5 Minutes With OzHarvest Founder Ronni Kahn

The OzHarvest founder’s unconventional approach to business led to what is now a global food rescue social enterprise – and a new role as Visionary-in-Residence.

My first job was at 14 in a department store called OK Bazaars in South Africa. It was overwhelming. I didn’t last very long because I was this shy, introverted child and it was sales. I had to be brave because it wasn’t going to help anyone being a little mouse. That’s an interesting thing I’ve learnt since – the subliminal stuff that we learn and give off is so powerful.

My first wake-up call was at an event where I found myself with thousands of kilos of food – people just didn’t eat. I had a boutique event management company and I threw away food every day. I took the food to the Matthew Talbot Hostel in Sydney at midnight and they accepted it with open arms. I had no idea it was a $36-billion problem and that 3.7 million people need food every day in Australia. It didn’t take long for me to realise that this was my path. My first mentor, Sam Weiss, gave me the capacity to believe in myself. I didn’t even realise I was an entrepreneur, not to mention a social entrepreneur.

My first lesson in resilience was dealing with the board. There was this huge conflict around how to run OzHarvest and whether I was the right person. I was a square peg in a round hole because I’d never dealt with a board and was unconventional. I was doing things from my heart and from my soul but I was dealing with business leaders. My resilience was saying, “I’m actually doing this and we might have to do this my way.”

The first time I asked anyone for money, I didn’t have a clue. I had some serious lessons in being knocked back so I went to a three-day funding boot camp in New York. It taught me that all I have to do is share what it is we do and why and how we do it. I’m a storyteller and every single day I have more stories to tell and they are authentic and they are real.

My first uncomfortable conversations were just shocking. I didn’t know how to be honest because I’m a people-pleaser. I realised very quickly that for the good of my organisation there are times you have to have challenging conversations. It’s a very difficult thing to do but you can learn the skills required: listening, thoughtfulness, knowing the facts, knowing what outcome you want and being firm in those conversations.

The first time I thought about stepping back was when I realised the stuff I love is the visionary stuff. The business needs day-to-day management and the truth is that’s not where my skills lie right now. I’m stepping aside into a new role, Visionary-in-Residence, and I’ll continue to inspire, grow and guide OzHarvest.

Defining moment

The evolution of OzHarvest was not a great big plan. I was after one van and when asked if there was anything else that I needed, I said two vans. Then it became obvious that if I had three… Now we’ve got 85. It wasn’t that I intended to have a global organisation but we’re now in every state in Australia and the UK, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan and Vietnam.