Where it started

It feels like a lifetime since Mark and I started talking about this and that initial thought was sparked. When we started this, Super Being Labs had never published a book, let alone created one. I spent many nights developing the concept, coming up with a brand and the long-term strategy. It all seemed like an exciting mountain to climb, but nevertheless a mountain. Luckily, we got some seed funding from the inspiring Anthony Bravo Brando and that allowed us to make a start. Once we knew we were on the right track, we decided to forge ahead. We’d had a good year at Super Being and as per our mission, we were able to reinvest profits into meaningful ideas. Being ManKind was one of them – and so we did. More people were hired to help bring it to life and the rest is history – I’m not sure where Jenny, Priya and the team get their energy from but it gives me so much confidence to know that they’re just as driven to make this work.

I can’t thank them enough for helping get things to this stage. Jenny and Priya’s relentless energy in capturing stories and building a community around everything we do. Joe’s quick witted wordsmithing. Ed’s rapid fire conversations on social media. Beez’s beautiful eye for design. I just love this team and we’re constantly learning together.

I also want to thank our supporters – the people in Volume 1, the people about to be in Volume 2, the organisations we’re partnering with, the individuals who keep driving us forward, and of course, the teachers and young people who have welcomed us into their classrooms.

Without them all, we wouldn’t be where we are.

Where it is

Getting here has not been easy – there have been many a sleepless night (the stories I could tell!) but seeing the reactions from the young people we work and the reviews from our readers – yeh, that makes it all more than worth it.  

The impact has definitely been rewarding to see and here is a reminder of why we have to do this. However, we’ve only just scratched the surface. Being ManKind is now needed even more than it was needed when the idea was conceived. As I sit there watching the news – young kids being tragically bullied, civil rights being eroded, women’s rights being decided by male policymakers, terrorist attacks in so many cities, the utter madness coming out of the White House, the horrendous atrocities in Syria, the rise of extremism across so many ideologies – the bad news just seems endless.

However, we can’t stand still and let it all spiral out of control. If the source of the problems is humans failing to co-exist, then we must focus on that. One bit at a time. Without this, we can’t ever have an equal and just society…fear and greed will rule, rather than kindness and unlimited potential.

Where we want it to go

It’s now time to take this to the next level and beyond. This was never meant to be about just a book (and not just for boys either) – it was about the stories and humanity overall (this is why the first book is called Being ManKind but the whole project is called Being HumanKind – stay tuned).

Our Kickstarter campaign will aim to raise £75,000, so that we can print and develop more Volumes – which in turn will bring in the revenue to develop our community, expand our work from one volume into a series of books, in different languages and cultures across the world, develop more lesson plans for PSHE Classes, open-source our resources and bring the stories to life with technology, theatre and film. I want to turn this into a global brand that uses media for good.

Those long term creative outputs will elevate everything we do and as we do it, we’ll build a community of collaborators – until we’re working with every child in the world, inspiring them to build healthy relationships with themselves and those around them. This will hopefully set us on a path towards equality, where we all succeed together.

We’ve only just begun – help us get to the next stage by backing us on Kickstarter.

Thanks a million for listening to my ramblings,

Darshan (and the team)

Ps…if you want to chat more – email me anytime – [email protected]