Using Business to Fight Poverty - Erik Olson
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Episode Description
In this episode of the On The Rise Podcast's Faith-Driven Leaders Series, host Nick Stromwall sits down with his friend and hero Erik Olson — entrepreneur, CEO of Dignity Made, and former humanitarian worker who spent a decade serving the poor in Iraq, Yemen, Greece, and the Philippines. Erik shares how a painting business in college led to a fork-in-the-road moment in 2003 Iraq, how nine years of humanitarian work revealed that economics — not just charity — is the root solution to poverty and trafficking, and how a question he asked a coconut farmer in a bamboo hut in the Philippines became the catalyst for building a business that is transforming an entire rural community. It is a story about faith, sacrifice, proximity to the problem, and what it looks like to build something that serves people made in the image of God.
Summary
1. A Painting Business, a Breakup, and a War Zone
Erik's story begins not with a grand plan but with a tug — a growing desire to serve the poor that interrupted a comfortable trajectory as a college business owner. In 2003, fresh off a breakup and with a thriving painting company behind him, he ended up in Iraq as Saddam fell. He had never left the country. He had never met a Muslim. And something came alive in him that never left.
"I really enjoyed it. Something came alive in me as I worked with people in extreme poverty. This was a whole new level."
2. Nine Years of Humanitarian Work Revealed One Root Cause
After Iraq, Erik spent the next nine years working with trafficked women, families in extreme poverty, and communities without clean water across Yemen, Greece, and the Philippines. Over and over, the same pattern emerged — below the visible surface need was an economic root. When men had jobs, everything changed. When women were desperate, they became vulnerable to exploitation.
"A lot of it comes down to economics. When you're so desperate to make ends meet, it clouds your judgment and you take risks that you know you shouldn't take."
3. A Coconut Farmer's Greatest Hope
The moment that crystallized everything was a question Erik asked off-script in a bamboo hut in rural Philippines. He asked Romer, a coconut farmer, what his biggest hope in life was. The answer was not education for his kids or a safer home. It was that his debt would not be passed on to his children. That answer led Erik to discover a system of predatory lending at over 200% interest — trapping 3.5 million coconut farmers with no way out.
"My biggest hope in life is that my debt is not passed on to my children."
4. Attack the Economic Roots — Not Just the Symptoms
Erik's conclusion after a decade in the field was that traditional nonprofit community development models were not equipped to solve a problem rooted in economics. The only path forward was to build a business around the farmers' greatest asset — coconuts — and disrupt the predatory system from the inside.
"If we want to change it, our typical nonprofit community development models are not going to solve it. We need to actually attack the economic roots of the problem."
5. Proximity to the Problem — Build Where the People Are
Every expert told Erik to put the factory in a big city for logistics. His ministry instinct said the opposite — you have to be proximate to the problem. He built in the rural jungle, which miraculously prompted the government to construct a 56-kilometer two-lane highway into the area. That road changed everything — bringing buses, access to hospitals, and the ability for kids to get to college for the first time.
"If you really want to help people, you need to be proximate to the problem. When you live with them, you understand some of the roots of the problem and are able to address them better."
6. A Man With a Sixth-Grade Education Did What European Engineers Could Not
Dignity Made's unique coconut oil — raw, centrifuge-processed, with four times the antioxidants of any competitor — was not figured out by Scandinavian engineers. It was solved by a Filipino team member with a sixth-grade education who applied the scientific method through patient trial and error. That story embodies the entire philosophy of Dignity Made — the people closest to the problem often have the solution.
"The European engineers from Sweden and Norway couldn't figure it out. This guy with a sixth-grade education — he figured it out."
7. A Business That Belongs to the People
Dignity Made is structured as a business, not a charity. Investors accept concessionary returns because the bigger impact is on the people. The long-term goal is to give the business to the community — to build something self-sustaining that can outlast the founders and genuinely transform the economic trajectory of the 30,000 people in the surrounding area.
"Our investors hope to get just concessionary returns and then the bigger impact is on the people. We hope this is something that is self-sustaining, that can live on beyond all of us."
8. Working With Family Is Hard — But It Forces You to Make the Right Choices
Erik spent years saying he would never work with family. Now his father-in-law is the founder, his wife worked in marketing, and his sister is the marketing manager. His honest take — it is usually a bad idea, but it also removes the option of burning a bridge. You cannot walk away from someone you share Sunday dinner with, so you are forced to work through conflict, protect the relationship, and do the right thing every time.
"I know I'm never going to burn my father-in-law. That card's not in my hand. It forces me to say — what is the right choice here and how do we get through this conflict in a way that we both survive?"
Resources
Website: dignitymade.com
