Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Angela Abshier. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Angela, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
For me and this project, it has always been about turning a no into a yes. Every obstacle that I encountered had a reason. I had to dismantle or debunk the obstacle, or find a way around it. So far I have been able to do that. I don’t think of it as being resilient, I think of it as making us bullet proof. We don’t run from the objections, we remove them.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
This began as a simple effort to keep sails out of landfill. I am a self proclaimed textile junkie so to me, it just seemed like such an incredible waste to throw all this material away.
I became obsessed with using them to create privacy and shelter during the very early days of the pandemic when it felt like everyone in the world was going to need their own room. I cold-called architects all over Los Angeles until I got a yes and then we ran smack into a brick wall when we tried to help the homeless.
Lesson number one, stay out of hot political issues. Stay focused on keeping sails out of landfill.
It’s been four years since I began this journey.. I have learned more about sail material than I thought there was to know and I believe more than ever that we have to figure out a way to make sails more circular. The ratio of material fit for housing and the number of folks who need it have kept the project alive. The materials and resources it takes to make these sails should mandate that they come with a second life plan. We are working with manufactures and owners on incentives and plans to create that behavioral change now.
It can’t happen soon enough. The global emergency housing crisis is absolutely shocking. According the the UN, at the end of 2022, 108.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution. conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order. Where on earth will all the raw materials come from Our designs maximize millions of square meters of high value material stored in various locations around the world.
Today we are privileged to be on Maui helping restore community and hope. Through a very generous sail donation we are in a position to make a huge impact across a number of restoration projects. These two sails will yield 20,000 square feet of some the strongest material in the world. With it we will design and construct shade and shelter for organizations and builders working to restore community to the victims of the Lahaina wildfires.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities that got me here:
1. Passion. I believe in this to my core. If I thought any part of it were wrong I may have quit long ago, but I don’t.
2. Tenacity. I won’t quit until it’s done.
3. Patience. It will take less time for somethings and more time for others. Either way, it won’t happen like or when you think it will. Be ready for that. Be flexible when it comes.
Get clear on the ways that you survive the peaks and valleys. You will likely need all your tricks to get it done. Journal, breathwork, exercise, pray, meditate, hydrate, eat right, get your rest. If you are aiming to be a change maker, you will need your tribe and your strength, whatever that may be for you.be Take time to keep grounded and focused. Make time to be still and quiet. The best way to develop or improve these is through practice, practice, practice. I wish you so much luck on your journey. Keep people around you who believe in you… leave space when they don’t. It’s ok.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I am overwhelmed I go back to nature. I am either in the water or in the trees. I get quiet and I ask to be led. I do as much as I can and when I have hit the line of what I know how to do, or can do I surrender and wait. The answers come when you listen.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sailtoshetler.org
- Instagram: @sail_to_shelter
