He is best known for founding greentech platform Yoodlize and developing the concept of microfranchising[1][2][3] while teaching at Brigham Young University and running Fairbourne Consulting Group.
He had a deep sense of adventure that attracted him to activities like skiing, mountain biking, surfing, kayaking, rock climbing and, later in life, traveling across the world.
Prior to meeting Natalie, Jason took a 3-month long solo backpacking trip throughout southeast Asia, including Thailand, India and Nepal, where he hiked to Mt.
[7] Throughout his journey, Jason encountered extreme poverty among its inhabitants and felt inspired to take school and life more seriously, committing himself to using entrepreneurship to help those in need.
[9] As a result of his work in microfranchising, Jason was named the first Peery Fellow of Social Entrepreneurship by BYU’s Marriott School of Business[12] and continued in that capacity until 2015.
From 2011-2013 Jason also worked as an adjunct professor at the Monterey Institute of National Studies,[13] a graduate school of Middlebury College in Monterey, California, and served as a member of The Faculty Council for the Center for Financial Inclusion, which consisted of academics from premier national and international professional schools who used rigorous research and advocacy to advance inclusive financial systems for low-income people around the world.
[3] While teaching, Jason founded Fairbourne Consulting, which helped both nonprofit and for-profit corporations design and grow businesses in emerging and developing markets.
[6] Those small businesses helped create jobs for ex-child soldiers in Sierra Leone, Sudanese refugees who were forced into prostitution, impoverished Jamaicans, and Iraqi widows whose husbands were casualties of war.
While many other businesses suffered, Yoodlize survived as people still sought out fun experiences while social distancing, and accounts grew to several thousand by year’s end.
[26][6] Yoodlize’s next market launches were in California and Hawaii in 2023,[27][26][30] though it was also seeing steady user accounts created all across the country due to social media buzz, referrals and word of mouth.
Their key psychographic wanted to be responsible consumers that are reducing their carbon footprints and supporting their local communities, all while making or saving money along the way.