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February 11, 2009

Punk Rock and Buddhism together…. who knew?

Meet Heidi Minx, alternative punk rock personality, buddhist, and founder of Built on Respect.  If you think Heidi is the first punk rocker with this attitude, think again.  “ In fact, punk rock means EXEMPLARY MANNERS TO YOUR FELLOW HUMAN BEING.’  Joe Strummer, The Clash… 

“Built on Respect” has been a mantra for Heidi since her foray into the business world. It stems from the streets and from Dharma. From the beginning, Heidi used the DIY (Do it yourself) method of making things happen. Struggling in the beginning like any entrepreneur, she learned to make her own clothes. This led to the development of her clothing line, Franky and Minx. She also learned out of necessity,  to design her own furniture and to create gourmet meals out condiments in her fridge, which developed into her company,Punk Rock Domestics. 

Seeing how the DIY approach worked in her own life, Heidi decided to venture out in the world to teach people how they can do things themselves, given the right tools and knowledge. It was with this attitude that Minx did volunteer work in Haiti, and more recently this past year in Dharamsala, India. In India, Minx volunteered in two communities; she helped oversee the development of an online store that that taught computer and English skills to her rural students. In addition, she worked in the Tibetan community, teaching English to refugees at the Hope Center, a fledgling community organization. 

Upon her returning to the US, Heidi realized that she could leverage her business contacts to continue to assist these communities, spread awareness and raise funds. Touched by the human rights violations she heard from her students, and the realization that she did not need to speak ten languages in order to be of assistance, Built on Respect, was born. The Solo Foundation, which has non- profit status, sponsors Built on Respect so all donations are tax-deductible. 

It is Minx’s goal to embrace the DIY mentality, and to personally work to raise funds, and also to directly oversee their disbursement while documenting it, working side by side with different community organizations. 

Minxʼs main focus right now is on promoting awareness of the Tibetan Hope Center, in Dharamsala, India. This community group focuses on educating the hundreds of Tibetan exiles,  needing to learn to read and write English to survive in the modern world. Heidi will be spending 3 months in this community to implement her DIY approach. If you would like to learn more about this community please go to this site:  www.tibethopecenter.org

To learn more about “Built on Respect” to learn more about Heidiʼs work and to donate go to this link: 

www.builtonrespect.com

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