically making a vacuum cleaner for a rich person.
Navjot Sawhney: And I couldn't, I was like, am I gonna do this for the rest of my life? You know, I want my engineering to, to help people. I want my engineering to go [00:05:00] further. To make real positive impact in the world and I decided to quit my job.
Amardeep Parmar: And did you have the idea already of what you were gonna do, or did you just quit and think you're gonna work out?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, that's a good question. I had been thinking about it for a few months. I applied. For a position with a charity called Engineers of That Borders UK and they sent me out to India to volunteer for a year and a half to make clean and efficient cooking stoves. Now this problem, uh, affects 50% of the world population who have to use solid fuel like wood and charcoal and dung to cook their food.
Navjot Sawhney: So, you know, 50% is either you or me right now. So imagine having to spend hours and hours. A day breathing in this smoke. And that's the problem for half the world's population. You can imagine coming from a South Asian background, that having that conversation with your, your parents saying, you know you're not happy and you're not, go work for free and give up your well-paid job [00:06:00] to do something.
Navjot Sawhney: A charitable that did not land well. In, in my household that week, I was so disappointing for the people around me and everyone thought I was making the biggest mistake of my, my career and my life. You know, why am I, why am I doing this? And, uh, it's something that I wanted to do. I wanted to help people.
Navjot Sawhney: I feel like we are put on this planet too, to make impact and, and, and support people. And so I found myself in September, 2016. Uh, through to 2017 in this very small South Indian village called Kuilapalayam. And I was staying in this village, uh, that didn't have very much running water, so only switched on 15 minutes a day at 6:00 AM I was never awake at 6:00 AM and it's switched on six, 6:00 PM as well for 15 minutes.
Navjot Sawhney: And I was always, always at work. So I was always used to miss water. And if you didn't have a generator, the power was always out, you know, so, days [00:07:00] and days of blackouts. And you can imagine at a 40 degree temperature, it's so tough. So tough. And even cooling your food wasn't possible. And you know, I experienced that every single day.
Navjot Sawhney: And as an Engineer, I saw problems all over the place. Open defecation, buildings falling down, people lacking transport. And I was like, I can't believe, I can't believe this. You know, I'm so lucky and, and this experience, uh, was incredible. On Monday, we'd have an idea, on Tuesday we would put this idea together.
Navjot Sawhney: On, on Wednesday, we would put this idea into the field. And get an auntie to, to test it out, this cook stove. And by Thursday we'd realize if our cook stove was rubbish or not. And by Friday we had to have a new idea. So this kind of iterative living learning that we had was incredible. And that coupled with the friendship that I had with my next door neighbor, uh, completely changed my life.
Navjot Sawhney: Divya was my next door neighbor and she's a 30 something. [00:08:00] Stay-at-home Mom who got married at the age of 16, had two kids and she spoke perfect English, learnt at high school, but never used since. And she used to spend hours and hours and hours a day on unpaid labor. We don't have to look very far. Uh, and see in our own households and in our own communities how much of the unpaid labor is done by women.
Navjot Sawhney: And that's not unique to just Divya. Or our communities. It's every single, um, country across the world. Um, women are disproportionately affected, whether it's cooking, cleaning, childbearing, and this is something I saw so closely with Divya, you know, her life was an everyday struggle, whether it was foraging for wood, uh, standing in line for water or hand washing her family's clothes, and, you know, we became best friends.
Navjot Sawhney: My Tamil was rubbish. Her English was amazing. And uh, every evening we would catch up outside her house, [00:09:00] catch up on the day's activities, she'd complain about back pain, joint pain, skin irritation. And I said to Divya, why can't you just use that electric washing machine? I'll buy you one. And she's like, nah, if you.
Navjot Sawhney: Electric washing machines don't work here. We don't have much running water. We don't have a generator, so that solution doesn't make sense. She wanted to work but just didn't have the time. So, um, that's, that's where the promise was. That's where the penny dropped. That's when I realized that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.
Navjot Sawhney: I wanna make products for people like Divya. And so I came home, I did some research and I found that 5.6. Billion people in the world today, so 70% of the world's population have to hand wash clothes, and I was like, we need to fix this problem.
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. And even if you go back for a second, you mentioned how obviously your mom assisted instilled there values in you because you said you want to make a difference, you wanna help people, right?
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. They put those values in you, [00:10:00] but it's also think a struggle for so many parents of they wouldn't also the best in this financial ability for their children too. And it's that tough thing of, they obviously raised you to be the person you became, but they all said they're worried about you, right?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And once you came back from India, how did that then go when you said, okay, this is what I wanna do the rest of my life. What's that? Did they see what you've done and how passionate you are.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, I mean there's, there's still a bit skeptical. I remember having the idea of the washing machine project.
Navjot Sawhney: What's that? Well, I want to create a manual washing machine ‘cause I want to make something for Divya. My next door neighbor, my best friend, and I remember at the time I was physically knocking on doors for people to give me attention. I was like, please, can I have a meeting with you to just show you what I have and my idea and I want support and collaboration.
Navjot Sawhney: And slowly, slowly, we built up credibility. I actually went back to University, uh, to study a degree in humanitarianism at the University of University of Bath.
Amardeep Parmar:That's where I went. Yeah
Navjot Sawhney: Shout out Bath. Amazing. Amazing uni, [00:11:00] uh, really helped the, the cause I worked as well full-time at, uh, Jagger Land Rover to provide a means to an end.
Navjot Sawhney: And I remember working. So hard on this idea and I would gather my friends around my mom's kitchen table with, with me probably once a week, once a month sometimes, and just brainstorm of how we can solve this problem. And we had this salad spinner in the corner. And right maybe we can use the salad spinner technology that's gearing technology on a washing machine.
Navjot Sawhney: Um, a manual crack kinda washing machine. And so those were the first ideas. And on my course, I had someone that worked, uh, in Iraq, uh, a good friend of mine, and he said, why don't you bring your prototype to Iraq and come for the week? And, and just test it out on people. They're like, yeah, sure. So my friend and I, Alex, uh, we made this prototype in, in a couple of days, packed our clothes in the prototype, wrapped it up in plastic [00:12:00] and took it on the plane to Iraq.
Amardeep Parmar:Did, did any questions get asked there?
Navjot Sawhney: So many questions. It looks so dodgy. Um, but, you know, we spent, uh, seven full days in, uh, about nine refugee camps in, in Northern Iraq in, um, Kurdistan. And we interviewed 79 refugee families, Yazidi families. And that was the first experience that I had in the camp environment and testing this machine.
Navjot Sawhney: And the feedback was amazing people really understood the problem, wanted a, a solution, wanted a change, and we wrapped that up into a report and Ox fam picked it up and, Yeah, I guess the rest is history.
Amardeep Parmar: So once you went from that prototype, obviously you proved that it was helpful to people.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: But at the same time, you needed to get funding.
Amardeep Parmar: You needed to try to change that prototype into something which you could then scale and get across to, or the people that needed it.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: How'd you go about that next phase?
Navjot Sawhney: I guess I was trying to engage with other people that were frustrated like me. Maybe a few years [00:13:00] before me. I realized that, you know, I am working this big corporate making.
Navjot Sawhney: You know, 500 pound vacuum cleaners and I was frustrated and I wanted to help someone, and I knew lots of my friends wanted to help as well. So I capitalized on this by engaging with volunteers. So I said to the to, to my friends and the community around me, I said, you have so many good skills that are needed on this, this mission, on this organization, the washing machine project.
Navjot Sawhney: I would love for you to support us. So in the ver very early days, we would have people volunteering their time, 10, 15, 20 hours a week to come out to build machines. Uh, we, we publicized on UB one, UB two, and we had loads of people come out.
Amardeep Parmar: For people that don't know as well, that's their south or isn't it?Yeah
Navjot Sawhney: Yep. Yeah, exactly.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. I mean, if you're Asian, you'll probably know what UB one, UB two is. We publicize it on UB one, U two and we had 50 people turn up to build machines to, to go to [00:14:00] Iraq for Oxfam's Pilot. Bearing in mind Oxfam funded us when we didn't even have an idea of how to build them. So I think the, the lesson there is, you know, just say yes and, and figure out how you're gonna do it later.
Navjot Sawhney: I think the, yeah, the sense of community and, and building that, that organization on volunteers. That want to make a difference. Yeah. Was really the, the heart and soul of the organization.
Amardeep Parmar: Could you give us an idea as well of like the progress since then? Right. Cause you've now built so many machines and affected so many people.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: Can you let us know that the listeners know, like, where is this now?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. I mean, so we started in 2019, so we're now sitting in having this conversation in 2023. There was a pandemic in between that.
Amardeep Parmar: Really? Yeah.
Navjot Sawhney:That was a blur, huh? Yeah. Yeah, so 30,000 people impacted positively in seven countries.
Navjot Sawhney: We've now announced multiple corporate partnerships, you know, millions of pounds of, uh, funding, uh, a small and growing team, uh, and some incredible announcements coming, uh, later in the year. So that being [00:15:00] said, you know, featured on 500 news outlets around the world a few months ago, being awarded an award by the Prime Minister and just my mom being happy with what we're doing.
Navjot Sawhney: Which is a good thing as well.
Amardeep Parmar: Is she now claiming that she told you to do it? And then she's like, oh, this is all my idea.
Navjot Sawhney: She's like, nav, where did you get this? Like, how did you, but she's really, really supportive and I caught her, uh, catching like this person delivering a package to the doorstep, like she managed to show an article to this guy.
Navjot Sawhney: I'm like, so embarrassed.
Amardeep Parmar: But it's incredible progress, right? You can see why. So as part as she is, But I know, like, what I imagine is that your dream is even bigger than that, right?
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: What's your, your long term dream or what, what do you wanna achieve overall?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, and I think, you know, we travel everywhere.
Navjot Sawhney: So last year I was, we were in 27 countries. Um, And we go to refugee camps, rural areas, urban areas, built up environments, and we see problems everywhere, you know, [00:16:00] from refugee camps that have only been designed to be around for six months, have been around for 20 years. So you can imagine all the infrastructure challenges plus the generations and generations on generations of people that are just living on top of one in the other.
Navjot Sawhney: And we feel that there's a gap. We feel that the current products are being developed. You know, the vacuum cleaners, the, the refrigerators, the cooks, stoves, the washing machines are not fit for purpose. These are products that you and I and many others who are listening to this podcast have taken for granted for hundreds of years, and.
Navjot Sawhney: People like Divya and Kalsek, a refugee mother in Lebanon, uh, mother of 10, um, who I am who met in, in a camp on the border of Syria, struggle with on a day-to-day basis. It denies them opportunities to work, rest, and go to school. And we want to become the Dyson of the humanitarian world. You know, uh, we see problems everywhere.
Navjot Sawhney: We want to keep innovating and you know, when [00:17:00] we look back, At this conversation in five to 10 years time, we'll be laughing. At the time we only made washing machines.
Amardeep Parmar: So I felt like my arm's got goosebumps there.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: because I can imagine this like, it sounds like a grand vision, but
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah
Amardeep Parmar: you've got exactly all the capabilities and the skills needed to do and the passion as well.
Amardeep Parmar: I actually been scaling up. Like you mentioned that refugee comes a few times there. Right. And I can imagine going to sit for the first time, it's been so difficult.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And how did you deal with that? When you're going and you're seeing like, yes, there's a washing machine problem and you're solving that, but as you said, you see all these other problems too.
Amardeep Parmar: How do you
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: Kind of keep going to these environments and take seeing those problems and keeping yourself going forwards? ‘Cause obviously it must be tough for you too, right?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar:Like you said, you've come from a relatively privileged background.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar:And how do you keep going back and keep seeing that pain and knowing?
Navjot Sawhney: there's a narrative that's like, um, that abs that I've absorbed throughout my life through news and through stories of other people who've gone to these places.
Navjot Sawhney: And, you know, um, when I, uh, went to [00:18:00] Iraq and. Jordan and, and Lebanon and other places like this. Um, for the first time I, I realized how normal things are. Yes, there's a, a battle or a war or conflict going on very close to, to probably where that refugee camp is and there's so much suffering that these people have gone through.
Navjot Sawhney: But these people do not want a handout. They don't want sympathy, they want empathy, they want opportunity, they wanna work. And this is a very small phase in their long lives. And unfortunately, they find themselves in these situations. And this could be you and me, and we are so lucky and I'm so blessed, um, to have the skills to help.
Navjot Sawhney: So why shouldn't I? Uh, and we have such a small, um, time on this earth, and maybe this is because of my father dying so young. When I was so young, did I realize this? But you know, if not now, then when, um, and [00:19:00] having these conversations with these people who, you know, it's just, it's even hard to, uh, talk about struggles of abuse, uh, sexual violence, um, People just losing everything.
Navjot Sawhney: Livelihoods, families, friends are still missing and still smiling and still wanna want to engage and wanna, uh, talk to you. Yeah. So much respect for these people. Uh, and I, and I, and I just want to keep supporting them in any way. Shape or form. I think
Amardeep Parmar: a lot of people, it holds 'em back cause they're worried about if they go to these environments I'll are they way up to cope.
Amardeep Parmar: But like I said, even though there is all that darkness there, there is all that hope too. Yeah. And it's, whenever I've talked to people who've been through some like really dark things, which we can't even imagine, Somehow this is the human resilience. Right? And you think we can sometimes underestimate how resilient humans are.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: And like you said, it's by helping them, not about pitying them on like that because
Navjot Sawhney: No,
Amardeep Parmar:they're so strong to still be where they [00:20:00] are.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. Incredible. Yeah, it's, I, I was in, uh, I was in Lebanon, uh, on the, on the Border of Syria. And I went to this camp called uh, Alias nim camp, and this lady was sharing this tent with 15 of her family members.
Navjot Sawhney: This is a tent that's designed for six people, by the way. And you know, she's a middle class lady who had a house with a garden in Syria and now finds herself in this tent. And she was so excited to show me her garden. At the back of the tent. So she, she and a few of her neighbors recreated a, uh, water feature and they started growing some, some herbs.
Navjot Sawhney: So they, they realized that, you know, they might not never go back home. And so how do they make what they have around them, the home that they will grow up in? And there's children that have, have no, no different of suffering that they're going through right now. And it's [00:21:00] just amazing how life carries on and how resilient these people are and inspires me every day, and I'm so proud that I get to wake up.
Navjot Sawhney: And do something that I love and support these people.
Amardeep Parmar: Well, listening, uh, hearing your story, I'm thinking they wanna do something like that. Maybe it's not engineering. They've got other ways they wanna help.
Navjot Sawhney:Yeah.
In terms of like the logistics and the operation, like how do you get to these kind of camps and how do you like network, be able to do this kind of thing?
Amardeep Parmar: How does that all work? Because it, to me that would seem like such a intimidating thing. Like how do I get to a refugee camp? How would I go and work with these people.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah, and I guess, you know what, I do a lot of these talks and my, my first advice to people is if you want to help, you don't need to go to far away places to help.
Navjot Sawhney: You probably walk past a homeless person or someone that's going through, uh, some really tough period in their life through mental health or disability or political struggles or a refugee on the streets today that needs your support. Um, I often give this [00:22:00] example where, you know, you could make a ride hailing app or a dating app in the UK and London, but with the same set of skills you could support someone with an app that's fleeing the conflict in Sudan right now, or some a, a Ukrainian refugee family seeking legal support in Germany.
Navjot Sawhney: Those are the same coding skills, very different, uh, application. Everyone needs support, uh, and local communities are crying out for, for people like you to support them. So please do help, uh, help them. But, you know, in, in terms of trying to organize a, a, a refugee camp visit or a field research project, um, I think Covid really helped with that.
Navjot Sawhney: Um, before that we would. You know, try and go to these camps by ourselves and do lots of questionnaires and, and needs based assessment. We called it, but actually empowering local people, local organizations, local students, a really amazing untapped, uh, skill, [00:23:00] uh, in that area, uh, to do the work to support you.
Navjot Sawhney: ‘Cause they know the language, they know the lay of the land. They have the access and they're the best people. So we engage with local grassroots organizations to do our work. We don't give washing machines, uh, or provide solutions to people who don't need them. So we spend a lot of time trying to identify need, and then we stay for a long time afterwards, three to six months afterwards to see if people are, are using it.
Navjot Sawhney: So it's, it's, um, it's working and we're scaling that and, uh, more partners are, are coming on board to, to help with that.
Amardeep Parmar: What have been some of the toughest things about that journey, right? So obviously trying to scale then UN for example, like understanding which local community leaders and people are like to use.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah.
Amardeep Parmar: How did you get to where you are today, where you've been able to scale it, what were some of the mistakes you had to make along that way to learn from?
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. I think firsthand, you know, getting the credibility and the attention that this problem deserves. Right? So not, I don't think anyone really, I don't think anyone [00:24:00] really realized how big this problem is.
Navjot Sawhney: 5.6 billion people in this world today have to go to Lake River and Stream to wash their clothes by hand. That is crazy. As we sit in this plush, uh, studio today recording this podcast, that really frustrates me. I want more and more people to know about that, but not many people do, and that was the really tough, uh, thing to get across the problem.
Navjot Sawhney: And then, Building a team that's kind of dedicated, gets the mission, gets our values, and has the skills, and also eager to learn. That's also been a real challenge. And I made some mistakes earlier on by giving opportunities to people that are closest to me. And maybe that's not the best way to have done it, but you know, you need to make these mistakes to to, to grow.
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, and now it's navigating, creating. Uh, a product is one thing, but actually getting it to a very rural part of Uganda or [00:25:00] India or Mexico or Ukraine or um, or Lebanon is the toughest thing that you'll ever imagine. I'm sure people can imagine that.
Amardeep Parmar: So, been great to chat to you today and like learn about all the story and what you've been doing, and I do hope as well in 5, 10 years time, you are the Dyson of the developing world and to help those people that need it.
Amardeep Parmar: So first question of the quick fire round is, who are three British Asians that you'd love to shout out for their great work they're doing? Anything people listening should be paying attention to.
Navjot Sawhney: Sure. Yeah. I think, um, in the spirit of the washing machine project and women empowerment, um, three amazing, uh, Asian founders.
Navjot Sawhney: That are female that I think are absolutely killing it right now, Hena Husain, who's the founder and CEO of Content, uh, architect. Um, so she's developed this SaaS platform, um, where businesses and social media influencers never miss a date. So [00:26:00] whether it's Megan Markle's court case or an interview, or the King's coronation, she'll always keep you in check for your
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, social media needs Ranjeet Kaur, the founder of Seek coloring book, she, uh, is an illustrator publisher who's created these really amazing books that illustrate the, the found founding of Sikhism Gurmukhi, and some stories and gets kids and adults involved in inter coloring, amazing initiative and a bit of, of peace.
Navjot Sawhney: Uh, a lady called Amrit Kaur, who's a singer, she was a BBC's, uh, uh, one of the up and coming artists on the bbc, and I just heard, uh, last week at Vaisakhi, Mela London, I was, I was crying at, at her performance. So three really amazing entrepreneurs. Um, Uh, founders, people that are just doing really cool things.
Amardeep Parmar: Yeah, I love that. And I always say love the shout to women there. Cause like you said, [00:27:00] they've had such an impact on you growing up and to many of us growing up. Right? Not just people who've lost their fathers. So many of us in the Asian backgrounds. Our moms so important to us and sisters and it's trying to help those people that have helped us.
Amardeep Parmar: Right? And next one is, if people right now are listening and are seeking advice or guidance, what would you be able to help them with?
Navjot Sawhney: Me personally? What I would be able to help?
Amardeep Parmar:Yeah.
Navjot Sawhney: Yeah. So I think I learned this earlier on, which is, uh, falling in love with the problem because the solution will always change.
Navjot Sawhney: So the solution of of a manual washing machine will change in the future, but the problem of people hand washing clothes is always gonna stay the same. And that's the thing that you need to fall in love with. That's the thing that's gonna, uh, get you through, you know, the 4ams, the not making payroll for the team, you know, the, uh, whether the runway is, is, is gonna be met in six months time That.
Navjot Sawhney: Waking up every day and going after that problem, uh, is, is my biggest piece of advice for anyone that's [00:28:00] trying to start something. And
Amardeep Parmar: Then on the other side, if people listening right now might be able to help you. What could they help you with?
Navjot Sawhney: I think just talking about the Washing Machine project, um, you know, today, uh, if you've had this podcast, tell someone that didn't know about the Washing Machine project, um, sharing it on.
Navjot Sawhney: On socials, and you can also, if you feel generous enough to donate a washing machine to someone who, who really needs it, whether it's Divya or, or Kalsek, or a girl, 14 year old girl called Patricia, who we gave a machine to, uh, uh, in an orphanage in Uganda in November last year. Someone that fainted whilst hand washing clothes.
Navjot Sawhney: And so, yeah, just give generously and, and, and tell someone about the washing machine project.
Amardeep Parmar: So thanks so much for coming on and like, congratulations, all the amazing work you doing. Have you got any final words to the audience?
Navjot Sawhney: If not now, then when?
Amardeep Parmar: Hello? Hello everyone. Thank you so much for listening. It [00:29:00] makes a huge amount to us and we don't think you realize how important you are because if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you leave us a five star review, it makes the world of difference. And if you believe in what we're trying to do here to inspire, connect, and guide the next generation of British Asians, if you do those things, you can help us achieve that mission and you can help us make a bigger impact.
Amardeep Parmar: And by doing that it means we can get bigger guests, we can host more events, we can do more for the community. So you can play a huge part. So thank you so much for supporting us.
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