The idea came from…
walking my dog on Brighton seafront after spending 4 hours trying to exchange my stuff, having to register on several sites and still not finding what I was looking for. I knew there was a need for a global social business that made sharing easy, fun and cool.

I believe it's the right moment for The People Who Share to take off because…
on a planet of finite resources with a growing population, we need to share to survive; we all have sharing potential, it's the one unlimited resource we have, we can't afford not to share.

The biggest challenges to overcome are…
a self-interested culture that favors greed over generosity.

My favorite success story so far…
winning the NESTA Innovation In Giving Fund within our first year, enabling us to build the first version of our marketplace of sharing and launching the Global Sharing Economy Network.

A failure I've learned from…
we won the initial 3 commissions for my first TV production company within a single hour on the same day -- much earlier than predicted. We had just 2 weeks to hire all the staff we needed and consequently made some BIG hiring mistakes.

In another life I was…
a TV director, a media entrepreneur and a ukulele enthusiast!

Three other UK Collaborative Consumption entrepreneurs who inspire me are…
Drummond Gilbert (Go Car Share), Ali Clabburn (Liftshare), Servane Mouazan (Ogunte).

Apart from The People Who Share, what gets me out of bed in the morning is…
building a better world for my beautiful, spirited, mischievous children.

It's 2015 and The People Who Share has achieved…
a global marketplace of sharing, that connects the Sharing Economy, engages the Primark shopper and a Global Sharing Economy Network in 100 + countries with over 10 Million Sharers.

Name four people you would like to meet one day?…
Mohamed Yunus, Camila Batmanghelidjh, Jeff Bezos, Aung San Suu Kyi.

We have been working on Swapsity since…
launching a private beta in the fall of 2008, though I had conceived the idea for Swapsity as early as 2005. I thought swapping was awesome even before I heard about Collaborative Consumption!

The idea came from…
me contemplating how swapping what we don't want for what we do want creates value for both parties and makes people feel good. I was no stranger to bartering; as a kid I would swap stamps. There are many business barter exchanges in Canada but little or no opportunities for ordinary folks to swap online. The idea for Swapsity was in perfect alignment with my personal values and it addressed compelling market needs. For me, it was a brilliant way to help people and be happy doing it.

I believe it's the right time for Swapsity to take off because…
the sharing economy is a viable approach to solving and reducing real problems. Many people are living beyond their means both financially and ecologically. We are consuming the resources of one and a half planets when we only have one, and the average Canadian is a whopping $26,000 in debt. What's more, the rise of social networking is contributing to a decline in face-to-face communication. Swapping is a wonderfully viable way of addressing these financial, environmental and social problems.

My favorite success story so far…
is hard to choose! We have witnessed a $4,000 car traded for kitchen renovations through our swapping site, seen more than 3,450 media items recycled at our largest swap event to-date--with 90% of surveyed swappers leaving very happy and our Green Living Show booth named in the top 1% of the event exhibitors--and we have been featured in over 70 media outlets. Let's not forget all the happy swappers we've met!

The biggest challenge to overcome is…
making swapping and sharing mainstream; we need a collective change of mindset. Sometimes it makes sense to use the cash economy, while other times it's better to tap into the swapping economy. The two complement each other. We need to embrace the spirit of collaboration and make swapping part of our lifestyle.

If I wasn't doing Swapsity, I would be…
unable to experience the many rewards of social entrepreneurship, such as a chance to make a difference, pioneer new things and meet like-minded people. Or, who knows, maybe I would be a globetrotter, famous chess player or a yogi.

Another Canadian Collaborative Consumption startup I admire is …
the Barter Babes Project is super! Shannon Simmons quit her high-rolling job and spent a year living virtually on barter. She's awesome, swap-savvy and her story shows that barter boosts personal happiness. Thumbs up for the Barter Babe!

In the future for Swapsity is…
cultivating a thriving and vibrant swapping economy within Canada and making a difference in the lives of individuals on financial, environmental and social levels. Just as entrepreneurship has empowered me, I aspire for Swapsity to empower Canadians. We will continue to lead the swapping movement in Canada and get people involved in Collaborative Consumption.

My one piece of advice for social entrepreneurs is…
building a venture from the ground up requires an incredible amount of energy, effort and enthusiasm. So, love what you do! You'll have a vast reservoir of energy to draw from and by realizing your big vision you will contribute to a healthier and happier world.

When a person decides to open up a brick-and-mortar business, push "go" on a startup concept, or venture in any other way into full-fledged business ownership, a lot of questions pop up. Questions about money, product viability, staffing, working space, equipment costs, and about whether their company will be welcomed into the market. One question in particular overshadows the excitement of having a great business idea: Is it worth the risk?

Once a founder has enough money to get started, she faces another tough question: "Will anyone like what I'm doing?" One of the cool things we're seeing at TaskRabbit is local tech and gaming startups hiring TaskRabbits to test their products and deliver immediate user feedback. As the founder of a tech startup, I can tell you that this type of focus group testing is paramount -- and usually really pricey and difficult to coordinate. We were so inspired by the idea that we now hire TaskRabbits once a week to come into the office and play with our new features. I've also been inspired by the small business owners who've come up with creative staffing solutions via the TaskRabbit marketplace. People like Susan Sarich, who owns SusieCakes, a small chain of California bakeries. Susan's baked goods are incredible -- so incredible that people who aren't in walking distance of her shops are clamoring for them. So she hires TaskRabbits as her delivery engine. This lets Susan grow her business, provides income to local TaskRabbit micro-entrepreneurs, and ensures that she's not paying for a full-time staff member that she only needs sometimes. We've seen similar use cases from businesses staffing events, organizing business travel, or doing one-off tasks like research, bookkeeping, or setting up an office or retail store.

To read the full article, please visit Huffington Post.