Welcome to The Recycled Pirate. If it’s your first time here, you might not now the full story about the Pirate, so let me indulge you. My actual name is Andrew, my friends call me Andy and most of the world knows me as that Pirate.
I was born and partially raised on a small island in the Caribbean, Curaçao, and partially raised in the Netherlands. As a kid I was gifted a book by my mother about two young boys stranded on an island, Hispaniola. To survive they had to join the Buccaneer’s, pirates who hunted for wild boar and sell the dried skin and meat for a living. As a young kid on a Caribbean island, I felt stranded too. Being raised in different cultures I was always sort of the odd one out. As I grew older the rebel syndrome stuck with me, just because I wanted to do things differently.
After travelling the world for a bit I returned to my beloved island to understand my old roots and love the salty life. In 2012 my life changed drastically by a bad judgement call. It costed someone her life, and I was supposed to remain paralyzed for from the waist down. This is where the rebel in me awakened once more to become a warrior that I had not met before. I became a man with a mission. First to learn to walk again, against all odds, to starting my own business out of survival, to becoming a guide, a coach, for others to find their light.
This has become my mission, my purpose. As I recycled life, from something which seemed so meaningless to living meaningful, I was triggered to do this for others as well. I had always been some sort of poet, but now the words came out as quotes, motivation or inspiration. Guiding my friends and clients, and talking at schools and local and international organizations, I knew my words would only last so long, so I came with an idea to write my favorite quote on a postcard and ship fifty of them to friends and followers to thank them for their support on my journey from wheelchair to social entrepreneur.
The fifty postcards became a hundred and the one quote was soon followed by many more. My message is to accept others as who they are and how they come. To empower people to embrace their growth. To leave their fears and choose for their adventure, and become the best version of themselves as I am doing every day a bit more.
But a coach isn’t a coach if he doesn’t have some messaging hidden in his messages, so I make sure to bring goods to the market that not only carry a message to inspire you, or to make you laugh, but is also durable, sustainable and that can help change the fast fashion or easy consumption market.
With The Recycled Pirate I am in business to change the business. To learn and to educate. To negotiate a better future for you and me, and all the tiny ones that come after us. You can’t change the world in one day or with one action, but you can help others that want to change the world as well and change the world together.
One coach at the time. One product at the time. One day at the time.
Join me on my mission, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or even back me on Patreon. But most of all, give me the chance to share with you that you CAN make a difference.
Pirate out! See you in the next blog post, whenever that will be.