No matter what you are or what you do, it’s about finding purpose in what you do, and knowing WHY you are doing it. In this episode of The Design Your Thinking Podcast, I sit down with Robin Singh, Co-founder of Peepal Farm to talk about his journey from being an online hacker and techie to rescuing animals and running an NGO.

Who is Robin Singh?

An amateur programmer from a young age, he started his professional career as a freelance techie in 1997. He founded E-junkie in 2003, a digital delivery service aimed at removing the technology barrier for independent artists and publishers who wanted to sell their digital content directly to buyers.

After a successful exit in 2011, he went to Auroville in 2012 to dedicate more time to reading, writing, and developing his philosophy. So it was during that time he found his true calling – helping alleviate pain for those who can’t help themselves.

In 2013, he along with two other co-founders started a project to help re-build and re-start the volunteer program at Integrated Animal Care Center in Auroville. Later that year, they started ABC Co-operative in Delhi, a stray dog sterilization program in collaboration with stray dog feeders to create puppy free pockets.

Realizing that the nature of welfare projects being such that they are not scalable, they changed the strategy from just “doing” to involving and inspiring. That’s when the idea of Peepal Farm came about – a place for animals to heal and be heard, and for people who want to be part of that change.

So, along with his co-founders and team, Robin has been building and running it since December 2014.

Why Should You Listen to Robin?

There are plenty of reasons why you should listen to Robin. Let me give the top 3:

1. He was raised in a normal middle-class family and has seen suffering from a very young age.
2. Robin has followed his heart from a very young age; even when he felt lost, he followed his heart and had set clear focus.
3. He has a very unique way of looking at situations that life has presented him. You should hear him talk about the way he and his team is trying to grow an NGO.

What Does He Talk about in this Interview?

1. His childhood and the grievances he faced as a teenager.
2. How he started hacking online and what he did when he got caught.
3. His unique philosophy of life and the suffering footprint (you will really resonate with this if you are like me!)
4. How he handles and looks at failures (he recalls two of his biggest).
5. How he converted an abandoned piece of land into what is Peepal Farm.
6. The ways people abuse animals, and how his team has approached this by embracing people’s cultural backgrounds.
7. Approaches he and his team have used to get Peepal Farm more visibility.
8. Robin’s plan for the future of Peepal Farm and a tiny-yet-powerful piece of advice or suggestion that will change the way you did anything.

How Can You Listen?

Robin’s interview is available in audio. Here’s a direct link to the audio:

How to Get In Touch with Robin?

Website: peepalfarm.org

Instagram: @peepalfarm

Facebook: @peepalfarm

The episode is Supported By

I’d like to give a quick shout out to Thrive Themes. Thrive Architect by Thrive Themes is what I use to build this website. Do try Thrive Membership if you’d like to build a website like mine with zero technical help. I’m happy to share all the templates I’ve created, should you choose to give Thrive Membership a try. You can head over to designyourthinking.com/thrive.

Do signup for Thrive Membership and drop me a note at hello at design your thinking dot com to get access to the templates. You also get my detailed guide to create the most important pages on your website along with the templates.

You can find more useful resources for audio/video creation or editing and much more on my Resources page.

Read the Manifesto

Season 2 of The Design Your Thinking Podcast is inspired by the DYT Manifesto. Do download a copy of the manifesto here (no email required).