In 2007, Kenton Lee watched a girl in Kenya walk to church in shoes so small she had cut open the front to let her toes stick out — and wrote an idea in his journal that would take six years and every shoe company's rejection before it became real. The Shoe That Grows, an adjustable sandal that expands five sizes and lasts for years, is now worn by more than 500,000 children across 100 countries. Kenton and his longtime friend and CEO Andrew Kroes join Care More Be Better to share what it takes to build something genuinely useful — the feedback loops, the business model tensions, the manufactured-in-Kenya milestone, and the question that closes the episode: what is your because? 01:41 - How Because International Came To Be 13:00 - The Shoe That Grows Works 27:43 - The Future Of Because International 35:09 - Because International’s Business Model For Their Big Audacious Goal 44:32 - Unlocking Continuous Improvement Through Feedback Loops 51:39 - Responding To The Call To Make A Real Difference Resources Because International — becauseinternational.org Kenton Lee on LinkedIn Andrew Kroes on LinkedIn @becauseinternational on Instagram Because International on Facebook Because International on YouTube Because International on Pinterest BUILD A GREENER FUTURE with CARE MORE BE BETTER Together, we planted 36,044 trees in 2025 through our partnership with ForestPlanet https://forestplanet.org/. We screamed past our goal of planting 20,000 trees thanks to subscribers like you! CAUSE PARTNER: If you value open dialogue, sustainability, and social equity, I invite you to support our new cause partner — Prescott College https://prescott.edu/. To learn more about this effort and to support the show, visit: https://caremorebebetter.com/support/ Follow us on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/caremorebebetter TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@caremorebebetter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caremorebebetter Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareMoreBeBetter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/care-more-be-better Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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